Marjorie Ellis Thompson
Marjorie has worked across all sectors; private, public and voluntary or not-for-profit (NGOs) on both sides of the Atlantic. Her career spans a wide range of organisations and she has worked on Capitol Hill, in the House of Commons (as a parliamentary officer), and as an election monitor for expatriate voters in the first free South Africa elections. She has also worked with the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Between 1983 and 1993 Marjorie worked at the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), where she headed up Press and PR, moving on to become firstly vice Chair, and then Chair.
In 2002 Marjorie established her own consultancy C3i and her clients have included the Political Studies Association, the Institute for Practitioners in Advertising, the General Teaching Council, Homeless Link, the Islam Channel, Dementia Studies Centre, Engage and the Motor Neurone Disease Association, Lynn’s Bowel Cancer Campaign, the All Party Group on Runaway and Missing children, Film London, Kid’s Company, the Shelia McKechnie Foundation and Drugscope.
Marjorie is on the board of trustees at Project Pressure, (a scientific and artistic collaboration monitoring decline of world’s glaciers), and Why Me?, the restorative justice charity with Sir Charles Pollard, ex Chief Constable of Thames Valley police. She is also chair of the Conservative Cooperative Movement.
Judith Rich OBE
Judith has worked in the charity sector for over 40 years. She was director of Cards for Good Causes from 1977 to 2000, which she initiated and built up, selling over £1m worth of charity cards each week in its season by the time she retired.
She has won the Lifetime Achievement award at the recent Fundraising Awards dinner at the London Hilton Metropole. She is currently Chair of Charity Appointments, Vice President of Diabetes UK and of REACH, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Fundraising. She is a Non-Executive Director of ClickNow, the charity search engine and is Chairman of their Charity Advisory Board.
In 1993, she was awarded the O.B.E. and in 2006 the Lifetime Award of the Third Sector as well as the Services to Humanity Award from the International Red Cross in the same year.
She continues to be recognised for her voluntary work in the City of London by the Award of the Silver Swan by the Worshipful Company of Musicians in 2009.
Martin Edwards
Martin is a regular columnist for Third Sector magazine and Chief Executive of the children’s hospice Julia’s House, the Healthcare Charity of the Year at the 2012 Charity Awards. Julia’s House cares for children with life-limiting illnesses and supports their families.
Under Martin’s leadership, Julia’s House won a Third Sector Excellence Award and topped the The Sunday Times ‘Top 100 Places to Work rankings in the Public & Charity Sectors.
John Fenner OBE (Chair)
John is currently a special adviser for volunteering to the Mayor’s Fund for London, and a Built Environment Expert with CABE at the Design Council. John qualified as a Solicitor in 1959. He was a Founder Partner of Berwin Leighton (now Berwin Leighton Paisner) in 1970 and lately spent four years as a Senior Consultant with Pinsent Masons.
John specialised in large scale real estate developments and Tesco was one of his clients. He was Managing Partner of Berwin Leighton from 1980 – 1984 and Chairman of Partners from 1984 – 1990. He was Chairman of BURA (British Urban Regeneration Association) from 1991 – 1999 and a Trustee of the BURA Charitable Trust from 1993 – 2009.
Additionally, John was a Master of The Worshipful Company of Fletchers from 2002 – 2003 and he is currently a member of the Court of Assistants and of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Surveyors.
John was awarded an OBE in 1996 for services to regeneration.
Andrew Leadbetter
Andrew comes with a significant and thorough knowledge and understanding of Local and National government, with some 15 years’ experience as a County and City Councillor.
He is currently the Cabinet Member for Business Services in Devon, which includes the briefs for; Workforce, Performance, Procurement, Communications and Public affairs. He is also Deputy Chairman of the National Association of Regional Employers and Vice President of CEEP (UK).
He also has over 5 years experience of working with the European Union and around 12 years’ experience of working with the Conservative party.
Within Devon, he is the elected County Councillor for the electoral division of St Loyes & Topsham Exeter.
Andrew is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Devon Scouts, which has a membership of over 12,000, and also has extensive knowledge and experience of Charity Governance and Law.
He was a member of the NSPCC Southwest Full Stop Appeal Board and the National Task Group.
Outside of work, Andrew is a friend of Exeter Cathedral and his passions also include Rugby Union, Football, Music, Tennis, Architecture and Food.
Claire Harvey
Claire is Head of Corporate Responsibility for the Financial Services Authority. Prior to working at the FSA, Claire worked for the Ministry of Justice in the prison service as a Prison Governor, focussing on rehabilitation of serious offenders and command of serious incidents. Post her accident, she worked with Baroness Scotland as the Ministry’s Young Offender policy lead.
Claire suffered a spinal chord injury in February 2008, leaving her partially paralysed and a wheelchair user. She says: “It made me realise that you can’t control the hand you’re dealt, but you can decide how to play it.”
According to Claire, one of the biggest challenges right now is changing people’s thoughts about diversity, both from a staff and a consumer perspective; diversity provides better opportunities for everyone to work together and makes the most of the skills and experiences of a team, which ultimately makes us a better regulator.
Outside of work, Claire also enjoys sports. She previously played rugby union for Scotland as scrum half and is Captain of the GB Paralympics Sitting Volleyball team having competed in the 2012 Olympics.
