Our Associates

Alice
Solutions Testing Associate

Alice is an independent project and change management consultant. Alice works with and assists charities and their teams to implement change; particularly around processes, systems, people, and software. Alice’s primary aim is to ensure the effective and successful delivery of their projects in order to drive development, quality, and efficiency; in a way that shares knowledge and skills to allow charities to continue to manage projects themselves in the future, providing support if required. Alice has worked in the world of project management for many years, with all levels of experience from operational delivery through to senior management and trustees, and has a person centred style and approach. She’s experienced in planning and successfully executing on projects ranging from community funded development and service delivery, through to bespoke IT system replacement, CRM Implementation, and Web Integration. Alice’s work also involves implementing new processes and procedures to support operational and organisational management. She initially worked in Child Protection and Youth Offending, before moving on to Communities and Health, and finally focusing IT Software and Systems using Agile and traditional approaches focusing especially on NFP. As such, Alice brings a breadth of experience and knowledge that can be applied to a variety of charities. The support Alice provides is primarily specifying, planning, and successfully implementing projects and change. Alice has worked with a wide range of organisations including Missio, London City Mission, Versus Arthritis, Art for History, Groupcall, BlueSky Communications, teamSOS, World Land Trust, National Literacy Trust, The Schools Library Association, Justice Defenders, Royal Lifesaving Society and many more; along with being a Lloyds Bank Foundation Enhance Partner and having experience with many software suppliers in the sector. Alice is qualified/certified in: - IBITGQ EU General Data Protection Regulation Practitioner (GDPR P) - IBITGQ EU General Data Protection Regulation Foundation (GDPR F) Member of the Project Management Institute, qualified in: - Project Manager Professional (PMI-PMP) – Alice’s PMI qualifications can be independently checked at https://certification.pmi.org/registry.aspx - Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) – This qualification can also be independently checked at https://certification.pmi.org/registry.aspx - PRINCE2 - Alice’s PRINCE2 qualification can also be independently checked by using her Candidate Number P2R/625337 Alice’s specialist areas are/include: - IT systems, CRMs, and websites (inc. procurement and vendor selection). - Organisational development and change (IT strategy, organisation restructures). - Developing new or existing processes, tools, and procedures for organisations to continue. Alice combines project management skills with technical awareness, and an ability to make complex information readily understandable at all levels. She’s also experienced in working with and managing Suppliers and Third Parties, ensuring everyone is working together effectively with a positive relationship. Projects and changes can vary in terms of length and amount of support, Alice will ensure that the expectations are set and understood by all involved, and regularly discussed if they need updating. Alice’s aim is to always add value, particularly by bringing clarity and sanity to projects and change, and keeping teams motivated.

Andrew
Technology Strategy and Operations Associate

Andrew has 30 years' experience in senior technology roles and has spent the last 15 years driving change and delivering strategies at some of the largest and best-known names in the not-for-profit sector including Comic Relief, British Red Cross, and Cancer Research UK. As CTO at Comic Relief, he unified the Digital, Data & Technology teams, delivering technology to support diversification of income streams and measurement of social change. At Cancer Research UK he led a radical shift to innovative infrastructure to support the rapid growth of scientific systems and tools. At British Red Cross he transformed the management of a huge end-user computing estate to deliver a simplified, integrated post-pandemic work environment. Prior to his work in the charity sector, Andrew spent 12 years in the pharmaceuticals sector as European IT Director for Novartis Biopharmaceuticals and as Director of Global Finance systems at GSK. He played a leading role in the integration of GSK’s Head Office systems during the merger of GlaxoWellcome and SmithKline Beecham. An excellent lateral thinker, Andrew uses a collaborative approach to find innovative solutions and to deliver change via close working partnerships with business leaders, partner organisations, and staff. His focus is on building trust and confidence for senior management teams that their technology strategies and solutions are supporting delivery their vision. A keen golfer, Andrew also enjoys spending time watching cricket and attending live music concerts of artists ranging from Bach to Boy Genius. Andrew is also, pro-bono, a director and CTO of Trickle, a start-up which will use open banking to deliver an effortless charitable-giving platform.

Angelina
IT Service Management Associate

Angelina is passionate about the third sector and has actively supported and volunteered for charities such as Marie Curie, DogsTrust, HARP Southend, I CAN, Alzheimer's Society and Pancreatic Cancer UK. As a leader within the IT sector, having worked in the industry for approx. 20 years, Angelina has gained skills and experience with digital technology derived from designing new services, leading change projects, and delivering managed services. She has supported business growth, fostered client relationships and driven engagement with third-party service providers. Angelina has provided advisory services to C-level stakeholders to develop strategies and enabled clients to deliver services for transformation programmes. With a background in outsourcing and consulting, Angelina has been responsible for teams delivering managed services. She is also an I.T Service Management (ITSM) SME with delivery, transformation and design experience for FTSE 100 and global clients, specialising in UK Public Sector accounts. Angelina has provided advisory services to senior client stakeholders with the Public Sector to help develop their service strategies and delivery support for transformation programmes/projects. Angelina has undertaken roles in service architecture to design and transition new services into early capability SIAM (Service Integration and Management) models and fulfilled capability gaps to integrate new service providers for business-critical IT services. She has been responsible for developing service and technical strategy, defining interim and future state operating models incorporating COTS, SaaS and Cloud-based solutions. Angelina is particularly experienced in the following areas: • Team management and project delivery • Developing service roadmaps and strategies • Reviewing live services and identifying recommendations for service improvement initiatives • Defining process and tool requirements • Developing conceptual/logical architecture for services • Developing service offerings & performance schedules (SLAs/KPIs).

