Charity Accountants' Conference 2022 - Speakers

Having worked at Sayer Vincent for 11 years Jonathan left in 2006 to work as a freelance internal auditor in the international development sector. Seven years later, and after a role with Mango setting up a new consultancy service, Jonathan was back – this time as a partner.

Sayer Vincent is a unique place to work. It is a fantastic values-driven firm where social purpose comes first. Jonathan believes that every social purpose organisation has an obligation to maximise its effectiveness – to be the best it can. This includes taking managed risks, being accountable to both beneficiaries and donors and transparency in reporting. Throughout his career, Jonathan has brought his audit and finance experience to help clients to do just this.

Debra has worked in the charitable and voluntary sector for over 30 years. Amongst numerous other roles, she is Vice President of the Soldiering On Through Life Trust Awards and co-chairs the judging panel with the General the Lord Dannatt. She is a Trustee of In Kind Direct, one of the Prince's Foundation Charities, and a trustee of the Berkshire Community Foundation. She is also an Africa Advocacy Foundation Ambassador for women and girls at risk of or affected by Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). She has served as a trustee of several charities including being the co-founder of the Small Charities Coalition and was its first Chair. She served on the Charity Commission's SORP committee for over 7 years and was the Vice-Chair of Governors of Whiteknights primary school for 6 years.

She is a renowned public speaker with many years' experience of training and coaching and internationally published author of several books on management and leadership including It's Tough at the Top; The Pleasure and the Pain; It's Murder in Management and It's a Battle on the Board. Debra has a regular monthly column in Third Sector magazine and has appeared on Radio 4's The Moral Maze.

Eileen joined DSC in January 2018, and having worked within the commercial teams in charities and social enterprises brings a wealth of experience of working in the 3rd sector.

Eileen enjoys being part of a team that is genuine, professional and totally committed to building sustainable charities with well trained, confident trustees, employees and volunteers.

Utilising over 30 years of experience providing consultancy services and programmes in the UK and internationally, Judeline work’s with organisations to develop their people to be the best they can be with a particular emphasis on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion matters.

Judeline is a Lay Panel Member of Employment Tribunals (Discrimination) and was highly commended for her work on EDI by the Institute of Directors coaching C-Suite, Boards, and aspiring leaders through challenging conversations to achieve their personal and business aspirations. Judeline is also chair the Norfolk Race Equality, Human Rights Network and a judge with the Third Sector Awards.

George joined DSC at the beginning of 2017 and, having previously led the sales and customer service teams, moved into training at the start of 2020.

He trains in Management & Leadership, Fundraising, Personal Development, Project Management and Wellbeing. He has extensive experience in helping organisations make positive changes to how they approach social change.

He is also qualified as a Mental Health First Aider, with additional time spent studying Psychosis.

The favourite part of his role is knowing that the work DSC performs has a major impact on both the charities and individuals that we are able to serve.

Lucy is a charity law specialist with a varied practice. She enjoys helping Bates Wells clients to achieve their plans, find solutions to difficult problems and put structures in place to support legal compliance and good governance.

Jay Kennedy is DSC’s Director of Policy and Research and has overall responsibility for DSC’s policy, campaigns and research. He leads the team that researches funding information for DSC’s well-known funding guides and websites.

Jay has held a number of different roles since joining DSC in 2003, including researching government funding for charities, project managing one of DSC’s fundraising websites, and acting as a policy officer and media spokesperson. Jay often represents DSC at various forums, networks and events.

Paul Brollo is passionate about language and self-expression. He believes in the power of words to create our reality and in our fundamental right to say what we think and feel. He also believes we can co-exist with each other while we search for the answers to the most important questions in our lives. He supports writers at work to know their readers; to be clear about their intentions; and to create understanding and co-operation in their work and lives. He explores all sides of the debate around gender, language and politics, and he can show you how to exercise your right to speak without infringing on the rights of others.

Oliver Deacon is a former Microsoft Finance Director and an accredited executive leadership and innovation coach, for finance leaders and professionals across the globe. Oliver spent several years leading international finance teams in FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies across the US and Europe. During this time, Oliver experienced cutting edge finance technology years before it was unleashed into the wider world.

Through his coaching, Oliver draws on first-hand experiences to help CFOs, Finance Directors and Managers to futureproof their careers, build amazing finance teams, and thrive in the fast-moving world of finance.

Nicole works with policymakers, businesses, charities, philanthropists and civil society in all its forms. Pro Bono Economics undertakes economic research and policy development for, with and about charities, with the aim of a UK with higher wellbeing for all.

Prior to PBE, Nicole was Head of EU Negotiations at the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) where she led the UK’s premiere business organisation’s work on the negotiation of the trading relationship between the UK and EU. She has also worked for Microsoft and managed political campaigns.