Organisational strategy and build
BUILD AND SCALE OF IMPACT DRIVEN START-UP
Chief Operating Officer 2024 - present
I am working closely with the Founder and CEO of Pollen Careers to increase operational efficiencies and develop revenue generating products, assisting with the messy middle as the company moves from start-up to scale- up. Founded in 2023, Pollen was created to disrupt the entry-level recruitment sector, making it more equitable and giving everyone a fair chance. The staff team at Pollen are all entry level recruits, ensuring that all initiatives for the community are by the community. My role has been multi-faceted and includes working closely with the Founder to develop a people strategy including the introduction of OKRs to maintain focus during growth, redesign staffing structures and introduce standard operating procedures to improve operational efficiencies, develop key policies and procedures that uphold a progressive company culture, develop impact reporting to ensure that we are learning and telling our story, working with developers to introduce more streamlined systems to decrease overhead costs, develop revenue generating products to meet business goals, mentor and develop the staff team and provide a sounding board for the Founder/CEO.
BUILD AND SCALE OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
Chief Operating Officer/Chief Culture Officer 2019 - 2023
I was approached to help build a company structure that would achieve the CEOs vision of changing how the world feels about mental health. This involved working closely with the CEO to design sustainable company structures; plan and recruit to a people strategy that enabled people with lived experience of mental health to join and thrive in our company; create and/or commission company policies and procedures to ensure legal compliance. I worked with the company, People Unlimited (previously Healthy Teen Minds) for four years, in which time we grew from two people to twelve, scaling operations from 3 hospital departments to hundreds of NHS Trusts and successfully navigated 2 major pivots.
PEOPLE STRATEGY (REMOTE FIRST TEAM)
Operations Manager 2019 - 2023
I led the design and implementation of a progressive people strategy. This included recruiting, retaining and developing a remote-first team. Our staff team included those with lived experience of mental health services and we ensured that we provided a positive working environment that supported our team through challenges, while enabling them to develop core skills to support their career progression.
The result: Core team growth. Launch and iteration of an employment development programme for young people with lived experience of mental health services.
Impact: The formation of a highly motivated and collaborative remote team with low churn rate. Production of progressive, coproduced workplace policies and procedures.
BUILD AND SCALE OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
Co-Director 2016 - 2019
Knit Aid is a craftivist social enterprise, with a mission to empower people through craft. Starting as a side hustle to collect warm, handknitted items and send to displaced people in the infamous Calais 'Jungle', it quickly transformed into an international operation, including the opening of a US chapter. Alongside the founder, I supported with company formation, issues relating to governance and charity status, upscaling our donations programme, managing our storage solution, liaising with distribution partners and other charitable partners, event management, company admin (including finance admin), fundraising and volunteer management.
The result: A rapidly scaled donation and distribution charity with international links developed alongside our existing jobs.
Impact: Over 14,000 items collected and shipped to people in France, Syria, Turkey and Jordan.
PEOPLE STRATEGY REFRESH
Programmes Manager 2014 - 2019
I led the refresh of a people strategy for this small charity, including:
- Redesign of the team structure to allow for growth
- Refresh of our people development plan and internal comms
- Upgrade of our internal systems to support team success
- Recruitment and onboarding strategy to fill capacity/skills gap
The result: A refreshed team with doubled capacity to deliver on new, long term contracts
Project and product management
E-LEARNING PLATFORM BUILD
Product Manager/Producer 2021 - 2022
Co-produced culture change program, We Can Talk, improves young people's A&E mental health experiences. I led the translation of a 1-day in-person training into a high-quality online experience. I managed the project, working closely with an SDT team made up of developers, film makers, business stakeholders and industry experts, and facilitated workshops to ensure that key stakeholders had meaningful input at each stage of the project lifecycle.
The result: on-budget and timely delivery.
Impact: 30,000+ NHS staff trained in 100+ trusts, with 98% reporting improved job performance. We Can Talk is now in 70% of England's emergency departments.
SERVICE FEEDBACK TOOL MVP
Product Manager/Producer 2018-2019
I led on the development of a service feedback tool that would allow young service users to hold mental health providers accountable to a coproduced charter. This charter outlined what young people needed from their services to get the best outcomes. I worked with stakeholder advisory boards, developers, designers and service providers to develop the tool.
The result: on-time product delivery. Service feedback tool launched
Impact: The success of the charter and feedback tool led to a further 5 years of funding to embed the charter into national policy throughout the UK.
DIGITAL PRODUCT BUILD
Product Manager/Producer 2021 - 2022
I led the development of Crisis Tools, an online training hub improving the skills of anyone who supports young people experiencing a mental health crisis. Coordinating with developers and designers, I managed the platform build through to deployment. I formed advisory groups, facilitated workshops, and conducted analyses to establish content frameworks. I prioritised content that aimed to reduce inequalities by amplifying marginalised voices such as young Black men and LGBTQIA communities, collaborating with trusted organisations and grassroots charities to reach target groups.
The result: on-budget and timely delivery.
Impact: Over 5000 sign-ups in 6 months, securing ongoing funding.
COPRODUCED SERVICE USER SCHEME
Product Manager/Producer 2017 - 2018
As part of my work with Youth Access, I undertook a nationwide project to gather young peoples' vision of what truly young person-centred mental health and wellbeing services look like. I designed and facilitated stakeholder workshops with over over 200 young people from across the country, compiled data and produced the Altogether Better charter.
The result: The Altogether Better charter
Impact: The success of the charter attracted funding to create on online feedback survey and develop a youth-led Ambassador scheme enabling young people to hold services accountable to the Charter.
ONLINE TRAINING MVP BUILD
Product Manager/Producer 2020
In March 2020, the We Can Talk culture change programme for A&E departments had to change its delivery method due to lockdown restrictions. We Can Talk is a co-produced project that transforms young people's experience of attending A&E due to their mental health. At the time, this was delivered in person, in hospitals. I led the rapid move to online delivery to ensure that the important work of We Can Talk could continue throughout the pandemic. My main responsibilities included team recruitment, product management of the online platform, educational content production and creating a remote 'film studio' for our lived experience team to film high-quality content.
The result: on-time project delivery within a demanding 6-week timeframe.
Impact: Business continuity amid lockdown restrictions. Training completion surged to 10,000 per year, whilst maintaining high impact scores. Project success secured a further multi year contract for nationwide upscaling.
YOUTH LED MENTAL HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Project Manager/ Facilitator 2017 - 2019
I led the development of Make Our Rights Reality, a youth led collective of young people fighting for their rights to access mental health services. I designed the coproduction process, facilitated workshops, recruited and managed the founding team and managed all project needs, including the role out of rights based training for young people across the UK.
The result: A nationwide roll-out of rights based training. A nationwide mental health campaign led by young people. Make Our Rights Reality
Impact: The initial iteration of the Make Our Rights Reality programme developed grassroots knowledge and power. We were able to secure a further £100,000 funding to develop the work. Since then, the Make Our Rights Reality team have joined forces with sector partners to form the Fund The Hubs campaign, which has enjoyed recent success.