The Team

Judy is passionate about systems working and has a strong track record in enabling leaders to work collaboratively across boundaries. She has a well-earned reputation for designing and delivering catalytic interventions that facilitate integration, devolution and culture change. 

As a Senior Consultant at the Kings Fund for 20 years she ran countless system, organisational and leadership development interventions in the health and care sector and as a faculty member of the NHS Leadership Academy she’s currently supporting ICS development in Cornwall, Dorset and Shropshire. She’s designing and running engagement meetings about ICS board structures, roles and relationships and she’s facilitating discussions about ‘place’ boundaries, devolution and primacy. She’s also delivering system board development and programmes designed to stimulate systems leadership.

As a Director of The Westcott Group, she supported the South Somerset Symphony Programme board that led the integration of primary and secondary care and a collaboration with the voluntary sector and local authority to create new models of care to deliver prevention and personalised care. She also led the design and delivery of a two-year organisational development programme to The Stroke Association’s top two hundred leaders to help them adopt the systems leadership mindsets, behaviours and relationships required to better integrate with their local systems.

Judy is an Associate at the Whitehall and Industry Group which brings together a wide variety of public sector organisations with Government and corporate sector companies to help them work across sectoral boundaries to learn, influence policy and create social change together. She is currently delivering the organisations programmes to Welsh Government, HMRC and The Office For National Statistics. Judy has a deep understanding of public sector organisations, having worked in policy and senior leadership roles over ten years in the NHS, three local authorities and one national voluntary sector organisation. She has an MSc in Public Policy and is currently undertaking a doctorate in Existential Psychotherapy.

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 As a teacher, education consultant and trainer, Kathryn has been using drama, music and theatre for twenty years to help people improve their communication skills and develop their personal impact. By dipping into the treasure chest of skills used by actors and performers, everyone can learn how to come across naturally and confidently, to speak with warmth, ease and authority. 

Kathryn has worked for 15 years as a communication and personal impact coach. Clients include the NHS Leadership Academy & The King's Fund, as well as corporate and educational organisations.  She started her career in special education, becoming head of Creative Arts at a large residential special school for children and young people. In 2012 she established the special needs department at Chichester Festival Theatre. Supporting people to develop their communication skills through the arts has been at the centre of all her work. She has spent many years in senior leadership, including 4 years as deputy head in her local special school. Her biggest challenge to date has been trying to hit some right notes on the accordion!

Clients include:  NHS Leadership Academy, Kings Fund, Help for Hospices, Equals Consultancy, The Bridge Training, The Hay Group, Nuffield Health, Florence Nightingale Foundation, The Treasury Department, Confident Women’s Academy, My Sisters House.

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Andrea’s expertise is one-to-one and group coaching, employing coaching psychology and positive psychology principles to support individuals’ growth through increased self-awareness.  She has extensive experience of working with senior individuals and teams across the NHS and Care Sector, including both the Thrive and Senior Leadership Programmes for Hospice UK; in Social Housing and Volunteering operations; and in the private sector.

Her focus is on the development of personal leadership skills through an evidence-based approach to helping clients enhance and apply their strengths in order to improve their own performance, thereby increasing the well-being of their teams, and ultimately achieving valued organisational goals. 

Andrea is qualified with a PGDip in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, a Foundation Certificate in Counselling and Psychotherapy, Diplomas in Cognitive Hypnotherapy and NLP, and is completing a further Diploma in Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy.  She is a registered member of the EMCC, NCPS, CNHC and UKATA.

Andrea also works in private practice helping individuals in recovery from addiction rebuild their lives and sense of purpose.

Samia has spent her career developing leadership and management practice, strengthening diversity and inclusion, increasing social responsibility, working with volunteers and creating healthy working environments. She has extensive experience in the health and social care voluntary sector and offers coaching and mentoring to senior leaders in the voluntary sector. 

Samia is a Trustee at Prostate Cancer UK and was Chief Executive of Breast Cancer Care for 25 years till 2019. During this period she led the organisation through a period of considerable growth and development, integrating the work of Breast Cancer Care with the NHS and developing new models of care for people with cancer.

Previously, Samia worked in the HIV sector managing a range of direct services. Her commitment to combining high quality services whilst influencing for change is rooted in a passion for user involvement and consultation. Samia is interested in how leaders can help develop organisations that are a pleasure to work in.

Jem is motivated by the challenge of developing cohesive, adaptive organisations - where everybody has an opportunity to thrive! He thinks of organisations and systems as complex networks of social and technical relationships. He is currently supporting numerous system developments such as the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System.

