Michael O’Toole, the first Crown Representative for the charity sector, has resigned after two years to become the new chief executive of Mentor, the youth drug and alcohol charity.

As Crown Representative, O’Toole’s job was to help charities and other civil society groups build their capacity to deliver more and bigger public service contracts. He was also charged with building strategic engagement between government and the sector.

He has been a trustee of three charities and is currently a trustee at PTA-UK and Home-Start East Herts.  

Before joining the Cabinet Office O’Toole was chief executive of 3SC, the social enterprise partnership that managed bids and delivery consortia for large public sector contracts on behalf of civil society delivery organisations.

The Cabinet Office will recruit a replacement as Crown Representative.

Mentor chair Sim Scavazza said: “We are delighted to appoint Michael at a critical phase in our growth and development, as we scale up in size and influence. Michael has championed ground-breaking prevention and early intervention programmes, firmly allied to outcomes and collaboration. He has a proven track record in business, the voluntary sector and strategic policy engagement at the highest levels. The board believes he is the perfect choice for our new chief executive.”

O'Toole said: “I am very much looking forward to applying my skills and knowledge at Mentor. Prevention and early intervention are increasingly recognised as fundamental to improving our children’s wellbeing and their achievements as adults and citizens. Mentor is in a great position to help transform our society.”