Our Mentors

For over 11 years until January 2023, Nick was the Director General and Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers: a global charity with over 95,000 members; and Vice Chair of Thomas Telford Ltd, the ICE’s commercial trading company. He is the Chair of Mid Kent College Training Services, a Governor of Mid Kent College, an alumnus of the Royal College of Defence Studies, a Trustee of The Rochester Cathedral Trust and Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Kent. Previously he has been a Vice President of the Institution of Royal Engineers, Board Member and Trustee of EngineeringUK, and a Non-Executive Director of the CIC and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE). Nick has extensive experience of running charities both big and small; and has dealt personally with many of the governance, financial and leadership challenges that charities face on a day-to-day basis.  He has a long association with Kent and Medway, having served as a Royal Engineer in the British Army for over 25 years finishing his service as Commandant of the Royal School of Military Engineering in Chatham. 

Pim is an accomplished senior leader with over 35 years executive experience of strategic leadership in the arts, heritage and the creative industries. Pim stepped down as Deputy Director from the National Portrait Gallery at the end of 2019 after twenty-two years. She began her career in the Arts with the mid-scale touring opera company, Kent Opera, and also spent nine years in senior roles at the National Theatre. Pim lives near Faversham in Kent and has a range of local interests. She is a Member of the Alexander Centre and Patron of the Alexander Collection, an exhibition of work by local artists. Pim is also a Kent Ambassador. As well as being an arts adviser, mentor and coach, Pim’s non-executive roles include being a Trustee of Strawberry Hill House and Garden, near Twickenham, a Member of the Historic Royal Palaces Campaign Board and a Governor of Central School of Ballet. Pim is a qualified Time to Think coach and facilitator.   In September 2022 she was licensed at Canterbury Cathedral as a Lay Reader.   Pim was awarded an OBE in the 2015 New Year’s Honours for services to the Arts. 

Tim’s background includes the health, housing and charity / not for profit sectors where his focus has been on supporting organisations, to grow, remain sustainable and increase their social impact. Tim has specialised in strategy, planning, organisational design and change, with a commercial focus. Previously, Tim has held senior positions with the international charity Anthony Nolan, Central London Healthcare CIC, Locala Health and Wellbeing CIC and as a consultant for organisations including the MS Society, ONP Ltd and Homerton NHS Foundation Trust. Tim has held several Trustee roles including SEED and two Kent based school / academy roles.

John Biggs has spent over 40 years at senior manager or board level in the electronics industry and not for profit organisations. During this time, he successfully undertook many significant projects involving change management, business restructure and diversification.
Whilst working for HUBER+SUHNER a Swiss multinational company John headed up the establishment of a wholly owned subsidiary in China with his final role being Managing Director for Northern Europe where he successfully managed and implemented a new regional structure. John has achieved considerable success in turning companies around, implementing change and leading successful boards. In 2008 he jointly established the Interconnect Technology Suppliers Association (ITSA) which is a unique association representing the interests of interconnect companies in the UK, he is currently the Chairman of ITSA and has a mission to make it the recognised voice of the industry. Since retiring in 2014 John has undertaken a number of roles including 2 years as a Non-Executive Director of the Institute of Occupational Safety and 2 ½ years as Chair of the Hospice Lottery Partnership. Moving to the Kent coast in early 2023 John joined New Leaf Support as Director responsible for HR, policies, and general governance support and became Chair until September 2024. John has a wife and two grown up children and enjoys a number of activities including bowls, walking his Cockapoo and touring on his motorcycle.

Stuart has been Chief Executive of Gravesham Borough Council (GBC) since April 2020, with around 25 years’ experience in the local government sector.
A CIPFA qualified accountant, Stuart joined GBC from University and after a junior accountancy role he rose steadily to become Director of Corporate Services prior to becoming CEO.
Stuart’s time as Chief Executive has seen him lead the council through some of the greatest challenges ever faced by local government. From the design and delivery of the new ways of working demanded by COVID to meeting the acute financial challenge faced by all councils, he has embedded a culture of transformation within the authority’s front-line services.
As CEO he has overseen the formation of the council’s own commercial trading company and its role in a multi-million pound town centre regeneration project, made significant progress to meeting net zero targets and attracted important inward investment including £20m of Government leveling-up funding.
Underpinning his career is a strong background in corporate governance. Having had responsibility for finance, HR, information governance, legal services, IT, corporate performance, internal audit and counter fraud at various stages of his career.
At the heart of Stuart’s leadership is a belief in people.