Bertie
Digital Fundraising Associate

Bertie helps organisations of all sizes develop their online presence, transform their digital culture, raise money online, improve engagement with their audiences, select the right technology, and pilot projects. He has over 20 years experience in digital (and an indelible French accent). Bertie started his career in the charity sector at British Heart Foundation where he established the first online team and wrote BHF initial online fundraising strategy. He then joined Breast Cancer Care, where he implemented a range of online tools to support beneficiaries. Bertie started working as an independent consultant in 2012. He has worked with over 100 NGOs including the UN World Food Programme, Tearfund, Mind, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Trussell Trust… He works with CharityComms on the Digital Benchmark, a collaborative tool used by more than 70 UK charities who share their digital data in order to compare and evaluate their online performance. Recently, Bertie helped the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement with the procurement of a global donation platform and the associated process to help small countries fundraising online. He has been working on the digital transformation programme of Handicap International / Humanity & Inclusion since 2015 and he's now helping the French, Belgium, and Swiss associations change their internal processes and mindset to increase engagement with external audiences.

Beverley
Data Protection Associate

Bev has worked in the data protection arena for over 20 years, mainly employed in the charity / not-for-profit and public sectors. Until May 2023 she was the DPO for Crisis UK (the national homelessness charity) but has also worked for or supported the NSPCC, local children's and adults hospice-based charities, plus debt relief and humanitarian based organisations. A bit of a cookie evangelist, Bev is passionate about the ethical use of data and supporting organisations in developing their understanding of what really happens when they deploy third party cookies on their websites and Apps and the potential risks to both site visitors and an organisation's reputation. Known for her approachable style and pragmatism when it comes to data protection and marketing compliance, Bev embeds a risk based approach with all her clients. Bev is ISEB certified in both data protection and Information Security Management.

David
Finance Solutions Associate

David is a qualified accountant and Agile project management practitioner, bringing practical, commercial, challenging and effective thinking to projects he has worked on. David specialises in finance & grant management system implementations and process improvement, and recent clients include Maudsley Charity, Santa Rosa and C-Vu Body Corporates (New Zealand). After training and qualifying as an accountant (ACA) in New Zealand, David spent 5 years in public practice before entering the commercial workspace, including 11 years with the Lion Nathan Group (New Zealand's largest drinks company) in Business Partner/Commercial/GM Finance roles and as CEO of their gaming charity. David moved on to a GM of a high growth learning difficulty provider before moving into Project Consulting assisting property development owners navigate their way through the litigation and subsequent reconstruction of weather compromised apartments. At the same time, he was overseeing operational systems and process improvement for a hospitality chain. Upon moving to the UK, David spent 2½ years at Maudsley Charity, initially to implement aCloud (Access Financials) after selection with Adapta's help, to 'go live', including overseeing all training, adding in historic data, building bespoke reporting and delivering on a year-end consolidated set of financials at the push of a button. Additional projects were completed for the charity, including resolution of VAT issues, scheme of delegation, and project management of the charity's new grants management system, integrating payments into aCloud. Additional projects for the charity's trading included enhancing subsidiary systems (Priava booking system) and their processes for repatriating information and cash managed by their agent. Currently, David is also working with a UK international development charity on systems review, with a particular focus on improving the 'process pain' in Financial Force. From a systems perspective, David has implemented Microsoft Great Plains with Lion Nathan Charity from a lead user perspective, along with Access Financials at Maudsley Charity. In both cases, system interconnectedness was part of the overall design, as was standardised reporting. Currently, he has had exposure to Financial Force and by extension SalesForce and their linkages. Financial Systems David has been exposed to include Microsoft Dynamics/Great Plains, MFG Pro, Access Financials, MYOB, QuickBooks, XERO, Nomisma, Financial Force (and by extension SalesForce and their linkages). His all-rounded financial/accounting, IT systems and project management experience helps him navigate to competence quickly when assisting clients with implementing new systems.

Deji
Programme Management Associate

Deji is a highly qualified management consultant with 8+ years' experience in leading and supporting on large-scale transformation programmes across central and local government. His key areas of specialism include: • Business case development • Economic and financial analysis • Regulatory impact assessment • Quantitative and qualitative research • Policy and strategy development • Project and programme management Deji is an APMG-accredited Better Business Cases™ Practitioner with extensive experience in developing, assessing and gaining approval for high-value business cases across government, in line with organisational and HMT Green Book requirements. His business case experience spans across a broad range of sectors including housing, transport, health and social services, education, technology, nuclear and the environment. Deji currently operates as a freelance consultant across the public sector, having previously spent six years working at Deloitte and Ernst & Young. He is also a PRINCE2® Practitioner and AgilePM® Practitioner with an in-depth understanding of best practices in project and stakeholder management.

