Expert Details
Organisational Development, Change and Learning
ID: 727974
United Kingdom
development sector. She has delivered successful assignments within the UK and overseas, primarily in Sub-
Saharan Africa but also in India and Europe. Expert has a Master's Degree in Change Agent Skills and strong
theoretical background in complexity and organisations, humanistic psychology and learning.
Expert works with executives and teams at all levels of organisations to facilitate and manage change processes
and understand how individuals, teams and organisations can learn in order to continually improve and deliver
successful outcomes. She also has a background as a journalist and writer, continues to be published in her
areas of expertise and uses writing and other creative approaches, including photography and visual imagery to
enhance her work.
Expert has been facilitating teams, groups, events and conferences for over 25 years. She works with
management teams, communities of practice and work teams on team-building, team development and conflict
or dispute resolution.
Expert is an Accredited Mediator (with Distinction) and has a postgraduate certificate in Conflict Resolution (with
Distinction). She works with sticky and complex problems and strategy development. Many of the teams she
works are interdisciplinary and others are multi-cultural technical teams working in international development on
issues such as programme management, HIV and AIDS, gender or advocacy. She has a particular interest in
the dynamics of sustainable change in individuals, teams and organizations, and often uses a combination of
team building with individual coaching to produce lasting culture change.
Expert is a highly effective personal coach. Her assignments include executive coaching, life and career
coaching, coaching to support management development and change processes, and crisis and conflict
resolution coaching. The coaching process always begins with contracting and objective setting and uses a
range of techniques including the GROW model and visualization to deliver the client's objectives.
Expert can deliver measurable results within six sessions. She is also willing to coach by telephone or other
technical means. She is qualified to coach through one of the three strands of her Masters in Change Agent
Skills.
Expert is the author of a full-length book that leverages her skills in journalism, complexity thinking and academic
research to explore the intractable problem of Belfast of the 100 "peace walls," interfaces and other barriers
which continue to separate Protestant from Catholic communities in Belfast, almost 20 years after the Good
Friday agreement which ended the violence in Northern Ireland. For the book she interviewed over 100
community workers, government officials, artists, church ministers, architects, police and other people whose
daily lives and work are concerned with the peacewalls. She used John Paul Lederach's conflict transformation
and complexity theory to reflect on how change might happen. The book has been well-reviewed and has
influenced government policy in Northern Ireland on the peacewalls and interfaces.
Expert has also had many articles published -- primarily in recent years on Northern Ireland and consultancy
practice.
Expert has recently completed one assignment and is currently involved in another with similar aims and principles: to facilitate major change processes in UK charities with teambuilding and coaching for CEO, senior and wider management teams. The aim is to support real and adaptable sustainable culture change, development of team and development of management capacity. Expert managed a process leading up to a day she facilitated in London to resolve a conflict between an NGO's staff in a number of African countries. The dilemma was how to organise the work of the NGO in Africa; competing claims were being made by various country offices and the UK secretariat. The meeting allowed the airing of all points of view, without acrimony, and led to a number of clear and agreed outcomes to be fed into the next stages of the decision-making process. Expert has had a long term involvement with one small UK NGO. She has facilitated four annual consultation meetings, which bring together partners from overseas, UK staff and board members to increase communication and shared decision making. She has led several team-building sessions for staff. She has recently completed an evaluation of one of their projects in India. She has facilitated strategic planning sessions at board and staff levels. Expert had a long term involvement with the UK office of a large US NGO. The work included ongoing facilitation of a team of technical advisers, facilitation of conferences and communities of practice around the issues of Gender and Civil Society, and two evaluations of UK government funded international programmes.In May 2009 Expert facilitated a three day meeting of HR Directors and Advisers from the humanitarian aid sector on the subject of Facilitating Change. The meeting involved a range of processes including workshops and peer learning. The evaluations recorded a 96% excellent or good satisfaction rate across all aspects of conference design and delivery. Expert had a long term relationship with the Methodist Church in Britain. She carried out two learning reviews(Sep-Nov 2011 and Oct 14 - Nov 16) of a an experiment in which the church has invested £7m in building community in areas where the church has no presence, among unchurched people. These learning reviews have aimed to demonstrate how a written report combined with conversation and informal interventions can identify where constructive change is happening, how it happens and how it can be facilitated.
