DF Trustee App: Helen Lang

From Tribewanted

Application For Role of Trustee: Helen Lang

A. Occupation

Name of current or most recent employer:

Pilotlight

Senior Project Manager

May 2006 to present

Please summarise the main duties and responsibilities in your current or most recent job:

• Manage a portfolio of up to 10 charities and social enterprises at any one time that tackle disadvantage in the London area.
• To support charity directors through a coaching process designed to build their strategic planning skills and organisational capacity.
• To identify charity needs, and use Project Manager meetings to assign members with appropriate skills to the charity.
• To lead the strategic process, ensuring that the process followed - in a way that is appropriate to the particular charity between charity directors and senior level business professionals.
• To build strong relationships with both charity directors and the business professionals, and act as the first point of contact to ensure that through the process the team is able meet challenges effectively.
• To prepare for and effectively facilitate meetings between business professionals and charity directors.
• To act as a negotiator and ensure that the process effectively meets the needs of both groups.
• To work with the Project Management Team to continue to refine and improve the Pilotlight process
• To undertake research into new initiatives and agendas, such as developments in government agenda for charities.

B. Education and Training

a) Secondary education OR further and/or higher education, giving most recent qualification first

School/College/University/	Qualification and subjects(s)	Level	Grade	Year obtained
University of Sheffield	MA Archaeology and Prehistory	MA	Pass	2000
University of Exeter	BA Ancient History	BA	2:1	1997

b) Qualification(s) currently being undertaken

Institution/Provider	Qualification/level	Subject(s)	Exam/finish date
(none)

c) Relevant Training and Non-Qualification Courses Attended

Press and media training – interview techniques.

d) Membership of Professional Body(ies)/Professional Qualification(s)
(If more than one, please list all)

Name of Professional Body(ies)	Qualification(s)	Membership level	Registration No.	Date obtained
RSA CELTA	TEFL	Teacher		2001

C. Additional Information in Support of your Application

1. Have you read and understood the following document published by the Charities Commission: [1]

YES

2. Please outline any experience you may have of working with a charity:

Please refer to the summary of my current position with Pilotlight (see above). I have worked with over 13 charities on the development of business plans, strategic plans and advised on the development of specific components of organisational infrastructure, governance structure and specialised projects such as fundraising strategy.

In these relationships I always work with the charity director, senior managers, members of the board of trustees and senior level business advisors who advise the charity team on the development of their organisational strategy. I facilitate the strategic planning process and manage the relationship between the two groups over the course of nine months to two years.

I am also involved in the development of refining the model that we use as a charity to facilitate this process and undertake research into developments affecting the sector on behalf of Pilotlight.

I have been working full-time in the charity sector in the UK for over four years, and have worked in the voluntary sector in the UK and overseas for 7 years. I have also worked for charities in Spain and Mongolia that used tourism initiatives as mechanisms to fundraise and subsidise wider work they were undertaking in their communities.

3. Give an account of any specialist or transferable skills you may have which would be relevant to the role of TWDF Trustee?
(e.g. PR/marketing, fundraising, accountancy, legal, HR, project management, specific connections with Fiji etc)

My current role involves a variety of transferable skills in particular strategic planning and project management which I use to facilitate capacity building within organisation through information exchange in meetings. I am also accustomed to develop work plans and setting measurable targets for progress and development.

As an independent consultant I am accustomed to undertaking needs assessments and developing practical strategies that are appropriate to the context and the needs of the individuals concerned.

I have worked in public affairs and marketing departments for four years in charitable organisations undertaking the development of events and editing supporter publications and press releases.

I am also a trained TEFL teacher and have worked with students from Mongolia, Spain, China, Italy, Switzerland, Japan and France from.

I also a family connection with Fiji.

4. What experience, if any, do you have of serving on a committee?

I have worked in committees in a limited capacity organising small scale local events, and for specific projects e.g. the development of an organisational website.

5. What do you think will be the priorities for the TWDF Trustees in the next 6 months?

I believe that that TWDF has a number of short-term priorities to consolidate its charitable status such as the refining the parameters of its objects, and registering with the charity commission in the UK. It then needs to develop management mechanisms and resources to undertake work on its behalf in Fiji.

Once this initial work has been undertaken TWDF then needs to develop a three year business strategy that will facilitate the development of fundraising, marketing, development and outreach streams (amongst others) to drive its work forward. It will also need to develop robust mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the value and impact of the support which it will provide for local communities.

TWDF will need to develop a strong network to enable it to extend its reach and support communities across the northern Fijian islands.

6. Have you been to Fiji/do you plan on going in the next few years? Please give details:

I have never been to Fiji but plan to visit within the next 3 months both to visit Vorovoro, Mali and the surrounding islands and also to visit family.

Would you be willing/able to carry out any relevant TWDF work while there?

Yes

7. If you are UK based, will you be able to attend meetings four times a year with the other Trustees and the occasional training day? (reasonable travel expenses will be paid):

Yes.

8. Please give any further details you think are relevant to your application:

I believe in TWDF, and feel that my strategic skills and experience will help build a strong foundation to take it forwards to best benefit local communities in Northern Fiji.

TWDF already has a solid core of support and I believe that we need to capitalise on that to enable it to support and assist as many people as possible. As the founder and director of Global Sense (an organisation developed to campaign for fairly traded tourism) I spend a large proportion of my time working not only involved in outreach, but also developing networks, partnerships and systems to assist overseas volunteer companies critically analyse their programmes and volunteering processes which I really believe would help build TWDF into a regonised and respected organisation.

In my full-time employment I manage relationships between leaders from multinational companies such as Serco and MTV Europe and small innovative charities tackling disadvantage to build stragies to help the charities grow, which I believe this has given me an in depth understanding of the steps a growing charity such as TWDF can take to help it define what it does and reach more people who need its help.

I've spent a number of years living and working overseas and have learned to the value of sharing ideas and different points of view, a bit of patience, alot of enthusiasm and am a passionate believer in the value of listening to the needs of local communities.