The Leadership Centre is funded by the government department Communities and Local Government. As of April 2008 the Leadership Centre has acquired charitable status and become part of the LGA Group, working with and on behalf of the local government sector.

Our small team is made up of leadership experts with experience in politics, local and central government and the private sector.

We believe it takes great leadership to create a thriving and prosperous community. Our role is to help create great places to live by giving leaders the opportunity to shift their thinking on leadership so they can fundamentally transform their communities for the better.  We help local government leaders to meet the specific challenge of leading a place rather than a council as today’s local leaders are expected to provide the imagination to create a community out of place.

‘Leadership’ is all we do. We work with the leaders of local authorities and, within local strategic partnerships to help them develop the skills and qualities they need to be effective leaders across place.

Kate was previously chief executive of NHS Estates. Building magazine described her as ‘the most powerful woman in construction’ as she managed Europe’s largest property portfolio, the turnover for which she doubled in three years. Kate’s career spans the civil service, local government, healthcare and the voluntary sector. Kate has witnessed at first hand the importance of leadership skills among both officers and politicians during her impressive and varied career. She is highly skilled at reshaping large organisations, particularly those in complex and sensitive political environments. Kate is an experienced leader, with a reputation for making informed, tough decisions, where she has brought out the best of her teams through her open and approachable style. Having worked as both a chairperson and chief executive, Kate has substantial board level experience.

The Independent described Stephen as ‘the most sought after consultant in the UK’. He became chief executive in November 05, seconded from Stanton Marris, an organisation development consultancy of which he was founding partner. An economist by training, he started his career in what is now Communities and Local Government, and has been a consultant for the last 29 years. He has worked with the boards of a dozen FTSE100 and international companies, every Whitehall department and major agency, a number of overseas governments and 30 local authorities. He designed and facilitated the first ever occasion at which the Cabinet and all permanent secretaries came together (to improve ‘delivery’). He is a non-executive director of the new Border & Immigration Agency and of BPP plc, the UK’s largest trainer for professional qualifications.

Joe’s passion for and commitment to local government made him the perfect choice to set up the Leadership Centre. Now he is responsible for the ground-breaking Civic Pride initiative designed to encourage confident, capable and visionary local leadership. He also takes the lead on all the Leadership Centre’s political work. He started his career in the voluntary sector becoming assistant director of CSV. He has also worked in television, heading up the ITV Telethon, working as the strategy co-ordinator for BBC Worldwide and the director of programmes for World Learning Network with David Putnam. Joe is also the former national programme director for the New Millennium Experience. In parallel he had a 16 year stint as a councillor.

John is the key figure dealing directly with local authorities responsible for ensuring chief executives, the leader or Mayor and both their senior teams are given the opportunity to fundamentally shift their thinking on leadership. He defines the scope of the work to be carried out, and he manages and develops the team of advisers who become the expert on an individual authority. These advisers provide a bespoke assessment of the authority’s challenges in situ designed to encourage better leadership to flourish. John also evaluates the impact and effectiveness of the work. John ran his own very successful leadership development business working with both the public and private sectors, including several of the world’s largest businesses. During this time he advised the chief executives of FTSE 100 businesses. He started his career in the army as a commander of the leadership development wing of the Royal Artillery where he was responsible for officer selection and development of non-commissioned officers.