Staff

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.

Harry joined DSC in June 2021 and is responsible for Personnel, the Executive Office and managing the Trustees.

Annette joined DSC in 2007 and has held a number of positions in, Customer Service, Training, Events and Development.  Annette has overall responsibility for Training and Events, Customer Service and Sales,

Her favourite thing about working at DSC is "supporting my direct reports to be the best managers they can be". 

Jane joined DSC at the beginning of 2018 and deals with customer service enquiries, as well as welcoming delegates who are attending Training and meeting visitors coming to our Bookshop.

The aspect of her role which Jane enjoys most is helping the wide range of interesting charities which we work to find the right information or support.

Joined DSC June 2016 and she deals with the daily processes of subscription website memberships, publication orders and course bookings. She is also responsible for the visual merchandising of DSC's bookshop. 

Gwen enjoys the challenge of resolving customer queries.

Catrina joined DSC in 2023 as their Head of Training and Events and has 10 years event management experience with 7 years in the charity sector.

Catrina was Shortlisted as Best Fundraising Newcomer at the Institute of Fundraising Awards and prior to working in the events and charity sectors, she worked with a wide range of businesses helping them with their PR needs.

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

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

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.

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.

Yvonne joined DSC as the Head of Finance in 2019. She is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the ACCA and has specialized in audit and charity accounting for a number of years.

She is responsible for managing, leading and providing support to the Finance team, as well as providing and managing accounting, financial reporting and internal control functions within DSC.

Senn joined DSC in 2019, and his responsibilities include credit control and preparing management accounts for leadership team meeting, financial reporting and internal control functions. Senn loves the fast-paced, dynamic environment of DSC and its collaborative, open and positive culture.

Annette’s main role is to make sure monthly figures are compiled and to support the accounts department.

She enjoys working for DSC as ‘it’s all team work’.

Ben has had several roles since joining DSC in 2003, at various points leading research, policy, training and events. In his current role as Director of Development and Delivery he oversees the Marketing, Publishing, Funds Online and Development teams.

Ben's favourite thing about DSC is seeing individuals and organisations having a bigger impact because we’ve helped them - whether that’s projects that get funding because someone’s used one of our directories, or amazing people going back to lead their organisations after attending our training courses.

John has worked in publishing since 1986 including for an arts listing magazine, in medical publishing and, for many years, in TV-tie publishing at BBC Publications. Since 2005 he has been Publisher at DSC and enjoys the challenge of commissioning and creating publications of real value to the sector.

Gabi joined DSC in 2014 as a volunteer and went on to work with us full time.

Although she left her role a couple of years later, she never lost touch with DSC and in 2019 happily returned to look after DSC publications.

Gabi enjoys being part of the charitable sector and helping charities be better at the great things they do.

Justin has been at DSC since 2011. He is responsible for building and delivering the marketing budget and strategy.

One of Justin's favourite things about working at DSC is he gets to find out more about all the charities out there doing amazing work.

José joined DSC in 2016 and is responsible for creating, development and implementation of marketing plans for publications and funding websites.

José likes being part of creating products that help charities to help their beneficiaries.

Gabriella joined DSC in 2021 and she is responsible for our communications.

The thing that Gabriella loves about working for DSC is helping incredible charities get the help they deserve.

Kate has been at DSC since 1994. She is the designer at DSC and does everything that is visual, from book covers to conference branding, advertising and online brochures.

The thing Kate loves about working at DSC is that she gets to be creative in so many different ways and seeing how we reach the people that use and benefit from our services.

Jay Kennedy is the Director of Policy and Research at the Directory of Social Change (DSC), where he has worked since 2003 in a variety of roles involving research, policy and public affairs, and senior management. In 2024 DSC published Jay’s Speed Read on Campaigning, which is an accessible, introductory guide for charities wanting to influence the UK political system.


Jay is responsible for DSC’s Research Team, which researches information for DSC’s fundraising publications and its funding website www.fundsonline.org.uk, and conducts bespoke research for a range of grant-makers and other charity clients.

Stuart provides research to inform policy and practice in the charity sector. He is a member of DSC’s leadership team, and he manages the team behind DSC’s bespoke research, funding guides and Funds Online research.

Stuart specialises in armed forces charities, and he won the 2021 FiMT Research Award for his work in this field, which is cited at government level. He has co-authored ten reports on the subject, including the definitive 2020 report – Sector Insight: Armed Forces Charities.

Stuart holds a BA (Hons) in Psychology and Sociology, an MSc in Applied Psychology, and a PGCE in Psychology. He is a qualified teacher and taught for five years before moving into applied research.

Rhiannon joined DSC in 2017 and works on DSC's armed forces charities research. 

Rhiannon's favourite thing about working at DSC is using data to tell a story and affect positive social change. 

Ian joined DSC in 2014 and works on DSC's funding guides and websites.

Ian's favourite thing about working at DSC is helping smaller charities find funding.

Jessica joined DSC in August 2019 and works on DSC’s funding website and guides.

Jessica’s favourite thing about working at DSC is being able to help highlight the amazing work done by charities across the UK.

Kalli joined DSC in 2023 and is part of the research team.

She studied Languages and Politics at the University of Nottingham, before doing a Masters in Gender and International Development at the University of Warwick.

Outside of DSC, she gets involved with Women Beyond Walls, a platform that aims to influence policymaking and discourse surrounding the incarceration of women and girls.

Her favourite part about being a member of the DSC team is engaging with charities' important work and helping support their independence.