Annual Conference 2011 - speaker biographies
1st March 2011
Start time: 1st March 2011, 10:00
Finish time: 1st March 2011, 17:00
Programme | Workshops | Exhibition | Prices
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On 12 May 2010 Eric Pickles MP was appointed Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
In January 2009 David Cameron appointed Eric Pickles as Chairman of the Conservative Party. He joined the Shadow Cabinet in July 2007 as Communities and Local Government Secretary having served from August 2005 to July 2007 as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party.
Other posts he has held include Shadow Secretary for State for Local Government & the Regions; Shadow Minister for London; member of the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Select Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party, with special responsibility for local government affairs and Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tim Sainsbury MP, Minister for Industry.
Eric Pickles has been a Member of Parliament for Brentwood and Ongar since 1992. Previous political apppointments include:Leader of Bradford Council (1988 - 1990) and Deputy-Leader of the Conservative Group AMA (1989 - 1991).
He was born in 1952 and was educated at Greenhead Grammar School (a comprehensive), Keighley and Leeds Polytechnic. He has previously worked as a Consultant in Employment Practice and Local Government Editor for Conservative Newsline (1990-92).
Find him on Twitter @EricPickles
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is Britain's greatest Paralympic athlete. She competed in five Paralympic Games, winning 11 Gold Medals and is acknowledged as one of the most gifted and courageous sportswomen of her generation. In addition to her outstanding Paralympic achievements, between 1992 and 2002 she won the London Wheelchair Marathon a total of six times.
Now retired, Tanni still plays an active role in the administration of sport. Amongst other positions she is a consultant to the 2012 Organising Committee, a Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Ambassador, Non-Executive Director of UK Athletics, on the board of Transport for London and is an International Inspiration Ambassador for UNICEF. In 2005 she was made 'Dame' Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE for her services to sport, while in 2010 she was elevated to the House of Lords as a "people's peer". With specialist interest in sport, disability, health and youth development she sits on the crossbenches, bringing her wealth of experience and authority to bear in contributing effectively to the work of the House.
Find her on Twitter @Tanni_GT
Programme | Workshops | Exhibition | Prices
Morning Workshops
Lai-Har Cheung (right), is CIPD qualified and a member of the CIPD. She has always worked in the voluntary and community sector, particularly in small and medium sized organisations, and understands the human resource management issues they face. Lai-Har is Employment Practice Manager at NCVO and has led the employment practice programme, which is based within the Workforce Development team, for almost six years. Her role is to manage, develop and deliver a range of employment projects including effective people management and diversity practice across the sector. Lai-Har also delivers HR consultancy through NCVO’s consultancy service http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/consultancy
Alan Christie is Director of Policy at the Equality and Human Rights Commission with a special focus on the private sector. He leads policy development in the areas of education, employment, enterprise and economic inclusion. His remit covers topics such as equal pay, poverty, education and skills, social mobility, workplace integration, procurement, supplier diversity and regeneration. He joined the Commission from one of its predecessor bodies, the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE). Alan is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and also a trustee of two organisations, one working in hunger relief and the other in support of human rights defenders.
Tim Joss (right) is Director of the Rayne Foundation. He is also author of New Flow – a better future for artists, citizens and the state (2008). This led him in 2009 to found the Public Engagement Foundation to build markets for the arts in non-arts settings, starting with health. Tim is a visiting Senior Fellow of City University, Chair of the Culture Forum, trustee of two charities and a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Tom Andrews is the Founder and Chief Executive of People United. He has worked for 17 years using the arts to benefit communities. People United researches and develops imaginative ideas that build kind, caring and actively engaged communities. Previously Tom founded and ran Music for Change, was strategic manager at the Royal Opera House, and wrote the first education pack on Tibet. He is a fellow of the Clore Leadership Programme.
