Based in East Yorkshire, Christine is an experienced action learning facilitator and developer with a background as an HR Director in the NHS and in Social Care. In 2003 she established The Centre for Health Improvement and Leadership at University of Lincoln. Over the following 5 years she designed and delivered a range of bespoke leadership and organisation development programmes to a wide variety of public and private organisations. These programmes incorporated taught modules, action learning and coaching and mentoring. Christine currently teaches with the Open University Business School MBA programme.

Christine led in the role as chairman, the Institute for Leadership and Management (ILM) into a strategic partnership with City and Guilds in 2000 and became the founding Chair as the Institute became a membership and research organisation in 2016, leaving the role in 2017. She is a board member of a residential care home in Yorkshire. Christine is on the Editorial board for the Journal Action Learning Research and Practice, member of GELNET (Global Executive Leadership Network (invitation only network of 100 consultants worldwide).

Mike has an extensive career as a senior leader within the public-sector with a strategic role initiating, managing and developing large portfolios of services across London in partnership with Local Authority stakeholders.  He has delivered leadership and CPD programmes to leaders, managers and executives and specialises in the use of action learning methodologies with clients across the UK to address complex organisational and leadership challenges.

Mike currently works at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust as a Senior Training Officer developing learning programmes in partnership with clinical subject matter experts from across Kings Health Partners and people with lived experience to developed health and social care staff who support adults with learning disabilities and autistic adults.

Mike is an experienced trainer and has delivered accredited ILM Certificate and Diploma qualifications in Action Learning Facilitation and Leadership and Management to a variety of private and public-sector organisations across the UK, China, Australia and America. He has also published Accounts of Practice in the Journal of Action Learning: Research and Practice.

Carol Wells is a social work professional, registered with HCPC, with significant experience over a thirty-two-year career, spanning work in local authorities, a multi-partnership local safeguarding children board, a sector skills council and has her own business as a coach. Currently Carol holds a mixed portfolio of knowledge and skills, with main areas of work covering:  child safeguarding as a Child Protection Conference Chair; Lead in Action Learning as part of an ASYE programme; coaching; mentoring and action learning.

Carol has built expertise in learning, practice and workforce development within social work and multi-professional environments. Whilst working for an LSCB Carol used highly developed collaborative skills balancing detail with whole systems and outcome focused approach; examples include the development of a strategy on child neglect with a researcher from NSPCC and successful conclusion of a memorandum of understanding with a USAF airbase.

Recently Carol co-designed and delivered a leadership programme for a teaching partnership focused on development of self in leadership. Carol has also delivered action learning facilitators development programmes and is a qualified coach and mentor as well as holding the ILM Level 5 Diploma in Action Learning Facilitation.

Based in South Yorkshire, Tom is a highly experienced management trainer, facilitator, consultant, researcher, writer. and actor.  Following an early career as an engineer in the aeronautical industry he became a specialist in learning, training and development. After twenty years as a Principal Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University he ran a successful management consultancy for seven years before becoming independent and joining us.  Seven years ago, he became a professional actor.

He has worked in over 30 countries in many parts of the world, focusing on leadership and management skills, coaching, action learning, facilitation, self-development, working leading and managing across boundaries, process improvement/six sigma, using theatre in management and organisational learning. Has worked in a wide range of sectors and organisations – local and central government, healthcare, voluntary/third sector, transport, manufacturing, commerce.

Tom has authored/co-authored over 40 books and published reports on management and organisational learning and development.

Dan is an independent Learning and Organisational Development Consultant based in London, working with leaders to build stronger organisational health and performance.

Dan’s career has spanned the private, public and voluntary sectors, working in both external and internal consultancy roles in organisations including Amnesty International, NHS England, Macmillan Cancer Support, Diabetes UK and Save the Children International. He specialises in designing blended learning tools and events, enhancing employee engagement, establishing organisational learning and talent functions, and facilitating team events and retreats. Dan has established and facilitated many action learning groups within a range of talent and leadership development programmes for both senior and emerging leaders.

For his MSc Research Project, Dan explored the effectiveness of facilitator behaviour in critical action learning, and how facilitation can support better outcomes for action learning set members and their organisations. Dan is on the Editorial board for the Journal Action Learning Research and Practice.

Qualifications

• MSc in Organisational Behaviour (Occupational Psychology)
• NTL Global Organisation Development Certificate
• ILM Diploma in Action Learning Facilitation
• PG Certificate in Psychodynamic Counselling
• BSc in Physiotherapy

Hilary qualified as a social worker in 1984. She has had a long and varied career in local authority frontline services with both adults and children; in further and higher education; and in local authority workforce development.

Hilary worked for Skills for Care (the strategic workforce and planning body for social care in England) as a project manager for 14 years until June 2022.   In that role she was a member of the team that developed and then facilitated the national roll- out of the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) for newly qualified social workers (NQSWs). She was instrumental in promoting action learning as a vehicle for individual and organizational development within the ASYE.

Hilary is an experienced educator and trainer. While at Skills for Care she designed and delivered leadership development programmes for sector leaders including Principal Social Workers, Principal Occupational Therapists and Clinical Nurse Leads.

Qualifications

• Certificate of Qualification in Social Work
• Certificate in Education (post-compulsory)
• PG Cert. Practice Education
• ILM Level 5 in Leadership and Management
• ILM Level 5 Certificate in Action Learning Facilitation

Cheryl has worked primarily in the public sector and is an experienced social worker, social work educator and assessor and project/programme manager. She is currently employed part time as Programme Manager for the West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership.

Cheryl is strongly committed to action learning and commissioned action learning programmes for social workers for Skills for Care as a project manager within the national social work team. She completed her ILM Level 5 Certificate training as an action learning facilitator and has supported action learning sets of social workers from NQSWs to Principal Social Workers as well as using action learning methodologies within learning and development programmes in the private sector. She recently initiated a national action learning project for teaching partnerships and has delivered sessions and webinars on the use of action learning in social work in her current role.

Qualifications:

• ILM Level 5 Certificate in Action Learning Facilitation
• APMP (Association for Project Management)
• PG Certificate in Strategic Workforce Planning (Thames Valley University and NHS workforce projects)
• Advanced Award in Social Work, Education and Training – Masters Level (University of Warwick)
• Practice Teaching Award
• BA Applied Social Studies with Certificate of Qualification in Social Work
• Membership: British Association of Social Workers

Michael Weiss has worked as a business consultant, trainer and coach since 1993 mainly in Austria. He has carried out more than 180 long-term change projects in companies of all sizes and industries, such as pharmaceuticals, the automotive industry, software and IT, mechanical and plant engineering, automation, planning companies, service providers, the public sector and NGOs. He developed and written about  new approaches to corporate governance in various publications on sustainability and innovation for sustainable corporate development.

Previously, he was a manager in large Austrian and German corporations, such as BMW, R. Bosch, Knapp, RHI Group.
He studied Mechanical Engineering / Business Engineering at the Technical University of Graz. He is a consultant, quality manager and auditor for ISO 9001, Compliance, ONR192500 (CSR) and TS16949, EFQM Assessor, VDI value analyst, Action Leveling instructor certified according to the Institute for Leadership and Management Level 5 and TÜV Nord Auditor for Quality, Environmental and sustainability management systems.