VODG Annual Conference 2026

Tom Noon

Chairman and Founder, Cordis Bright

Tom set up Cordis Bright because he wanted to offer a straightforward, intellectually robust and competitive research and consultancy service.

The aim was to provide consultancy and research outcomes that clients could use with confidence when planning for the future. It was also important to Tom that services really were complementary to the expertise and knowledge that clients brought to the table and that the final outcomes really were greater than the sum of the parts.

Although Tom is the Chairman of Cordis Bright he spends most of his time working on consultancy projects mainly with larger provider organisations. 

 His work is strongly focused on business development and, in particular, mergers and acquisitions, market intelligence and strategic planning. Tom has been working long-term with a range of clients providing ongoing insight and support to assist them in achieving the strategic and operational goals they have set.

As a commentator Tom has been instrumental in the development of the Cordis Briefing which has provided challenging and insightful commentary on the development of social care and supported housing for over ten years.

Kevin Davis DL

Non-executive Director, NHS Birmingham and Solihull

For nearly 30 years Kevin Davis has been a social entrepreneur and civic leader working across social finance, education, employment, health and faith-based community regeneration. He is Chief Executive of the Vine Trust Group, which includes the Ladder Apprenticeship Foundation and the Mercian Multi Academy Trust, a family of 12 schools which he co-founded and chairs, educating more than 10,000 students in the Black Country.

He previously served as a non-executive director for the West Midland’s School of Social Entrepreneurs, and the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, where he led the “Economy of Together” policy framework bringing together business, public services and civil society.

He is lately a Non-Executive Member of the NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board, where he led on health inequalities, also Chairing their Coventry Care Collaborative.

In addition to being a Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands, Kevin holds a number of non-executive and trustee roles which reflect his social interests, including Black Country Housing Group, and The Oversight Trust, which oversees organisations investing social finance derived from the Dormant Assets scheme.

Christoph Marr

Managing Director, Marr Procurement

Christoph started his procurement career with Marks & Spencer after they sponsored him at University and went onto spend six years as Buyer then Buying Manager at the M&S Head Office in London. In 2001 IBM recruited Christoph as Senior Consultant and he was seconded as Head of Procurement for IBM Europe Middle East and Africa to help build the IBM UK Procurement Consulting practice involving procurement projects across the private and public sector in the UK, Europe and the US.

In March 2008 Care UK Plc recruited Christoph to create a procurement function and two years later was invited to join a ten strong team involved in a ￡300m venture capitalist backed management buyout.

In 2013 he was appointed as a judge for the annual Management Consulting Association awards and in 2014 Christoph founded the UK Procurement Leader Care Network, a group consisting of 51 Health & Social Care Procurement Directors with aggregated spend of ￡1bn.

Christoph has a 1st Class BA Honours degree from the Aberdeen Business School where he specialised in supply chain quality and his career ambition has been to create a procurement business which operates with real integrity, which always puts clients first and which only employs extraordinary people who have a passion for procurement – this is what differentiates Marr Procurement.

: https://www.marrprocurement.com/
: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christoph-marr-2360a31
: @https://twitter.com/christoph_marr

Rachel Clay

Chief Strategist Public Sector, Softcat

Rachel is primarily aligned with the UK’s Public Sector customers. With nearly two decades of experience within the sector, she understands exactly what senior leaders expect from industry —and how we can collaborate to turn strategic vision into practical, technology‑driven outcomes that deliver real value.

She brings deep insight into the challenges and opportunities facing universities, research bodies, and public organisations, ensuring that every engagement is focused on functional outcomes and measurable benefits. Rachel coordinates across multiple disciplines, keeping strategy on course to meet customer needs and delivering value through effective adoption, consumption, and management of technology — all underpinned by Softcat’s unique culture and commitment to partnership.

PROFILE

Rachel has influenced how the organisation approaches the public sector by embedding a customer‑first mindset and ensuring its unique culture remains at the heart of everything it does. From shaping go‑to‑market strategies to building trusted partnerships, her work has centred on creating experiences that reflect Softcat’s values: collaboration, integrity, and a relentless focus on delivering outcomes that matter. For Rachel, success isn’t just about technology — it’s about people, purpose, and making sure every engagement strengthens the trust that defines Softcat.

Previously, Rachel led Softcat’s Education & Non-Profit portfolio, bringing together high-performing teams, partner ecosystems, and vendor programmes to accelerate outcomes for schools, universities, research bodies, and charities. In that capacity, she oversaw a large, multidisciplinary group and a broad client spectrum — from primary education to complex research environments — with a relentless focus on social value, sustainability, and peer—to—peer engagement.

