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https://100years100women.blog.gov.uk/2018/12/11/rebecca-humphreys/

Rebecca Humphreys - the woman who is not defined by one characteristic

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Selfie picture of Rebecca, who has red hair and a nose piercing.

Profile

Job: Executive Assistant

Organisation: Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Years in Public Service: 1

My mother was

My mother, Ann, worked as an administrator in the marine industry for years and left work in 1989 to have her first child (me) and was a stay at home mum, with another child, my sister Claire, until she returned to part time work in 1992.

When my sister and I were at school my mother went to work in a preschool which worked perfectly with the school holidays and as we grew up, got our own jobs and moved out, she changed her job and working pattern to suit her and my dad.

My mother and I didn’t always see eye to eye, especially during my rebellious teenage years, but we are a lot closer now and I appreciate her every single day.

Me in a paragraph

Like most of the contributors to the centenary blog series, I am a woman, but there is, of course, much more to me than just my gender.

I am a mother of one, a wife, a daughter and a working professional. I am 28 years old with an unprecedented love of Irregular Choice shoes and passion for history. I live, and work, in Southampton and I am currently studying part-time for my Business degree.

I have suffered with anxiety since I was 17 years old, have no religion and made a conscious decision, following a health scare, not to have any more children. No single one of these points defines who I am, yet each one of them make me, me.

My role

I provide support to the chief executive through efficient diary management and administrative support. I have a varied role, including: responding to correspondence, booking business travel and accommodation, commissioning briefing, preparing purchase orders, arranging hospitality and liaising with government teams,

I am also an active member of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s employee engagement group and women’s network.

If I had a magic wand, what would I do to accelerate gender equality?

As a mother to a son, I am trying to teach him that it is ok for him to stand up for women’s rights and understand women’s history. I make sure he sees that I am doing things to empower women like voting, going to work, sharing the housework; just to name a few, and will continue to do that so he grows up to respect and understand women.

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