Jane Cockerell
I’m a former aid worker and CEO, with twenty years of scaling social impact in challenging, uncertain (sometimes straight-up crazy…) environments. Having also developed expertise in strategic leadership coaching and consulting, I now support thoughtful, ambitious leaders to navigate uncertainty and to grow resilient, impactful, thriving organizations.
Longer blurb if you’re interested…
Following a short career in corporate management, I spent many years leading large aid projects in Africa and then a decade as a non-profit CEO. I have rapidly grown projects and organisations within challenging contexts, developing and supporting teams across cultures and remote locations.
It’s been a ride. In the early days, as well as all the amazing experiences and sense of purpose, I experienced burnout and depression. Sometimes, I was talented and high-performing and sometimes, I could be as mad as a box of frogs…
I began to spot similar patterns in others, people I respected who were also running great organisations or projects so became increasingly fascinated with our ‘human-ness’ and what it is to be and deliver at our best, no matter what the world throws at us and became a perpetual student of leadership.
My ‘Ghetto MBA’ has encompassed tech trends to systems theory, entrepreneurship to psychology, strategic foresight to non-duality, and I’m a certified Transformative Coach.
My curiosity has led me to consultancy, specialising in strategy and Board leadership development. Having seen both gaps and over-engineering in many conventions of ‘good practice’, I co-create alongside leaders, giving equal value to process and psychology, mindful of resources and time available. Outcomes include greater organisational clarity and an enhanced capacity for strategic thinking and sound decision making within the senior team and Board.
On request, I also mentor CEO’s, supporting them to navigate uncertainty and overcome overwhelm.
My volunteer work includes roles as Chair of 52 Lives, as a coach with start-up accelerator Zinc VC and Strategy Advisor with the Foundation for Social Improvement. I’m a member of the International Association of Facilitators, Asociation of Business Psychologists and a Fellow of the RSA.
In real life, I love wandering about in nature, lifting heavy things, get over-excited about quality stationery and have been crowned the World’s Best Ninja Auntie Camp-Builder.
Vanessa Swann
Organisational Strategy & Development Consultant / Executive Mentor
I am an experienced former CEO of a major arts / social enterprise charity, Cockpit Arts, and have a proven track record of successfully starting up, growing and expanding Arts, Charities & Social Enterprise organisations, including turnaround and enterprise development. I have been consulting for several years specialising in Organisational Development and Change Management including governance, strategic business planning, income generation, stakeholder engagement and communications. I am a qualified Social Enterprise adviser with coaching, mentoring and facilitator experience; an experienced Trustee in the visual arts and music sector and a Consultant Grant Assessor. As well as undertaking organisational briefs, I provide personal mentoring and coaching to CEOs and managers.
Examples of recent assignments for clients including Arts Council Wales, Nesta innovation foundation, CAF Global Alliance, SE Assist Brighton, School for Social Entrepreneurs and The Fore:
- Change management for a community arts organisation involving a new communication and political influencing strategy
- Strategic support involving an organisational restructure and repositioning of a regional arts centre with business planning ad HR advice
- 360-degree organisational review of a local authority-owned performing arts centre to achieve cost savings and improve operational effectiveness.
- Strategic support to align services offered by a regional crafts centre with local authority tourism strategies.
- Facilitation for a national social sector organisation helping managers working remotely to decide on new ways of working together to better support organisational goals.
- Research and brokering of introductions between UK and Russian organisations involved in social change and civil society development.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Strategic planning
Business planning
Social enterprise development
Fundraising and earned income/sustainable funding
Change management
Charity management and governance
Leadership development
Stakeholder engagement
Partnership working
Negotiation
Property development
Premises management
Hilary Barnard
Hilary Barnard is a strategy, change and organisational development consultant. He works across the third sector, and with statutory and private sector partners in the UK and internationally.
In today’s challenging conditions, with insight and creativity Hilary helps organisations to find strategies and sustainable solutions that ensure effective delivery of charites’ expertise, services and campaigns. He works with clients on rethinking and reinventing business models and approaches to ensure continued relevance and sustainability.
