The Corporate Engagement Awards is judged by a panel of sponsorship, partnership and CSR experts. Below are our esteemed panel from the 2019 awards. If you would like to judge the Corporate Engagement Awards please email lauren.ditcher@communicatemagazine.co.uk
Dean has almost 25 years’ experience in the charity sector, mainly in human rights and international development. His previous experience includes running high value partnership teams at Amnesty International and ChildHope. He joined ActionAid in October 2016 and is incredibly proud to be part of a dynamic, ambitious and passionate team who are committed to changing the world.
Head of Partnerships and Social Impact
Lisa is Head of Partnerships and Social Impact at O2, managing social impact programmes including the core online safety strategy delivered in partnership with NSPCC.
Previously, Lisa was Global Director, Corporate Responsibility at IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group). As part of her role, Lisa has global accountability for stakeholder engagement and CR marketing communications. She produced the annual IHG Responsible Business Report and managed fundraising, communications and engagement for the IHG Foundation.
Prior to joining IHG, Lisa held roles at cahoot, Bourne Leisure and Tui.
Senior Communications Manager, Transparency & Engagement
At Vodafone Group, Sam is responsible for the development and execution of the company’s transparency and disclosure strategy. His brief includes the company’s tax and economic contribution to public finances, gender pay gap and law enforcement assistance.
Having started his career in political campaigns and policy, he spent seven years in agency working on integrated communications campaigns for a range of multinational, FTSE 100 and SME companies. Prior to Vodafone he was the head of communications at the privacy and reputation law firm, Schillings, in which he oversaw the firm's brand and marketing communications, reputation management and stakeholder engagement.
CSR and sustainable procurement manager
Anna is CSR and Sustainable Procurement Manager at London City Airport, based in London’s Royal Docks. Anna is responsible for managing the airport’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme focusing on education initiatives, community engagement, local employment, environment and sustainable procurement. Anna is also introducing new sustainability reporting methods and is designing and implementing the airport’s sustainable procurement strategy. Before joining the airport Anna worked for Incluzio, who operates in the Dutch social sector developing innovative social services projects in which public and private sector collaborate. Anna graduated from Utrecht University and Roskilde University with a Master’s degree in Global Political Economy working with the United Nations Development Programme team in parallel to her studies.
Interim Director of Fundraising and Communications
Cath has 20 years’ charity experience and three years’ in the corporate sector. She was the Director of Fundraising and Communications at a national disability charity before becoming a Consultant 12 years ago.
As a Consultant, Cath has undertaken a range of roles - from hands on fundraising, marketing and communications to strategic reviews, creation of Action Plans and stakeholder analyses.
Cath has supported a wide range of organisations, from children’s and education to health and disability charities. She is currently Interim Director of Fundraising and Communications at international charity World Child Cancer.
Head of corporate partnerships
Becky is Head of Corporate Partnerships at the Natural History Museum where she leads the team responsible for securing and managing relationships with corporate partners, harnessing the great breadth of opportunity the Museum has to offer business, supporting the work of the Museum, and delivering a strong return on investment for all parties.
Previously, Becky spent 13 years at Comic Relief where she led and developed the charity’s long term strategic partnerships that encompassed sponsorship, merchandise development, cause-related marketing, employee fundraising and licensing.
Director of CSR
Russell Feingold is director of CSR at leading technology brand, UKFast. Having previously worked at Key 103 Cash for Kids and Manchester United Foundation, Russell has eight years’ experience in the charity sector and now oversees UKFast’s charitable giving and volunteering projects.
Russell is passionate about supporting UKFast founders Lawrence and Gail Jones’ mission to deliver help and support for disadvantaged children within Greater Manchester. In his career with UKFast to date, Russell has so far helped the firm to support initiatives including The Seashell Trust, The Rainbow Trust, Manchester Youth Zone, Bolton Lads’ and Girls’ club and Holy Name RC Primary School in Moss Side.
