Good Governance Matters - Speakers

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.

William Butler is chair of DSC’s Board, a regional VCSE Health Alliance and a Patient Partnership Group.

He is trustee of educational and homelessness charities, a former mental health charity director, CEO of a membership disability charity and COO of a substance misuse treatment services provider.

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.

Uday has over 40 years’ experience of organisational and management support. Uday specialises in Governance (including finance and risk), Leadership, Strategy and Impact. His skills and knowledge have been honed through establishing and managing various organisations over many years and has personal experience of being a Trustee of three national charities and the past Chair of a health charity. Uday is also an award winning mentor.

Uday has worked with thousands of individuals and many social economy organisations in the UK and around the world and has created numerous toolkits, manuals and guides for a host of umbrella organisations, local and regional authorities.

The breadth of Uday’s experience enables him to facilitate the balance between legal accountability, strategy, operational delivery and relationships within organisations.

Tessé is passionate about working with organisations and individuals to achieve their highest potential and create futures that make a difference.

Tessé is lead consultant to the Governance Development Programme Onboard, a brand of Bates Wells & Braithwaite London LLP, for which she authored ‘Governing with intent’. Previously she was the Head of the Trustee and Governance Team for the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Currently Chair of the Governance and Nominations Committee, Tessé has also served as a Commissioner of the Equal Opportunities Commission and a Non-Executive Director in the NHS.

Tessé draws on her extensive experience when coaching and mentoring to help strengthen governance and leadership. Among others Tessé has worked with Womankind, the Market Research Society, YMCA St Paul’s Group, Share Community Ltd, and grant makers including Barrow Cadbury and Lloyds Foundation.

Michaela Clark-Shan is a Sustainability Coordinator at Scania GB, where she leads initiatives that embed social responsibility and sustainability into everyday practice. With over a decade of experience across the charity and community sectors, Michaela has held key roles at the Milton Keynes Community Foundation and Milton Keynes Hospital Charity, developing partnerships and programmes that strengthen local organisations and create lasting impact.
Michaela also serves as a Trustee for the Directory of Social Change, championing inclusion, wellbeing, and equitable opportunity. Michaela is passionate about empowering communities and helping organisations grow sustainably from the inside out

Joanna Pittman has spent 25 years with Sayer Vincent and became a Partner in 2014. She leads audits and independent examinations for charities in health, social care, grant making, arts and membership sectors. Joanna sits on the Charities SORP Committee, shaping future reporting standards, and previously served seven years on the ICAEW Charities Committee. A passionate advocate for good governance, she delivers finance and governance training for trustee boards. She was a trustee of Farleigh Hospice for nine years, where she chaired the Financial Governance Committee and was Vice Chair.

Malcolm has considerable experience as a trustee/Vice Chair/Chair over 20 years in nine charities working on a diverse range of social justice issues.

He was the Founder of the national campaign organisation, Action for Trustee Racial Diversity, now succeeded by the charity, Board Racial Diversity UK, aimed at addressing under-representation of individuals from Black and Asian backgrounds on trustee Boards. One of his key achievements was his production of the Guide, From Here to Diversity.

He's currently a trustee of three charities - the Association of Chairs, the membership body for charity chairs in England and Wales, the British American Drama Academy and the Charles Dickens Museum. He's also an Independent Panel Member of the Ministry of Justice Public Appointments Panel, a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute, Panel Chair of a new initiative, Charity Hall of Fame, and a steering group member of Clore Social Leadership Lighthouse programme.

Leandra is Deputy Chief Executive & Director of Programmes at the Race Equality Foundation, where she leads on Programmes, including the nationally recognised Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (SFSC) parenting programme and supports the wider family policy and practice agenda. She also leads on operational issues within the Foundation, recently overseeing an organisation restructure as well as supporting the Board with a range of governance activities.

Her career in the voluntary sector spans research, policy and programme leadership, with a focus on tackling racial and structural disadvantage. She has contributed to public debates and written on issues including access to family support for Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, workforce development, and the role of the Black-led voluntary sector.

In governance roles, Leandra serves as Vice Chair of the board of People’s Health Trust (where she also sits as trustee). She is also trustee (and Secretary) for Paddington Arts, a youth arts charity rooted in her local area.

Tim is an independent consultant, supporting charities to build and deliver ambitious and sustainable strategies. He is a facilitator and organisational performance coach.

He spent eight years at the RNLI where he held various roles delivering fundraising intelligence and improvement before ultimately becoming the Head of Funding Strategy and responsible for circa £180M of voluntary income. During his time at the organisation income increased by 29%.

On leaving the RNLI he spent two years as a Funding consultant to a variety of organisations before being asked to join RNID (previously AoHL) as Executive Director for Funding in 2019. The organisation was on the brink of closure and income streams needed re-energising. After his time with RNID Tim returned to his consultancy practice.

Alongside his formal roles and consultancy work Tim was a Trustee of the Royal Osteoporosis Society.

As a senior leader in charities, a Trustee and through his consultancy work Tim has built up a bank of knowledge and experience of both sides of the ”board table”. He recognises that there are often no simple answers but through good practice and collaboration positive ways forward can be built and delivered.

José joined DSC in 2016 and now leads the organisation’s marketing strategy and product development. Over the years, he has developed and implemented marketing campaigns for dozens of charity publications, supported the launch of new products such as The Governance App, and overseen major digital transformation projects including the redevelopment of FundsOnline, DSC’s largest online platform.

Alongside marketing and product innovation, José is leading DSC’s Artificial Intelligence programme. Having completed a Master’s in AI at Isabel I University, he focuses on how automation, agents, and advanced prompting techniques can be applied responsibly to help charities save time and improve impact. His work brings together creativity, data, and technology to ensure that DSC continues to meet the evolving needs of the voluntary sector.

He particularly enjoys turning complex ideas into practical tools for charities, whether through digital platforms, training opportunities, or sector-focused projects such as podcasts and knowledge resources. For José, the value of innovation lies in making charity work more accessible, effective, and sustainable for the people it serves.

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.