Claire has been a leading figure in the Voluntary, Charity and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector since the 1970s and is the national Crown Representative for the VCSE sector, supporting organisations to access government contracts.

She is widely recognised in the UK and internationally for her leadership of the social enterprise movement. Claire chaired Social Enterprise UK for ten years, working with government and sector leaders to develop the first national Social Enterprise Strategy and to ensure the sector had a strong voice in Westminster and Whitehall. This included contributing to the introduction of the Social Value Act, now embedded across local government and Crown Commercial Service procurement. She continues to support Social Enterprise UK as a Patron.

Until her retirement in 2020, Claire led the Blackburne House Group, which provides education for women and runs the award-winning School for Social Entrepreneurs alongside successful social enterprises.

Claire’s contributions have been recognised with an MBE, OBE, CBE and the Queen’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Enterprise Promotion.

Mark Simms is Group Chief Executive of P3 Charity Group, a national charity and social enterprise supporting people facing homelessness, mental ill health and multiple disadvantage. He has led P3 through significant growth, expanding services across more than a dozen counties while strengthening governance, financial resilience and social impact. Mark is known for values led leadership, partnership working and a strong commitment to lived experience shaping services. Alongside his executive role, he holds a number of senior non executive positions across the charity and social enterprise sector and has served as Interim Chair of the Charity Commission for England and Wales. He is a frequent speaker on governance, leadership and social justice.

Mark Simms is Group Chief Executive of P3 Charity Group, a national charity and social enterprise supporting people facing homelessness, mental ill health and multiple disadvantage. He has led P3 through significant growth, expanding services across more than a dozen counties while strengthening governance, financial resilience and social impact.

Mark is known for values led leadership, partnership working and a strong commitment to lived experience shaping services. Alongside his executive role, he holds a number of senior non executive positions across the charity and social enterprise sector and has served as Interim Chair of the Charity Commission for England and Wales. He is a frequent speaker on governance, leadership and social justice.

Professor Jane Lynch is a leading voice in socially responsible procurement, with a strong focus on enabling VCSEs and SMEs to participate confidently in public and private sector markets. She is passionate about building grassroots capability and influencing procurement practice to deliver better social and environmental outcomes.

Jane’s applied research centres on public procurement, social value, innovation and collaborative working, and she is a regular keynote speaker at national and international events. In 2022, she founded the Centre of Public Value Procurement, which supports future procurement talent across the public, private and third sectors through research, skills development and stakeholder engagement.

She works closely with government, industry and social enterprises, including leading a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the Down to Earth Project to develop tools that measure social and environmental impact. Jane co-leads the International Research Study on Public Procurement (IRSPP) and was named Individual of the Year (2023) at the Government Opportunities Awards.

Jane is Director of Help to Grow: Management at Cardiff Business School, supporting micro-businesses and SMEs to grow and succeed.

Darren has over 30 years’ experience leading procurement across both the private and public sectors.

He spent more than 15 years in the global private sector, working with General Motors in Liverpool and Nissan Europe across Sunderland, Barcelona and Paris, including collaboration with alliance partner Renault in France.

In local government, Darren was Head of Procurement, Commercial Sales and Business Services at Durham County Council until December 2023. In this role, he led over £700m of annual procurement spend, £40m of commercial sales, and managed a workforce of 700 staff. He also established a new unitary council procurement team, bringing together colleagues from eight councils during Local Government Review.

Nationally, Darren chaired the Local Government Association’s National Advisory Group for procurement and led social value work as Chair of the National Social Value Task Force. He contributed to the development of the Procurement Act 2023 and the National Procurement Policy Statement.

Darren holds an MBA from Durham University Business School and is a Lean Six Sigma practitioner.

Bethany Thomas supports public sector organisations and suppliers—including VCSEs and SMEs—to deliver stronger, more measurable social value through procurement. She leads social value activity at Constellia, a leading procurement solutions provider managing over £400m of spend for more than 250 public and private sector organisations. Through Constellia’s managed marketplace of over 3,000 pre-approved suppliers, Beth helps ensure fair, transparent access to opportunities for organisations of all sizes, from micro-enterprises and VCSEs to large suppliers.

Beth provides practical advice, hands-on support and partnership-building to help buyers and suppliers work more effectively together and achieve meaningful social impact, while ensuring compliant and value-for-money outcomes.

