Carolyne Willow is a barrister at The Barrister Group, specialising in family law, human rights and actions against public authorities. She founded Article 39 children’s rights charity and was its director for 10 years to the end of 2024.
Carolyne qualified as a social worker in 1988, specialising in child protection, and also lectured in social policy and social work. Amid widespread revelations of abuse in the children’s care system, she moved into posts championing the rights of children in care and care leavers. She ran the Children’s Rights Alliance for England between 2000 and 2012, leading the charity’s public policy advocacy and litigation challenging the mistreatment of children in custody.
Carolyne has worked closely with UN and Council of Europe human rights bodies. She won the Social Worker of the Year (Championing Social Work Values) Gold Award in 2017, and the Sheila McKechnie Outstanding Leadership Award in 2020. In December 2024, Carolyne received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Nottingham.