As a registered charity we have a Board of Trustees whose primary job is to keep us safe as an organisation.
The trustees all have a passionate interest in ensuring our organisation actually does what we aim to do and operates within the rules of good governance and we are financially sound in order to keep providing high quality support.
All our trustees give their time on a voluntary basis and come from a wide variety of business backgrounds and some have lived experience of receiving support directly or support for their family members.
Paul is a highly motivated and energetic leader and ambassador in equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) with a reputation for helping organisations on the diversity journey.
He has an extensive background, having worked in Financial Services, as a performance and talent people leader responsible for several functional teams. Paul has a strong track record that includes diversity and IT programme management as well as Organisational Design; Stakeholder Management; Training; Communications; Governance and Portfolio Management.
Paul now channels his passion for diversity and inclusion as Managing Director of his business, 3In Consulting. He helps all types of organisations in the private sector and charities / 3rd sector to create an inclusive culture and an environment where employees are valued, empowered, engaged and motivated. Paul’s track record of achievements is varied and impressive having established a strong reputation and a network of contacts. He is very committed to supporting charities and social enterprises giving back to the community in many ways.
He is passionate about equity and fairness for all regardless of their personal circumstances and this is why Paul joined the Board in 2018 and why he accepted the role of Chair of the Board in January 2020. Paul is an enthusiastic supporter of Partners for Inclusion, its ethos, and its dedication to provide personal support to people with mental and / or learning disabilities, mental health needs or both and their families. Paul is a strong advocate of the individual support model adopted by Partners for Inclusion Group as he knows that this enables a strong bond with everyone involved.
Paul is keen to brings his strong values and ethics, experience, and passion, to Partners for Inclusion to enable the organisation to flourish.
M-F was born and educated in Glasgow & comes from a close-knit family of Italian descent.
Throughout her 35+ yrs. HR career she has lived across the UK &, her roles in Europe and Middle East fed her love of travel as she loves combining relaxation with culture plus visits to Tuscany to see family & friends.
M-F joined the Partners for Inclusion Board in Oct 2019 & is enjoying learning about the challenges of providing bespoke care for people with individual needs & then contributing through regular Board meetings. She has an open style & enjoyed meeting people supported by Partners for Inclusion & some of the committed, skilled people who provide that support at a recent ‘meet & greet’ session. M-F is also looking forward to future opportunities to meet more of those involved with Partners for Inclusion.
I am Mark Sheerin; I have been working within learning and development for last 12 years.
I have been involved in assessing and verification of vocational qualifications in a range of sectors including management, information telecommunication, warehousing and logistics and hospitality etc.
I have experience of business development around training and apprenticeship programmes. This has been via employment and on a freelance basis.
I bring to the role of Trustee my life experience as a parent of a young person with significant Additional Support needs and Autism.
As a parent of someone whom PFI support I have a clear perspective of how things should be, the processes involved in ensuring the best outcomes for someone living in their own home with support and how that support can work best.
I am Lydia Cordell and I became a board member with the Partners of Inclusion Group in 2023. I have worked in the IT industry for 25 years, with 15 years management experience.
My life has sent me around the world, I did my first degree in the Netherlands, my second in Oxford, and then ended up working for about 10 years in the USA, in a position that involved working and travelling around the world.
During my career I’ve worked in Academia, hospitals, publishing and television/media. I’m currently re-skilling to go back into software development. In my spare time I enjoy going out in the Scottish hills; cooking, gaming and tinkering with DIY, gardening and coding projects. Besides Partners for Inclusion Group, I also volunteer in the tech community. I’m passionate about supporting people to be able to lead the best life they can, be as independent as possible, hence joining the Board. Professionally I have project management, finance and business analysis skills and extensive experience developing web systems and interfaces to improve and transform the output of business processes and increase sales. I am a quality oriented problem solver, experienced with the delivery of new projects across multi- functional teams, in house developed software, cloud and vendor products.
Grethe joined the Partners for Inclusion board in 2023, keen to leverage her learning from a long career in finance to help make a difference in a different sector – one that is close to her heart.
Grethe strongly identifies with Partners’ mission to allow everyone to live their fullest life by providing individualised personal care to those who may need this, with choice, delivered by professionals, and supported by family and friends. She believes we all deserve to achieve our potential, irrespective of our personal circumstances or our background.
With more than 25 years of experience in economist and management roles at leading financial firms, Grethe brings a track record of leadership and impact, particularly through focussed communication, excellent people and stakeholder management, and strategic change.
Her skills stretch from process enhancement, performance improvement, risk management, and governance, to developing talent, building collaborative teams, and communicating effectively to a variety of audiences.
Grethe has consistently increased diversity in her teams and maintains this focus on her trustee work. She regards diversity and inclusivity as crucial to any organisation’s culture and energy, and its long-term viability.
Grethe has been an active member of the Partners’ board from the start, and has enjoyed getting to grips with the charity and care sector. She also joined the Board’s Risk and Audit, where her experience is particularly useful.
I am Craig Houps and I became a board member with the Partners of Inclusion Group in 2023. I started my Chartered Accountancy career in external audit before undertaking senior finance roles within various banks and Life and Pension Companies.
I have always strived to be a commercially minded and stakeholder focused Finance Professional. I have extensive experience of leading finance teams to improve capital performance and profit and loss.
I have always been passionate about promoting diversity and inclusion, and challenging discrimination. In 2000 I helped establish the first LGBTI staff association within Barclays Bank, and since then have been involved with several LGBTI and HIV charities.
My dog is approved as a therapy pet and I visit a local hospital NeuroRehab dept with him every week. Seeing the difference these simple visits make to patients is extremely rewarding. This became a catalyst for me wanting to do more to help people with disabilities or mental health difficulties to live independently and achieve their potential.