Rachel is passionate about:

• Helping public sector organisations modernise and deliver better outcomes for the people they serve
• Connecting policy, technology and purpose to create sustainable change
• Building partnerships that inspire collaboration and trust
• Leading with empathy, curiosity and impact

 

Beyond her day role, Rachel co‑chairs Softcat’s Family Network — working to foster a culture where colleagues can harmonise family commitments with professional ambitions, and ensuring inclusion efforts translate into practical, everyday support

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-clay-799a6913/

Kate Doodson

Chief Transformation, Performance and Digital Officer, Brandon

Kate is an experienced Digital Transformation professional and has come to Brandon with a wide range of public, private and charity sector digital experiences. Kate has worked in the field of digital and IT for over 25 years and is passionate about developing universally accessible services that truly make a difference to people’s lives; through supporting independence, improving ease of access and freeing data for decision making.

Kate has a broad strategic experience; she has sat on a wide range of boards including Vice Chair of a Further Education College and Committee Chair at a south-west University. She supports the digital economy through groups such as Digital Somerset and SW Infrastructure Partnership.

Hari Punchihewa

Chief Financial Officer, Look Ahead

Hari joined Look Ahead in 2023 with over 25 years board level experience across number of sectors driving transformation, profitability, growth, value creation and financial sustainability.

He has experience in charity, investment banking, higher education and corporate finance. He joins us with a strong reputation for business acumen and building high performing finance teams.

Hari is also an experienced Non-Executive Director across both Private and Public sectors and chaired boards and sub committees such as Audit and Risk, Remuneration, Investment and Finance.

: https://www.lookahead.org.uk/about-us/our-leadership-team/

James Watson O’Neill

Chief Executive, Sense

James joined Sense as chief executive in 2025, having previously been chief executive at the deaf health charity SignHealth and held senior roles at Scope and NSPCC.

He is a non executive director and chair of the audit committee at South West London and St George’s mental health NHS Trust and a trustee of the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

James is a fellow of the RSA and a leadership fellow at the College of St George at Windsor Castle. James was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen in her new year’s honours in 2022.

“I am very proud to work at Sense where there is so much talent and passion for our work in breaking down barriers alongside disabled people with complex needs.

“Sense was founded by Margaret and Peggy in 1955 because their children didn’t have access to the support they needed. Let’s continue their legacy and keep encouraging and creating change until disabled people with complex needs can live their lives without limits.”

Lynette Barrett

Chief Executive, National Star

Lynette Barrett is a senior executive leader with extensive expertise in specialist education, health and social care, with deep operational and strategic insight into high needs provision, inclusion, and multiagency working. She is recognised across the SEND sector as a credible, trusted and constructive leader. She is Chief Executive of National Star, a UK charity providing personal development and care for young adults with profound and multiple disabilities.

: https://www.nationalstar.org/about-us/our-team/leadership-team/
: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynette-barrett-mba-68

Stuart McKay

Partner, MHA

 

: https://www.macintyrehudson.co.uk/about-us/who-we-are

Angela Murphy

Chief Executive, Fitzroy

Angela joined FitzRoy in March 2020, and she was appointed as our Chief Executive in July 2024. Before that she held senior positions within the NHS and local government. Angela is passionate about transforming the lives of vulnerable people and ensuring they receive the best possible care and support. She comes with more than 25 years’ experience across health and social care. Angela is a Trustee of VODG.

Jackie Williams

Task Force Executive, Delphi Care Solutions

Jackie is a strategic healthcare leader and senior nurse with extensive experience across clinical practice, regulation and system-level service design.

Passionate about patient-centred care, Jackie champions co-production and meaningful patient and public involvement as core drivers of high-quality, sustainable healthcare. With an MSc in Behaviour Change, Jackie brings deep expertise in enabling organisational change, embedding co-production in complex settings and applying evidence-based approaches to improvement.

As a former CQC inspector and clinical governance expert, Jackie has led inspections and quality assurance work across NHS, mental health, and independent providers, developing a strong understanding of quality, safety and regulatory compliance. Specialising in cardiac and intensive care nursing, Jackie combines credible clinical expertise with a proven track record in senior leadership, stakeholder engagement and the design of integrated services that support prevention, wellbeing, and long-term population health.

