Welcome!
I am a non-profit manager based in London, UK. I have worked across a range of fields, mostly in small NGOs and start-ups, in roles covering strategy, operations and fundraising.
As of April 2021 I am CEO of the Fairness Foundation. Before that I was (in reverse order) interim COO at Global Witness, Director of Operations at the Tax Justice Network (and Founder and Chair of Tax Justice UK), and Director of Strategy and Development at Development Media International. I have also run a startup in Kenya and worked for the UK Government (Cabinet Office, DFID and the Department of Health).
A short version of my CV is available here. There is more detail further down this page. I'm also on LinkedIn.
Skills and experience
Strategy and organisation design: identifying needs and opportunities, objectives, impact and income models
External relations: representing organisations, building relationships, raising funds
Internal systems and processes: setting up or developing organisational infrastructure
Project and people management: building teams; launching, leading, delivering projects
Profile
22 years of management, delivery and innovation in the non-profit and public sectors in the UK and overseas
Adaptable, with wide experience; entrepreneurial and analytical, operational and strategic
Skilled at building, leading and managing non-profit projects, teams and organisations
Skills
Strategy and organisation design: identifying needs and opportunities, objectives, impact and income models
External relations: representing organisations, building relationships, raising funds
Internal systems and processes: setting up or developing organisational infrastructure
Project and people management: building teams; launching, leading, delivering projects
Experience
Founding CEO, Fairness Foundation (2021 -)
Scoping out and setting up a new charity focused on promoting fairness in the UK
Interim Chief Operating Officer, Global Witness (2020 - 2021)
Global Witness protects human rights and the environment by confronting corruption and challenging the systems that enable it, carrying out hard-hitting investigations and campaigning for change. It employs 95 people in London, Washington DC and Brussels and has an annual budget of £10m, mostly from foundations and bilateral funders.
Key responsibilities
Responsible for the finance and IT functions as well as risk, compliance, facilities and security, with direct line management of three senior staff (Finance Director, IT Director and Deputy Director) and oversight of five others
Part of new leadership team implementing a new three-year strategy, supported by a restructure and wider change programme based on the development of a new organisational culture and set of working practices
Key achievements
Initiated and led a range of internally focused cross-organisational change projects, including a review of support function resourcing and setup, digital transformation (including migration from on-premise infrastructure to Microsoft 365 as well as wider changes to tools, processes and culture), introducing and championing new agile and collaborative ways of working, modernising the finance function, designing and implementing a completely new risk management framework and system, identifying and actioning lessons from a financial deficit in 2019, reviewing our annual planning and budgeting processes, setting up a legal entity in Belgium, and leading the ongoing development of new and more inclusive working arrangements and support structures for staff in the context of the coronavirus pandemic
Freelance Consultant (2020)
Wrote scoping study of UK civil society engagement on audit reform for the Joffe Trust
Director of Operations, Tax Justice Network (2017 – 2020)
TJN is the leading research and advocacy organisation working on global tax policy and financial regulation, with a focus on reducing tax avoidance, restoring democratic control of tax policy and building more equal societies.
Key responsibilities
Operational leadership of the organisation – developing systems, policies and processes for a mid-sized NGO, and managing a doubling of the organisation’s size in three years (from 10 people / £900k to 22 people / £1.8m)
Improving organisational strategy, governance and legal status, managing risks and meeting compliance needs
Building new functions including finance, HR, events, grant management, network co-ordination, fundraising, IT
Key achievements
Scoped and set up an independent UK advocacy and campaigning organisation (Tax Justice UK) in 2017, raising £215k from UK foundations, hiring an executive director and chairing the board; TJUK has established itself as a key voice for progressive tax reform in the UK, publishing reports on funding the NHS, reforming inheritance tax and a 2019 manifesto for tax equality, getting hundreds of media hits in major newspapers and on the BBC, Sky, LBC and TalkRadio, developing relationships with major UK political parties, changing narratives on taxing wealth, and supporting a growing movement of groups and individuals campaigning for a fairer tax system in the UK
Wrote key TJN strategy documents on fundraising, network management, monitoring and evaluation and so on
Led an external and internal governance review that created a more robust and transparent governance structure
Led a process for reviewing and clarifying TJN’s legal status and exploring options for setting up overseas entities
Developed and rolled out a set of 28 organisational policies, from performance management to safeguarding
Built and launched internal collaboration and management systems, including an intranet and a set of Airtable cloud databases for managing research projects, grants, contracts, people, contacts, funding opportunities, job applicants, outputs and outcomes, risks, IT assets, events, purchases etc, and improved IT security measures
Raised approximately £1m in grant funding from donors including Norad, GIZ and Open Society Foundations
Built an operations team from scratch, including a finance manager, project manager and operations associate
Led on the recruitment of an additional 12 staff members and managed a range of complex HR issues including structuring of direct and indirect overseas employment arrangements, global benefits system and a redundancy
Led on the organisation of major events including physical and virtual conferences and three all-staff retreats
Led on day-to-day operational management issues as a member of the senior management team and board
Director of Strategy & Development, Development Media International (2011 – 2017)
DMI is a British NGO that runs evidence-based mass media campaigns to change behaviours in developing countries.