She holds a BSc in Geography with Environmental Hazards and an MSc in Disaster Management from the University of Derby. Beth has over three years’ experience in social value roles, having previously led social value and sustainability within the Facilities Management sector and as Social Value Lead for a Tier 1 rail contractor. She is an accredited Social Value and SROI Practitioner and an active member of the Young Professionals in Social Value Network.

Emma Grigson is Bid Partnerships and Social Value Director at PeoplePlus, where she leads work with public sector clients, suppliers and VCSE partners to embed meaningful, measurable social value into commissioned services and contracts. With nearly seven years at PeoplePlus, Emma brings extensive experience across bidding, partnerships, public affairs and communications, helping organisations collaborate effectively to deliver better outcomes for communities.

Emma also leads the PeoplePlus Social Recruitment Advocacy Group, a national network championing inclusive recruitment and practical routes into work for people facing barriers to employment. Alongside this, she co-founded Access Cornwall CIC, a not-for-profit organisation supporting neurodivergent people into training, mentoring and employment. Emma dedicates one day a week to this work, and the CIC now employs disabled staff, has a fully neurodivergent board, and has supported over 100 people to make positive life changes.

Emma is passionate about inclusive employment, lived experience leadership and using procurement and partnerships to create real social impact—one life at a time.

Victoria Blakeman is Chief Executive of Recycling Lives, leading the charity’s continued growth and its mission to support people with lived experience of the criminal justice system to rebuild their lives. Recycling Lives is best known for its work with ex-offenders and people leaving prison, combining rehabilitation, employability, training and long-term support with successful social enterprise activity. The charity delivers prison-based programmes across multiple HMPs, including workshop provision, accredited training and ‘through the gate’ support that helps men and women transition successfully back into the community.

This is complemented by the ACE service, supporting people with multiple and complex needs, and a Specialist Support team providing mental health, wellbeing and practical support. Community initiatives such as Supper’s Up, a weekly soup kitchen offering food, connection and opportunity, and the Training Kitchen, delivering life skills through Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food programme, further strengthen routes away from reoffending.

With 30 years’ experience leading teams that have generated over £200m in government-funded contracts and commercial income, Victoria ensures Recycling Lives delivers credible, scalable social value for commissioners, partners and communities.

Richard Carroll is Chief Procurement Officer at Durham County Council, where he is widely recognised for leading innovative and inclusive procurement practice with a strong focus on social value and local economic benefit. He has played a central role in positioning Durham as a national leader in public procurement.

Richard leads the council’s award-recognised “County Durham Pound” initiative, which uses anchor-based organisations and local partnerships to strengthen local supply chains, retain spend within the county and deliver sustainable economic and social outcomes. His work places VCSEs and SMEs at the heart of procurement, creating fairer access to opportunities and measurable community impact.

A frequent speaker at regional and national conferences, Richard regularly shares Durham’s approach to procurement, social value and place-based growth. He also holds positions on a number of regional and national advisory groups, helping to influence procurement best practice and contribute to the development of national policy.

Richard is known for combining strategic leadership with practical delivery, embedding social value into everyday commissioning and procurement activity.

Yeshua joined EY as an Apprentice in 2018 and went on to play a pivotal role in the creation and founding of EY Outreach, a creative intervention and prevention programme designed to divert vulnerable young people in pupil referral units away from criminal activity.

EY Outreach has since grown into a highly regarded, award-winning corporate social responsibility programme, supporting hundreds of young people across the UK. It works in partnership with major public sector and infrastructure clients, including the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, HMP Brinsford, Hackney Council, West Midlands Police, Birmingham City Council, South Gloucestershire Council and the Government of Jersey.

Yeshua’s commitment to developing the next generation of leaders has been recognised through multiple accolades, including the MCA Rising Star Award, Black Talent Awards Rising Star, Black British Business Outstanding Professional Rising Star, and Highly Commended Social Value Champion at the Social Value Awards 2025.

He is a regular speaker at national events and organisations including Rolls-Royce, the BBC and the Commonwealth Games, sharing best practice on prevention, social value and youth empowerment.

Saskia leads the strategic development and operational delivery of NCVO’s support services for charities, including consultancy, training and partnerships that help the sector thrive.

Saskia is an experienced executive leader with specialisms in business development, communications, marketing and public affairs, with extensive experience across the public, private and charitable sectors.

She worked closely as the lead communications adviser to Lord Marvin Rees in his role as Mayor of Bristol and has worked at the National Trust and Shaw Trust.