Education
Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
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Year: 2007 | Degree: PG Cert (Distinction) | Subject: Conflict Resolution | Institution: University of Coventry |
Year: 2001 | Degree: MSc | Subject: Change Agent Strategies and Skills | Institution: University of Surrey |
Year: 1982 | Degree: MA | Subject: Theology | Institution: Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary, NYC |
Year: 1973 | Degree: BSc (2:1) | Subject: Sociology | Institution: University of London (external) |
Year: 2006 | Degree: Accredited (Distinction) | Subject: Mediator | Institution: Total Conflict Management |
Work History
Years | Employer | Title | Department |
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Years: 2005 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Principal | Department: |
Responsibilities:Expert is an independent consultant working primarily in the international aid and development and UK not-for-profit sectors as a change facilitator. Since 2005 she has had 35 international clients/assignments, 10 UK charity clients, and over 40 mentoring/coaching clients. Work has included strategic planning and thinking, learning and evaluation, global team facilitations, communities of practice, management development, conflict resolution, team building, and change processes. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 2002 to 2005 | Employer: CAFOD | Title: Learning and Development Manager | Department: HR and OD |
Responsibilities:Expert was responsible for all aspects of developing an organisational and staff learning, training and development programme for this large international NGO. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1998 to 2002 | Employer: Independent Consultant | Title: Self-employed | Department: |
Responsibilities:Expert worked as a self-employed facilitator and consultant in the UK charity and church sectors, and during this time also completed the MSc in Change Agent Skills. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1993 to 1998 | Employer: Allen Hall | Title: Director of Pastoral Training | Department: |
Responsibilities:Expert was responsible for all aspects of designing and delivering a comprehensive and innovative practical training programme for students for the RC priesthood in London's archdiocesan seminary. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1987 to 1993 | Employer: Christian Education Centre | Title: Coordinator for Adult Education | Department: |
Responsibilities:Expert was responsible for delivering adult education programmes, working on a collaborative team, in a large South London and suburban.rural RC diocese. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1985 to 1987 | Employer: The Tablet | Title: Assistant Editor | Department: |
Responsibilities:Expert was a journalist and sub-editor, involved in all aspects of writing and production of prestigious weekly UK journal with worldwide subscription base. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1983 to 1985 | Employer: Freelance writer and adult educator | Title: Self employed | Department: |
Responsibilities:Expert was a freelance writer and educator. During this time her son was born. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1977 to 1979 | Employer: Freelance writer | Title: Self-employed | Department: |
Responsibilities:Expert contributed articles on a diverse range of subjects including women's matters, sport and Irish affairs to a number of publications in New York and the US, as well as PR agencies. |
International Experience
Years | Country / Region | Summary |
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Years: 2010 to 2010 | Country / Region: Malawi | Summary: To explore and facilitate means by which learning at three levels (local, district and national) can significantly enhance delivery of a farmers' programme across the country. |
Years: 2010 to 2010 | Country / Region: India | Summary: Evaluation for a UK institutional funder of a programme working with poor and vulnerable children in Tamil Nadu India. Evaluation used participatory and narrative methodologies to give insight into history of complex 5-year project. |
Years: 2009 to 2009 | Country / Region: Nairobi, Kenya | Summary: Week long workshop on facilitating change and learning for programme staff of major international development agency. Team included senior managers and programme staff, and aimed to increase skills and knowledge about delivery of complex development goals. |
Years: 2008 to 2008 | Country / Region: Rwanda and DRC | Summary: Evaluation for UK government funder and INGO of large international programme aiming to reduce instances of sex and gender based violence against women in four Great Lakes countries. |
Years: 2007 to 2007 | Country / Region: Malawi | Summary: Evaluation for UK government funder and INGO of programme aiming to increase access by Malawians to health care provision. Programme was learning-focussed. |
Years: 2013 to 2013 | Country / Region: Nairobi | Summary: Facilitation of "Making Rangelands Secure" Initiative |
Career Accomplishments
Associations / Societies |
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Expert has been at various times a member of the International Association of Facilitators, a Fellow of the Institute of Occupational Training and Learning, a Fellow fo the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the Association for Management Education and Development |
Professional Appointments |
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Expert is a trustee of the Irish Chaplaincy. She was chair of International Childcare Trust from 2011 to 2015 and served for three years as a trustee of Send A Cow. |
Publications and Patents Summary |
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Expert is the author of Belfast: Toward a City without Walls (Colourpoint 2015). She has been regularly published in The Tablet, and in the field of organisational development, and was frequently published as a journalist and theologian from 1974-2001. She has edited or co-edited two recent editions of "Organisations & People". |
Additional Experience
Training / Seminars |
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Expert has developed many training courses over the years -- most recently she has designed and delivered a two-day Facilitation Skills course which has been successfully delivered both in-house and independently a number of times since 2005. She also regularly contributes sessions on Complexity and Organisations at Masters Level. |
Vendor Selection |
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Expert often works collaboratively with other consultants and facilitators and is in contact with a wide range of independent consultants with overlapping and complementary skillsets. |
Marketing Experience |
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Expert is particularly interested in trends in the international development sector around learning and evaluation, change processes, organisational culture and complexity thinking. |
Language Skills
Language | Proficiency |
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French | Expert has working French -- used to be near fluent. Worked in French for 2 weeks in 2009 in Rwanda & DRC to deliver project evaluation. |
Fields of Expertise
complexity, change management, learning theory, organizational development, international organization, transformation, learning, organizational behavior, theoretical knowledge, meeting facilitation, cross-functional team, self-directed work team, process, team building, executive coaching, leadership, leadership development, mentoring, management guidance, journalism, editorial practice, professional writing, organizational development, international organization, transformation, learning, writing, organizational behavior, theoretical knowledge, meeting facilitation, cross-functional team, self-directed work team, process, team building, executive coaching, leadership, leadership development, mentoring, management guidance, editing, conversation, complex organizations, complexity science, conflict management, conflict resolution, qualitative research, corporate governance, organizational communication, evaluation report, corporate strategic planning, writing, human resources, feedback, evaluation, strategic planning, psychology