The Times

Sean O’Neill, Chief Correspondent

Exposing the scandal at Oxfam was so sensitive that many sources of information were necessarily anonymous.  When Helen stepped forward and went public about her experiences at the charity it was a game changer.  She was rightly hailed as a courageous whistleblower.

Durham University

Dr Margaret Masson, Principal, St Chad’s College
Helen is an excellent speaker, whose courage and keen sense of justice is inspiring, and whose capacity for forensic analysis and clear, persuasive argument is compelling. The light she shines on the ways in which a neurodiverse perspective can bring groundbreaking insights that may otherwise be overlooked is its own crucial message for neurodiverse and neurotypical people alike.

GameShift, an award-winning FT listed consultancy

Chris Nicols, Founding Partner

Helen Evans led a powerful exploration of neurodiversity in leadership. Helen spoke from the heart, based on her experience of being a top leader with autism. Helen dismissed many myths of autism that can act as barriers to employment and promotion and gave insights on how to include neurodivergent people more successfully.  Helen’s spoke of the difference and strength that her autism brought to her leadership. We heard how often Helen had to “mask” a lot of her ways of being, to make her presence more palatable to others and that this came at a cost, risking “autistic burnout”.  The topic resonated with our community, with well over 100 people registering to take part.  Helen took great care in her preparation with co-host John Higgins to make this event work well. We were delighted with the result and would recommend her to anyone wanting to explore this vital topic.

Essex Business School

Dr James Fowler, MBA Director

Helen’s presentation and workshops with the Essex MBA programme on her experiences were superb. Simple, powerful and acutely effective, she is an outstanding communicator. Her message and experiences in whistleblowing are exceptionally valuable to any organisation, and we were very privileged to work with her. I would invite her back without hesitation.

Protect, the UK’s leading whistleblowing charity

Elizabeth Gardiner, Chief Executive

Helen is a passionate and compelling public speaker.  We were delighted that she was able to join a panel discussing whistleblowing at Protect's 30th anniversary conference.  I have heard Helen speak on many occasions, and she is always thought provoking.  Helen is particularly inspiring when sharing her experiences as a courageous whistleblower and autistic advocate.  

Author with Megan Reitz of ‘'Speak Out: How to have conversations that matter’

John Higgins, Author and Researcher

Helen is a compelling presence. She brings a rigorous honesty and directness to what it takes, gives and costs to work, live and be with a way of knowing the world that is different to the mainstream.  Through my work and engagement with her in 2023 and 2024, starting with being together on 'The Bottom Line' with Evan Davis, I know the world and myself better. She has dialled up my capacity for attention to the impact of how I am with others and how to manage interpersonal boundaries. I will never forget her willingness to stay with conversations and insights which often get ignored through habits of social convention and politeness.  I cannot recommend her highly enough as a speaker and a conversational/thinking partner.

Faculty of Business and Law at Middlesex University

David Lewis, Professor of Employment Law

I have known Helen for several years and listened to her share her knowledge and experience in a variety of different settings. She is an excellent speaker and a convincing advocate for the causes she represents. I have no hesitation about endorsing Helen for the services she is offering.

Parrhesia Inc

Lt Col (Retd) Ian Foxley, CEO and Founder

Helen was a keynote speaker for Parrhesia's Conference on Trauma in Whistleblowing offering a candid view on the 'lived experience' and a contributor to the Parrhesia Tapes, recording the personal experience of significant whistleblowers across a wide range of social sectors.  She brought home the extensive effects of being rebuffed and persecuted by her own organisation, Oxfam UK, merely for exposing the sexual abuse perpetrated by Oxfam's overseas staff in war-torn areas where their help and support was most needed.  Helen is an impactful and articulate speaker who touched an audience with a gentle manner that belies the insistence of her message. She describes how and why her decision to speak up brought about an organisational backlash founded on reputational and managerial protectionism, and the trauma and resultant PTSD it created. Balanced against this is a message of hope as Helen relates her recovery through sympathetic therapeutic counselling and an active determination to ensure that those responsible were held to account.   Her courageous stance has resulted in significant remedial action across Oxfam and contributed to the elevation of safeguarding as a key element in the provision of support in the aid sector.