Jem is an innovative coach, leadership developer and organisational development expert. His experience spans many sectors and industries, including health and social care, banking, communications, aerospace and local government. Jem is a member of the NHS’s National Leadership Academy faculty.  He leads teams of practitioners in the design, delivery and evaluating of standalone programmes and scheme components. These include: the Nye Bevan Programme, the Clinical Executive Fast Track, director for the NHS Graduate Management Trainee Scheme, and facilitator on the Aspiring Chief Executive Programme.

Jem fulfils a variety of 1:1 and team coaching assignments with executive and senior-level leaders and teams. His coaching practice invites clients to examine their own narratives and unconscious beliefs through a variety of lenses and stimuli. 

Jem’s approach to developing leaders and organisations focuses, not on the installation of various prefabricated ‘best practices’, but on collaborative inquiry and experimentation. He has an MSc in People & Organisational Development, and a BA (Hons) in Education & Training. He registered with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and is expert in the use of a range of personality profiling instruments.

Breda is highly focused on enabling leaders to take a more strategic view, to assess relevant political, financial, and business factors. She aims to strengthen people’s ability to perform well in their changing contexts. Breda believes in working in partnership to develop people to achieve their potential to make the contribution they are capable of in their work and in their lives.  

Breda is the Programme Leader for the Dementia Fellowship, a system-wide initiative in the south-east, designing and leading a series of Fellowship programmes over four years in partnership with The Alzheimer’s Society, involving 140 clinicians. As part of this work the innovative educational approach ‘Time for Dementia’ has subsequently become an internationally award-winning scheme, with learning that has spread to a wide range of universities, schools of nursing and schools of Allied Health Professionals across the UK.

In the leadership development field, Breda has held national lead responsibility over the past 5 years for 3 cohorts of Aspiring NHS Chief Executives and 10 cohorts of Aspiring NHS Directors.  These ambitious programmes aim to deliver a cultural change in executives’ understanding of the attributes needed of them as health & social care leaders of the future. The programmes requires executives to meet the challenges of inequality and unmet aspiration among the wider population and the NHS workforce, particularly in relation to diversity, patient involvement and inclusion. As a committed champion for equality, diversity and inclusion, Breda is often sought out as coach to high-potential individuals in health and social care from under-represented groups. She has successfully supported numerous candidates into leadership positions, with coaching support based in addressing equality, diversity and inclusion.

In the academic sector, Breda has led the M.Sc. Healthcare Leadership at the Postgraduate Department of Brighton and Sussex Universities Medical School since 2006. Her specialist teaching interest is health policy and strategy.

Liz is an energetic and skilled leadership development and organisational development practitioner. She is passionate about development as a means of empowering teams and individuals to improve the quality of the services they provide.

Liz has worked extensively within the public and private sector on development programmes that equip leaders with hard and soft skills. Her work with doctors has often focused on a combination of behavioural and technical skills development, for example enabling them to become more competent in financial management, performance conversations, commissioning and service improvement as well as understanding self, handling conflict, and improving impact and influence.

Liz worked with Macmillan to help enable the organisation to move from one that funded individual posts to one that is able to work alongside health and social care to improve services and life for those living with and affected by cancer. Working with the service development teams she co designed and delivered a programme that shifted the way they conceptualised and enacted their roles, the way they measured success and the way they engage with the system and each other.

Liz is innovative in design, in her work on the award winning NHS Frontline programme, undertaken by 5000 nurses, she utilised ‘Flipped Classroom’ methodology to minimise time out of frontline care and maximise impact. She thinks far beyond classroom. Liz has post-graduate diploma in both Health Service Management and Reflective Management. Liz has a first-class honours degree in English and Theatre Studies from the University of Warwick. She is accredited to use a range of psychometric tools including MBTI (step 1), Leadership Styles and Climate, Emotional & Social Competence Inventory (ESCI) and TalentQ.

Belinda has huge expertise in systems leadership and in working with boards and senior leaders to develop collaborative leadership in complex systems. Belinda is a highly experienced leadership coach, facilitator, academic and consultant who has directed successful leadership programmes for hundreds of senior leaders in all sectors.

Belinda has designed and taught for many years on systems leadership development programmes in the UK and globally. She is Co-director of Leading for System Change, the NHS Leadership Academy flagship systems leadership programme and has co-designed the Introduction to Systems Leadership programme for the NHS LA. Belinda is the former Director of Leadership at the University of Birmingham Health Services Management Centre, for whom she was programme director on the Nye Bevan programme and the Clinical Executive Fast-Track Scheme.