Adam has over 20 years of experience spanning both charity and corporate sectors, specialising in strategy; brand, marketing & communications; transformative leadership; organisational and service development, and governance.
Drawing on a background in C-level leadership, Adam has guided local, national, and international teams through periods of change, overseen strategic planning, and supported data-led and evidence-based decision making. His approach is grounded in real-world experience of balancing operational demands with purpose-driven strategy.
Alongside his professional career, Adam is committed to sharing insights through writing and mentoring, supporting both established and new leaders as they navigate complex challenges in the voluntary and social enterprise sector.

Ed started his career in the British Army, serving in
London, Germany and Bosnia. After an MBA in 1995,
he has been in the Alcoholic Beverage and
hospitality industries, beginning with Diageo for 15
years in Europe, followed by Enterprise Inns (now
Stonegate) in Birmingham as Commercial Director.
He then left for Singapore where he worked for
William Grant & Sons managing their Travel Retail
business globally until 2020. He then went to Dubai
to work for a division of the Emirates Group until
returning to the UK in December 2024. He has since
been CEO of Fortitude Spirits Group based in London and Middlesbrough. Ed has been Non- Executive Chair of Saccone & Speed Ltd, in Gibraltar, since February 2022 and is married to Louise with 3 adult sons.

Marion’s whole career has been based on all elements of health and social care both locally and nationally.  Her last position was that of Chief Executive of Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust. Since retiring Marion has become a business advisor and mentor to a number of charitable organisations and small businesses supported by the Kent and Medway Business Fund and The Kent Foundation. She is President of Friends of the William Harvey Hospital and is a trustee and Vice Chair of the Ashford, Wye and District Branch of the University of the Third Age.  She is also Programme Coordinator of the Rotary Club of Ashford, and a Kent Ambassador.

Stephen Elsden is a freelance Charity Consultant with over 30 years’ experience in the voluntary sector. He was Chief Executive of Compaid for 15 years and was in charge of service marketing for Leonard Cheshire Disability. He was a founder of Professional Fundraising magazine which he edited in the early 1990s before moving on to the British Red Cross to co-ordinate their publishing and above and below the line marketing. Stephen has written and spoken extensively on charity issues in the UK and internationally. Stephen is a former Trustee of both the Institute of Fundraising and the Small Charities Coalition, and has served on many other charity Boards throughout his career. He is currently a Pilotlighter and through that scheme is working with a charity in the West Midlands.

Peter has been a trustee, mentor and advisor to a variety of not-for-profit and charity organisations over the last 15 years, in sectors including homelessness, support to older people, animal welfare and the arts. He is currently Chair of Eat Club, the London charity fostering good nutrition and food skills for young Londoners. Professionally, Peter is a marketing and corporate strategist and expert in organisational development.  He is a former Director at the Orange Group and was a senior consultant at KPMG. His work for commercial clients embraces strategic development, strategic marketing planning and team and organisational development for scale ups with investor backing. As a member of the international think-tank The Medinge Group, and coordinator of the Medinge Academy, he teaches on conscientious leadership at Esade Business School in Barcelona and other European institutions. He is the convenor of the Centre of Excellence for B2B Marketing and Value Creation at Esade.

Following a career in international management consulting spanning 3 continents, over 30+ industries and accumulating £50M+ in profit growth for her clients, Linda brings extensive productivity improvement expertise to the charity sector. She
has volunteered at Board level for both national and local charities & CIC’s, including Relate UK and the RSPCA. In her spare time Linda plays Piano & Mahjong and is an avid cross stitcher.

Steve has led VCSE organisations such as Healthwatch in Kent and Medway, Citizens Advice and Mind as well as having a senior leadership role with Porchlight, the Kent homelessness charity. Steve started as a Registered General Nurse and has worked in social work, adult education, community development and supported housing settings. He has extensive experience of working with health and social care systems at a senior strategic level. He has undertaken organisational restructures, developed funding streams and tendered for contracts, managed large and small staff teams and worked closely with trustee boards. He is a qualified trainer and PRINCE2 practitioner, an experienced facilitator and engagement professional, and has worked on a wide range of community engagement projects in health, social care and housing. He is an associate with the Consultation Institute and trains and advises public bodies on consultation law and best practice. He is highly experienced in community engagement and co-production. He became chair of the Kent & Medway VCSE Steering Group in December 2023.

Eva is an experienced senior leader with over 30 years’ experience in the voluntary and not for profit sector predominantly in the social care field.  With extensive experience in strategy, team development and change management within large national/international charities including: The Children’s Society, National Deaf Children’s Society and Carers Trust. Eva has also held a Trustee position at Demelza Children’s Hospice in Kent. Eva holds a Level 7 Diploma in Executive Coaching and Leadership Mentoring from the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), is a member of ILM, and a member of the Association for Coaching. In addition, Eva holds a MA in Social Work, Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling, DMS, Prince 2 qualified and is a NLP practitioner.

