Helen Sachdev, Founding Member, Director ; Alison Green, DirectorFounded in 2015, WOMBA (Work, Me, and the Baby) is a specialist coaching and advisory practice dedicated to helping working parents thrive by offering timely and tailored support. The company also partners with organisations to foster inclusive policies and train coaches to amplify their workplace impact, ensuring that parents can thrive in both spheres of their lives.
WOMBA’s evidence-based approach underpins its mission. The company is currently collaborating with Hult International Business School on a groundbreaking research program exploring the experiences of working parents within organisational contexts. Helen Sachdev and Alison Green are directors of the business, executive coaches and have both sat on UK D&I Boards during their times as executives.
Why Does This Matter So Much?
Because parenthood doesn’t happen in isolation. It often coincides with critical career stages, creating a double bind for professionals, particularly mothers.
Real progress depends on action at all levels. Governments and societies must ensure affordable childcare options. Employers should cultivate supportive environments through inclusive policies and workplace cultures. Parents also need confidence and effective strategies to manage their responsibilities, reassured that they are not alone on this journey.
Without the right support, many parents—especially mothers—step off the career ladder altogether. The consequences are profound—talent pipelines shrink, diversity suffers, and the gender pay gap widens, as organisations struggle to fill senior roles with qualified women.
WOMBA’s approach is broad and targeted—it conducts qualitative and quantitative research at the organisational level to identify the conditions necessary for working parents to thrive. This allows WOMBA to provide actionable insights on how companies can better support working parents, close the gender pay gap, and foster a diverse, inclusive workplace. The company also offers a short-term intensive coaching programme for individuals—usually two or three sessions—to give parents immediate, targeted support as they regain their professional footing.
“Since 2015, we have coached hundreds of working parents, continually refining our approach for maximum impact,” says Green.
WOMBA plans to launch an Advanced Coaching Certificate in early 2025 to upskill experienced coaches and build a network of coaches dedicated to supporting working parents and driving systemic change.
The Rise of Dads in the Conversation
For years, the struggles of working dads flew under the radar. That changed when Sachdev’s daughter challenged WOMBA to think bigger. “She asked us how we could make an even greater impact,” Sachdev recalls.
Upon revisiting its evidence base, WOMBA realised there needed to be more research on the experience of working dads and, with Hult International Business School, they conducted a study with equal representation of mums and dads. The results were eye-opening. While mothers often take extended leave, fathers—even those who opt for longer paternity leave—experience distinctly different challenges. WOMBA published a white paper encouraging organisations to make changes that responded to both sets of needs.
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Working parents often find they are at a critical point in their careers, just at the time they are growing their family. These two competing priorities can be incredibly hard to balance
Over the past year, many companies have improved parental leave policies, enabling dads to spend more paid time with their children. This change is reflected in WOMBA’s experience - where more dads are looking for support as they return from extended parental leave.. Some of the leading organisations in the UK now offer six months of fully paid leave to mums and dads, resulting in remarkable uptake rates—in one organisation the uptake is 80-90 per cent compared to just 2 per cent for shared parental leave. These shifts encourage co-parenting, boosting fathers’ confidence and helping mothers find the balance they need to advance in their careers without shouldering most family responsibilities.
Long-Term Partnerships and Impact
Many of WOMBA’s organisational clients have made changes to parental pay and benefit in the last few years. As WOMBA works alongside these organisations as a long-term partner, they are seeing real, lasting results. They find that women and men return to roles with greater confidence, better equipped to grow and progress and that previously at-risk talent is now stepping into leadership positions.
Still, many organisations need to address gaps in their systems that prevent them from capturing parental leave data, measuring the impact of policies on retention and diversity as well as having actionable insight into the experience and needs of working parents. WOMBA’s research collaboration with Hult International Business School Business School aims to fill some of this gap and provide an evidence based framework for organisations. Most recently they have completed a quantitative study in which 700 mums and dads shared their experiences. These results, set to launch this year, will guide employers in creating even more supportive environments and policies for working families.
Through evidence-based research, compassionate coaching, and advocacy seeking systemic change, WOMBA is helping redefine what it means to excel at work while cherishing family life.