Steve Veevers

Chief Executive, Hft

Steve has over 25 years of social care and health experience, having worked as a senior leader in national and regional not-for-profit care providers, local Government and consultancy work to the benefit of social care.

Before joining Hft, Steve was the Managing Director of a large, community-based care provider in the South West of England and Senior Executive in a national learning disability charity.

He brings with him a commitment to collaborative approaches across local communities, not-for-profit providers and statutory organisations to help people live their best lives.

Holly Spiers

Chief Executive, Walsingham Support

Holly joined Walsingham Support as Chief Executive on Monday 12th September 2022. Holly joined having over 20 years’ experience working in the charity sector, 10 years of which was working in the Hospice sector and at Sue Ryder in various senior leadership roles.

Holly was attracted to the role because Walsingham Support has an outstanding reputation for providing personalised support across England and Wales and, having worked in the health and social care sector for over 10 years, Holly understands the challenges the sector faces and, with lived experience of learning disability, she understands the changing needs of individuals.

On her vision for Walsingham Support, and how her contribution will make this a reality, Holly wants to build on our excellent work in providing person-centred support; amplifying the voices of the individuals we support to be a powerful advocate for everyone with a learning disability and to work towards a more equal and diverse society.

In her free time, Holly enjoys literature, theatre, travel, and spending time with family and friends.

: https://www.walsingham.com/who-we-are/our-executive-leadership-team-and-governing-body/holly-spiers/

Joe MacIntyre

Account Director, Alder

Joe supports Alder with case management, business development and marketing strategy. Having read European Studies at Trinity College Dublin and worked at two of the top 100 QS ranked Universities in the world, Joe provides strategic advice across all of Alder’s practice areas, with particular focus on charity and education clients. Joe speaks Spanish and Italian.

: https://alder-uk.com/about-us/our-team/joe-macintyre/
: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemacintyre

Jonathan Taylor

Director, Head of Corporate Risks Health & Care, Howden

With over 20 years of expertise, Jonathan has a deep understanding of managing complex and specific risks within the care industry, charity organisations and special education. He collaborates closely with clients at board level, providing expert advice on risk management and insurance, providing innovative and secure solutions.

Jonathan is not only a seasoned practitioner but also an active though leader.  He frequently speaks at sector events, sharing insights on emerging risks and best practices.  His commitment to excellence and dedication to the industry make him a valuable asset in the field of insurance.

Laura Welchew

Partner, Trowers & Hamlins

Laura is a Partner in the Employment department, and specialises in all aspects of employment law acting for a wide range of public and private sector employers.   Laura takes pride in working as business partner to her HR clients, and really getting to know the ins and outs of each business and its commercial goals as an employer.

Laura regularly acts for respondents in complex and valuable tribunal claims. Laura advises on all employee relations matters including disciplinary and grievance issues, sickness absence, capability issues, restructures and redundancies and employment contracts.

Laura has particular experience of advising registered providers on governance compliant termination payments, various matters arising out of the Working Time Regulations such as sleep-ins and on call rotas and complex trade union issues including difficult consultation and de-recognition processes. Laura regularly assists clients on TUPE transactions, with particular focus on supporting the Public Sector department with local authority contracts.

Paul Smith

Chief Executive, Elim Housing

Paul has worked in housing for over 30 years, both supported and general needs. He has been the Chief Executive of two organisations, Housing Potential UK (the housing skills body) and the Furniture Re-use Network. He has worked at a senior level for two housing associations and prior to joining Elim was the Cabinet Member for Housing at Bristol city Council.

Paul believes his priorities are excellent customer service, sustainable growth of the business and ensuring good governance informed by the views and needs of our residents. Paul has overall responsibility for the delivery of our corporate plan and the delivery of services to all our customers. 

Sharika Sharma

Head of Business Development, CCLA

Sharika Sharma joined CCLA Investment Management in 2019 as Head of Business Development. Her focus is to ensure the future success of CCLA through effective support of its growing investor base, creative development of the brand, and collaborations that faithfully support CCLA’s extensive network of not-for-profit organisations.

Prior to joining CCLA, Sharika was a director at Legal & General Investment Management in its defined contributions team working with pension consultants and advisers to provide long-term investment solutions for pension schemes across the UK. Sharika’s financial services career has included roles at M&G, Threadneedle and Citi Private Bank.

Sharika is a trustee and chair of the finance and investment panel of Hampton Fund, a grant-making charity, and a trustee of the Book Trade Charity (BTBS). She holds a BA in English Literature, and the Investment Management Certificate and the Sustainable Investing Certificate from CFA UK. She is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Antonia Cavalier

Client Director, CCLA

Antonia Cavalier is responsible for managing relationships with our clients. Antonia joined CCLA in March 2012 and has nineteen years’ experience in financial services.