Duncan
Fundraising Databases Associate

Duncan has been helping not for profits to make the most from their investment in database systems, since he first started working as an independent consultant in 2012. Originally specialising in The Raiser’s Edge, he has also worked with many other CRM products including ThankQ, Salesforce and Beacon. His database career started in 2003, when he unwittingly took over the managing of a Raiser’s Edge installation almost before he’d ever heard of it. That was an early and steep learning curve, but he’s never been one to shy away from a challenge. Along the way, he has become increasingly involved in related areas, such as advising on fundraising campaigns and strategies and mentoring up and coming database managers. His key focus has always been on keeping things as simple as possible and ensuring that the database works for the team and not the other way around. Additionally, he often employs creative, cost-effective methods to help organisations that find themselves in a situation where their database really isn’t working for the team and where they might be considering a migration to a new system. In such situations, he has a variety of tools and approaches that can help you get the best out of the database in a slightly different way. Outside of his database consultancy work, Duncan runs his own production company, making great videos.

Hamish
Programmes and Business Solutions Associate

"After a long career working in the ‘big 4’ consultancies I want to use my experience to help organisations whose goals and ethos align with my own. That is why I want to focus on the not-for-profit sector."

Hamish is an IT professional with over 30 years’ experience. He specialises in IT enabled business transformation with a focus on ensuring clients get the best business value from their IT investments. He has extensive knowledge of ERP, CRM and HR systems and was a founding member of the Deloitte Enterprise Architecture group which focussed on the selection, implementation and strategic use of Commercial of the shelf (COTS) software. Hamish has helped over 100 organisations find, implement and embed the best solution for their needs. These include housing associations, membership organisations, local authorities, government agencies and many other not for-profit and commercial organisations Hamish’s NFP clients include the Royal Society of Medicine, the Labour Party, UCAS, Cancer Research UK, Orbit Housing Association, William Sutton Trust, Bourneville Village Trust and many local authorities. Hamish’s first degree (BA Hons) was in Religious Studies at Lancaster University, and after graduating he embarked on a career in IT. He is PRINCE2, MSP and TOGAF qualified and completed CIMA part 1.

“Hamish is especially adept at aligning project outcomes and system architecture with organisational objectives, ensuring that all projects meet both functional and strategic goals. He is highly collaborative and works seamlessly with colleagues at all levels across the organisation.”

Iain
Associate Principal Consultant

Iain specialises in information systems solutions for charities and other not-for-profit organisations. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the industry, having started in a software house, before training as a consultant with KPMG and then holding senior management positions both in charities, such as The Children's Society and The Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust, and in the commercial sector, where he was International Group IT Director for the Random House book publishing group. Iain was formerly a partner with Sayer Vincent for over 10 years, where he led the information systems consultancy team which later became Adapta. Iain draws on his deep and wide-ranging personal experience of the sector to guide charities to develop their own achievable strategies for information systems and technology. His technical background means that he is able to combine a full appreciation of the technical and commercial issues with an understanding of the culture and context in which charities try to operate. Iain has helped The King’s Fund, Girlguiding UK, Overseas Development Institute, Macmillan Cancer Support, Oxfam UK, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s charity, UNICEF UK, National Autistic Society, Alzheimer’s Society, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Shelter and many other organisations. Iain specialises in helping senior management teams understand and work through complex organisation-wide issues and also coaches and mentors a range of IT professionals working in charities. Iain is a senior figure in the sector and is regularly asked to share his expectations, hopes and fears for the sector at key charity events and sits on a number of specialist committees.

James
Digital Marketing and CRM Associate

James specialises in helping our clients build highly effective marketing strategies and successful marketing operation decisions. Including brand positioning, the marketing technology stack and digital customer experience, ensuring relevant fit for purpose, the organisation and realised value. James is a highly experienced marketing and digital consultant, having helped clients in a range of sectors – including SaaS technology, publishing, travel and hardware. In addition James has held numerous senior marketing roles, leading teams, projects and programmes in a range of both small and large global organisations, including people and process change, marketing automation platform and CRM selection and integrations, digital experience, content and social media marketing, programmatic, retargeting and analytics. In addition to 20 years professional marketing experience James' qualifications include Chartered Institute of Marketing's postgraduate diploma, he is Pragmatic Institute trained in strategic product marketing and holds a B.Ed (Hons) degree from Oxford Brookes University.

James
Fractional CIO and IT Strategy Associate

James is a senior IT executive focusing on the development and implementation of innovative IT strategies in support of organisational growth and change. He spent 20 years in large corporates such as the Warner Music Group, where he led the International team responsible for the business process re-engineering, systems design and application build supporting the transition of The Warner Music Group from a physical product production and sales organisation to being able to successfully function in the emerging digital music market. As the IT Director for Bunzl UK and Ireland he led the adoption of digital technology in support of logistical operations and business analytics, the selection, design and implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and the transition to cloud-based infrastructure and applications. In 2016 he set up his own consultancy providing guidance to ambitious small to medium businesses on the optimal use of digital technology in support of their business strategies. In 2019 he moved into the INGO sector to lead a global, technology driven transformation programme at Plan International (a global children’s charity), where he drove the design, development and implementation of standardised reporting and project management applications for field-based teams and the design and development of an organisation wide implementation of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP system. Following this he took responsibility for the enterprise architecture of the organisation to ensure the fit for purpose and value of all IT solutions. James is an innovative technologist able to develop IT strategies in support of complex business needs. Beyond strategic development he is able to lead the identification and development of appropriate solutions and drive their successful implementation. His areas of functional expertise lie in financial/grants management, outcome reporting, project management, enterprise resource planning, logistics and business analytics.