Saskia is a board member of CharityComms – the membership body for charity communication professionals and has held trustee and advisory board roles at SARSAS and The Food Chain.

Emmi Salonen is a graphic designer, creative director and educator who founded London-based Studio Emmi in 2005.

Her work centres on Positive Creativity – the idea that design can connect people, foster wellbeing and support sustainable choices. Emmi developed the Creative Ecosystem model to help reduce stress and burnout.

A leading advocate for creative wellbeing, she speaks internationally at academic institutions and conferences. Her insights is grounded in both experience and training, including Yale’s The Science of Well-Being course.

She is a Happiness Facilitator, RSA Fellow and has contributed to the AI for Human Flourishing think tank at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science.

Nicola Lynch is a Social Value consultant & Impact Measurement Specialist working across the UK & Ireland. She works closely with Social Value International and its National networks. She is one of a small number of Level 3 Advanced SROI Practitioners and Accredited Trainers in the UK and sits on the SVI Standards Committee.

Nicola also holds Associate Trainer roles with the School for Social Entrepreneurs and the New Economics Foundation and works closely with the consultancy teams at Rose Regeneration & Civil Society Consulting.

Alongside her consultancy she was also the National Lead on Civil Society for Social Value UK for 3 years and specialises in supporting the voluntary, charitable and social enterprise sectors. She is committed to using her platform to ensure that social justice remains at the heart of every discussion about social value.

Anna McChesney-Gordon is a leader in social value practice and strategy, driving impact as part of the Social Value Portal team. Social Value Portal delivers the UK’s leading social value management framework, including the TOM System™ used widely in public sector procurement to measure and manage economic, social and environmental value. Under her influence, the Portal is scaling this trusted approach into global markets, helping organisations embed consistent, credible social value outcomes into commissioning and supply chain activity.

Anna works with public, private and third sectors to translate social value commitments into practical outcomes and measurable performance. She brings expertise in stakeholder engagement, reporting, impact measurement and supporting suppliers of all sizes—including VCSEs and SMEs—to demonstrate their contribution to broader social value goals.

A skilled communicator and facilitator, Anna regularly contributes to thought leadership in the sector, helping to shape how organisations understand, measure and deliver meaningful social impact through procurement and partnership.

Karen Licurse is Managing Director of Digital Boost, a free mentoring and support service for small businesses and charities that connects them with expert guidance in strategy, marketing, finance, technology and more. Digital Boost’s mission is to make personalised business support widely accessible, helping founders and organisations build confidence, grow capability and thrive regardless of background or budget. Through the platform, small enterprises and charities can access 1:1 mentoring and learning resources that strengthen resilience, skills and readiness for opportunities including public sector contracts.

Karen is an experienced marketer, strategist and learning professional, with leadership roles in Brand Learning (now part of Accenture), Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase earlier in her career.

Her work supports inclusive economic growth and equips smaller suppliers—including VCSEs and micro-SMEs—to navigate business challenges and engage effectively in partnerships, markets and procurement journeys.

Annie Legge is co-founder and lead of Tech4Good South West, where she connects charities, social enterprises, and technologists to build digital confidence, resilience, and social impact across the region. A natural connector and sense-maker, she convenes communities through events, partnerships, and peer learning, creating spaces for shared learning, collaboration, and purpose-led technology.

With over 25 years’ experience in digital leadership, Annie previously co-founded Dot Project, a non-profit consultancy supporting charities and social impact organisations, and the Tech for Good Organisers Network, which supported people building local tech-for-good communities. Her work is grounded in strong relationships, practical action, and a belief in the power of community to create lasting social change.

Alex leads NPC’s work with funders and philanthropists to ensure that they can achieve the greatest impact. He supports a number of philanthropists and family foundations on their philanthropy journey and leads grant-making of circa £15M per annum.

Alex has worked in the impact sector for 18 years and is a recognised expert on grant-making and funding. He has held senior roles in The National Lottery Community Fund and the Government Grants Management Function within the Cabinet Office.

Alex is a trustee of Leap Confronting Conflict and the B&Q Foundation, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Kate has over 25 years’ experience in procurement and contract management across both the public and private sectors. She spent 12 years as Chief Procurement Officer for the London Borough of Ealing and Reading Borough Council, where she led major procurement functions and created and implemented Reading’s Social Value Policy. Kate has also contributed practitioner insight to National Audit Office Commercial Hub seminars, supporting the development of best practice in public sector commercial activity.

