Sheela Mackintosh-Stewart is a family law solicitor with considerable experience including working in large City of London practices and running a law firm in Knightsbridge. She was previously called as a barrister to the Middle Temple. She developed and now runs www.ifamiliesuk.com a unique matrimonial consultancy providing legal, financial and practical information to people pre-separation and during their divorce, and in doing so, strongly advocating fair and amicable settlements in family break-up where possible to avoid costly and often divisive litigation to the mutual long term benefit of the family.
Being an effective strategic problem solver and lateral thinker, Sheela’s life and career has been strongly influenced by her passion to empower people to achieve greater well-being and life satisfaction. She currently chairs the Diaspora Emerging Leadership Programme with Lord Wei, a social enterprise initiative mentoring and nurturing young talented professionals to become tomorrow's future global leaders with the aim of chairing the 'Committee of 100'of the most visionary leaders in the UK in the near future.
She was previously an advisor to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on East Asian Business, to facilitate and foster trade and relations between the UK and South East Asia and also to the APPG on Life Transitions, looking at ways to help people deal with difficult life transitions. She worked with the Centre for Social Justice and co-authored the ground- breaking influential report on family law reform, “Every Family Matters” in 2009. She also co-authors a blog https://imhavingamare.com dealing with young people's daily angst and also speaks and writes about relationship and family matters.
She is an Executive board member of Conservative Friends of the Chinese and was previously a trustee of the charities Street Dreams and DrugFAM. She has done much voluntary work including working with the Rainbow Trust, Caring for Courage, Sea Cadets and the English National Ballet. She was Chairman of NSPCC (Buckinghamshire), Vice-Chairman of the British Red Cross (London Committee) and a School Governor of her local grammar school, Beaconsfield High School. She was also a Law Society mentor mentoring newly qualified solicitors.
Sheela was selected as a Woman of Achievement by the 2009 Women of the Year Nominating Council for her special contribution to society and the workplace. The Mulan Foundation also recently awarded Sheela for her contribution to charity and philanthropy. She speaks Cantonese, Malay and basic Mandarin.