Wellbeing Lead Academy founder joins advisory board

County Durham-based workplace wellbeing consultancy Wellbeing Lead Academy has announced the appointment of founder and chief executive Emily Pearson to the advisory board of the Policy Liaison Group on Workplace Wellbeing.

Emily joins the cross-sector forum as it develops Employer Duty of Care Guidelines designed to help UK organisations take a practical approach to workplace wellbeing, with a focus on prevention, leadership accountability and healthy work design.

Based in County Durham, the Wellbeing Lead Academy trains and accredits strategic wellbeing leads for organisations including Amazon, Sky, Hitachi and Northern Gas Networks.

The business was named Wellbeing Provider of the Year at the This Can Happen Global Awards 2025.

In her advisory role, Emily will contribute expertise in human sustainability, helping shape guidance that supports employers in embedding workplace wellbeing through governance, leadership and accountability.

She said: “Employers do not need another wellbeing campaign.

“They need the capability to prevent foreseeable harm in the way work is designed, governed and led.

“UK employers already work to manage risks to health and safety, including psychological harm.

“The gap is not responsibility; it is implementation.

“Too many organisations still manage mental health after the damage has been done, through support services and awareness activity, instead of preventing harm through workload, job design, management behaviour and fair governance.

“The Duty of Care Guidelines are an opportunity to close that gap.

“They can help make prevention, psychosocial risk management and healthy work design the baseline for good employment, not an optional layer of wellbeing activity.

“That is where Human Sustainability becomes practical: sustaining people, performance and long-term capability together, rather than asking individuals to absorb pressure created by the system.”

Emily added: “It matters that this thinking is coming from the North East.

“Our region’s employers, from manufacturing and utilities to public services and logistics, understand workforce health in real operating conditions.

“The expertise to address those challenges is not only sitting in London boardrooms; it is being built here in County Durham.”

Gethin Nadin, chair of the Policy Liaison Group on Workplace Wellbeing, added: “We’re delighted to welcome Emily to the PLG’s Advisory Board.

“Through the Wellbeing Lead Academy, Emily has built an award-winning organisation with a fantastic reputation for helping employers create healthier, more sustainable workplaces that support both people and performance.

“It’s particularly encouraging to see how successful the Wellbeing Lead Academy has been in County Durham, demonstrating that some of the most innovative thinking on workplace wellbeing is happening across every part of the UK.

“Part of our mission in Westminster is to showcase how embedded wellbeing solutions are throughout the UK and what they can mean for public policy.

“As we develop our Employer Duty of Care Guidelines, Emily’s experience will be invaluable in helping employers close the gap between knowing what works and implementing it effectively.”

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