CMI East Midlands & Eastern facilitates and supports professional development and networking for CMI members who live and/or work in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The volunteers who form the Regional Board are all members within the region and believe passionately in the vision, mission and values of CMI and the importance of excellent leadership and management for all individuals and organisations.
Our focus is on our regional members, however we work closely with the CMI executive team and with neighbouring regions to support members in their development of management and leadership competencies aligned to the CMI Professional Standard and in the growth of their professional networks.
We work with members to organise events relevant to them, share best practice and information using a range of media, and build links with other professional bodies, higher and further education institutions, employers and other community partners.
The Regional Board looks forward to meeting you and working together as we continue to jointly shape the future of leadership and management excellence in the East Midlands & Eastern region and as Chair, I would like to personally invite you to join our community by connecting with us on social media, we are always keen to hear from our members on what makes a difference to you.
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If you would like to know further information about activities in your region or would like to get involved, get in touch.
01536 207394
I am responsible for driving strategic change and digital transformation for an East Midlands based Recruitment Consultancy, and ensuring that our infrastructure, technical strategy, and business processes are generating ROI, working efficiently, and are enabling us to deliver a market leading experience to all stakeholders. I am passionate about automation, process, business intelligence , and data quality and strive to continuously improve how we are working and the results we are delivering through change and transformation projects.
I also lead and manage improvements and change in many other areas of our business including HR, Legal, and Compliance.
Personal development is extremely important to me and I’m proud to say that I have an MBA and that I am a Fellow Chartered Manager sitting on the East Midlands board of the CMI.
With a proven record in senior management, primarily in the UK Higher Education sector, I have a strong background in academic administration, operational and strategic planning and delivering and communicating change. In my current role as Director of Operations for the College of Life & Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, I am responsible for leading and developing the College Professional Services to support delivery of the College’s and University’s strategic objectives. As a member of College Board, I work very closely with the Head of College, contributing to the development of College strategy and priorities, supporting ambitious academic plans, and ensuring the effective management of professional services colleagues, resources and infrastructure, as well as the development of administrative and business functions within the College.
Previously, as Head of the President and Vice-Chancellor’s Office at the University of Leicester, I led the executive support function and delivered a range of strategic initiatives. I also oversaw the development of the University’s approach to Corporate Portfolio Management, with responsibility for monitoring and control of key strategic projects and reporting to relevant governance bodies. I also held a senior role outside of Higher Education for a professional association of head teachers, where, as Chief Operating Officer & Company Secretary, I was responsible for ensuring the organisation ran effectively and met members’ needs whilst delivering highly professional standards of financial, personnel, legal and governance practice.
As a Chartered Fellow of the CMI, I completed the experiential route of the award in December 2015 and have significantly benefited from the services the Institute provides. I am passionate about CMI’s work and am delighted to be serving as Chair of the East Midlands & Eastern Regional Board. I am committed to representing the needs and interests of our members across the Region, particularly as we continue to collectively navigate our way through the challenges of leading and managing during such uncertain times.
Jess is an experienced Programme and Senior Manager, with a proven ability to work at both operational and strategic levels. Jess has spent her career developing and leading significant partnership and change programmes across the youth, education and mental health sectors, and more recently, within local government.
Her work has been inspired by her passion for equity and inclusion, as well as her learning from her postgraduate studies. These have given Jess an in-depth understanding of how young people interact with wider systems, structures, institutions, and communities.
Jess is an advocate for strong management and leadership, and how these can transform organisations and the experiences of their people. As a Chartered Manager, Jess aspires to further establish her leadership skills, abilities, and behaviours, and continue to shape her professional career through continual development.
Jess is delighted to have been appointed to the Regional Board. She is excited to support CMI and regional members through embedding the core CMI values across all Board activities, and through representing the needs and interests of our members across the region.
Tom is an automotive engineer with over 15 year of experience delivering
engineering, consultancy and testing services to the industry. In his current role at
an engineering service provider he is the manager responsible for developing the
driven attributes of vehicles for automotive businesses across the globe.
Tom’s career requires him to combine a highly technical engineering discipline with
strong leadership and managerial qualities. Tom has gained Chartered status with
the CMI which has aided him to shape his professional career development. Tom is
a strong advocate of the benefits that good management and leadership can bring
to an organisation.
Tom is excited to have been appointed the Finance lead of the Regional Board and
is looking forward to working with the board to support the members across the
region.
Having worked within the construction and railway industry for over 20 years, Kevin has been actively involved in planning and delivering projects since the start of his career. In his current role, Kevin is accountable for a team of construction planning experts who plan and control both small- and large-scale projects across the south of the business whilst ensuring the appropriate information is communicated, tracked and measured to improve the chances of successful outcomes for all projects.
Kevin is passionate about planning events and projects whilst working with others to develop himself and others.
Having previously worked in multiple voluntary roles such as a CIC director, charity trustee and a school governor, Kevin prides himself on professionalism whilst giving back and helping others from all backgrounds to achieve more.
“The CMI, in particular gaining Chartership, has offered Kevin an opportunity to grow as an individual and as a manager as he progresses his skills and career.”
Catherine is an independent Transformation Consultant who works with her clients to shape their vision and strategy, and then design transformation programmes to turn them into operational reality.
She has an eclectic career, from early digital innovation, via Finance and Transformation to strategy consultancy. Catherine originally qualified as a Chartered Accountant, and continued to pursue her passion for lifelong learning, including an MBA at the University of Leicester which started her journey with the CMI and obtaining Chartered Manager status. More recently, Catherine is also proud to have been in an early cohort of achieving Chartered Management Consultant status.
Catherine began her EDI involvement at University of Nottingham, where she ran the LGBT+ society. This has continued with various lived experiences of diversity and intersectionality; Catherine is passionate about creating inclusive environments to allow all people to thrive and achieve their potential, and that being an authentic leader is a crucial part of creating them. Catherine has a strong appreciation for the value that diversity and inclusivity bring to an organisation; not only in financial performance, but also employee engagement, mental health and wellbeing, and robust, effective, innovative and disruptive design solutions.
She truly believes in the CMI’s values – Professional, Progressive, Passionate, and Practical – and the benefits that membership of the CMI delivers, and is proud to be rejoining the East Midlands and East Board as Diversity and Inclusion Champion, and Vice Chair.
Professor Sara Spear is the Provost and Chief Academic Officer at St Mary’s University, London, with responsibility for all academic activity across the University, including learning and teaching, academic partnerships, and research.
Sara was previously Executive Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law at St Mary’s University, and Head of School of Management at Anglia Ruskin University. She has also worked at the University of the West of England, and the University of Portsmouth, teaching and researching in Marketing and Corporate Communications.
As a Chartered Manager and Chartered Companion, Sara is a strong advocate for the opportunities and benefits that the CMI offers its Members, and the role it plays in supporting and developing managers and leaders. Sara is Regional Stakeholder Lead on the East Midlands and Eastern Board, and focuses on developing relationships between the CMI, businesses, third sector organisations, and universities.
Having worked with the CMI on the professional accreditation of courses, and enhancing student employability, as well as gaining Chartered Manager status herself, Sara is a strong advocate for the opportunities and benefits that the CMI offers its Members, and the role it plays in supporting and developing managers and leaders. Sara is Regional Stakeholder Lead on the East Midlands and Eastern Board, and focuses on developing relationships between the CMI, businesses, third sector organisations, and universities.
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