In Episode 4, Abi’s guest is Jayne Taylor, CEO of The Elephant group, a headteacher-led charity dedicated to improving fair access to top universities.

Through collaboration with school leaders, universities, and key partners, The Elephant Group supports academically able students from non-selective state schools, helping them achieve their aspirations through tailored programmes and sector-wide initiatives.

In this episode, Jayne shares how the impact of her older brother having a serious illness when she was ten defined her childhood, and sparked a keen desire to help young people derailed by difficult circumstances to achieve their academic potential.

She also shares her thoughts on:

• The surprising similarities between becoming a parent and becoming a chief exec;

• Why she thinks teenagers are underrated;

• What she's learned about leadership from playing Roller Derby and obsessively reading about mountaineering.

This is a fascinating listen for anyone interested in the charity sector, leadership, young people, academia, achieving a balance between family life and career goals, and much more.

About The Elephant Group

The Elephant Group is a headteacher-led charity that is committed to creating fair student access to top universities by collaborating with schools, universities, and wider partner organisations.

It identifies challenges faced by schools and works with key partners to create a lasting change. Via its core programmes, Elephant Access and the Meta Method, it works with over 3,500 students from low progression areas, delivering targeted activities designed to develop lifelong skills and support capable students into the universities and career paths that they deserve.

Its model of cross-sector collaboration allows it to draw on a wide network, gathering resources, information and connections to help upskill school staff and help students to develop the skills and knowledge that they need to make an informed choice based on their aspirations.

To find out more about The Elephant Group follow it on X | LinkedIn or visit https://theelephantgroup.org/

If you enjoyed this conversation, come back and listen to our fascinating February guest! We release new episodes on the first Monday of every month. And, we’d love you to rate, review and subscribe to Leading Lights - this helps others to find the podcast.

And, if you’re a Head of brand, marketing or creative within a charity, why not join us at the MOREVER Meetup to share ideas and insights with women in similar roles from other charities.

Find out more about MOREVER - www.morever.co.uk

In Episode 3 of Leading Lights, Abi has the pleasure of meeting Dr Sarah Hughes, the inspirational CEO of Mind, the mental health charity.

Sarah has worked in mental health and social justice for 35 years. She has held a number of chief executive roles in the voluntary sector including for the prestigious think tank The Centre for Mental Health. She holds a professional doctorate on the topic of women and leadership and was given an honorary doctorate by Hull University where she happily studied social work in the mid 90s.

Sarah's vision of becoming the CEO of Mind was established at the age of 18 when she ‘found her people’ during a gap year job at Mind Haringey. She was strongly influenced by her father’s leadership style and her mother’s resilience. She has a clear idea of what it means to be a feminist leader, which she applies to her role daily.

During the conversation Sarah reveals what it takes to lead in really complex environments, which she learned in her role managing mental health services at HM Prison Holloway, along with her understanding of the importance of combining theory and practice.

Sarah talks about what it’s like to challenge the perceptions of how a CEO ‘should’ look, speak and carry themselves and her thoughts on the 'strong headwinds' facing the charity sector. She shares how finding levity at difficult moments, her 'CEO squad', and spending time with her family are her coping strategies.

About Mind

Mind, the mental health charity, provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. The charity campaigns to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. They won't give up until everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets support and respect.

To find out more about Mind:

Follow Mind on X | Instagram | TikTok| Facebook | LinkedIn or visit mind.org.uk

If you enjoyed this conversation, please come back! We release new episodes on the first Monday of every month. And, we’d love you to rate, review and subscribe to Leading Lights - this helps other people to find the podcast.

And, if you’re a Head of brand, marketing or creative within a charity, why not join us at the MOREVER Meetup to share ideas and insights with women in similar roles from other charities.

Find out more about MOREVER - www.morever.co.uk Follow us on ⁠LinkedIn ⁠| ⁠Instagram ⁠| ⁠Facebook

Episode 2 of Leading Lights features the newly appointed CEO of Ben, the charity dedicated to supporting the people of the automotive industry, providing support for life for them and their family dependents. At the time of recording Rachel was just about to step into her role at the helm of the charity.

