NCVO Consultancy team

Our NCVO Consultancy team consists of skilled and experienced staff from across NCVO's work areas. They know the voluntary and community sector and understand the pressures organisations face.

Meet the team

Ingela Andersson - Conflict and dispute resolution, Collaborative working

Jenny Clark - Research

Carrie Deacon - Governance and leadership

Daniel Fluskey - Conflict and dispute resolution, Collaborative working

Sarah Gilbert - Strategic thinking and planning, Impact monitoring and reporting, Involving users, Campaigning 

Emma Herbert - Governance and leadership

Richard Piper - Strategic thinking and planning, Impact monitoring and reporting, Involving users 

Donald Ritchie - Strategic thinking and planning, Impact monitoring and reporting, Involving users 

Laura Smith - Sustainable funding

Katherine William-Powlett - Innovation

Olof Williamson - Sustainable funding 

Nick Wilson Young - Third Sector Foresight

Ingela Andersson

Ingela is a Compact Advocacy Officer in the Compact Advocacy Programme at NCVO. She handles cases on Compact disputes at both a local and national level, employing mediation and conflict resolution techniques.

Before working at NCVO, Ingela was Communications Officer at Friends of the Earth. She has worked both in a paid and unpaid capacity for several different organisations, including Mencap and Mind. She is currently doing an MA in Social Policy at the London School of Economics.

Jenny Clark

Jenny is a research manager at NCVO and has eight years research experience within a public policy department. Since 2008, Jenny has managed NCVO’s quantitative research programme and previously led NCVO’s research programme exploring the sector’s workforce. Jenny specialises in offering consultancy exploring the size and scope of the voluntary sector and its workforce; and social research design and methodology ensuring appropriate methods and analysis are used to generate robust findings that meet clients’ needs.

Jenny holds an MSc with distinction in Advanced Social Research Methods and Statistics and has completed an in-depth learning programme on consulting run by The Tavistock Institute based on its MA in Advanced Organisational Consulting. Jenny has specialist skills in labour market analysis, survey design and data analysis, has written a number of user friendly research publications including the NCVO Almanac series and presented research and analysis to wide-ranging audiences.

Contact Jenny or follow her tweets.

Daniel Fluskey

Daniel is a Compact Advocacy Officer in the Compact Advocacy Programme at NCVO. He handles cases on Compact disputes at both a local and national level, employing mediation and conflict resolution techniques.

Before working at NCVO, Daniel was at Arts Council England and has a range of voluntary experience at the Law Society, Lambeth Law Society, the Citizenship Foundation, and the Montreal Holocaust Centre. He has an MA in Human Rights and a Graduate Diploma in Law.

Carrie Deacon

Sarah Shimmin-Gilbert

Sarah is the Senior Strategy and Impact Adviser at NCVO where she works with a diverse range of organisations to help them better achieve their missions. Sarah is currently co-delivering a two-year training and mentoring programme for people working with organisations in the BME sector to develop effective strategies for the future, and has designed and delivers the evaluation module for the Roehampton University accredited Certificate in Campaigning.

Previously, Sarah played a leading role in NCVO’s work on campaigning effectiveness, conducting and managing research into key areas in campaigning and advocacy to support organisations on this topic. She has authored and contributed to several publications on campaigning. 

Before joining NCVO, Sarah worked in policy and campaigns in the voluntary and community sector. She has completed an in-depth learning programme on consulting run by The Tavistock Institute based on its MA in Advanced Organisational Consulting, holds an MSc in European Social Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BSc in Social Policy and Sociology from the University of Bristol. She has volunteered in India and the UK.

Emma Herbert

Emma joined NCVO in 2008 and is a Senior Consultant within the Consultancy and Innovation team.  Emma’s work focuses on the areas of governance and leadership and she has a wealth of experience having worked with a range of voluntary and community sector organisations, from large household name charities through to small, local community groups.     

Before joining NCVO, Emma was Business Development Manager at Daycare Trust, the national childcare charity, where she managed its consultancy service and training programme and developed new income generating opportunities for the charity. She has also been a consultant to the Equal Opportunities Commission, specialising in issues of sex discrimination in the workplace.

Emma is a qualified employment solicitor (currently non-practising). As a solicitor, she worked with employers of all sizes around issues of strategic planning, change management, discrimination, workplace disputes and employment tribunal disputes.

Richard Piper

Richard is Head of Strategy and Impact at NCVO. He has expertise in strategic planning, involvement and participation, organisational culture, leadership and change, evaluation and monitoring, benchmarking, and quality.

