Will Quince

Will Quince

Chief Executive Officer

Will Quince is Chief Executive of the 1001 Critical Days Foundation, leading its mission to ensure that every baby, wherever they live, has the best start in life.

Appointed as the Foundation’s first-ever Chief Executive earlier this year, Will brings over a decade of experience in public service across education and health. A former Member of Parliament, he served as Early Years Minister with responsibility for Family Hubs and the Start for Life programme, where he saw first-hand the impact of accessible, well-co-ordinated support for parents and babies. As a Health Minister, he also witnessed the long-term consequences of intervening too late - reinforcing the importance of the first 1,001 days.

Will was drawn to the Foundation by the clarity and urgency of its mission, and by the strong moral and economic case for investing earlier in babies’ lives. Working closely with Dame Andrea Leadsom, the Foundation’s Founder and Executive Chair, his focus is on delivering measurable impact through ambitious grant-giving, pioneering research, and partnerships that influence policy and practice in the UK and internationally.

A cause close to Will’s heart is reducing stillbirth and neonatal death and improving bereavement care for parents - an area he worked on in Parliament following the loss of his son to full-term stillbirth in 2014.