Belinda was a non-executive director, and latterly deputy Chair, with Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust for six years, and in her earlier career was the Chief Executive of a mental health charity, and worked in the non-profit sector for 10 years. She was principal consultant in the healthcare practice of a blue-chip management consultancy and a partnership development director for a global pharmaceutical company. 

Belinda holds an MBA from Manchester Business School, an MA in social sciences from Edinburgh University and a Diploma in Management Studies from the University of Kent. She is qualified in Oshry Power + Systems, Prince2, Firo-B and MBTI Step I and II and is an accredited facilitator for the HLM360 model.

Simon is interested in innovative development, working with organisations in the fields of leadership and organisation development as a consultant, coach, designer and facilitator. His current work includes working with teams and networks – with a focus on effectiveness and how to respond to a highly complex and evolving environment.

Simon works across a wide range of organisation development disciplines – which include organisation and team culture, change leadership, leadership development, systemic team coaching and one to one coaching.  His work is typically with a wide range of clients in the public, private and not for profit sectors.   Major clients in 2020/21 included the NHS Leadership Academy, an international scientific research NGO, a large combined local authority in England, and an international private sector consultancy.   

Simon’s career included roles at The King’s Fund, NHS England, Mars Confectionery and The Terrence Higgins Trust.   In his consulting career, clients have included the NHS Leadership Academy, Rolls Royce, Faculty of Medical Leadership & Management, Post Office, University of Exeter, Whitehall & Industry Group, CGIAR, Reebok International, British Telecom, Cambridge Assessment and Diageo amongst others.

Simon’s MSc in Organizational Behaviour is from Birkbeck College. He is an accredited coach through The School of Coaching/University of Strathclyde and Systemic Team Coach through the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC).

Toby has written, directed and performed in over 30 original plays and is at the leading edge of innovation in the use of role-play and forum theatre. He pioneered arts based development in his role as Co-founder and Artistic Director at Trestle Theatre Company which was a multi-award winning company known for its artistic integrity and education programmes. 

Toby is a qualified NLP and SDI practitioner and coach and he regularly delivers workshops on personal impact, communications, creativity, crucial conversations and storytelling to NHS organisations via the King’s Fund. He’s a faculty member of the NHS Leadership Academy and also works with Korn Ferry and Ashridge Consulting. 

For 6 years Toby has been a Senior Consultant at Mission Performance, developing the entire communications strand to their development programmes, with clients including ASDA, RBS, Schlumberger, Caring Homes, Harlequins Rugby, Marathon Oil and Nomura Bank.  

Since 2011 Toby has run MetaMorpho Theatre Co, affiliated to the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth and offers development support to a number of emerging Creative Media companies.

Amanda is passionate about helping people to re-discover their natural voice so they can use it to engage, influence and transform others. She delivers masterclasses on personal impact, crucial conversations, storytelling, improvisation for leaders and creativity in leadership. Using her director’s eyes and ears, she works out what helps individuals look and feel authentic, spontaneous and engaged in front of an audience. She uses wit and humour and has a knack of drawing inspired performances out of people. Her sessions are fun, non-threatening and revelatory.

Amanda also delivers team development, action learning sets and coaching and is a qualified SDI Level 1 practitioner. She has been an associate at the Kings Fund for 17 years and is a faculty member of the NHS Leadership Academy. She works regularly with Ashridge Consulting and Korn Ferry and in her work with The Whitehall and Industry Group she has delivered programmes to leaders in the Welsh Government, the ONS and HMRC. 

Amanda delivers the ‘Identity, Impact and Voice’ module on the higher education Aurora programme for women and her voluntary and charity sector development work includes The Stroke Association, Hospice UK Strategic Leaders Programme and regular sessions for Macmillan GPs. She has also worked extensively with local, national and international corporate sector clients including Nuffield, Pernod Ricard, Pfizer, Shell, Sainsburys and Bayer. 

Amanda has co-written this years pantomime for The Corn Exchange, Newbury and is developing a musical for a London run. She has been the joint Artistic Director and writer for comedy duo ‘Plested and Brown’ who toured the UK and abroad spreading joy and hilarity to a range of large and small audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

Clare is a professional actor, writer and stand-up artist. The British Theatre Guide called her  “a sheer delight…fresh, witty and immensely funny…”. Clare has been instrumental in designing and delivering numerous leadership masterclasses including: ‘The Creative Mindset’, ‘Storytelling’ and ‘Improvisation for Leaders’. 

Clare has over 10 years-experience of delivering workshops on development programmes run by The NHS Leadership Academy, The King’s Fund, Nuffield Health, Florence Nightingale and Department of Health. She has also worked with L’Orèal, Danske Bank, Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, Unilever, Schlumberger and Ørsted. 