Robin Simpson has been Chief Executive of Voluntary Arts (the UK and Ireland representative organisation for the amateur arts) since 2005. He previously worked for Making Music, the British Federation of Festivals and the Royal National Institute for the Blind. He is a member of the NCVO Members' Assembly and was a Trustee of NCVO from 2007-08. A keen amateur French horn player, Robin is currently a member of the Northampton Symphony Orchestra. He blogs at culturalplayingfield.org and culturaldessert.blogspot.com. Find him on Twitter @robinsimpson
Jocelyn Cunningham has been a theatre practitioner for over 25 years prior to her work in arts and education. She helped to shape a national initiative in Canada which developed long term programmes with schools and communities in areas of urban and rural deprivation before returning to the UK in 2004, becoming the Director of a Creative Partnerships area in north London. Jocelyn took the role of the Creative Partnerships Legacy Director with the Arts Council culminating in recommendations for new models of partnerships with higher education. She then created a social enterprise entitled Other Ways of Working prior to joining the Royal Society of Arts as Director of Creative Learning, where she leads on the Arts and Social Change programme of the RSA’s flagship programme, Citizen Power Peterborough.
Paul Farmer has been Chief Executive of Mind, the leading mental health charity working in England and Wales since May 2006. Mind is the best known mental health charity in England and Wales and is an influential voice on mental health issues. It was established in 1946 and has since grown into a major network with a turnover of over £25 million centrally. Paul was a co-author of Realising Ambitions, an independent review for the DWP. He is a member of the IAPT Programme Board, CQC Mental Health Board and Chair of the Disability Charities Consortium. He is also a member of the Centre for Social Justice Mental Health Inquiry and member of the BBC’s Appeals Advisory Committee. Find him on Twitter @paulfarmermind
Julie Harris is CEO of the leading ICT social enterprise COSMIC. Based in Devon and working across the country, COSMIC offers a range of ICT services and delivers social outcomes through digital inclusion Julie is also CEO of RISE - provider of support, services and voice for social enterprises in the south west. Julie is Board member of the Social Enterprise Mark Company which is delivering certification and marketing for social enterprises nationally and internationally. Find her on Twitter @cosmicjulie
Andrea Westall is currently a strategy and policy consultant. She was a founding member of the Social Enterprise Coalition, Deputy Director of the new economics foundation, senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research and a Policy Director at London Business School. She has advised government, been on the board of several social enterprises and charities, and published widely − most recently as an Associative Fellow of the Third Sector Research Centre.
Stephen Quashie (right) manages the Value of Infrastructure Programme - an initiative to help all kinds of infrastructure organisations to assess, 
improve and communicate their impact. Stephen has worked for over 13 years in the voluntary and community sector including at two national infrastructure organisations, before joining the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). During this time he has worked with infrastructure organisations at local, regional and national levels and believes it is crucial that infrastructure organisations are able to demonstrate their full value.
Cathy Pharoah is Professor of Charity Funding at Cass Business School and Co-Director of the ESRC Research Centre on Charitable Giving and Philanthropy. Cathy has been a leading authority on private giving to charities for many years: her interests include giving and philanthropy by individuals, foundations and companies, and charitable tax reliefs. Formerly Director of Research at CAF, Cathy is a trustee and sits on numerous advisory boards. She publishes and presents widely in a range of voluntary sector and academic journals.
Michael Green is an independent writer and consultant, based in London. He is the co-author of Philanthrocapitalism: How giving can save the world. Michael has worked in aid and development for twenty years: as a senior official in DfID he oversaw £100 million annual funding to nonprofits, during which he saw the rising influence of philanthrocapitalists in the fight against poverty. Michael taught economics at Warsaw University in the early 1990s under a Soros-funded programme, while also working as a freelance journalist for, among others, Polish Radio and the Economist. Find him on twitter @shepleygreen
Michael Edwards is an independent writer and activist based in New York, where he is affiliated with Demos. From 1999-2008 he directed the Ford Foundation's Governance and Civil Society Program, having previously worked for the World Bank, Oxfam, Save the Children and NGOs in Colombia, Zambia, Malawi, and India. His writings have helped to shape a more critical appreciation of the global role of philanthropy and civil society, and to break down barriers between researchers and activists across the world. See http://www.futurepositive.org/home.php and find him on Twitter @edwarmi.