SOcial, ENvironmental and EConomic Solutions (SOENECS)
Managing director
David is a chartered waste manager, Fellow of the CIWM and Chartered Environmentalist with over 16 years leadership experience in public sector roles focused on waste strategy, planning and delivering efficiencies in the environmental space. He has an excellent track record in transformation facilitated by expertise in partnership working, procurement and strategic policy interventions. He is Chair of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Resources Management Expert panel, a non-executive board director for the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA) and acts as advisor to central and local government. David created for his PhD thesis, a Mass Balance Model (MBM), to allow councils to plan over 25 years for a new system of technologies while meeting the pressures of legislation and public opinion. David set up SOENECS, an independent boutique research practice, in June 2014 to provide strategic advice and support to the public and private sectors. SOENECS specialises in the fields of Circular economy, waste management, resource management, climate change, ICT secure destruction, renewable deployment, carbon management and partnership delivery.
Head of Partnerships & Philanthropic Giving
Having worked in film and TV, Theatre and Dance in his native Newcastle, James moved to London and joined the Charity Sector in 2011. Working as Head of Corporate Partnerships at Stroke Association, British Heart Foundation, and Alzheimer’s Society he has raised more than £25m through the team’s he has led and has worked in partnership with such recognisable brands as HSBC, Royal Mail, Iceland, M&S, Legal & General, and Bayer Healthcare. James has recently taken up the role of Head of Partnerships & Philanthropic Giving at Independent Age, where he is responsible for building relationship based partnerships across Corporate Partnerships, Major Donors, and Trusts and Foundations.
Senior manager, Sustainability
Simon is a Senior Manager in the Sustainability Team at Arm Limited where he has worked since 2013. He leads on external reporting and sustainability governance at Arm including local community investment strategy and charitable giving. Simon has worked within sustainability and corporate responsibility since 2008, prior to which he specialised in risk management at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 12 years working across Europe, Asia and Africa. Simon is currently the Chair of Trustees at the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation and on the Board of Trustees of the Engineering Development Trust. In March 2018, Simon was appointed an HRH The Prince of Wales Ambassador for the Industrial Cadets in the UK.
| Deputy head of corporate partnerships management |
Henrietta has over 10 years’ experience in the non-profit sector. Currently holding the role of Deputy Head of Corporate Partnerships at the British Red Cross, she leads the Account Management team overseeing the delivery and development of strategic partnerships, including the implementation of UK & International programmes.
Prior to this, Henrietta developed and managed national, European and global partnerships at the British Red Cross, with brands including Aviva, Jaguar Land Rover, Canon Europe, Marsh & McLennan Companies and Tesco.
Brand reputation – partnerships, sponsorship, skills and education
With a background in PR and branding, Matthew has been involved in shaping and implementing partnerships for most of his career – latterly heading up sponsorship and partnerships at British Gas and now as a Director of the European Sponsorship Association. Primarily focusing on the title sponsorship of British Swimming and its subsidiaries, Matthew was able to focus on making swimming’s assets work hard for British Gas. He led the development of innovative and technological activation campaigns that supported both the sport’s and his objectives. Matthew speaks widely about how sponsorship and partnerships work and how they can grow engagement for consumers and employees. Through various activations and campaigns, he has learned how to build consumer trust through sponsorship and the importance of a tangible business return.
Group Employee Communications Manager
Geraldine has been a communication leader for over 25 years and is currently the Group Employee Communications Manager for National Grid, the company that connects people safely and reliably to the energy they use every day.
She leads all group-wide employee communication and is charged with making engaging connections for 24,000 employees across the UK and US on behalf of the global corporate functions and plc ambitions. This means delivering messages around the company’s purpose, vision and values easy to understand, locally relevant and memorable.
Prior to this, Geraldine was Head of Internal and External Communications at Homeserve, and established a new PR and internal comms capability for the newly listed home emergency insurance and utility business.
Her career started in Public Relations. She was acting Head of PR in 2000 for npower and remained with the brand for five years as Consumer PR Manager.
