GOOD HELP - Key Persons


Adam Lent

Job Titles:
  • Director, New Local Government Network

Anand Shukla

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive, Brightside Trust

Athol Halle

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive, the Trust for Developing Communities

Brendan Martin

Job Titles:
  • Managing Director, Public World

Chris Wright

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive, Catch22

Conor Ryan

Job Titles:
  • Director of Research and Communications, Sutton Trust

Cormac Russell

Job Titles:
  • Managing Director, Nurture Development

Danny Kruger

Job Titles:
  • Senior Fellow, Legatum Institute ( Formerly )

David Boyle

Job Titles:
  • Author

David Knott

Job Titles:
  • Director, Office for Civil Society

Emma Kernahan

Job Titles:
  • Support Worker
Emma is a support worker specialising in financial capability, with 15 years' experience of working closely with people with complex needs, to maximise their income. Emma began her career working in international development, with a focus on participatory research methods. She has a background in Social Anthropology, studying first at the University of Cambridge, and then gaining a Masters in the Anthropology of Development at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Since then, she has worked extensively on issues relating to employability, housing and homelessness, first for the Big Issue magazine, then with Clean Slate, where she is developing a network of money skills advisers who have direct experience of living on a low income. Emma regularly facilitates workshops on financial wellbeing, and writes and blogs about the UK benefits system and austerity. Her interests lie in linking effective models of individual support work with policy design and delivery.

Giles Gibbons

Job Titles:
  • CEO, Good Business

Jane Mansour

Job Titles:
  • Independent Policy Consultant
Jane Mansour is an independent policy consultant. She has a rich and varied combination of international operational, research, evaluation and policy experience in the fields of low paid work, adult skills, participation and unemployment. Her expertise is in translating policy goals into practical, deliverable interventions. Jane has been involved in the skills and work fields for twenty years in the UK, US and Australia, including the implementation, delivery and management of welfare-to-work programmes; developing new service delivery models; a wide range of evaluations; original research and working with grant giving organisations to inform investment decisions. Jane was the founder and Director of the Ingeus Centre for Policy and Research, a think tank embedded within a welfare-to-work delivery organisation. She has a Research Masters in Public Policy from Birkbeck College, University of London and a Masters in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Jennifer Wallace

Job Titles:
  • Head of Policy, Carnegie

Julia Unwin - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman

Kate Lorig

Job Titles:
  • Professor of Medicine Emerita, Stanford University

Kate Stanley

Job Titles:
  • Director of Strategy, NSPCC ( Formerly )

Liz Richardson

Job Titles:
  • Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Manchester

Lorna Prescott

Job Titles:
  • Senior Development Officer, Dudley CVS

Louise Mycroft

Job Titles:
  • Education Specialist

Myra Stuart

Myra is a multifaceted programme manager and researcher who has worked cross-sector across the arts, academia, VSOs and policy makers. People, communities, and how we can work together to create transformative, positive change drives her work. Myra is an evaluation specialist and experienced facilitator. She has trained architects in best practice engaging with communities for RIBA and led research projects for Citizens Advice West Sussex that have gone on to inform local NHS strategy. Recent publications include a piece for Arts Professional on the power of cross sector research.

Nick Nielsen

Nick is an award winning entrepreneur, facilitator, trainer and coach, with over fifteen years' experience of leading and supporting organisations in the areas of behaviour change, organisational development and strategy. Nick works on a variety of start-up projects and behaviour change programmes for Osca, including Good Help. He's been a UN advisor, working on democracy in Turkey, as well as a facilitator for the Prime Minister's Special Commission on Social Action. Nick regularly delivers Coaching for Health training for a wide range of health and social care professionals, as well as wider communication and leadership skills training to private, public and voluntary sector organisations. For the last ten years Nick has also worked as a personal and professional coach. Nick has coached many people in the social and political sector, including Clore Social Leaders and two sitting MPs. In 2000, Nick founded Envision, an empowerment charity that supports thousands of young people from inner city areas to set up their own community projects each year, and realise their potential to make a positive difference in the world. In 2009, Envision was a winner of the Guardian Charity Award and runner up in the National Lottery Awards in the education category. In 2010, Nick stepped down as CEO to become a trustee. Nick is a winner of the Ernest Shackleton Leadership Award.

Penelope Gibbs

Job Titles:
  • Director, Transform Justice

Rich Wilson

Rich is a policy analyst, entrepreneur and facilitator. He is a people power specialist with twenty years' experience of strengthening democracy, communities and public services. Rich is currently a senior adviser to the Funders Initiative for Civil Society, a trustee of the Local Trust and previously has been an adviser to the UNDP, OECD, WHO and EC. In 2004, Rich was appointed as the first director of the charity Involve, which became a leading centre for public participation research, innovation and policy-making. Rich has facilitated hundreds of events, specialising in deliberative facilitation such as Citizen Assemblies. He facilitated the largest events of the French and Swedish EU Presidencies; the EC's Digital Agenda Assembly and the Mobile World Congress, each with over 1,500 delegates. He has run citizen summits for the IPPC, States of California and numerous local and national governments. Rich regularly blogs for the Guardian and has written many publications including Anti Hero, Civic Limits, People and Participation and Good and Bad Help.

Richard Holmes

Job Titles:
  • Head of Inclusive Community Building, Barnwood Trust ( Formerly )

Rosie Mockett

Job Titles:
  • Portfolio Policy Manager, Big Lottery Fund ( Formerly )

Sam Freedman

Job Titles:
  • Executive Director, Teach First ( Formerly )

Tiago Peixoto

Job Titles:
  • Senior Public Sector Specialist, World Bank