Jo
Data Strategy Associate

Jo has worked with data in the not-for-profit sector for over 25 years and has been an independent consultant supporting organisations with data strategy, data governance and data quality since 2018. Jo is passionate about helping organisations of all sizes and causes overcome their frustrations with poor quality data so they can deliver their mission efficiently, with reliable information, and with confidence that they are GDPR compliant. Jo started off in supporter care and subsequently database fundraising for Christian Aid. She then ran the individual giving programme and managed the Raiser 's Edge database at Notting Hill Housing Trust. A long stint at the Advertising Standards Authority gave Jo extensive exposure to Microsoft Dynamics CRM through her work as a business analyst and project manager to deliver process, system and data improvements. Jo was also a school governor for 5 years, supporting the governing body and leadership team in particular with data literacy. Specialisms include: • Data governance frameworks and implementation • Root cause analysis of data quality issues and their resolution • Scoping and requirements for data migrations and integrations • Designing and implementing business process improvements • Landscape analysis including data lifecycles and conceptual data models • Creating business data glossaries • Data fluency Jo 's work is underpinned by her interest and enthusiasm for making improvements, helping people understand the reliance on data to deliver their vision, and then guiding them on that journey. Jo is comfortable working with people at all levels and in both technical and non-technical roles. Jo can advise on strategic aspects of data as well as getting involved in day-to-day detail. Jo is a Certified Data Management Professional (DAMA) and has formal qualifications from the BCS in Requirements Engineering, Business Process Modelling, Business Analysis Practice and Commercial Awareness. She also holds the Foundation certificate for PRINCE2 and the Open University's Certificate in Winning Resources and Support. Jo has also undertaken training in the Ten Steps™ process, an internationally-recognised framework for improving Data Quality in organisations.

Jo
IT Training and Processes Associate

Jo has over 25 years’ experience in IT training and implementation in both the commercial and not-for-profit sectors. Jo specialises in helping organisations realise the full potential of their digital tools and assets and is involved in digital adoption and transformation leading to positive returns and delivering value on organisations’ IT investments. Jo’s areas of expertise include training needs analysis, training course development, delivery, evaluation and support. She has many years’ experience on project managing new system implementations. Jo is passionate about delivering contextual and personalised IT training, teaching users to understand, adopt and embrace the collaborative and efficient ways of working that IT systems offer. Jo develops learning resources in multiple formats; online and classroom training, videos, e-learning, user guides, knowledge bases and train the trainer, delivered to end users, super users and administrators. She has significant work and training experience of Microsoft 365 apps including SharePoint Online and various legal, finance, recruitment, CRM and health systems. Jo has worked with a number of not-for-profit organisations including councils, charitable and religious organisations and enjoys working with smaller organisations supporting them in improving their technology proficiency.

John
Enterprise Architecture Associate

Chartered IT Professional and TOGAF 9.1 Certified Enterprise Architect with an MBA in Technology Management, BSc (Hons) in Computer Science and over 20 years’ experience of providing the “glue” that combines people, process and technology to deliver business value. Extensive experience of technical, solution, enterprise and product architecture. John is used to operating in a global environment, where technology often plays a mission critical role. A key strength is his ability to rapidly assimilate, filter, digest and extract insight from large amounts of new information. This has enabled him to work successfully across a range of industries including telco, ISP, system integrator, media, oil and gas exploration, finance and payments industries – from start-ups to large corporates. Further John is Zachman trained and certified in COBIT 5, ITIL v3 and PRINCE2; a specialist in setting up and operating architecture and governance processes and deploying tools/repositories. He has a substantial track record of aligning business and IT strategy, architecting complex and innovative technology transformations and providing appropriate governance. He is used to leading projects using both in-house personnel and out-sourced consultancy teams with a track record of building positive and productive collaborative relationships with diverse stakeholders at all levels. John is also a graduate of the Cranfield IT Leadership Programme.

Jon
Fractional CIO Associate

Jon is a dynamic technology leader with over 15 years of experience in scaling operations and delivering large-scale, complex digital transformation projects. Combining deep technical expertise with strategic commercial insight, Jon excels in aligning technology solutions with business goals to drive growth and operational excellence. He has successfully led IT infrastructure transformation projects, cloud migrations, and strategic product development initiatives. His work includes establishing robust ICT governance frameworks, optimizing IT service delivery, and steering cloud transitions to Azure, enhancing scalability and security. Previously, Jon founded and led Octopus Travel Matrix, a global SaaS company in the tour and events industry, guiding it from startup to a profitable exit. His entrepreneurial leadership encompassed product development, DevOps, and global business operations. As CIO of Aerartis, Jon ensured compliance with rigorous industry standards (ISO, IATA, FCA) and played a pivotal role in securing venture capital funding, leading investor presentations, and scaling service operations to support rapid growth. Jon is also the CEO and Owner of Octopus Computers, where he transformed a regional IT support provider into a leading Managed Service Provider (MSP). Under his leadership, the company secured key partnerships with Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Dell, and HP, delivering over 400 successful infrastructure and migration projects and supporting clients in achieving critical compliance certifications. Jon's early career includes significant operational achievements in the automotive sector as Operations Manager at Auto-Kit International, where he streamlined production efficiency and secured major contracts with industry leaders like Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin. Jon is recognized for his ability to bridge the gap between technical execution and business strategy, making him an invaluable asset to organizations seeking transformative growth through technology.