In 2005 Jackie Schneider set up "Merton Parents for Better Food in Schools" and led a lively campaign which dramatically improved school food in Merton schools. In 2006 she won a Shelia McKecknie award for consumer action, was shortlisted as a school food hero by the Soil Association and runner up for teacher of the year in the South London Press, "our heroes" Awards. She was appointed a Food for Life Partnership Advisor in 2007 and to the board of The School Food Trust in November 2008. She works for the Children’s Food Campaign and still teaches one day a week. She has since led a campaign to successfully save Morden Park Playing field from development. Jackie is a huge fan of social networking - read her blog or find her on Twitter @jackieschneider.
Rod King founded 20's Plenty for Us in 2007 in order to support communities who wanted lower speed limits on their streets. The movement now has 60 local campaigns and has been influential in persuading local authorities to adopt 20mph speed limits for all their residential areas. Now nearly 5m people live in such authorities and this policy is being considered by many more. Recently, Rod was invited to speak to politicians, officials and campaigners in New York where they are also keen to adopt the same measures. Read his blog.
Afternoon Workshops
Arjun Singh-Muchelle joined NCVO as European and International Campaigns' Manager in September 2010 from the role of Policy Officer at the London Council's European Office. Arjun was the lead Policy Officer on various European policies and funding programmes. Whilst at the London Councils European Office, Arjun was also an External Research Associate at the think-tank, Policy Network, where he specialised in the economic analysis of European welfare states and of the Indian economy.
Prior to this, Arjun was a Policy Analyst at the European Commission in DG Competition, an Economic Analyst for the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions in Canada. Arjun has published academic papers on European politics and political economy and written in various publications. He is a Commonwealth Fellow and holds a Master’s in European Political Economy, from the LSE and a degree in Global Political Economy from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany and York University, Canada. He is a volunteer at a Refugee Clinic in King’s Cross. Read his blog.
Anna Mazgal, Poland, President of ENNA: Working together across Europe – the Council of Europe’s Code of Good Practice and the European Charter for Civil Society.
Frank Heuberger, Board Member for European Affairs (National Network for Civil Society of Germany). Dr. Frank W. Heuberger is Head of Coordinating Office for Civil Society and Civic Activities, State Chancellery Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is the representative for European affairs of the National Network for Civil Society (BBE) and member of the Steering Committee of ENNA, the European Network of National Civil Society Associations in the course of formation. He is also cofounder of the Center for Corporate Citizenship Germany (CCCD).
From 1990 through 1995 Frank W. Heuberger was Assistant Professor of Sociology at Boston University and Senior Research Associate at the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture (ISEC), Boston, USA. He received his M.A. in Germanic Studies, Political Science and Philosophy attending universities in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main and Trenton, USA. He achieved his Ph.D. in Sociology at Goethe-University in Frankfurt.
Ellie Brodie works for NCVO as a researcher on the Pathways through Participation project which is about how and why people get involved in a range of voluntary and political activities over the course of their lives. Before taking up her current role at NCVO, Ellie was an Associate Fellow for the Office for Public Management (OPM), a not-for-profit research consultancy. Ellie is a trustee of the Association for Research in the Voluntary and Community Sector (ARVAC). Find her on Twitter @elliebrodie
Dr Belinda Pratten is Head of Policy at NCVO, where she has lead responsibility for developing and taking forward NCVO's policy work. She has been responsible for develop NCVO's Civil Society agenda, highlighting the wider role of charities and other not-for-profit organisations and their contribution to society. Before working at NCVO Belinda was senior lecturer in Health and Social Policy at London Metropolitan University. Belinda has long experience of working in and with the voluntary community sector and has been a trustee of a number of charities including Crisis, LVSC, Social Action for Health, and Health Rights. Read her blog.
