About Me

I’m currently CEO at Social Investment Business and this blog is therefore dormant: you can find my writing for SIB via the link, and learn more about the finance and support we provide for charities and social enterprises.

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Before that, from October 2011, I worked at Social Enterprise UK, the national body for social enterprise – first as Director of Business and from January 2015 as Deputy CEO. My remit was primarily to aid the transition of the organisation from a grant-reliant, government-centred model to a social enterprise itself with members at its heart. Achievements in that time included:

• in profit every year but one in my time at the organisation
• membership more than trebled in that time (member numbers and member income up each year for six years)
• Social Value Act in law and being implemented; SEUK the leader in the field
• Buy Social campaign with £1bn spend target with corporate partners
• Social Enterprise Places programme growing reach and networks locally
• research more credible and widely-read than ever before

Before SEUK, I was freelancing for about 8 months, on a whole range of different projects; check out the blog posts from February 2011 onwards for more details.

Before that, I was Policy and Communications Director at the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE), which was a broad role encompassing all on- and offline communications, all policy work with government, fundraising from multiple sources, and overseeing SSE’s evaluation and research streams. Over the last few months, I designed, recruited and facilitated two new specialist learning programmes for leading social entrepreneurs (on social franchising) and for leaders of NHS spin-outs (right to request social enterprises). Before that, I was SSE’s Network Director, managing the franchise and working to expand the network of SSEs across the UK and internationally.

Previously, I was Director of the Global Ideas Bank, an online democratic think-tank devoted to social innovation: creativity for social benefit. I also helped co-ordinate the Natural Death Centre, the UK’s only independent organisation giving funeral advice and information direct to the public (yes, slightly unusual, but if you ever need advice on environmentally-friendly funerals….).

Before that, my background is in literature, which I studied at Warwick and Queen Mary and Westfield Universities.