Jon
IT Service Management & Delivery Associate

Jon is a passionate ITIL qualified service management leader with over 35 years of experience across private and government sectors. He specialises in IT Service Management (ITSM), combining strategic leadership with practical expertise to deliver solutions that meet business needs. Jon is experienced in Service Strategy, Design, Transitions, and Service Transformations – taking a full lifecycle approach across multiple technology stacks, including cloud, applications and infrastructure. He is also a ‘Community of Practice’ leader for Service Level and Performance Management, Supplier and Vendor relationship management. Jon’s areas of expertise include: • Service Management and Delivery. • Process design and implementation. • IT Service Management lifecycles. • Transitions, internal resourcing, managed service providers and technology partners. • RFP and supplier selections. • Service level and performance management. Jon spent 5 years in WPP, the largest creative agency in the world developing and growing the D2D capability. Prior to this, circa 20 years in consulting and contracting, working in service delivery and transition roles at Vodafone, MM02, and within Central Government and Defence. He has deep experience in digital transformation and SAFE Agile environments. Jon’s recent not-for-profit sector clients include the Pilgrims’ Friend Society, offering service management leadership and helping their managed services partner to deliver a Cyber Essentials project.

Katharine
Digital Projects Associate

Katharine is an experienced digital strategist focused on empowering non-profits to maximise the value of their digital channels and systems. With a unique blend of expertise in fundraising, marketing, communications, and supporter experience, she bridges the gap between technical teams and business stakeholders, ensuring seamless collaboration and effective delivery. Having started her career as digital was emerging, Katharine is highly adept at identifying, understanding, and leveraging new technologies, systems, and platforms to meet organisational needs. Her experience spans the utilities, arts and heritage, and charity sectors, where she excels at interpreting business processes and driving impactful digital transformation. Throughout her career, Katharine has led numerous high-profile projects, including website rebuilds, rebranding initiatives, app development, and the implementation of new CRM systems. She has hands-on experience in business requirement gathering, securing investment bids, managing procurement processes, and overseeing ongoing support contracts. Katharine’s expertise also extends to direct delivery and system administration, ensuring that projects are successfully executed and continuously optimised.

Libby
Principal Associate Consultant

"I chose a career in the sector because of its focus and ethos. As a consultant, I'm fascinated by the range of charities I work with and the opportunities to help organisations and people be more successful in what they do."

Libby specialises in helping organisations with project governance and programmes of change. She has a post-graduate diploma in voluntary sector management from Cass Business School, is a PRINCE2 project management practitioner, an MSP (managing successful programmes) practitioner and an Agile Project Management practitioner. She develops strategies and business cases, leads on project governance, coaches and mentors project managers and teams, and provides quality assurance and project reviews. Libby helps organisations achieve successful IT projects with activities such as business processes analysis, requirements identification, software selection and implementation. She works with organisations to achieve efficiencies and improvements in operational areas. A former senior manager with Sayer Vincent, Libby has extensive experience of the not-for-profit sector. She has worked with a wide range of clients including British Horse Society, Christian Aid, Crisis, Enham Trust, the Football Foundation, I CAN, RNLI, Sue Ryder Care, the Vegan Society, WAGGGS, Womankind and World Animal Protection. Before joining Sayer Vincent, Libby held several senior roles within charities, primarily international aid and development organisations. Libby is a member of the British Computer Society, The Chartered Institute for IT, and formerly was an advisor to the third sector project management forum. She has previously been a volunteer and trustee of a small charity that carried out holidays and other activities with disabled and socially disadvantaged children.

"Libby Hare was the consultant that we worked with on our IT change project. We achieved the change needed and our goals were met in an appropriate timescale."

Liz
AI Safety and Data Protection Associate

Liz Curry began her career working in theatre publicity, spending 10 years at the National Theatre in various marketing roles. She worked briefly with the UN on the first Mozambican General Election and travelled through East Africa before joining Comic Relief, where she was involved in a variety of projects. Liz became Comic Relief’s first CRM Manager in 2002 where she was responsible for the development of the role, including process analysis, design and implementation of all fulfilment processes for the Red Nose Day and Sport Relief campaigns: streamlining the process to efficiently delivery hundreds and thousands of pieces of print materials. She also redesigned the way gift aid was processed, winning Information Age’s Most Effective Use of IT in a Charitable Organisation 2007, in recognition of claiming £7.5m worth of Gift Aid from Red Nose Day donors and won the Grand Prix: Most Effective IT Project 2007. She mapped out a better way of income reporting during campaign, identified bottlenecks, redundancies and inefficiencies and engaged stakeholders to understand areas for improvement, then instituted a system of daily income reporting to SRT. She was later appointed Business Planning and Processes Manager with specific responsibility for designing new business processes around the introduction of GDPR. The programme won the Best GDPR Programme and Grand Prix winner in DataIQ’s Talent Awards in 2017. Liz is now an independent consultant and associate consultant with Adapta. Her current clients include Wood Green, The Animals Charity, The Hugs Foundation and Livewire Consultancy (as Data Protection Officer); The Mercury Theatre, Colchester (working with the Marketing team to redesign processes and hit their targets) and Be the Business. Past clients include: Barnardo’s, Marie Curie, Versus Arthritis, The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, and We Are Family, the adoption charity. Other awards include: Marketing Week’s Data Strategy Award for 2013; Data IQ’s Real Mail Marketer of the Year in 2013; and the 2013 IoF Insight in Fundraising Award for Innovation; and the IoF Insight in Fundraising Award for Driving Strategy in 2012. She was also named in the DataIQ Big Data 100 list for three years running. Liz became a member of the IDM/DMA’s Data Council in 2014 and is a member of both the DMA’s Governance Committee and Fundraising Forum (and occasional chair of webinars).