Relevant assignments include:
- Strategy reviews for Citizens Income Trust, Oxford Research Group, Anti Bullying Alliance, Play England, Macfarlane Trust, PLIAS Resettlement and IPSEA
- Governance reviews for National Governors Association, CISV International, Freud Museum, BTCV, Crohn’s & Colitis UK, and Article 19; and under the AIM Prospering Boards programme
- Leadership programmes for the Association of Independent Museums, Parkinson’s UK, Westminster City Council and NAPIMS (Nigeria)
- Facilitating Boards, teams and partnerships (International Bar Association Human Rights Institute, Blenheim/HAGA, BOND/Young Minds, Volunteering Matters, Bridge Mental Health)
- Supporting fifuteen merger processes and much partnership development
- Undertaking service reviews (NDCS Family Support Service) and organisational reviews (Friends of the Earth, Tilbury on the Thames Trust and Elfrida Society)
- Policy and project management of the Children’s Workforce Network (Sector Skills Councils, regulators, Central and Local Government)
- Advising successful 8 figure pfeg led funding bid to Government for financial competence training in schools
- Devising generic competency framework for permanent staff in Students Unions (NUS Charitable Services commission)
- Evaluations of the DCLG funded £1 million+ Talking Together programme (commissioned by TimeBank), the Skills for Care funded Hospice education and training project (commissioned by Hospice UK), and the income generation NSS workstream (commissioned by ACEVO)
- Action learning/change programme for Valuing People for local partnership implementation (commissioned by Department of Health)
- Product/service reviews for Living Streets and CABE
- Stream of ENHANCE organisational development projects for Lloyds Bank Foundation
Hilary is a a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, a member of the Organisational Development and Innovation Network, and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. He has been a Senior Visiting Fellow at Cass Business School and the external examiner for the MSc in voluntary and community sector studies at Birkbeck College, University of London.
Hilary has written widely on leadership, strategy, governance and organisational development in the sector for Civil Society Finance, Civil Society Governance, Leader to Leader, Network, Governance & Compliance and Caritas. He is the author of Step Change (Cass CCE 2012), Improving Equality & Diversity: A guide to Third Sector Chief Executives (ACEVO 2011), Whose Localism? (Cass CCE 2011), Big Society, Cuts & Consequences (Cass CCE 2010), Really Intelligent Commissioning (ACEVO 2009), Vertical Integration (NCB/VCS-Engage 2007), Added Value, Changing Lives: a social capital study (VAW 2006), and Design For Health (Mind 2003). He is a regular book reviewer on strategy and governance for Governing Matters (NGA). Hilary’s evaluation report (2015) of the TimeBank Talking Together programme can be accessed on the TimeBank website. He is the co-author of Improving Equality & Diversity: a guide for third sector Chief Executives (ACEVO 2011) and Strategies for Success (NCVO 1994).
He collaborates regularly with Ruth Lesirge, also a member of the Experience Network, under the umbrella of HBRL Consulting.
Martin Farrell
Operates as ‘get2thepoint’.
- Reflection and reviews
- Crisis support
- Project start-up and management
- Facilitating gatherings large and small
- Governance
- Coaching
- Strategic positioning
- UK, rest of Europe and a bit of US
Libby Cooper
Libby operates as Director of Amber Analysis, a UK based research, evaluation and capacity building consultancy that works internationally and in the UK with charities, NGOs and community organisations; with grant making organisations; and with central and local government departments. It aims to:
* Improve the quality of social change programmes
* Strengthen the effectiveness of international and UK based charities, NGOs and community organisations
* Influence the grant-making and evaluation strategies of donors
Libby works in the UK and internationally on:
- Programme and project evaluation
- Developing a Theory of Change
- Developing evaluation frameworks
- Organisational review
- Project and grants assessment
- Capacity building and organisational/project development
- Strategic planning
- Training in organisational management and self-evaluation
- Needs assessment
- Research into social development and civil society
- Developing grant-making and evaluation policies for donors
- Government and civil society relations – international
Recent clients include:
The Directory of Social Change: Evaluation of their Armed Forces Charities Project
Civil Society Development Foundation: Helped to develop a new strategic plan for this grant-giving Foundation
Seychelles Ministry of Labour: Research study into youth unemployment
Target TB: Design of a Theory of Change and evaluation framework for all programmes across Africa and Asia and an evaluation training programme in Zambia for all partners
DFID: Assessment of civil society projects working on poverty issues
EC programme in Bosnia: Capacity building of civil society organisations to help them engage in policy dialogue with government
British Red Cross: Evaluation of a refugee programme
Mencap: Two evaluations of a national programme for people with learning disabilities
Equinet: Four yearly evaluations of Equinet – a network of 37 Equality Bodies across 27 European countries