About Sophie

Experience that brings the whole picture together

As a warm and energetic senior leader with a background in both national charities and blue chip businesses, I have spent more than 15 years helping organisations turn ambitious ideas into practical, funded and effective work.

I have developed high-impact services, shaped organisational and income strategies, led teams through significant change, managed a charity partnership raising more than £1 million a year from within a FTSE 100 business, and helped national charities exceed multi-million-pound income targets.

My consultancy brings those different strands together. I can help an organisation decide where it is going, design what it should deliver, secure the resources to make it possible and provide experienced support to put the plan into practice.

On a personal level, I am warm, collaborative and positive. I work in the charity sector because I care about social good, and I focus on advice that is genuinely useful and realistic for the organisation in front of me.

Senior leadership and organisational development

I have held senior leadership positions in national charities, with responsibility for multidisciplinary teams, organisational priorities, income, services and improvement. During the pandemic, I led a team through one of the most difficult operating environments the sector had faced. Together, we broke the charity’s income records and were named Fundraising Team of the Year at the Institute of Fundraising Chiltern Awards.

My experience also includes organisational design, restructuring, recruitment, team growth and developing the systems and plans people need to do their jobs well. I understand the strategic decisions made at leadership and trustee level, as well as the practical realities of delivering them.

Service and programme development

I have designed and developed services from an initial understanding of need through to a workable delivery model. This includes considering who the service should reach, what will make it effective, the people and skills required, delivery partners, budgets, safeguarding, outputs, outcomes and how success will be measured.

One example was developing a national support service for children of alcohol-dependent parents. I used the existing evidence base to shape a service designed around what would achieve the strongest outcomes, then secured a six-figure grant to fund its implementation.

Income generation and corporate partnerships

Over my career I have helped secure millions of pounds for charities through programme development, strong cases for support, bid writing and funder relationships. My experience spans statutory grants, the National Lottery Community Fund, trusts and foundations, corporate partnerships and public fundraising.

I have managed major corporate relationships from within charities, including partnerships with Nomura and Incisive Media. I have also worked from the company side, helping one of the UK’s largest airlines raise more than £1 million each year for UNICEF and creating meaningful ways for 15,000 employees to take part. That experience gives me a valuable understanding of what both partners need from the relationship.

Policy, communications and public service

With a degree in European Politics, my background also includes policy, communications and stakeholder engagement. I have co-presented a Charter for Change to the Drugs, Alcohol and Justice Cross-Party Parliamentary Group and helped ensure young people affected by drug or alcohol problems were heard in national policy conversations with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and Public Health England.

I have worked agency-side on communications campaigns for third-sector clients, supported internal communications within a FTSE 100 company, and delivered major online and in-person events involving staff, supporters and international guests.

Alongside my consultancy, I am a sitting Independent Member of the Parole Board for England and Wales, appointed to this public role by the Secretary of State for Justice. The role involves making independent, evidence-based decisions about whether people can be safely released from prison and draws on careful judgement, complex evidence and accountable decision-making. My consultancy is independent of the Parole Board.

The causes I have worked with

My experience spans bereavement, health and disability, children and families, substance misuse, mental health, domestic abuse, child criminal exploitation, safeguarding, people seeking asylum, poverty, older people and community support.

I am based in Norfolk and support charities across the UK, working remotely and in person where that is useful.