Louis
User Insight and Innovation Associate

Louis is an Innovation Strategist with a passion for navigating complexity and driving tangible outcomes He brings over a decade of experience in the non-profit sector, working at organisations such as Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, Samaritans, British Heart Foundation, and Prostate Cancer UK. Throughout his 11-year journey, Louis has honed his expertise in insight-led innovation and thrives on identifying opportunities which unlock growth. One of the skills he’s developed along the way is designing and delivering impactful workshops which empower teams to solve problems and make informed decisions. Louis is renowned for his ability to translate intricate challenges into actionable strategies, guiding teams toward sustainable solutions. Leveraging his deep understanding of the non-profit landscape, he has spearheaded numerous initiatives that have made a huge impact. A big advocate for collaborative working, Louis prioritises harnessing the knowledge of individuals within the organisation and utilises a wide-range of tools from Design Thinking, Agile and Service Design to improve collaboration. His commitment to delivering exceptional results has been evidenced by his track record of success in innovating fundraising products.

Manoj
Cyber Security Associate

Manoj is focussed on helping all companies of all sizes in being more cyber security prepared. Recognising that cyber security costs can spiral, Manoj specialises to supporting companies understand where to better spend their money, yet protecting them from the ever increasing cyber security threats. Manoj has more than 20 years’ experience in the cyber security industry. In 2021, he was named as one of the top performing cyber security leaders due to his wide range of engagements and services to the cyber security community and businesses. Manoj has been a judge for the CSO30 awards for the past three years and regularly speaks at cyber security conferences advising some of the top cyber security leaders on which cyber security investments they should consider for their businesses. Manoj’s broad experience in establishing cyber security functions across Telstra in EMEA and Sopra Steria in the UK means Manoj has a wide range of experience across a variety of cyber security domains. Manoj specialises in providing cyber security assessments and strategies to businesses so they can make the most out of their cyber security investments while addressing the risks and threats that affect them.

Mark
Data Protection and Information Security Associate

Mark began his career in stage and theatre management, working in commercial and subsidised theatre. He held a number of roles in the arts funding sector including Head of National Touring and then Director of Business Process for Arts Council England. Following the Arts Council, Mark spent nearly seven years at Comic Relief, firstly as Head of Grants Operations, then Head of Business Planning and Process and for a short period as Director of Operations. At Comic Relief Mark was the Designated Safeguarding Lead and the Data Protection Officer. The GDPR compliance programme (co-designed with colleague Liz Curry) won the Best GDPR Programme and Grand Prix winner in DataIQ’s Talent Awards in 2017. After leaving Comic Relief, Mark clients have included Barnardo’s, Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, Be the Business, Hyphen8, Wellcome Trust and Marie Curie. Mark has been a school governor and has held directorships and trusteeships in a number of not-for profit arts organisations and is currently the Chair of trustees of We Are Family, a peer-to-peer adoption support charity, Chair of The Blue Tangerine Charity that supports a federation of SEND schools and Vice Chair of Trustees of the Mercury Theatre Colchester. Mark has more than 20 years strategic leadership and management experience in the charity sector. He has extensive experience and practical knowledge of charity regulation and governance, and of leading strategic business planning; efficiency and transformation projects; team leadership; policy and process development and implementation; grant-making; data protection; and IT system implementation.

Matt
Smaller Charities Associate

Matt has over 20 years experience working with information technology, initially within university administration and then for a range of clients providing IT solutions in the small business and not-for-profit sectors. Matt's skills are wide-ranging, including: network design and installation; management of cloud services; management of IT infrastructure and assets; IT strategy; policy review, development and documentation; security analysis; IT support services and resourcing; system administration; and web application development. He has extensive project management experience having worked with clients on various projects including cloud migrations, finance system migrations, web application development and system integrations as well as providing day-to-day support services for clients IT infrastructure and users. He has long been an advocate and supporter of open source solutions and was recruited by the Linux Foundation to participate in a committee to define required knowledge and skills for Linux professionals. Matt especially enjoys working closely with organisations, analysing their requirements and objectives with the end goal of providing IT solutions that are the 'best fit' for that organisation: be they bespoke, open source or proprietary. Away from work Matt is a keen walker, plays bass guitar, and, despite the frustrations, still plays golf. He has a BA Hons in History and MSc in Computer Science and continues to develop his technology skills.