Prior to CCLA, Antonia worked at AonHewitt, an investment consultancy, in their Delegated Consulting team working with pension funds to provide a long-term solution for their funding gaps.  After graduating with a BA (Hons) in International Business with Italian, Antonia worked with both retail and institutional clients from around the world at the asset management companies Fidelity International and MFS International.

Antonia holds a diploma in Private Client Investment Advice and Management, is a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) and holds the CFA Institute Sustainable Investing Certificate.

Jane Hughes

Chief Executive, Mental Health Matters (MHM)

I began my career in the commercial sector in product and business development roles. My passion for the voluntary sector was sparked through supporting local community groups, whilst a keen interest in health and social care led to my first role in the sector as a Service Manager for Brook. When the 17 independent Brook charities merged in 2011, I became a member of the Executive Team leading on the development of multi-site Operations and Business Development functions across the UK. Shortly after, I became Deputy Chief Executive with responsibility for Service Delivery.

I am a Chartered Manager and have held organisational lead roles for safeguarding and as Caldicott Guardian. Most recently I was the Operations Director for Compass where I led a range of integrated health and wellbeing services for young people and adults, including substance misuse, sexual health and mental health.

I found my niche in the voluntary sector working with like-minded people who are committed to the ethos and values of the organisation. My passion is understanding people's needs and challenges so that innovative integrated services can be developed with the flexibility to respond to those needs.

: https://www.mhm.org.uk/Pages/FAQs/Category/management-board

Oonagh Smyth

Chief Executive , Skills for Care

Oonagh Smyth CBE is Chief Executive Officer of Skills for Care, the strategic workforce planning and development body for adult social care in England. Since joining in 2020, she has led sector‑wide work to strengthen workforce capacity, capability, and sustainability, including leading the development of the first comprehensive Adult Social Care Workforce Strategy for England.

Oonagh holds an undergraduate degree in law, a Master’s degree in Human Rights Law from Queen’s University Belfast and Masters degree in Executive Coaching from Ashridge Business School. She brings extensive experience in strategy, governance, and equality across adult social care, including eight years at Mencap as Executive Director of Strategy and Influence, and a period acting as Chief Executive.

She works closely with national and local partners on system‑wide workforce reform and sits on several advisory groups, including Think Local Act Personal and Coventry University’s Vice‑Chancellor’s Health Advisory Board. Oonagh is a Non‑Executive Director at CU Health and Care Limited, a former Co‑Chair of the Care and Support Alliance, and an accredited executive coach.

: @professor-oonagh-smyth-40b5173a
: @@oonaghsmyth

Chris Hampson

Chief Executive, Look Ahead

Chris’s career spans over 25 years in the housing sector, most recently with Look Ahead. A key priority in recent years has been to strengthen the links between health, social care and housing, both within Look Ahead’s services and more widely across the sector.  

Chris recognises the need for VODG’s support and influence, to and for members, during these times of political, policy and economic challenge, and welcomes the opportunity to play a part in this. He recognises the immense value of the space VODG provides for constructive conversations, healthy debate and collective problem-solving. Chris especially recognises the value of the variety of member organisations and the open and transparent way in which information is shared for collective benefit.  

Chris is Chief Executive at Look Ahead, a specialist supported housing association that provides care, support and accommodation services across London and the Southeast. He also holds a number of non-executive roles, including Southern Housing, NHS Mental Health Confederation, as Chair of the Mental Health and Housing Group, and GreenSquareAccord.

Michelle Corrigan

Chief Executive Officer, Digital Care Hub

Helen England

Chief Executive, Brandon Trust

Helen has worked in health and social care for more than 30 years. She started her career as a music therapist working in autism, neurodevelopment, learning disabilities, and mental health and worked with children, young people, adults and families. She went onto to senior management and executive leadership roles in the NHS in both commissioning and provider organisations and now has Chief Executive experience spanning the independent and voluntary sectors. In addition to her executive roles, Helen has served on boards as a trustee and non-executive director. She has been the Chief Executive of Brandon Trust since January of this year.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenenglanduk/

Ian Drew

Scale and Channel Director, Microsoft

No bio provided

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iandrew/

David Leslie

Director of Ethics and Responsible Innovation Research, The Alan Turing Institute

