The Charity CEO Podcast

“It’s not the role of a Trustee to know all the answers; it’s asking great questions. And if we only have a homogeneous group of people on (a) Board, it lowers your ability to ask really great questions from different perspectives, which lowers our ability to manage risk.” Mita Desai is the Chief Executive of the Young Trustees Movement.  The Young Trustees Movement aims to double the number...

“Part of Ashgate’s ambition is to change the conversation about death and dying… to enable conversations to happen in daylight, in general conversation, about death and dying. We’re all going to die, its not something that any of us can avoid… ” Barbara-Anne Walker is the Chief Executive of Ashgate Hospice.  Ashgate Hospice is a specialist hospice, providing palliative and end of life care fo...

“It’s terrifying not being able to breathe… and that’s informed a lot of our strategic thinking and our positioning, because nobody should have to struggle to breathe and we can do so much better for people with lung conditions.” Sarah Woolnough is the CEO of the newly rebranded charity Asthma + Lung UK. Poor lung health is the 3rd biggest killer in the UK and yet only 2% of publicly funded medica...

“Believe in yourself. Believe that you do have the power to make the change… (Malala) believes in an individual’s ability and power to make the change that they so desire… she tells young women everywhere… believe in your story and believe in your own capacity to catalyse that change and make that impact.” The world knows the story of Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani education activist, who was...

“A big piece of what we are trying to do is work with the partners to get the food to where it’s working hardest… food is (just one) part of breaking the cycle of food insecurity.” Charlotte Hill is the new Chief Executive of The Felix Project, a charity dedicated to redistributing food and fighting food poverty in London.  The Felix Project believes in a vision of London where no-one goes hu...

“Technology has an incredible role to play in helping us deal with the challenges of children not being able to access education … but its (impact) is only in how we harness that technology and ensure that it’s grounded in local contexts and local needs.” Shirah Mansaray is the Founder and CEO of the charity, I Am Somebody’s Child Soldier.  Having recently joined the Board of Amnesty Internat...

“If there’s one over-riding feature that has really driven success in the last 10 years, it really is that complete and utter belief in the Mission... (and) linking up with people who share that commitment, to the power of education to transform lives.” Today’s is a very special episode: I am speaking with Tim Howarth, my predecessor at United World Schools and its Founding CEO. Tim tells the stor...

“This is about structural issues in society and structural issues in the sector… Diversity and inclusion is a problem right across the sector… (and) the sector is about social justice and so there is an urgency for us as a sector to get this right.  Culture change is not a linear process… real culture change takes a long time… trust and healing is the very beginning of that sort of conversati...

“The real disruption in our work has come about as a result of our impact model which is (about) turning conventional approaches to conservation upside down and grounding management of the sea in secure local tenure… management by communities for communities” Alasdair Harris is Founder and Executive Director of the marine conservation organisation, Blue Ventures.  With a mission focused on re...

“Leaders who can convene and collaborate are going to be best placed to navigate the challenges of the post-pandemic world… No one (single) person, no one organisation, in fact no one country can beat cancer... we go faster when we collaborate and partner.” Michelle Mitchell epitomises her organisation’s strap-line: Together we will beat cancer.  Driven by an absolute determination to acceler...

“Be curious and communicate… Find the tension between reflection and action. (As a leader) you can equip yourself and you can develop in particular ways by deliberate action.” Darren Cormack is Chief Executive of the Mines Advisory Group, also known as MAG International.  Since its establishment in 1989, MAG has helped over 20 million people in more than 70 countries, rebuild their lives and...

“To be able to say, in a small way, I moved the needle to make (someone else’s) life better, is actually something that money cant buy...” Leonor Stjepic is Chief Executive of the Montessori Group. Montessori education was created by Dr Maria Montessori over 100 years ago. Leonor talks about Montessori education being an approach rather than a curriculum, providing the framework and structure, wit...