For eight years she worked for the Midland's agency Barkers PR, working for banking, home interest, fashion, pharmaceutical, independent pharmacy, food and manufacturing sectors. She cut her teeth as press officer for Pilkington Glass in St Helens and Scania trucks in Milton Keynes in 1991.
Head of corporate communications
Freida is head of corporate communications for Hays plc, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified professional and skilled people. Here she is responsible for leading external and internal communications across the global business, working closely with the marketing and communications teams in 33 countries. Previously, she spent nine years as a financial public relations consultant at Citigate Dewe Rogerson, working for a range of listed and unlisted clients. She started her career as a financial and corporate consultant at GCI Focus
Realization
Account manager
Realization
Moses is passionate about Social Change at all levels and has been a committed change maker over the last 15 years.
In 2015 he set up The Successful Failure and spent the next three years working with young people in London; reframing their perception towards failure and success.
He is now back into the sports world as an Account Manager with Realization; an ethical agency working with athletes and sports teams to leverage their platforms and ultimately build true brands.
His career has seen him in roles at Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea FC and The Design Thinkers Academy. He is also a Fellow of both the RSA & The Conduit.
Deputy director of corporate partnerships
With a fundraising career spanning nearly twenty years, Jacqui has worked at a number of sector-leading charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support, Shelter and Whizz-Kidz. Jacqui specialises in forging and delivering partnerships between the charity and corporate sector and, in her ten years at GOSH, has been responsible for raising well over £50m with her teams. Key clients and past successes include Premier Inn & Restaurants, M&S, Butlins, ASK Italian Restaurants, Disney, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse.
Jacqui has a particular interest in empowerment, culture-change and leadership within the voluntary sector and is part of small team driving GOSH’s internal leadership programme.
Senior manager – corporate partnerships
Edward oversees the corporate partnerships team for Help for Heroes one of the UK’s leading Military Charities. Overseeing new business and account management teams he ensures all partnerships are delivered to the highest possible standards maximising income and ensuring success for both parties.
Having worked for a number of national charities ranging from the RSPCA, RAF Benevolent Fund to The Eve Appeal and Help for Heroes has given him a good insight into the corporate world. In addition, he has worked in In-House on partnerships including COTY for Deutsche Bank and Nomura giving an insight into CSR from both sides including partner selection. Edward specialises in multi-tiered partnerships as well as Cause Related Marketing having worked with companies including Aston Martin, Breitling, P&G & HP.
Head of corporate responsibility
After running a small charity for three years, Matt made the move to Linklaters just as the financial crisis saw trust in business plummet. Since then, demonstrating that business can be a force for good has become increasingly critical and Matt’s brief at Linklaters has expanded alongside. He now looks after the firm’s responsible business activities globally as well as its award-winning pro bono and community investment programmes. He is active in a range of external networks including as Chair of LBG - the world’s leading community investment measurement tool – and as Chair of trustees of an east London charity and school focusing on employability skills for young people.
Group head of corporate responsibility
Kesah Trowell is group head of corporate social responsibility for Dixons Carphone and has over 23 years of experience in marketing communications, public relations, corporate social responsibility, employee engagement and sponsorship. Working within Europe’s biggest technology and electrics retailer, Kesah created a CSR function from scratch - and on a relative shoestring - by leveraging ground breaking collaborative sponsorship opportunities to deliver tangible results across a number of metrics – and has picked up a number of prestigious communications awards and accolades along the way, including a Corporate Engagement Award in 2013.
Head of corporate partnerships management
With a career spanning the private, public and charity sector across multiple countries, Hina currently leads WWF UK’s corporate partnership management team - working with the private sector to forge share-value partnerships and drive real change in business practices. Prior to this, Hina worked in a number of programmatic and partnership roles at Oxfam. Along with time spent working for New Zealand’s Green Party combating social and environmental injustice; within communications for the iconic MINI; and raising youth’s awareness of HIV/AIDS with The British Red Cross. She also has a one year old daughter and 10 year old Rottweiler.