Our founder, Ngozi Lyn Cole believes that everyone has the passion and potential to achieve their ambitions and sees her ‘why’ as supporting individuals and organisations to do just that. A self-employed coach and leadership catalyst, Ngozi also holds non-executive posts including Chair of the North East Justice Together Initiative and Vice Chair of the South Tyneside & Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust.

 

Ngozi spent 18 years at the National Lottery Community Fund holding several roles, including England Director until February 2017. In that role, she was responsible for all grant programmes, leading over 500 employees and an annual budget of £450m to £1bn depending on Lottery rollovers! Prior to this, she worked in community development, education, urban regeneration, and housing.  She has significant experience of leadership and executive coaching; running action learning sets; developing and implementing strategy; organisational and leadership development; change management; collaboration and equity, diversity and inclusion.

 

More recently she has worked with funders such as the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Lloyds Bank Foundation, Millfield House Foundation, Virgin Money Foundation and the Children Investment Fund Foundation on their leadership and equity, diversity and inclusion journeys. She has also worked with several charities such as St Giles Trust, Isabel Hospice, the Green Alliance, Transform Trade, the Sunnybank Trust and Recovery Connections.   Ngozi was named in the 2016 New View 50 list of most influential Black people working in the public sector. In 2020, she was named one of the Lloyds Banking Group's Kindness and Leadership 50 Leading Lights and in 2021, she was named as one of the 2021 Northern Health Science Alliance #NorthInnovationWomen.