Women in Leadership conference - Speakers

Cathy has been at DSC for 20 years, in a variety of roles. With over 30 years of experience in learning and organisational development, Cathy continues to ensure our customers have the best resources to carry out their work and help their beneficiaries.

Cathy regularly works with Chairs, Trustees and Boards, supporting them with board development, effectiveness and trustee relationships. She is particularly helpful in facilitating Board Review using the Governance App and the Code of Governance.

The best thing for Cathy about working with DSC is knowing that the quality of products and services we provide to charities makes a difference on the front line.

Debra has worked in the charitable and voluntary sector for nearly 40 years with brief forays into the private sector.

Amongst numerous other roles, she is Co-Chair of the Soldiering on Awards. She is a Trustee of In Kind Direct, one of the Prince's Foundation Charities, a governor of the Berkshire NHS Community Foundation Trust, a Commissioner on the Local News Commission of the Public Interest News Foundation, and just recently stood down as 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).

Debra 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 is an 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.

Debra is an alumna of Windsor Leadership having participated on the Strategic Leaders Consultation.

Eileen joined DSC in January 2018, and having worked within the commercial teams in charities and social enterprises brought a wealth of experience of generating income and delivering high quality services into the DSC Sales team.

Eileen’s many years’ experience as a trainer in both the commercial and 3rd sectors was then employed as she became a member of the Training team, designing, updating, producing, retailing and delivering courses and workshops.

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.

Caron is Chief Executive of Charity Finance Group. Previously she was Head of the Charity and Voluntary Sector at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). In addition to supporting a number of small charities and community organisations, Caron has been a member of the NCVO’s National Assembly and the Charities SORP Committee, has sat on a number of government working parties, is a non-executive director of the Lending Standards Board, a member of the Church of England Pension Board’s Audit and Risk Committee, and former chair of the board of the Directory of Social Change. She was also chair of her local hockey club. She was named in the top 30 UK social influencers in Risk, Compliance and Regtech 2017.

Caron is a trained barrister and has a wide array of experience across charity, regulation, law, policy, member support and professional ethics. In 2015 she was named Charity Principal of the Year at the Charity Times Awards. In 2016 she received the Association Excellence Award for Leadership. Caron is an avidly social CEO and has been named in the top 30 social CEOs in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Caron was honoured with an OBE for her services to charity in the New Year’s Honours lists in 2021.

Lizzie Kenyon has spent the last twenty years working and volunteering for a range of frontline and second-tier voluntary organisations. She spent the first six years of her career, supporting other charities through her work at Voluntary Action Cardiff and then at BASSAC.

From 2011 to 2022, Lizzie worked at Keep Britain Tidy where she held a number of roles managing community and education programmes and campaigns and leading the award-winning Centre for Social Innovation. Lizzie spent eight years as part of the Executive Team helping Keep Britain Tidy transition from largely a government-funded organisation to an independent campaigning charity.

In 2023, she became Chief Executive of The Bike Project which refurbishes unwanted second-hand bikes for refugees in the UK, leading a turnaround during a period of significant financial and operational challenge.

Sarah is Deputy CEO and joined CFG in August 2020 to lead the Commercial Services directorate. She is responsible for business development, partnerships, design and delivery of the events programme, membership and marketing. Sarah is an accomplished leader with nearly 25 years' experience in membership marketing and business development across a diverse variety of sectors, including many not-for-profits. Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, she moved to London after completing her BA from Carleton University, Ottawa, and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and an Associate Member of ACEVO. Sarah is also a Trustee for the national Charities HR Network and a local charity, so being part of the CFG team and the charity world is close to her heart.

Frances is a consultant, trainer and interim leader specialising in governance and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). With extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector, Frances has worked with charities, boards, and leadership teams to drive meaningful change, embed inclusive practices, and enhance organisational effectiveness.

Passionate about values-driven inclusive leadership, Frances provides expert guidance on board recruitment, governance, and strategic EDI implementation, helping organisations move beyond policies to create genuinely inclusive cultures. Her work is rooted in practical, actionable solutions that empower leaders to make lasting, impactful change.

Frances has worked with a wide range of charities, from grassroots organisations to national institutions, helping them build inclusive boards and effective leadership teams that truly reflect the communities they serve.

Natalie Haskell is the CEO of CoppaFeel!, a breast cancer awareness and education charity, a role she has held since January 2017.

She joined CoppaFeel! in 2015, initially leading the charity’s brand, communications, and marketing before stepping up to lead the entire organisation.

Under her leadership, CoppaFeel! has grown its impact by developing more diverse, inclusive, and accessible breast cancer campaigns and resources focused on early diagnosis and empowering people to advocate for their own breast health.

Natalie is known for fostering a positive, supportive workplace culture while driving the charity’s mission to improve breast cancer education and awareness, especially among younger people

“Before all the work and achievements, family comes first.”

Guided by this truth, Kadeema Woodbyrne has built a life and career centered on belonging and home. From founding her first charity at just 19, securing £1 million in funding, acquiring commercial property, and managing a multigenerational team — as well as becoming the youngest councillor elected in Islington at 24 — she has turned early life challenges into opportunities for transformation.

Her career spans social enterprise, international trade, property entrepreneurship, the arts, and festival curation. As founder of multiple ventures — including Go Forward Youth (est. 2015) and the Own It programme (2018) — she champions ownership and opportunity.

A strategist, project leader, and negotiator, she has navigated a range of business and social enterprise structures, using that experience to steer her own career and guide others.

She is a published academic co-author, travel book author, and satirical illustrator-fine artist, as well as curator of international art exhibitions and champion of global exchange programmes. Recognised as London’s first Women and Girls Champion, she advocates for visibility and representation.

Rooted in the belief that education and storytelling are essential to understanding our shared human history, she creates space for honest conversations around identity and stigma — redefining limiting systems of class, race, and misogyny. As a mother, she proudly represents diverse family structures and the need to learn from lessons and grow.

Kate Lee OBE is the Chief Executive of NCVO, appointed in 2025 to lead the UK’s largest membership body for charities and volunteers. She was awarded an OBE in 2024 for services to the voluntary sector.

Previously, Kate was CEO of the Alzheimer’s Society (2020–2025), where she drove transformation, strengthened strategy, and championed social care reform. Before that, she led Young Lives vs Cancer (CLIC Sargent), securing major partnerships and policy wins, and revitalised Myton Hospice as its CEO. Earlier in her career, she spent 16 years in senior leadership at the British Red Cross.

Known for her inclusive, transparent, and people-centred leadership, Kate is also shaped by personal experience—her mother’s dementia diagnosis inspired her commitment to systemic change. She holds an MBA, is a Clore Social Leadership Fellow, and has held trustee and sector leadership roles.