Nicola Upton
I’m a freelance consultant, facilitator and coach with more than 20 years’ experience working in and with charities. I help organisations think clearly about where they are, where they want to go, and how to make change happen in practice.
My work spans strategy, organisational development and change, governance and Board development, service review and improvement, research projects, and facilitation. I work with Boards, CEOs, senior leaders and teams, often at points when an organisation is facing change, uncertainty or difficult decisions.
As a former charity CEO and senior leader, I bring both a strategic perspective and a practical understanding of what it takes to turn decisions into reality. I’m particularly interested in helping organisations navigate complexity: understanding what is really going on, bringing different perspectives into the conversation, making good decisions and working out what needs to happen next.
My approach is collaborative, thoughtful and practical. I don’t arrive with a predetermined answer or an off-the-shelf model. I work with organisations to understand their particular context, draw on evidence and the experience of the people involved, and develop approaches that are realistic and useful, and reduce your need for further extra resource.
Alongside my consultancy and facilitation work, I also provide executive coaching and a ‘leadership ally’ mentoring and support service, particularly for leaders working in charities and socially purposed organisations.
Change management, Coaching and mentoring, Facilitation, Governance, Leadership and Management Development, Strategic planning
Advice, information and guidance, Children, young people and families, Community development, Disability, Education, Health and social care, Infrastructure organisations, LGBTQI+, Older people, Women
Clients
I work with local, regional and national charities and voluntary sector organisations, supporting Boards, CEOs and senior teams with strategy, organisational development and change, governance, service improvement, research and facilitation.
My clients range from smaller community organisations to established national charities. Recent work has included developing organisational and service strategies; reviewing and redesigning services and organisational structures; supporting Boards and leadership teams through significant strategic decisions; researching the needs and experiences of communities; and facilitating Board and team development.
Recent clients include Independent Age (Services Development) Now Teach (Strategy), Voluntary Action North Somerset (Research and Community Engagement), Community Action Sutton (State of the Sector and Strategy) and Alopecia UK (Strategy and Service Development).
I have particular experience across advice and support services, community development and voluntary sector infrastructure, ageing and later life and health and wellbeing, alongside work with organisations in a range of other fields.
Qualifications
Relevant qualifications I hold include:
Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching – Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC)
Certificate in teaching and Training Adults – City and Guilds
Experience
I bring more than 20 years’ senior experience in the charity and public sector, including as a CEO, Director and Trustee. I have worked across organisations of different sizes and geographies and in a range of sectors, with responsibilities spanning strategy, governance, operations, finance, people, and service delivery (sometimes all at the same time!).
As a charity CEO, I led organisations through transformational change as well as crisis and organisational closure. I’ve also led major service reviews and redesign, organisational restructuring, team development, income growth and improvement programmes.
This experience means I understand both the strategic and governance perspective, and the operational reality of implementing decisions. I also understand that organisational decisions have consequences for people. Whether an organisation is developing a new strategy, redesigning services, changing its structure or facing difficult financial choices, I bring an understanding of how change can affect staff, volunteers and the communities an organisation serves, and what it takes to manage that well. I am highly experienced in community engagement and ensuring the voice of communities (including beneficiaries, volunteers, staff, and other stakeholders) are heard during development and change.
As a consultant, I draw on this experience to support organisations with strategy, organisational and service reviews, governance and Board development, organisational change, research and evaluation, and facilitation.