Rachel’s background as an international hockey player, combined with a career in the health and wellbeing industry, before becoming Health & Wellbeing Director at Ben have been pivotal in the development of her leadership style. She aims to provide the freedom for people to do their best work, while knowing you are there if they need you.

In this conversation she shares what climbing Kilimanjaro taught her about doing your best and how she maintains her work life balance. She also talks about ‘prioritising joy’, what gets her out of bed in the morning, and what she learned from experiencing the ‘thorough’ process of securing her role as CEO.

During the episode Rachel recommended the TV series: Colin From Accounts which is available on BBC iPlayer

About Ben

Ben is the charity dedicated to supporting the people of the automotive industry, providing support for life for them and their family dependents.

Ben supports individuals to navigate through life’s challenges, empowering them to make positive, lasting change. Ben works with people to improve their lives by enhancing their health and wellbeing through its free and confidential online self-help, helpline and support services.

Ben provides life-changing support to those facing crisis as well as helping them prevent crisis. Its support empowers people to be more in control of managing their health and wellbeing to help them live well, think well, feel well and work well. Ben’s support is tailored and relevant to the needs of the individual, based on a wide range of support options and addressing every aspect of a person’s life.

To find out more about Ben:

Follow Ben on X | Instagram⁠ | ⁠Facebook⁠ | ⁠LinkedIn or visit www.ben.org.uk

If you enjoyed this conversation, please come back! We release new episodes on the first Monday of every month. And, we’d love you to rate, review and subscribe to Leading Lights - this helps other people to find the podcast.

And, if you’re a Head of brand, marketing or creative within a charity, why not join us at the MOREVER Meetup to share ideas and insights with women in similar roles from other charities.

Find out more about MOREVER - www.morever.co.uk

Follow us on LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook

Our first episode features the incredible Chief Executive of Together Co, April Baker.

April has more than 10 years of senior leadership and board experience in the for purpose, not profit, sector. She is passionate about finding innovative and empowering solutions to societal issues, particularly loneliness and social isolation, which affect millions of people in the UK and around the world.

In this episode April shares how her earliest memories of going out on her bicycle as a young child to make friends with her neighbours may have been the spark for the inspiring work that she does now at Together Co.

She also shares how she’s committed to bringing ‘social health’ up the agenda in the UK, her biggest influences, how she relies on her ‘work persona’, how habit stacking works for her, what it’s really like to be in a leadership role in a charity, how her ‘why’ is what keeps her going, and how she protects her reading time and her resilience.

During this conversation, April recommended reading Start With Why by Simon Sinek.

About Together Co

Together Co is a loneliness charity that delivers services in Brighton and Hove through befriending, social prescribing and other volunteering programmes. It supports over 2,000 people a year. This is only made possible by more than 450 volunteers. It also campaigns nationally and internationally to raise the awareness and impact of loneliness on our health and communities, and the importance of social health.

To find out more about Together Co:

Follow Together Co on Twitter | Instagram | Facebook or visit https://togetherco.org.uk/

If you enjoyed this conversation, please come back! We release new episodes on the first Monday of every month. And, we’d love you to rate, review and subscribe to Leading Lights - this helps other people to find the podcast.

And, if you’re a Head of brand, Marketing or Creative within a charity, why not join us at the MOREVER Meetup to share ideas and insights with women in similar roles from other charities.

Find out more about MOREVER - www.morever.co.uk Follow us on ⁠LinkedIn ⁠| ⁠Instagram ⁠| ⁠Facebook

If you’ve ever wondered what the path to leadership of a charity is really like for the women who’ve made it there, our new podcast - Leading Lights - is for you.

Leading Lights is a podcast for women in marketing in the charity sector. Hosted by Abi Mellor from MOREVER, a creative agency for charities and changemakers.

Each episode will feature a female chief executive from the charity sector. Abi and her guests discuss the challenges of leadership as a woman. Together, they unpack the path to success, the challenges guests have met and overcome, and how, in such a busy role, they manage life. All with the aim of helping other women walking the same path learn what they can do to put themselves in the frame for leadership too.