Key responsibilities
Overall lead for developing strategy, designing projects (evidence-based mass media campaigns to change health behaviours and save lives in developing countries) and securing funding to launch those projects
Key member of executive team, acting as advisor and unofficial deputy to CEO, with responsibility for income generation strategy and delivery, and for building DMI’s brand and profile among key stakeholders
Led a development team of five and indirectly managed research and operations staff in the UK and overseas
Represented DMI to donor agencies, foundations, governments, international bodies and media partners
Built strategic alliances with key partners to increase impact and develop new income streams
Key achievements
Developed fundraising strategy and function from scratch, including materials, website and CRM systems
Launched Media Million Lives initiative to raise funds to scale up child health media campaigns in 10 countries
Built strategic partnerships with a range of donors and partners to secure $19m of funding, as outlined below
Led team to secure $4.9m to launch a randomised controlled trial in Burkina Faso of a radio family planning campaign: $2.3m from the Global Innovation Fund, $2.2m from a private US donor, $400,000 from USAID (DIV)
Led team to secure $3.45m of funding for scaling up a child health radio campaign across Burkina Faso: $1.3m from Alive & Thrive (Gates), $1.2m from Comic Relief, $765,000 from SPRING (USAID), $200,000 from Vitol
Raised $1.75m from Unorthodox Philanthropy to launch a child health radio and TV campaign in Mozambique
Led successful bid for the £3m mass media component of a five-year DFID nutrition project in northern Tanzania
Achieved a ‘standout charity’ recommendation from GiveWell, leading to donations and grants of over $800,000
Secured $550,000 in unrestricted funding from the Mulago Foundation to set up offices in DRC and Mozambique
Secured $1.05m from UNICEF, DFID and Save the Children to launch a radio campaign across 8 provinces of DRC
Secured $1m from the Packard Foundation to run a family planning radio and TV campaign in Kinshasa, DRC
Led team in Mozambique to win competitive bid for a $500,000 World Food Programme nutrition project
Won $100,000 from Grand Challenges (Gates Foundation) to pilot a mobile phone video project in Burkina Faso
Recruited Operations Director, Creative Director, West Africa Rep, DRC and Mozambique Country Directors, etc
Co-Founder and Director, Skills Venture (2007 – 2011)
Co-founded and ran Skills Venture, a social enterprise matching UK business people with entrepreneurs in Kenya
Wrote the business plan based on detailed market research, launched without needing external funding
Designed mentoring programme to enable UK volunteers to deliver impact within two weeks in Kenya
Produced marketing materials and website, and marketed business to both volunteers and entrepreneurs
Recruited and managed employees, suppliers and partners, and managed volunteering assignments in Kenya
Recruited clients paying £2,000+ per week to volunteer as mentors in Kenya and delivered successful placements ▪ Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, ‘Future 100’ social entrepreneur, and IoD ‘Director of the Month’
Director, Baringo Consulting (2007 – 2011)
Researched and wrote business plan for Horsesmouth (mentoring website) to raise £850k investment
Helped Business Bridge (an African charity project at London Business School) raise £300k in donations
Wrote Department of Health strategy on NHS involvement in international development (NHS Global)
Wrote a key report for the Cabinet Office on a difficult security policy area for 2012 Olympics
Led a high-profile project for the Department of Health on the NHS response to biological terrorism
Wrote successful funding bid in 2010 Spending Review for new £200m Department of Health project
Fast Stream Civil Servant, UK Government (2004 – 2007)
Department for International Development (2006 – 2007)
Led a team of five co-ordinating projects across UK Government and beyond for DFID’s Iraq aid programme, leading on co-ordination of DFID policy with MoD and FCO, and briefing Secretary of State and Prime Minister
Key input for DFID into UK Government discussions on negotiating priorities related to Africa for G8 summit
Wrote summary strategy for DFID on mutual accountability in international development
Represented DFID and the UK at international conferences on policy coherence for development
Department of Health (2004 – 2006)
Led a team of three providing DH policy and operational input to UK Counter-Terrorism Strategy (CONTEST)
Led for DH on CONTEST initiatives such as UK National Capabilities Survey and UK National Risk Assessment
Wrote key strategy document on counter-terrorism protective security in the National Health Service
Supported DH/NHS operational response at COBRA after 2005 London bombings with DH Secretary of State
Temporary promotion to Grade 7 (Section Head) after only 15 months on the Fast Stream programme
Member of the Senior Management Team within DH Emergency Preparedness Division from 2005
Wrote detailed £100m cost-benefit analysis of national identity card scheme in National Health Service
Set up and ran General Election Unit to guide all DH and NHS staff and brief new Health Ministers
Graduate Intern, Charities Advisory Trust (2001 – 2004)
Researched trading activity by UK charities, and wrote and published a 230-page book on charity trading
Set up, managed and ran Development from the Inside, a month-long course in India for 20 UK graduates
Led a team of 11 to design and run a 7-day global youth conference in Wales for 230 people from 35 countries
Board positions
Executive Director, Tax Justice Network (2019 - 2020)
One of five employees on board and senior management team (as described above)
Founder and Chair, Tax Justice UK (2017 - 2023)
Set up Tax Justice UK and recruited other board members and Executive Director (as described above)
Trustee, Future Men (2014 – 2019)
Joined board of an award-winning UK charity supporting positive male activity, engagement and involvement in London and beyond, with a particular focus on setting up social enterprise based on programme for new fathers
Trustee, Gemin-i.org (2010 – 2012)
Joined board of a small London charity running internet-based links between UK and overseas schools
Worked with trustees and senior staff to develop new income stream after a big decline in grant income
Co-Founder and Chair of Trustees, Harambee Schools Kenya (1999 – 2012)
Co-founded Harambee Schools Kenya, a charity raising money to build schools in rural areas of Kenya
Recruited and chaired a team of trustees for 13 years, overseeing strategy and managing all staff
Charity raised over £700,000 and built eight primary and secondary schools in central Kenya
Education
Honours degree in Modern History (First Class), Oxford University (1998 – 2001)