Nicole
Data Governance Associate

Nicole has worked in data governance for over 10 years and more recently she has been working independently as an associate. She has extensive experience of implementing data governance frameworks (defining policies, processes and roles/responsibilities) and also working with data owners to define requirements for master data management systems (namely SAP MDG and S4 HANA) to support data governance processes. Nicole also has experience and a keen interest in all aspects of data quality and helping organisations to identify their pain points and turn these around to achieve value from their data - so much so that she was a technical reviewer for a Data Quality book recently. Nicole started out her career as a Business Analyst in various industries (pharma, health and fitness and telecoms), helping to drive business process improvements and acting as an intermediary between business and IT teams. She subsequently transitioned into the field of data governance where she worked on a large business transformation programme and she played a key role in implementing data governance on a global level. This was a long-term programme of work where the data governance elements evolved over time, guided by business changes and technical advances. Nicole recognises the importance of developing a strong data culture in order for data governance initiatives to be successful and her business analysis background has helped provide the people skills needed to liaise with stakeholders at all levels and to be able to work with both business and technical resources. One of Nicole’s key strengths is being able to act as an advisor to people who may or may not be data focussed and helping to them to identify their data vision and guide them on how they can apply data governance to achieve value from their data.

Paul
Analytics and Technology Operations Associate

With an IT career spanning thirty years, including five years managing a network for the MoD, and more than twenty years as Technical Director of an award-winning Managed Service Provider (MSP), Paul has particular experience in Business Intelligence, process automation and supporting organisations through Managed Service Provider selection. Through his experience in the MSP sector, Paul has a deep understanding of how MSPs work and what excellent service looks like behind the scenes. As such, he is able to ‘cut through’ the sales pitch and ask challenging questions to ensure the right fit for our clients. Paul has spent the last five years developing business intelligence solutions with PowerBI, and automating business processes with Power Automate. His business intelligence projects have helped organisations automate manual reporting by bringing together data from disparate sources, reducing workload and errors, as well as uncovering new, transformational insights. His business process work has resulted in significant cost savings by automating time consuming manual processes, allowing teams to focus on more interesting work that delivers greater value to the business. Paul is a certified Microsoft Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate and a Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Associate.

Philip
Associate Principal Consultant

Philip is a senior IT professional, experienced in leadership positions such as IT Director / Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He has a particular focus on technology strategy, architecture and consultancy. Adapta clients have included Asthma UK, Cranstoun, Earthwatch, Enham Trust, the Labour Party, Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, Lymphoma Action, the Mental Health Foundation, NSPCC, PCS Union, Pony Club UK, SignHealth, the Royal Society, the Trussell Trust and the Woodland Trust. Commercial experience included senior management roles at Sopra Steria and its public-private joint venture Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL), 2012-2016. Before that (2003-2012), Philip provided IT leadership as a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Justice (CTO) and the National Offender Management Service (CIO). Earlier, as Technical Director, Philip led the European professional services team for Software.com (later known as Openwave), specialising in email software, following a similar role with HP Consulting. He has travelled widely and worked overseas in the Americas, Europe and Asia, including having lived for three years in India as a British Council officer. Philip has significant experience at board level in both commercial and voluntary organisations, as non-executive director, charity trustee and chairman. Philip was previously Chair of Trustees at Eduserv, a not-for-profit IT services business. Philip has held numerous voluntary roles within the Church of England and the United Reformed Church, from local to national levels. He has advised both the Alzheimers' Society and the Church of England on IT strategy, information security, programme delivery and organisational design, on a voluntary basis. He has also been a school governor in both the UK and in India, and served as the chair of trustees for Hands of Compassion, supporting primary education in Zambia. Philip read Natural Sciences and Mathematics (MA MMath) at the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIoD FBCS MIET).

Philippa
HR Associate

Philippa has a wealth of consultancy experience both in the private and not-for-profit sectors. She specialises in HR specifically carrying out HR audits; return on investment (ROI) of, for example, the training function; employment law issues including reviewing contracts, policies and procedures, as well as running investigations for disciplinary, grievance and long-term sickness issues. She has worked with charities, housing associations, membership organisations as well as having clients in the private sector. Most recently, client work has included: HR audit; writing staff handbooks; - leading on GDPR; - dealing with whistle-blowing and NMW claims; - facilitating sessions to develop competency frameworks; - facilitating sessions to develop banks of recruitment and selection questions around competency and valued-based recruitment, and - dealing with complaints against a CEO and a Chief Executive. Philippa has runs her own successful HR consultancy. She sat as a Board Trustee for the NSPCC from 2007 until 2016 where she also sat on the Divisional Trustee Committee and the Finance Committee. She is a Pension Trustee of the NSPCC Pension Fund. Philippa was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the New Year's Honours List in 2018 for her charity work. With nine years as a Trustee, she has a wealth of experience and insight as to how charities run and the issues they face. Philippa is a Chartered Fellow (CFCIPD) of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and has written articles for WoltersKluwer, provided written content for CIPD products, and co-wrote 'The Induction Pocketbook' for the Management Pocketbooks series. She brings a wide range of skills and knowledge to Adapta including HR expertise and facilitating meetings, interviews and workshops. Philippa is used to working with a range of clients including housing associations, membership organizations and charities as well as media, advertising, family-owned companies and, of course, different sizes of client including organizations with between 10 and 20 staff to those with 4000 worldwide. She is used to dealing at Board level as well as all other levels.

