Hi, I’m Iona and I’m a freelance strategist, campaigner and extra pair of hands.

I am preoccupied by two things: better relationships and better endings.

I believe that strong and trusting relationships with my clients, across my networks, in our neighbourhoods and in our society are essential. Without concerted effort from everyone at all scales, I fear loneliness and disconnection will deepen its hold on us all and further weaken our social fabric, health, democracy and collective strength.

I believe this time of uncertainty and poly-crisis requires us to pay closer attention to endings. I co-lead The Decelerator (a project emerging from Stewarding Loss). I hope together we can influence civil society at all levels to dedicate the time, energy, care and resource to endings that it does to beginnings, uninhibited by fear, stigma or prejudice and rooted in best practice.

What I do and how I do it

I work on a range of projects ranging from birds-eye view strategy development through to diving into the detail and turning a smart strategy into a practical plan for action.

Strategy development

I love working with my clients to devise and develop impactful strategies for change. I share the tools and techniques that enable teams and organisations to develop ambitious and actionable plans to achieve big change in communities and society.

My experience building transformative coalition and partnership-led campaigns means I can work with you to map sectors, bring diverse actors together and craft a shared vision for change.

Extra-pair-of-hands

Using my experience of getting sh*t done in organisations of all shapes and sizes, I can roll-up my sleeves and get stuck into delivery when time, resource or capacity is short for whatever reason.

I can turn smart strategy documents into fundraising pitches, I can muck in and manage events or campaigns and I can backfill a crucial staff member who has had to take time off. I will identify what you need, build trusting relationships with your team or stakeholders and get down to work quickly.

Leadership coaching and support

I know from experience that leadership can be lonely. I have first-hand experience of the impact of leaders having a trusted partner during transitional periods of growth, change and closure.

I work with Founders, boards and whole organisations to support them to feel confident in themselves and each other, enabling them to work together honestly and ambitiously to lead change rooted in shared values and purpose.

My experience

What brought me to this point?

I’ve built collaborations and coalitions for change around the world and across the UK driving breakthroughs on intractable issues.

In 2016 I set up the Jo Cox Foundation in memory of my friend Jo Cox MP with her family. As founding Director of the Foundation I brought together diverse coalitions and partnerships to campaign on the issues Jo had championed. Together we achieved:

Before this I worked in the Calais ‘jungle’ refugee camp as Field Manager for the Safe Passage project where I co-led the ground operations for a strategic litigation campaign which resulted in the first child refugees being reunited with their families in the UK in almost 10 years. Previously I coordinated coalition campaigns at Save the Children focused on influencing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the G8. I started my career in youth engagement at Restless Development and the International Citizen Service.

I am a trustee for the Rural Coffee Caravan in Suffolk where I grew up. And I started my working life as a teenager as a chef.

The work I love

Here are a few examples of the sort of work I love doing…

  • I worked with The Cares Family in 2018-2019 as a strategy advisor. I returned in 2021 to support the Projects Team as they grew their Multiplier Programme and their research, communications and campaigning portfolio.

  • Since 2019 I have supported the funder Spirit of 2012 in the early stages of development of their Inquiry On The Power Of Events. Alongside this I have worked with them to articulate the vision and value of their ending as a spend out trust in 2026.

  • In 2020 I supported Choice Care Group to make the most of digital technology to build and maintain social connections for people in their care during the Covid crisis. In 2021 I supported them with research and advice as they have sought to review the way they measure and articulate the value of social connections and wellbeing for people in their care.

  • In 2021 I was a loneliness adviser for Collaborate on their project to develop a systems-level approach to tackling loneliness for East Sussex County Council.

  • Since 2019 I have worked with The Relationships Project supporting their work to strengthen the field of relationship-centred practice. In the Through Thick And Thin report published in 2021 we shared what we’d heard through 100+ interviews in 2020: a multi-decade journey towards a society where relationships are the ‘first mile, not just the extra one’ in all aspects of our shared and common life. In 2022 we secured Lottery funding to bring the findings from this report to life.

  • Since 2019 I have coordinated the Stewarding Loss project with Cassie Robinson and Louise Armstrong . With over 100 collaborators we have explored how and what can be done to design better organisational endings: responsibly, intelligently and compassionately. This work is rooted in our belief that endings are part of the natural cycle of growth, change, renewal and innovation within the nonprofit sector. In 2023 this work entering its next chapter: The Decelerator.