Between 2005 and 2008, Richard was Joint Manager of the Performance Hub. Previously, he ran his own research consultancy (The Knowledge Company) and has worked for The Tavistock Institute, Charities Evaluation Services, and the Charities Advisory Trust.

Richard received academic training in human geography, social anthropology, political economy and organisational theory; and skills training in group dynamics, leadership and authority, research, evaluation methods, facilitation, speaking, writing, and managing. His PhD explored the organisational cultures and professionalisation of charity shops. He is currently a parent governor.

Donald Ritchie

Donald is Strategy and Impact Adviser at NCVO. His expertise is in strategic planning, evaluation, organisational culture and managing change. He is also a skilled trainer and facilitator.

With over 20 years' involvement in the voluntary sector Donald has experience of working at every level from supporting local volunteer groups to international networks. From 2005 to 2009 he was a freelance organisational development consultant, working with campaigning organisations in the UK and across Europe, and prior to that he was a director at Friends of the Earth.

Donald has a masters degree in voluntary sector organisation, and he is a Trustee of the London Wildlife Trust.

Laura Smith

Laura is NCVO's Sustainable Funding Project Manager. She coordinates the core work of the project and leads on the delivery of the project’s mission to encourage and enable voluntary and community organisations to develop and implement a sustainable income strategy.

She has substantial experience in designing and delivery of bespoke training and facilitation for the voluntary sector, as well as longer term one-to-one support. She previously worked for a major public funder and has particular expertise in grant funding policy. She has led on strategic outreach programmes in Scotland and London and has a good understanding of different styles of capacity-building support. 

Laura has an MSc in Food Policy from City University and was previously a chair-member of the Scotland Children’s Panel. She currently volunteers as an advisor to a sustainable housing project in Birmingham.

Katherine William-Powlett

Katherine the innovation specialist at NCVO and leads on supporting innovation in the voluntary and community sector. With previous experience in law and in training, from 2000-2009 she lead a charity which partnered  with the local authority to provide green space for urban communities in an entirely new way. She has worked at NCVO since 2009 delivering innovation events, training and consultancy and blogging on innovation. Katherine is co-author of Innovation Matters, a guide to innovation for the sector. She is currently studying part-time for an MSc in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership at City University.

Katherine’s particular expertise includes (but is not limited to):- 

• innovation strategies and proceesses
• innovation teams - see blog
• helping organisations address challenges creatively and productively;
• developing the skills and knowledge to find the right new ideas and get them off the ground;
• advice on leading organisations for innovation;
• facilitation of innovation events such as idea shops, challenge days;
• design and development of social challenge prizes;
• designing and running tailored workshops, innovation masterclasses and training
• Facilitation with a particular interest in getting the most out of meetings. 

Olof Williamson

Olof is a Sustainable Funding Officer for NCVO's Sustainable Funding Project, supporting organisations to earn income through public service  delivery and trading activity. This includes running training events on sustainable funding and enterprise, and preparing tools and resources for frontline and infrastructure organisations. He also supports the NCVO Public Service Delivery Network’s programme of work.

He has experience of advising charities on sustainable income and strategy, both in the UK and internationally. He has helped to set up a social enterprise in Sri Lanka and he is currently involved in grassroots sports in London.

Olof previously worked for the Scottish Government on strategic health and environmental policy, and studied Politics and Economic History at Edinburgh University.

Nick Wilson Young

Nick is NCVO’s Foresight Manager. He helps civil society leaders, staff and users to look at their horizon and spot future trends and forces that will affect them. So that they can prepare for storms, catch fair winds, and face the future with confidence.

Since the 1990s Foresight has worked with hundreds of organisations. Our dedicated Foresight website www.3s4.org.uk has 100 ‘drivers’ that will affect civil society, their implications, and suggested responses.

Nick can work directly with you to coach your leaders, pool insights from board, managers, staff and users, scan your horizon for you, or gather similar organisations to study shared future threats and opportunities. Foresight publications help you to carry on yourself.

Before NCVO Nick worked in the Balkan wars as a grassroots peacebuilder in a destroyed and divided town, and trained human rights monitors and activists. He is an accredited mediator and trainer, led community mediation in London’s East End, and trained Amnesty activists across 28 ex-USSR countries, writing a participative manual used in over 30 world languages. He has been a charity fundraising writer, a consultant with clients from Price Waterhouse to small addiction charities, and has a Sheila McKechnie Award for campaigning on military spending

Contact Nick, read his blog or follow his tweets.

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