Ruth
Microsoft 365 and Knowledge Management Associate

Ruth is an experienced Microsoft Certified Trainer and a Teamwork specialist who has been working on implementing collaboration technologies to help clients with adoption and roll out of new technologies. An Information Technology industry professional with 25 years of experience in both commercial and not-for-profit sectors. Ruth's areas of expertise include training and consulting on Microsoft 365 cloud products, business analysis, migration to cloud platforms and helping clients make the most of their IT investments. Having worked on a broad range of projects and with many different organisations, Ruth would like to bring her skills and experience from commercial sector to help not-for-profit organisations to achieve their mission and objectives. She is passionate about delivering value to organisations that have direct impact on people's lives and well-being. Ruth has worked with a number of charities and not-for-profit organisations including Housing associations, disabled and mental health organisations, as well councils over the past 10-15 years and has recently been working on an Office 365 based implementing for a local mental health charity. In her own time Ruth is a chair and trustee of a local charity and is very active in her local community.

Sian
Digital Marketing Associate

With a passion for driving business growth and fostering strategic success, Sian is a seasoned professional renowned for strategic planning and marketing strategy, and has a particular passion for data, systems and numbers. Over 15 years, Sian has collaborated with a diverse range of businesses, from start-ups to established organisations, delivering transformative strategies and actionable plans that drive business development and growth. Sian has a proven track record of implementing business growth strategies, launching successful marketing projects and orchestrating performance turnarounds in a multitude of industries including not-for-profit, finance, healthcare, trades and automotive. Sian possesses an acute ability to leverage stakeholder knowledge bridge with her gained experience and exposure to craft tailored strategies that capitalise on opportunities and mitigate risks. With a particular talent for developing strong client relationships, and bringing experience with building high-performing teams and innovative problem-solving, Sian combines an analytical approach with a keen eye for detail, consistently delivering results that exceed expectations. Among her notable achievements, in 2023 alone Sian has spearheaded 9 start-up strategies, complying with Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) requirements that have garnered more than £1.5M in external investment to help small businesses start their growth and development journey. Translating complex visions into actionable plans, navigating challenges, and steering businesses toward sustainable success, Sian has an unwavering commitment to excellence and a collaborative approach. Alongside consulting and coaching, Sian is a mentor on the UK Government’s ‘Help to Grow’ programme, whilst being an associated member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Association of Business Mentors.

Steve
IT Security, Risk & Compliance Associate

Steve began his interest in IT when he gate-crashed a school computer class, where he found it interesting so he signed up to the O level course Learning to program using punched paper-tape! After repeating the course, with some extra items, he obtained his A level and degree in Computer Studies and went on to work for ICL, being part of the ICL Health team developing applications for the NHS. Ten years at ICL and he decided to set up his own business and went freelance, working on projects for local and central government, and many utility companies, including being part of the architecture team for BT's five 1,000 seat call centres handling the "Friends and Family" project in the mid 90's; and being part of the start-up business that became 118118 in the early 2000's. More recently Steve has concentrated on the Information Security aspects of the organisations, finding his 40 years of IT experience a great benefit when dealing with today's IT environments. Since 2014 Steve has been involved in Information Security and the ISO27001 standard, having achieved over 20 successful certifications in that time. The approach he uses is to keep it simple so that staff understand the requirements and what they need to do, without the jargon and waffle. Steve has been a full member of the British Computer Society (BCS) since 1987, a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng) since 1995, Chartered Information Technology Professional (CITP) since 2004, a member of the Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec) since 2015 and a Core member of Cyber Wales since 2015. In his spare time he is involved with the local branches of Cancer Research, Talking Newspapers, Rotary and is a founder member of Electric Vehicle Association of Wales

Suzy
Change Delivery Associate

Suzy is a supportive, reliable, innovative and versatile project management and change management professional with strategic and operational experience in both private and not-for-profit sectors. She has worked with not-for-profit organisations for 15 years and in project management for over 20 years. Suzy’s specialties include project and change management, mentoring and coaching, business analysis, workshop facilitation, influencing and stakeholder management, system implementation, team management, communication, risk management, strategic planning, agile development, lean thinking, training, material development, and translating IT terminology into accessible language. Suzy started her career in the charity sector with the British Red Cross International Division to successfully manage a complex change programme to provide an efficient, accessible and effective way to manage the division’s information and support the project cycle methodology. This led to working for a Swedish IT consulting company to expand on what we’d developed, and deliver a streamlined efficient programme and information management system to many not-for-profit organisations facing similar challenges. Suzy has extensive experience of International not-for-profit organisations, having worked with a wide range of clients to provide robust, accessible and intuitive solutions. These included organisations such as UK based World Vision UK and ActionAid International; North American based Heifer International, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Canadian Red Cross; Swiss based Solidar Suisse and Swiss Red Cross, and Australia based Australian Red Cross and Oxfam Australia. Suzy continues to leverage her skills and experience to make a positive impact in the not-for-profit sector. She remains committed to helping organisations thrive through coaching and mentoring, driving innovation and fostering a culture of collaboration and supported improvement.