David Leslie is the Director of Ethics and Responsible Innovation Research at The Alan Turing Institute and Professor of Ethics, Technology and Society at Queen Mary University of London. He previously taught at Princeton’s University Center for Human Values, where he also participated in the UCHV’s 2017-2018 research collaboration with Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy on “Technology Ethics, Political Philosophy and Human Values: Ethical Dilemmas in AI Governance.” Prior to teaching at Princeton, David held academic appointments at Yale’s programme in Ethics, Politics and Economics and at Harvard’s Committee on Degrees in Social Studies, where he received over a dozen teaching awards including the 2014 Stanley Hoffman Prize for Teaching Excellence. He was also a 2017-2018 Mellon-Sawyer Fellow in Technology and the Humanities at Boston University and a 2018-2019 Fellow at MIT’s Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values.

David is the author of the UK Government’s official guidance on the responsible design and implementation of AI systems in the public sector, Understanding artificial intelligence ethics and safety (2019) and a principal co-author of Explaining decisions made with AI (2020), a co-badged guidance on AI explainability published by the Information Commissioner’s Office and The Alan Turing Institute. After serving as an elected member of the Bureau of the Council of Europe’s (CoE) Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI) (2021-2022), he was appointed Specialist Advisor to the CoE’s Committee on AI where he has led the writing of the zero draft of its Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Impact Assessment for AI, which will accompany its forthcoming AI Convention. In his advisory role with the CoE, David led his team in writing a Primer to support the meaningful participation of citizens and civil society organizations in the stakeholder outreach of the CAHAI’s Feasibility Study, published March 2021 and translated into French and Dutch. He and his team were then asked by the CoE to carry out research into the Impact Assessment Instrument to be submitted to the Council of Ministers as part of the CoE legal framework on AI and published the 335-page Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law Assurance Framework for AI Systems  submitted in September 2021.  As part of his international work, he also serves on UNESCO’s High-Level Expert Group steering the implementation of its Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, a first-of-its-kind document adopted by the 193 Member States of the Organization.

David is on the editorial board of the Harvard Data Science Review (HDSR) and is a founding editor of the Springer journal, AI and Ethics. He is also Principal Investigator of a UKRI/ESRC-funded project called PATH-AI: Mapping an Intercultural Path to Privacy, Agency and Trust in Human-AI Ecosystems, which is a research collaboration with RIKEN, one of Japan’s National Research and Development Institutes founded in 1917. More recently, he has received a series of grants from the Global Partnership on AI, the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and BEIS to lead a project titled, Advancing Data Justice Research and Practice, which explores how current discourses around the problem of data justice, and digital rights more generally, can be extended from the predominance of Western-centred and Global North standpoints to non-Western and intercultural perspectives alive to issues of structural inequality, coloniality, and discriminatory legacies. This project yielded collaborations with research teams from Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, China, India, Pakistan, Uganda, Cameroon, Kenya, Brazil, Chile, and Bolivia, and ultimately the publication, in March 2022, of 12 project reports from the field as well as a Project Documentary, an Integrated Literature Review, Data Justice Stories: A Repository of Case Studies, Data Justice in Practice: A Guide for Policymakers, Data Justice in Practice: A Guide for Developers, and Data Justice in Practice: A Guide for Impacted Communities.

David was a Principal Investigator and lead co-author of the NESTA-funded Ethics review of machine learning in children’s social care(2020). His other recent publications include ‘The Ethics of Computational Social Science’, (2023) published In Handbook of Computational Social Science for Policy for the European Commission Joint Research Centre/Centre for Advanced Studies, ‘Artificial intelligence and the heritage of democratic equity’ (2022) published by The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the HDSR articles “Tackling COVID-19 through responsible AI innovation: Five steps in the right direction” (2020) and “The arc of the data scientific universe” (2021) as well as Understanding bias in facial recognition technologies (2020), an explainer published to support a BBC investigative journalism piece that won the 2021 Royal Statistical Society Award for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. David is also a co-author of Mind the gap: how to fill the equality and AI accountability gap in an automated world (2020), the Final Report of the Institute for the Future of Work’s Equality Task Force and lead author of “Does AI stand for augmenting inequality in the COVID-19 era of healthcare” (2021) published in the British Medical Journal. In his shorter writings, David has explored subjects such as the life and work of Alan Turing, the Ofqual fiasco, the history of facial recognition systems and the conceptual foundations of AI for popular outlets from the BBC to Nature.

 

: https://www.turing.ac.uk/people/researchers/david-leslie