Charlie is an associate and board member at Collaborate. She has been driven to lead change in local government and public services to achieve better outcomes for people and places throughout her entire career.
Charlie has worked in public services for over 25 years. She started as a lawyer and is an expert in good governance and its connection to constructive system leadership, a common shared sense of purpose and strong relationships. Charlie was then Chief Executive of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames until 2018, where she led the Thrive London Mental health multi-agency oversight group, creating a movement for change to improve the mental health of Londoners. Prior, she fulfilled the same Chief Executive role for two councils in Suffolk. There, she developed a whole system approach to public service reform and transformation. More recently Charlie has been working with the Connected Places Catapult (CPC) as an Associate, leading a small network of senior local government colleagues to help develop and tailor their offer to the sector.
In their own words:
In my experience, Collaborate is a unique organisation. They explore new ideas, push boundaries, support others to be their best, learn and reflect continuously. They are a small team of dedicated public servants who want to make a real difference, reflecting the same ethic that I bring to my own roles. What Collaborate does works. Accordingly, I choose to be involved because I want to spread the word that they can help tackle some of the most wicked issues facing our places and communities. I find the work with Collaborate challenging and exciting and it is a privilege to be a part of.