Chief executive
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) have announced that Paul Kissack will be their new group chief executive.
He is currently a director general in the UK government working on the national response to the Covid-19 crisis. He has held director general roles at the Department for Environment, DEFRA and the Department for Education.
He said: “Joseph Rowntree’s vision of a prosperous country free of poverty has never felt more relevant or urgent. As we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis it is vital that we redouble our efforts to address stark social and regional inequalities.
“I feel honoured to be joining such an outstanding organisation, to help build on its proud tradition of inspiring change and strengthening communities.”
Kissack steps into the post vacated by Nacro chief executive Campbell Robb in July 2019. He is expected to take up the York-based role by September.
St Mungo’s has named Steve Douglas as its new chief executive. He will replace Howard Sinclair, who announced his intention to leave St Mungo’s last November after six years in charge. Read the full story here.
People and culture
Fiona Evans has been appointed director of people and culture at the Southbank Centre. Evans, who is currently HR director at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), will assume the position in September 2020.
Evans will be responsible for leading the people strategy and HR function to drive organisational effectiveness, employee engagement and cultural change across the organisation’s workforce to support the development and future direction of the Southbank Centre.
Evans has also held a non-executive director position at the UK Centre of Ecology and Hydrology. Prior to ZSL she held executive director positions in HR and communications at City and Islington College and Asthma UK. She is a chartered fellow of the CIPD, a qualified business and management coach, and a youth and community worker.
She said: “I am delighted to be joining the Southbank Centre, which is an organisation I have long admired and respected. I look forward to working with the incredibly talented and highly creative team there and to helping the organisation navigate through the current challenges presented by the Covid crisis.”
Policy and communications
Become, a national charity for children in care and care leavers, has appointed Lisa Watch and Rhiannon Clapperton to the new role of director of policy, campaigns and communications on a job-share basis.
Both Watch and Clapperton are returning to the charity sector. Watch previously led campaigns teams at Barnardos, Diabetes UK and NSPCC, where she oversaw the development and delivery of the charity’s award-winning Order in Court and Flaw in the Law campaigns.
Prior to Clapperton's most recent role at Sport England, she was responsible for a number of charity PR and public affairs clients at Stand Agency as well as leading a public affairs function at disabled children’s charity Whizz-Kidz.
Trustees
Royal Voluntary Service has made six new appointments to its board of trustees – Bayo Adelaja, Justin Davis-Smith, Frankie Herbert, Margaret Moore, Matthew Moorut and Richard Williams.
Adelaja is founder and chief executive of Do it Now Now, an organisation that engages experts across a range of industries to volunteer their time to support black entrepreneurs in the UK and Africa. Prior to setting up Do it Now Now, Adelaja was a health and social care researcher at LSE.
Davis-Smith’s experience includes establishing and running the Institute for Volunteering Research and heading up Volunteering England as its chief executive.
Herbert is currently interim finance director of Costa Coffee and a long-term volunteer for WaterAid.
Moore has been volunteering as a trustee in the charitable sector since retiring from private practice as a commercial and competition lawyer at City law firm Travers Smith LLP, where she was a partner and head of department for over 20 years. She will combine her new role at Royal Voluntary Service with those of vice chair of Sue Ryder and trustee of Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby. In addition, she is vice chair of the Fundraising Regulator.
Moorut spent five years running all of the digital and marketing operations for Charity Digital and is supporting the research company Gartner in an advisory role.
Williams is a seasoned director with a wealth of experience in the not for profit, charitable, commercial and volunteering sectors. He held the post of director of enterprise at NCVO for 13 years following an 18 year stint as a director at the environmental charity BTCV.
Pancreatic Cancer UK has appointed Lisa Tennant as its first trustee for Scotland.
Tennant is a consultant and digital strategist specialising in digital transformation and customer service and a member of the NHS Ayrshire & Arran Health Board.
She said: “I’m very excited about the opportunity to help PCUK in their vital work. My father died young from the disease and I understand the impacts first hand. It’s time we improved diagnosis and survival rates. I look forward to the opportunities and challenges ahead.”
