Justine Juliette Alice Roberts (born October 1967) is the founder and chief executive of British websites

Mumsnet Mumsnet is a London-based internet forum, created in 2000 by Justine Roberts for discussion among people with child- or teen-aged offspring. History and finances Mumsnet was created in 2000 by Justine Roberts to help parents pool informati ...

and Gransnet.

Early life

Roberts was educated at

Guildford High School Guildford High School is a private day school for girls that was founded in 1888. Approximately 1,000 girls between ages 4 to 18 are attending the school from Guildford and its surrounding towns and villages. The school comprises a junior schoo ...

and at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where she read PPE.

Career

Roberts was named in the Media Guardian's 2010 power 100. Along with Mumsnet co-founder

Carrie Longton Mumsnet is a London-based internet forum, created in 2000 by Justine Roberts for discussion among people with child- or teen-aged offspring. History and finances Mumsnet was created in 2000 by Justine Roberts to help parents pool informat ...

, she was voted number 7 in BBC ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

s "Power List 2013" of the most powerful women in the UK. In May 2011, Roberts founded Gransnet, a sister site to Mumsnet, for the over-50s. She has appeared on ''

The Media Show ''The Media Show'' is a weekly United Kingdom, British current affairs (news format), current affairs radio programme and podcast on BBC Radio 4 which examines the current state of the Mass media, media. First broadcast on 1 October 2008, it is p ...

'' expressing concerns about legislation to regulate

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

ging, and in May 2013 she appeared on BBC Radio 4's ''

Great Lives ''Great Lives'' is a BBC Radio 4 biography series, produced in Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the re ...

'' programme, nominating football manager

Bill Shankly William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. Shankly brought su ...

. On 24 December 2015, Roberts was listed by UK-based company Richtopia in the list of 500 Most Influential CEOs in the World. Roberts was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to the economy.

Personal life

Roberts married journalist

Ian Katz Ian Alexander Katz (born 9 February 1968) is a British journalist and broadcasting executive who is currently Chief Content Officer at Channel 4, overseeing all editorial decision making and commissioning across Channel 4's linear channels, str ...

not long before founding Mumsnet. They had four children and separated in 2019.

Recognition

She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.

Inspiration and motivation

In 2024, Justine Roberts wrote a 'Letter to her younger entrepreneurial self' in which she spoke about how the community around Mumsnet is what inspired her and the purpose they gave her guided the businesses. She also quoted the community's support as the same reason the business "never had to spend much more than maybe £100 on advertising".

References

1967 births Living people Alumni of New College, Oxford British technology company founders People educated at Guildford High School Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Women founders {{internet-bio-stub