London Area, United Kingdom
I'm a writer and consultant on all things related to non-profits and philanthropy, drawing on nearly three decades of experience in civil society. That spans all the way from frontline delivery through to senior leadership and independent practice. With the Barely Civil Society project, I write about the political economy of philanthropy and nonprofits, and the potential for a genuinely transformative role for civil society: a 'resistance movement against the destruction of love in social reality,' to quote Paull Tillich. (And sometimes I make it funny.) That work appears in essays, news analysis, research, polemic, and opinion pieces in Third Sector and Alliance magazine, on the Barely Civil Society website itself, and I speak and present regularly on sector politics and leadership at conferences and on podcasts. See barelycivilsociety.org In my day-to-day consulting work, I continue to help charities and philanthropic organisations of all shapes and sizes make what they do better, to solve complex problems, and to develop a better future within their organisation and outside it. I've worked with youth, elderly, disability, mental health, carer, science research, LGBT, infrastructure, law centre, campaigning charities, and many philanthropic foundations. Clients have included Henry Smith Foundation, Age UK, Mencap, Vivensa Foundation, Hackney CVS, Moore Kingston Smith, NHS South West London, Scotscare, Big Local Works Bermondsey, United St Saviour's Charity, Local Trust and 30+ others. I have a sliding scale of day rates for organisational turnover. Key areas of focus: > Strategy and organisational development > Vision-led change > Business and income strategy > Leadership development > Learning and evaluation I hold a PhD in cultural and critical theory, and my most recent research is on the political philosophy of charity. I'm based in Catford, London, with one elderly cat called Trevor.
Clients have included: Henry Smith Foundation; NHS South West London; Age UK; Hackney CVS; Scotscare; Local Trust; Moore Kingston Smith; Vivensa Foundation; Frontier Science; United St Saviour’s Charity; Blume; British Blind Sport; Mencap, various small grantmakers, and many others. Running a full-time consultancy business for the many years providing strategic consultancy, capacity development, income generation/ fundraising advice, and independent research and evaluation to a range of charities and Civil Society organisations. Older people | Children and families | Children’s Centres | Young people and youth work | Regeneration and urban development | Social justice | DEI / EDI | Community | LGBTQ+ | Health and social care | NHS | Mental health | Disability | Social housing
Writer and founder of Barely Civil Society, a project exploring charity, philanthropy, power, and politics, and what a genuinely transformative role for civil society might look like. Substack 3000+ monthly readers. Further work featured in Third Sector, Alliance. Also podcast, keynote speaking and social media campaigning.
Faculty lead for year two (cohort one) of the DMT Academy for charity leaders. Specialist in leadership and interpersonal management.
Developing the ‘People-Powered Regeneration’ of Bermondsey, working with a wide range of partners on the Blue Market redevelopment. In depth qualitative and quantitative mixed methods research on local area, with a specialism in culture and memory and equalities and diversity. Extensive successful income generation and fundraising.