Richard Wilson is the Director of izwe (izwe.com), and was the founder and director of Involve (involve.org.uk) and Deputy Chair of ScienceWise (UK Government: 2005-2008). He has been heavily involved in shaping government policy across the world for over a decade. Working for the OECD, EC, UK & US government among others. He has written four books, writes for the Guardian newspaper and can be found on Twitter @richardwi1son.
Daniel Ratchford is the Strategic Director of Environment and Leisure at Sutton Borough Council and leads Sutton's work on behaviour change. He was previously Director of Capital Ambition, London's Improvement and Efficiency Partnership, Assistant Chief Executive at Islington Council between 2002 and 2005, and has spent most of his career working in and around local government. He has held senior positions at the Audit Commission, at a Primary Care Trust, and at a national social care charity. He spent seven years working as a management consultant for PA Consulting, delivering a range of assignments in central and local government, and for the police. Daniel sits on the Programme Board for the National Graduate Development Programme for Local Government, is a Board Member of the Public Management and Policy Association, and an Advisory Board member for Common Purpose in London. Daniel’s current passions are around sustainability, behaviour change, and the use of social networking to engage better with communities. You can follow him on Twitter @danielratchford.
Jonathan Moore is NCVO’s longest serving Trustee, having served three terms from his East of England Electoral College. Through his day job as Chief Executive of the Suffolk Association of Voluntary Organisations, Jonathan works with the 5000+ voluntary groups in Suffolk to help them improve impact and efficiency. He sits on numerous strategic groups and Boards in Suffolk and is a very active Chairperson of a local Sea Scout Group. His work has covered local, regional and national settings and is multifunctional: acting as trainer, speaker, changemaker, advocate, representative, trustee, adviser, mentor, arbitrator, manager and facilitator – to name but a few.
Sakthi Suriyaprakasam, Head of Collaboration and ICT, NCVO, Sakthi is responsible for developing and managing NCVO’s work around collaborative working and ICT. The role pulls together two important areas for the voluntary sector, namely how organisations can work together across the public, private and voluntary sectors and also how organisations can make the most effective use of ICT. Sakthi has experience in both the public and voluntary sectors, most recently as the Teenage Pregnancy lead in Greenwich, working across the Council & Primary Care Trust and facilitating a partnership strategy. Prior to this, Sakthi worked in the voluntary sector for 12 years, the latter part managing a local voluntary organisation. During this time Sakthi was also a trustee for three voluntary organisations.
Nigel Newton Sawyerr has for 3 years been the Collaboration Manager for bassac and has led the Collaboration Benefits programme, which is an England-wide National Support Service funded by Capacitybuilders. Collaboration Benefits has provided capacity building support including free training, and online resources and information to both front line organisations and the development/infrastructure organisations that support them. It has also provided a cluster support programme to test models of collaboration and develop effective methods of supporting collaboration.
Prior to joining bassac in June 2008, he held several leadership and management roles in a range of voluntary and community sector agencies, such as Voscur, Camden Volunteer Bureau, the Positive Place and London Lighthouse. Throughout his career, Nigel has been involved in organisational development and capacity building, particularly focused on supporting emerging community organisations. He has over 23 years’ experience of the design and delivery of development support and training.
Ian Curtis leads the Development Team at CVS Mid and North Beds. He specialises in ‘procurement and collaborative working’. In response to the sectors changing business environment he led nine local charities to create ConsortiCo Limited the consortium for civil society organisations. He is determined to give support to all those who want to build consortia to ‘Collaborate and Compete’. Ian has a post graduate management degree and has worked at a senior level in all three sectors.
