The former chief executive of The Fawcett Society has been appointed to the top job at Surviving Economic Abuse on a permanent basis.

Sam Smethers, who has been acting interim chief at the economic abuse charity since May last year, has been appointed to the top job permanently.

She took up the interim role after the charity’s founder, Nicola Sharp-Jeffs, stepped down last year to “focus on her role as founder” and champion the charity’s work.

Before joining SEA, Smethers was chief executive of the gender quality charity The Fawcett Society from 2015 to 2020.

She was the chief executive of the kinship care charity, Grandparents plus – now known as Kinship – from 2008 to 2015, and the director of public affairs for the Equal Opportunities Commission between 2003 and 2007, before which she was a parliamentary researcher.

Smethers is chair of the motherhood charity Pregnant then Screwed, a role she has held since 2023. She is also deputy chair of the British Advisory Pregnancy Service, the UK’s biggest provider of NHS-funded abortion care.

She will lead SEA as it embarks on a new three-year strategy, which will be launched in the first half of this year and includes a bid to secure recognition of economic abuse in law for the first time.

Smethers said: “It has been a real privilege to lead the charity over the last year and I look forward to building on our founder Nicola’s remarkable achievements.

“Our mission to support survivors and disrupt abusers is urgent and I am determined to lead our expert team to deliver life-transforming change.

“I look forward to working with our board, team, partners and funders, as well as the incredible women who are surviving economic abuse and who inform all our work, to save lives and stop economic abuse forever.”

Fiona Cannon, the chair of SEA, said: “Sam brings a wealth of experience in leading charities, strong feminist credentials and a passion for ending economic abuse.

“We look forward to working alongside her and the team to deliver our ambitious new strategy and achieve much-needed change so every victim-survivor gets the support they need and deserve.”