Clare is the co-founder of the award-winning comedy theatre company ‘Plested and Brown’ and has written and performed in all seven shows. She toured nationally and internationally in South Korea, Armenia and New Zealand. Clare performed in Office Party at the Edinburgh Festival and has performed in four Pantomimes at the Corn Exchange. She has had three successful runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her solo shows - ‘Vegas, Jesus and Me’, ‘Clare Plested: The Essential Collection’ and ‘Flock Up’.

Clare has a degree in Performing Arts. She is part of the Free Association – London’s leading Improvisation group and performs regularly in London and Edinburgh with the 838 Improv team. 

Susanna believes that sharing the skills of a Shakespearean actor with those who aren’t themselves actors, enables them to become more dynamic facilitators and sharper focused communicators. Using her skills and experience as a performer, Susanna has delivered arts-based Masterclasses in ‘Public Speaking’, ‘Personal Impact’, ‘Crucial Conversations’ and ‘Creative Leadership’.

Susanna has 15 years experience in the field of communication training and professional development and over 25 years as a theatre actress, director and voice artist.  She works in both the UK and the US and is a founder member of Actors Shakespeare Company where she continues to act, direct and coach. Her theatre work has taken her to the West End, Off-Broadway and to the Aspen Comedy Festival (Jury Award Best Sketch Comedy).

Susanna has worked with Macmillan, The Kings Fund, The NHS Leadership Academy, Korn Ferry, Ashridge and Arun District Council. Her USA clients include Teachers and Preachers, Postdoctoral Fellows and Middle School Students, Business Entrepreneurs and Biomedical Scientists.  

Susanna brings humor and a gentle yet incisive honesty to every workshop so that participants can discover their untapped potential.

Steve believes in the potential for systems working to unlock the delivery of services that are better tailored to individual need ad more effective and sustaining of wellbeing for communities and populations. As the Vice Chair of a large London urgent care organisation, Steve has helped to position the organisation in the emerging network of lead providers and sub-contractors, managing conflicts of interest between GP Directors and emerging Place-based PCNs and Federations, while working closely with emerging ICSs. 

Steve is hugely experienced as a senior leader in a variety of NHS provider, commissioning and public health organisations. Steve worked in The King’s Fund policy unit for ten years and was its co-director for two years. He has also variously led the development of research, policy, strategy, and innovation not only at the King’s Fund, but also in Marie Curie and the Alzheimer’s Society. He now provides leadership development, coaching and consultancy to a wide variety of public sector organisations. As well as working to support the development of NHS ICSs and ICBs and supporting health related charities to become aware and responsive to the opportunities offered by the changing environment.

As a Director of The Westcott Group, Steve leads on the delivery of a national Strategic Leadership Programme for Hospice Leaders commissioned by Hospice UK. The programme has won recognition from The European Association for Palliative Care and the European Palliative Care Academy as their European Leadership Award winner for 2019.  Steve was a member of the team that delivered the Hospice UK’s Commission into the Future of Hospice Care and the more recent National End of Life Care Strategy (the Ambitions Framework for End of Life Care). 

Steve is a qualified coach with many clients across both the NHS and the charity sectors working in the emerging health and social care system. He has degrees in Operational Research and English literature and qualifications in business coaching, management science and statistics.

In John’s early career he ran IT strategy practices in several UK consulting firms, working internationally for companies such as Proctor and Gamble, Dupont, Conoco and a variety of financial institutions. John is always interested systems thinking and systems working.  In the early days of his career, this abiding focus on systems thinking and organisational development emerged from his realisation that the biggest challenges for major IT programmes related to organisational change rather than technological complexity. 

John later joined the King’s Fund where he worked with a small team to pioneer integrated approaches to addressing intractable health and social problems. It adopted a number of specialist techniques for working with diverse groups of hundreds of stakeholders that led to the development of a portfolio of approaches that later became known as “whole system” working. This work generated a number of publications most notably a book entitled “Working Whole Systems”. 

John continued this mode of systems working in a variety of multi organisational/disciplinary domains including, criminal justice and the private sector. He worked in several “system integrator” organisations including Cambridge Technology Partners where his role was to align, harmonise and integrate technology systems to support new sets of organisational relationships. 

His roles included Director of the Global Health Practice for BT and most recently Head of Health and Life Sciences for Samsung Electronics in Europe. John holds Masters degrees in Business Systems Analysis & Design, Business Administration and Occupational Psychology and he’s currently completing a Doctorate at Oxford University researching the emotional relationship between people and therapeutic spaces.