Independence under threat conference speakers
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![]() Caroline has over thirty years experience, including working at the highest levels in Government and the wider public and voluntary sectors.
She has written many influential publications on civil society over the last four years including Independence in Question: the voluntary sector in 2016 and Whose Society? the final Big Society Audit and introduced and edited Making Good: the future of the voluntary sector, a collection of essays by 30 civil society leaders. She is a founding member of A Better Way, a network committed to improving services and strengthening communities and co-manager of the network. She is also part of the core team of the Early Action Task Force, a group of civil society, public and private sector leaders seeking to identify and tackle the barriers to investment in more preventative measures. She speaks on many different platforms on civil society matters, including abroad, and is an occasional commentator in the Guardian and elsewhere. Caroline set up Civil Exchange at the beginning of 2011 to use her expertise and experience to help government and the third sector understand each other better and work more effectively together. Caroline was the Chief Executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission between 2002 and 2007, an NDPB which promoted equal opportunities between men and women; and then moved on to become Chief Executive of Refugee and Migrant Justice, a not for profit organisation providing legal advice to asylum seekers, between 2007 and 2010. Over this period, Caroline successfully campaigned to improve the rights of women and families and the treatment of refugees. She also worked with the support of a number of charitable trusts to improve the capacity of the refugee sector to influence the government and public opinion. In government, Caroline developed new policies and services in a number of Departments and advised many Ministers, including working as the Private Secretary for Home Affairs to two Prime Ministers. At the Treasury, she advised the Chancellor on public sector priorities and reformed the public expenditure system. At the Department for Education and Skills, she won new funding from the Treasury for innovative new childcare services and worked closely with voluntary organisations and local authorities to deliver them on the ground. Across her career, Caroline has successfully introduced new ways of working to enable organisations to achieve their objectives more effectively and efficiently. |
![]() Joe Saxton: Driver of Ideas & Founder of nfpSynergy Joe Saxton is driver of ideas at nfpSynergy and its founder. Joe works on a range of specific projects especially those that look at strategic advice on fundraising or communications, or wider organisational issues. He has co-authored over 70 reports on charities from branding to trusteeship and organisational strategy. Joe was chair of the Institute of Fundraising from 2005-2008. He was co-founder and chair of CharityComms from 2006 to 2013, and chair of the student environment and development campaign group People & Planet from 2005 to 2015. For six years he was a trustee of the RSPCA and chair of both the Public Affairs and International committees He is now chair of the PTAUK which has over 14,000 members and aims to develop parent engagement with schools. He was in the top ten of the most influential people in UK fundraising for over a decade, including four years in the top spot. In 2007 and 2008, he was named one of the 1000 most influential people in London by the Evening Standard. In 2009, PR Week named him as the 2nd most influential person in voluntary sector PR and communications. He was highly commended in Third Sector’s trustee award in 2013. Before nfpSynergy, Joe was Director of Communications at the RNID, Britain’s largest charity for deaf and hard of hearing people. At RNID he was responsible for PR, disability consultancy, lobbying, campaigning, policy, information and membership. He was also with Brann, the world’s largest direct marketing group, for five years and has worked with numerous charities. He co-founded the Journal of Non-profit and Voluntary Sector Marketing. |