Dr Rufus Pollock is Director of the Open Knowledge Foundation which he co-founded in 2004. The Open Knowledge Foundation is a not-for-profit which works to promote open knowledge — any kind of information from sonnets to statistics, genes to geodata, that can be freely used, reused, and redistributed. Rufus has worked extensively as a scholar and developer on the social, legal and technological issues related to the creation and sharing of information. Read his blog and find him on Twitter @rufuspollock.
Hadley Beeman is a London-based freelancer with experience in the UK public and private sectors. She helps people to work together when they're not in the same place, with the intention of recreating that "sitting next to me" feeling for teams and organisations. Her projects include the IDeA's Communities of Practice platform, a collaborative space for local government public service delivery. Read her blog and find her on Twitter @hadleybeeman.
David Kane leads the quantitative analysis of data for NCVO's work on the size and scope of civil society and a co-author of the UK Civil Society Almanac 2010. His work over the last year has involved looking at the impact of open data on the voluntary sector, both how the sector can use open data and how it can make it's own data more open. Read his blog and find him on Twitter @kanedr.
Rich Watts joined ecdp, a User-Led Organisation based in Essex, as a Director in November 2007 and is responsible for the day-to-day delivery of ecdp’s activities. He has led ecdp's drive to open their data. Rich also blogs on social policy, public sector reform and the voluntary sector on his personal website, www.arbitraryconstant.co.uk. Find him on twitter @rich_w
Dr Richard Piper leads NCVO's work to help civil society organisations be more strategic and have a greater impact. Previously Co-Manager of the Performance Hub and Manager of the National Outcomes Programme at Charities Evaluation Services, he was a consultant and evaluator at the Tavistock Institute and a researcher at the Charities Advisory Trust. For four years, he ran The Knowledge Company, a social enterprise providing research. An experienced speaker, trainer and facilitator, Richard has written on strategic planning, needs-led marketing, evaluation and impact, benchmarking, organisational change and user involvement. He is currently director of NCVO's Value of Infrastructure Programme and NCVO's new Climate Change Unit, and he leads NCVO Consultancy. Find him on Twitter @RichPiperNCVO
Donald Ritchie is NCVO's Strategy and Impact Advisor. His expertise is in organisational development, including strategic planning, evaluation, organisational culture and managing change. He is also a skilled trainer and facilitator.
With over 20 years involvement in the 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 voluntary 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.
Emma Herbert Emma Herbert works in the Governance and Leadership team at NC VO as the Consultancy Development Manager. The Governance and Leadership team works to promote and support good governance and leadership in civil society organisations.
Emma manages the consultancy support provided by the team and has worked with a range of boards of civil society organisations in relation to governance issues since joining NC VO in 2008. Emma also manages the NC VO Barclays Leadership Development Programme.
Emma has worked in the voluntary and private sectors. Before joining NC VO, Emma worked as the Business Development Manager of a national childcare charity, managing its consultancy service and training programme. Prior to that Emma worked as 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, Emma worked with employers of all sizes around issues of strategic planning, change anagement, discrimination, workplace disputes and employment tribunal disputes.
Chris Billington, Chris Billington is a partner in the Charities Team at Wrigleys Solicitors and has 20 years’ experience advising charities, voluntary, community and faith organisations and social enterprises on governance, contract and employment matters. He is a member of
the Charity Law Association, Education Law Association and the Employment Lawyers Association. Chris regularly speaks on a variety of topics, including as a guest speaker on Liverpool John Moores University Social Enterprise MA Masterclass. He is chair of trustees at Voluntary Action Leeds, a trustee of the South Leeds Academy Trust and a committee member of West Yorkshire Pro Help, through which Chris leads on Wrigleys’ pro bono work.
Caroline White joined YHA in April 2008 as Chief Executive. From a working background in the voluntary sector, over the last 20 years Caroline has led small and large voluntary organisations including the English Churches Housing Group and the Alzheimer’s Society as well as operating her own consultancy. She is married, with a son and a daughter, and lives in London.
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