As Social Value Director at Samtaler, Kate works with organisations to embed social value into core business strategy, ensuring commitments are realistic, measurable and deliverable. Samtaler specialises in helping public, private and third sector organisations design and deliver social value that creates meaningful impact for communities while supporting compliance and commercial success.

Alongside her professional role, Kate is a trustee of Graft Thames Valley, a micro-charity tackling barriers to employment for neurodivergent people. She brings a practical, values-driven approach to procurement and social value, bridging policy, delivery and lived experience.

Samantha is the Head of Social Value Commercial Policy at the Cabinet Office, lead official for the design and implementation of the government's social value policy and model ('PPN 002' and PPN 06/20 before it) The policy covers every central government department, executive agency and Non-Departmental Body.

For two years, alongside this role Samantha completed a secondment at a County Council leading their Social Value Programme using a different SV tool. Before this, Samantha led procurement functions in private and public sectors and later went on to work on collaborative commissioning for place with local authorities and anchor organisations across the country.

Yen Siang Tan is Operations Director at VSNW (Voluntary Sector North West), where she plays a key role in strengthening the capacity, voice and sustainability of VCSE organisations across the region. She leads on organisational operations, partnerships and programme delivery, supporting charities and social enterprises to engage more effectively with public sector systems, funding and commissioning.

Yen brings a strong background in strategic coordination, stakeholder engagement and sector development, working closely with local authorities, funders and delivery partners to ensure VCSE perspectives are represented and valued. Her work helps create practical routes for VCSEs and community organisations to collaborate, grow capability and maximise their social impact.

With a deep commitment to equity, inclusion and place-based working, Yen is particularly focused on enabling smaller organisations to navigate complexity, build resilience and participate confidently in opportunities such as public procurement and partnership delivery.

Through VSNW, Yen supports a thriving, connected voluntary sector that contributes to stronger communities and better outcomes across the North West.

Alastair Shankland leads the management of Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) programmes at Newport City Council, where he works closely with hundreds of VCSEs and SMEs to deliver government-funded initiatives with lasting local impact. His work spans a wide range of outcomes, including culture, heritage, sport, inclusion, skills and community wellbeing.

Alastair brings extensive experience in supporting organisations to navigate public funding, translate policy into practical delivery, and demonstrate meaningful outcomes on the ground. He is particularly known for his collaborative, place-based approach—connecting local knowledge, partnerships and funding to address real community needs.

An enthusiast for enabling technology and innovative data use, Alastair champions leading-edge approaches to impact measurement and evidence, helping organisations show not just activity, but genuine, long-term change. His work supports VCSEs and SMEs to build capability, confidence and credibility when engaging with public sector funding and commissioning.

Alastair is passionate about ensuring public investment delivers inclusive growth and tangible benefits for people and places.

Ashley Samuels-Mackenzie is an inspiring artist, poet and social enterprise leader who uses creativity as a powerful tool for social change. He is Media Lead at In Music In Media, a social enterprise that works with young people—many of whom are NEET or at risk of exclusion—to develop skills, confidence and pathways into employment through music, media and creative training.

At In Music In Media, Ashley leads video production and content development, supporting young people to translate their creative talent into practical, employable skills. His work focuses on alternative provision, positive youth development and creating real opportunities for progression. At this event, Ashley will also present artwork created by his students, showcasing the talent and potential of young people often excluded from traditional routes.

Alongside this, Ashley is Co-Founder of Unity & Motion, a creative production company delivering strategic content for global brands including Harrods, English Heritage and Heathrow Airport. He also co-hosts the How I Became Podcast, sharing stories of resilience, creativity and success.

Tiia Sammallahti is Founder and CEO of whatimpact, the UK’s National Social Value Marketplace®, which helps public and private sector organisations connect with VCSEs and community partners to deliver and report meaningful social value in procurement and contracts. whatimpact’s technology-enabled platform streamlines matchmaking, partnership management and impact reporting, making it easier for suppliers, commissioners and VCSEs to work together effectively and transparently.

Tiia launched whatimpact in 2017 to solve persistent challenges in social value delivery, enabling suppliers to find locally relevant VCSE partners and helping smaller organisations gain visibility, partnership opportunities and evidence-based impact data.

Her work bridges data-driven solutions with a strong commitment to equal opportunity, cross-sector collaboration and real community outcomes.

Tiia is a recognised thought leader in social value, frequently speaking at conferences and contributing to sector discourse on how procurement can drive genuine social impact while empowering VCSEs.