With sixteen years experience as a charity CEO John has worked in leadership roles in the charity and public sector for over 35 years. His most recent leadership role was at Parentkind where he was CEO until the end of 2022. He is currently a trustee/director at both the Samaritans and the Hepatitis C trust.  For ten years (until 2023) John was a member of the NICE Quality Standards Advisory Committee setting quality standards across the NHS and social care for a wide range of health conditions.  John has lead organisations supporting people in relation to mental health, substance misuse, homelessness, criminal justice, and more recently education and parenting. He has experience of running research and policy teams along with extensive experience of influencing politicians, senior civil servants, and the media to get policy change. He managed and commissioned large IT and service redesign programmes and has experience of commissioning and fundraising. A registered Social Worker he has a number of management qualifications including an MBA and a Post-graduate Diploma in Executive Leadership Coaching and Mentoring. Now semi-retired John is currently exploring new opportunities as an actor and performer.

Robert is Chief Executive of Aspens, a charity helping young people and adults with a range of disabilities and complex needs, as well as those on the autism spectrum. Starting out as a registered nurse for people with a learning disability, he has worked in this field in many parts of the UK for over 30 years, and in organisations including charities, local authorities, private companies, and the NHS. Robert has a daughter with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Muriel is an experienced consultant specialising in people and organization development.  She has worked with large and small organisations across a range of sectors, from financial services to healthcare.  Throughout her career, Muriel has focused on making people’s working lives better, working with individuals and teams to manage change, develop organizational culture and improve performance and job satisfaction. She now uses her experience to support senior leaders in the charity sector.  Muriel is a trustee of a children’s literacy charity, supports a Kent-based mental health charity and provides literacy support for struggling readers in local primary schools.  She has a BSC in biochemistry and an MBA, with a specialism in organizational psychology.

Julie Tobin is an experienced charity leader, mentor, and consultant, with a strong track record in supporting organisations through change, growth, and challenge. She is currently CEO of Holding On Letting Go; a child bereavement charity supporting families across Kent and South East London.
Julie has held senior leadership roles across the charity and not-for-profit sector, including a strategic leadership position at British Wireless for the Blind Fund, and has undertaken interim and consultancy work guiding organisations through periods of transition. She has extensive experience working with boards, reviewing structures, monitoring and evaluation and developing new strategies to ensure organisations are fit for purpose and focused on what truly matters. She is a skilled all-round specialist, particularly in small charities, known for taking a root-and-branch approach: getting structures, systems, governance, and priorities right from the ground up. Julie helps leaders clarify strategy, embed practical systems, and strengthen governance, always with a focus on delivering tangible, lasting impact for the people the charity exists to support.
Practical, straight-talking, and deeply committed, Julie combines strategic insight with hands-on experience to make a real difference in the organisations she works with.

Mieke started her career in the voluntary/charity sector at age 14 as a volunteer for an environmental organisation in The Netherlands.  She has spent most of her UK working life in the charity/voluntary sector – of which 23 years at CEO level. She worked in environmental/conservation organisations (CPRE/Wildlife Trust), with homeless people, inside Young Offenders Institutions (leading a mentoring charity) and in international development.  She also led a number of high profile national and local campaigns and has extensive campaigning and lobbying experience. As a CEO of small to medium sized charities she has comprehensive ‘hands on’ experience of all aspects of charity management: strategic, financial, organisational, fundraising, employee and volunteer management and working with Boards of Trustees. After taking early retirement she volunteered with the British Red Cross working with refugees. During the past few years she has worked as a Citizens Advice (volunteer) adviser. She states that as a previous CEO in the sector she has benefited from times of being mentored and she hopes to share that positive experience with others.

Derick enjoyed a long career in the advertising industry, working for several London agencies before joining a group of colleagues to start up on their own. In 1995, this agency was sold to Saatchi & Saatchi, where he spent the next twenty years as Planning Director, getting under the skin of a wide range of complex global and local business issues and helping to develop effective commercial and communication strategies. In parallel, he has been a secondary school governor, a prep school Chair of Trustees and is currently Chair of a large educational foundation. Since handing in his season ticket to Charing Cross, he has acquired a portfolio of work interests, including marketing consultancy, occasional business school lecturing, entrepreneur mentoring and advisory board membership, and educational fundraising.

Andrea has worked in the non-profit and statutory sector, holding several CEO positions. She is currently the CEO of Vibrance, an organisation that supports people with learning disabilities in London and Essex. Andrea’s career began as a support worker and she has experience in various roles including Operational Management, campaigning, and advocacy. Andrea is also a trustee of BILD and Keyring.