Helen Tudor Recognized for IDEA Efforts

London, November 7, 2023 – Today at their annual AESC Global Conference in London, the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) honored Helen Tudor, Managing Director and Global Head of DE&I at Sheffield Haworth, with the AESC IDEA Award for her inclusion, diversity, equity and access efforts.  

Karen Greenbaum, AESC President & CEO, commented: “Helen is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion within her firm and with clients and for the profession as an active member of AESC’s Diversity Council. AESC is proud to recognize Helen for her ongoing contributions and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion by presenting her with this coveted award.”      

Helen is a Managing Director in the Consulting and Professional Services Practice and is the Global Lead for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Sheffield Haworth. She focuses on Partner-level Executive Search in management consultancy and Professional services, specializing in Financial Services, Government and Defense, Telco, Consumer and Retail sectors.  

Through Helen’s role as Global Head of DE&I, she has been instrumental in developing deeper discussions with clients about their challenges in attracting and retaining more diverse hires. She has embedded best practices across Sheffield Haworth’s global offices, educated consultants on equitable search and selection practices and worked with the subgroup leads of ERGs to drive innovation, thought leadership and solutions that will benefit clients and employees.  

Specifically, Helen has been partnering with Deloitte for over 20 years, often helping with growth hires. In the last few years, Helen and Sheffield Haworth have worked with Deloitte toward their ambition of hiring more gender-diverse leaders. Helen’s dedication and focus on building diverse teams has made that ambition a reality with 69% of the partner appointments at Deloitte being women in the last three years.  

Helen has been instrumental in driving similar results for Sheffield Haworth and the wider consulting and professional services sector.  

Anne-Marie Balfe, EY EMEIA Financial Services Talent Leader, said: “With Helen’s support and best practice sharing, we have re-engineered our Partner recruitment process to achieve more diverse pipelines, to provide greater sponsorship for female and minority candidates, and to create more inclusive hiring practices.” 

Additionally, Helen is an active member of key Sheffield Haworth networks and programs that demonstrate her wider commitment to fostering an inclusive culture and supporting diversity in the workplace. These include the Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Group, Women’s Network (WISH), Global Mentor Program and Intern/Work Experience Programs. 

Helen is also a founding member of and active participant in the AESC EMEA Diversity Leadership Council. The Sheffield Haworth team said of Helen’s commitment to within AESC and the broader executive search and leadership consulting community, “Helen's leadership at Sheffield Haworth has demonstrated a strong commitment to aligning with the AESC Pledge through a range of initiatives and actions.” 

Prior to joining Sheffield Haworth, Helen was Managing Partner of BLA Search, a specialist management consultancy head-hunter, having joined as a consultant and then moved into partnership and ownership. She started her career in a global recruitment company in managerial roles. Helen holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Manchester.  

About the AESC IDEA Award  

The AESC IDEA Award was established in 2020 to support the goals of the AESC Diversity Pledge, signed by more than 100 CEOs of leading executive search and leadership consulting firms. The award recognizes initiatives within the executive search and leadership consulting profession that demonstrate an exemplary commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity and access. These initiatives must be of sufficient significance and external impact to be recognized as excellent by the profession.  

About the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants      

Since 1959, AESC has set the quality standard for the executive search and leadership consulting profession. AESC Members represent 16,000+ trusted professionals in 1,200+ offices, spanning 70+ countries. AESC Members are recognized experts providing consulting services in the areas of leaders, teams and culture to the world’s leading organizations. They leverage their access and expertise to place more than 100,000 executives each year in board of directors and C-level positions across industry sectors. Dedicated to strengthening leadership together, AESC and its members share a deep commitment to the highest quality standards in executive search and leadership consulting—for the benefit of clients and the profession. We Shape. Connect. Educate. Innovate. Learn more about us at aesc.org. For AESC’s career service connecting executive-level candidates to the world’s leading executive search firms, visit bluesteps.com.