“(For leaders) it’s about being able to ask the right question at the right time… that’s classic talent nurturing behaviour… trying to help everyone on your team become the best versions of themselves. The trick is to help create the space for us all to reflect on what really motivates each one of us in our unique context, giving us all the courage and the tools to make small, incremental but powe...

“The BSA (Black Swimming Association) is set up as a bridge… building bridges into disenfranchised and disengaged communities.” Alice Dearing made history at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, as the first black female swimmer to represent Team GB at an Olympic Games.  Danielle Obe is Chair of the Black Swimming Association, a charity that she co-founded along with Alice.  The Black Swimming Assoc...

“The partnership puts young people at the centre and not brand … we should all be working together to achieve Mission, rather than brand awareness or the size of our turnover or how many staff we employ.” Frank Fletcher is CEO of The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.  The Trust supports young people with cancer, engaging them in outdoor activities, to help re-build their confidence and their live...

“Providing support for today and hope for tomorrow.” Baroness Delyth Morgan is the CEO of Breast Cancer Now.  Delyth has been leading the charge in the breast cancer space for many years. She is widely credited with achieving consolidation in the sector, having presided over the merger of Breast Cancer Campaign and Breakthrough Breast Cancer in 2015 and the more recent merger of Breast Cancer...

“Being your authentic self makes you a happier person and a better leader.” Helen Moulinos is the Chief Executive of POhWER, Britain’s largest human rights advocacy charity.  POhWER was established in 1996 by a group of people with disabilities who were fighting social injustice and challenges in their lives. Today POhWER still operates with these roots at the heart of everything it does: sup...

“(As a leader) if your head isn’t above the parapet, it’s in the sand” Kate Lee is CEO of Alzheimer’s Society. In this interview we talk about how the organisation supports people with dementia and her own experience of dementia with her mother, who has been living with the disease for over 16 years. We also explore the principle of Radical Candor, as introduced in the book of the same name by Kim...

“Despite all the discrimination legislation that exists and despite the equality, diversity and inclusion that we are (all) talking about, the needs of disabled people are not routinely met...” From using augmented reality to help dementia patients make a cup of tea, to building electric powered wheelchairs (the Wizzybug!) for physically disabled children, Designability creates practical products...

“Great Chief Executives... they are not (necessarily) the innovators; they might be the change-makers... its about creating the conditions for the team to thrive and for the movement to thrive...” Angela McConville is the CEO of the National Childbirth Trust, also known as the NCT Charity.   In this episode we explore how NCT has created a grass-roots, volunteer-led movement providing service...

“COVID-19 has been this reset moment... it has really forced us to pause, to take a breath and to re-evaluate... what do we want to leave behind after the pandemic and what do we want to take forward.” Kirsty Schneeberger was CEO of Synchronicity Earth between December 2019 and March 2021, helping to steer the organisation through some of the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sync...

“Education systems are failing (to prepare) children to face a world of unknown unknowns.”  53% of children coming out of world education systems are ‘learning poor’. STiR Education is striving to create a world where every child develops a love for life-long learning, through reigniting intrinsic motivation in teachers and building supportive education eco-systems.  It’s goal is to reac...

“Our vision is a world without barriers for every deaf child... Our job as an organisation is to challenge the culture of low expectations (for deaf children)” There are over 50,000 deaf children in the UK and more than 34 million deaf children worldwide. It is important to encourage them – and their families – to dream big.  Susan Daniels is the CEO of the National Deaf Children’s Society, t...

“You learn to be courageous by stepping out of your comfort zone; being absolutely terrified and doing it anyway… courage is about being beaten back but then taking a step forward.” Debra Allcock Tyler is the CEO of the Directory of Social Change, an organisation that provides resources, training and support to enable all charities to be successful.  In this episode we discuss the key opportu...

“Less about egos and logos and let’s think more about mission and (those) whose lives we are trying to help and change... People first, Mission always.” With 12 babies every week born with Congenital Heart Defects in New Zealand and just one specialist hospital in the entire country that can provide treatment, Heart Kids New Zealand provides a lifeline of vital care and support for children, young...