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Welcome to The Experience Network
A unique group of independent charity consultants

Jane Cockerell

OVERVIEW

Hello! Ever feel like leading a non-profit is like juggling flaming torches while herding cats? I’ve been there—and I can help.

Someone wise once told me to ‘choose your work by the problems you want to spend your time solving.’ After 25 years in the non-profit world (three times as a CEO and eight years as a consultant), there’s nowhere I’d rather be than working alongside inspiring leaders to navigate complexity and create thriving, impact-driven organisations.

My approach is collaborative, practical, and rooted in experience. I can help with:
*Facilitating strategy workshops – Developing inclusive, adaptive strategies – Aligning boards or leadership teams for better decision-making – Mentoring senior leaders*

I aim to create impactful, enjoyable projects tailored to fit your organisation’s needs – with flexible options to suit your resources.

Visit www.omnianda.com for more information including testimonials, free workshop dates, and additional resources.

“The results were brilliant—just what we needed. I appreciated Jane’s depth of knowledge, clarity, speed of response, and focus on meaningful change. The support was exactly what we needed: personal, supportive, and flexible.” —Tom, Charity CEO

CLIENTS

Over the years, I’ve partnered with a wide range of non-profits—charities, social enterprises, housing associations, corporate and family foundations, and membership bodies—across the UK, US, Australia, and Africa. I’ve guided over 200 senior leaders to achieve greater social impact.

My clients have ranged from start-up charities to £120M foundations. Recent partners include the Makaton charity, Concern, the Haemophilia Association, the Churchill Fellowship, Spadework, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, the Infection Prevention Society, and Fondation Chanel.
I also act as a sounding board and mentor to senior leaders, offering tailored guidance on navigating opportunities and challenges.

“I keep coming back to Jane because she’s the best at getting right into the thorny problems I face as a CEO and helping me untangle them. After working with her, I always feel like the challenges are surmountable.” —Jude, Charity CEO

EXPERIENCE

Early in my career, I spent a decade leading aid and development programmes, gaining extensive experience in scaling social impact amid complex, uncertain environments. I became fascinated by leadership and psychology and the question of how we can be at our best, no matter the circumstances.

Back in the UK, I served as CEO for three fast-growing non-profits, learning (sometimes the hard way) about strategy, organisational dynamics, and the vital interplay between purpose, people, and process.

My favourite job title is now ‘co-creator’- reflecting a highly collaborative approach that blends consulting, mentoring, and facilitation.

“Jane has helped us completely transform our not-for-profit business. She’s given us guidance, support, and wisdom—helping us evolve our strategy, restructure our organisation, and understand our team dynamics. Jane is a joy to work with because she takes the time to truly understand us as people and as a team, which means her advice is always tailored to our needs.” —Tessa, Non-profit Business Director

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:

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

 

Steve Wyler

VLUU L200 / Samsung L200

Steve is an independent consultant in the field of social change and innovation.

He works with third sector and public sector organisations, and specialises in:

Recent clients include:

Steve is  co-convenor of the Better Way initiative, and a writer. Recent publications include:

Over the last twenty years Steve has played a leading role in the fields of localism, community ownership, community enterprise, social enterprise, and social investment.

In 2017-18 he was a panel member of the Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society

As CEO of Locality, he grew the country’s largest network of community enterprises,  delivering national programmes on community organising, neighbourhood planning, community asset ownership, and neighbourhood budgets.

Over the previous fifteen years Steve worked for voluntary agencies and independent grant-makers. For example in the 1990s, working with homeless agencies, he ran Homeless Network, co-ordinated the Rough Sleepers Initiative in London, and set up Off the Streets and into Work.

Steve has been a member of various Government advisory groups on localism, social enterprise, and the third sector (Cabinet Office, Department for Communities and Local Government, Ministry of Justice). Steve helped to establish Social Enterprise UK and the Adventure Capital Fund (parent body of the Social Investment Business). He was awarded an OBE in the 2011 New Year Honours List.

Contact details:

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:

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.

Marcus Ward

Marcus is a highly experienced and accredited management consultant and former charity CEO, with well-developed strategic, income-generating, financial and operational management skills. He is a creative and innovative thinker who originally studied law, and worked as a Director in the commercial sector, prior to spending the last 20+ years working for and with charities and social enterprises as CEO and then consultant.

Marcus is a partner in Peach Consultancy, which has undertaken work in almost every discrete area of the voluntary sector, and conservatively raised over £50 million for civil society organisations. Peach Consultancy works with many funders, and is probably the most widely accredited voluntary sector consultanty in the UK.

We specialise in:

Previous larger national clients include:

Previous SME clients include:

We are, or have previously been approved/recommended consultants for:

In addition to direct work with many civil society organisations, Marcus has also undertaken a wide range of organisational development and capacity building projects for representative and umbrella groups, and public sector agencies including Local Authorities, and Health Agencies.

 

Andrea Kelmanson

I’ve been working in the sector for over 40 years and have known, worked with and for most types of organisations and issues pursued by voluntary organisations.

I pride myself on being a straight-talking consultant; someone who pulls no punches in a genuine effort to get to the very heart of the many organisational and individual challenges  I face in the course of my work.

My core focus is always the needs of my clients’ beneficiairies, whose interests I find are all too often lost sight of in the serious rough and tumble of organisational life and survival  in the sector these days.

I tackle work on small scale, one off consultancy assignments as happily as larger, medium term assignments, in either straightforward ‘consultant’ roles, or in the role of Interim CEO.

My recent assignments have involved me in the world of volunteering development in fundraising charities; in the fascinating – and new charity – world of Students’ Unions, and in helping with the development of new Social Enterprises in the criminal justice field.

I am primarily concerned with working alongside organisations to create sparkling futures for the people and issues they are seeking to support.

Martin Farrell

Operates as ‘get2thepoint’.