Lucy Devine

Experience

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  James Allen's Girls' School

  Sept 1992 - Sept 1994

  Maths teacher

  I was a maths teacher in very academic independent secondary school, specialising in children who found maths less easy than other subjects.

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  Department for Education

  Sept 1994 - Aug 2000

  Civil Servant

  I gained significant experience of the inner workings of government and dealing at extremely senior political levels, in roles as Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary, and then setting up and running a private office for a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. These roles required a very strong work ethic for long, intense hours and an ability to tactfully defuse conflict between Ministers and civil servants. This followed a period of working in policy on a team designing a new funding formula for schools, focusing on clear and sympathetic discussions about the funding formula with head teachers and school business managers. Show less

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  Capgemini

  Aug 2000 - Aug 2002

  Consultant

  I was a team member for public sector project management, particularly focusing on strong communications about complex subjects. Clients included the Youth Justice Board (delivering the crime-reduction Youth Inclusion Programme) and HMRC (developing clear, accessible guidance on what was then the new Tax Credits system).

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  PA Consulting Group

  Aug 2002 - Aug 2009

  Principal Consultant

  My roles here covered being assignment manager or team member for a wide range of high-profile public sector delivery projects, resolving issues with very conflicted stakeholders. Departments include: Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Department for Education, Department of Health, HMRC, Department for Communities and Local Government, Commission for Equality and Human Rights, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.Projects included: business change, reviews, programme assurance, communications and perfomance management. Show less

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  Africa Governance Initiative

  Oct 2009 - Oct 2010

  Senior Strategic and Governance Adviser

  I was part of an AGI team at the centre of the Government of Rwanda, based in the Prime Minister’s Department, supporting the equivalent of the UK’s Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit. I worked with my Rwandan counterparts to improve their capacity to make sure that Ministries delivered the Government’s programme and followed the Rwandan plan for poverty reduction and economic growth. This involved improving organisation design, systems and processes at institutional level (eg monitoring, planning, evaluation, implementation of Cabinet decisions) and also coaching individual civil servants on IT skills, meeting management, time keeping, project management etc. More widely, across the GoR, I also supported Ministers and Permanent Secretaries in preparing draft priorities, strategies and targets for the annual Leadership Retreat, at which all Rwandan Ministers, senior civil servants and industry leaders agree plans for the coming year. I was the lead external support for the GoR Governance Cluster throughout the year. Show less

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  Wellspring Consulting Limited

  Sept 2010 - now

  Director

  I provide support to charities and Multi-Academy Trusts. I help these organisations enhance their governance structures to ensure that their executive team, Board, and local volunteers can use their skills and time to maximum effect. I also ensure that they are compliant with a very challenging regulatory regime, meeting tough challenges from the Charity Commission, the Department for Education, the Education Funding Agency, and Ofsted. I love quietly untangling the boring detail (eg updating Articles of Association and ensuring registers are correct) - and I also love talking to people and providing reassurance that they can make their governance watertight and fit for purpose. Show less

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  Griffin Schools Trust (GST)

  Feb 2011 - Jun 2013

  Director of Operations

  The Griffin Schools Trust is a respected Multi-Academy Trust, run by people with deep expertise in state and private education, whose main aim is to increase access to the best of education for the most socially deprived and disadvantaged children. The GST family sponsors twelve Academies and is responsible for the life chances of thousands of pupils. I provided governance support, initial set-up advice, liaision with lawyers over company structure and business support, ensuring compliance with a complex and demanding central government funding regime. As Director of Operations, I successfully managed the conversion of several schools to Academy status, and bid for funds from central government to support the Trust. Show less

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  Africa Governance Initiative

  Feb 2011 - Aug 2011

  Consultant

  I managed work to scope a potential African Francophone country as a candidate for a governance project, and developed a scoping project toolkit, a decision-making framework and an improved approach to internal risk management.

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  Capital Talent Ltd

  Mar 2011 - Nov 2011

  Senior Consultant

  I was assignment manager for a project to advise on restructuring the education department in one of the UK’s largest local authorities, and pilot the recommendations through the authority’s internal governance procedures. The restructure gave the authority the opportunity to make savings, meet local priorities, manage risk and use reduced powers to greater effect.

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  Adam Smith International

  Nov 2011 - Apr 2012

  Senior Governance Adviser

  My role here was Senior Adviser to the Senior Minister for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, sub-contracted to DfID through ASI. The Senior Minister’s portfolio includes heading the Governance Cluster, which spans Public Financial Management, Anti-Corruption and Transparency, Efficient and Effective Government, Local Government, Justice and Rule of Law, and Human Rights. I was responsible for co-ordinating the National Priority Programmes (NPPs) for all six areas through the Afghanistan National Development Strategy programme processes, in order to obtain endorsement and then funding from both the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) and the International Community. This required high levels of content knowledge and diplomacy, liaising between GIRoA and donors at all levels of seniority, resolving issues immediately where possible, and escalating to the Senior Minister when not. My portfolio included capacity building the Governance Cluster Secretariat, a team of Afghan nationals. This was through formal training, performance management and day-to-day feedback and support. Show less

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  Sound Seekers

  Jul 2012 - Aug 2015

  CEO

  Sound Seekers is a unique UK registered charity dedicated to helping people with hearing loss, especially children, in the poorest communities of the developing world. Sound Seekers is currently developing and supporting projects in Cameroon, The Gambia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia. Sound Seekers works to help children stay in school and adults to find and keep jobs.I worked with my team to transform a dormant organisation into a thriving, motivated, and respected charity. This required a fundamental strategic review and complete governance overhaul, managing the Board, fundraising, programme delivery, developing partnerships, regulatory compliance, and staff and financial management. I tripled income, implemented financial controls, significantly raised our public profile through a partnership with SpecSavers, and created a cohesive programme to deliver support to many thousands of beneficiaries, through investing in project countries’ health infrastructure and people. Show less

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  Creative Metier

  Oct 2015 - Jun 2016

  Head of Governance

  Creative Metier’s highly tailored solutions enables our clients to achieve their strategic objectives and increase their impact. We deliver in Organisational Development and Strategic HR, Governance, Executive Coaching and Mentoring Programmes and in Leadership Development to support the building of viable and sustainable institutions making a strong contribution for the long term future. Our clients are organisations with social or economic development objectives, including international development actors and organisations working towards financial inclusion. Show less

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  Griffin Schools Trust (GST)

  Jun 2016 - Sept 2016

  Trust and Governance Manager

  The Griffin Schools Trust is a family of primary and secondary schools in the Midlands and the South East of England. The Trust is committed to providing an outstanding independent-style education for all students, predicated on breadth and excellence. All schools provide a rich programme of free extra-curricular activities, create an involving and stimulating physical environment and build a staff team of interesting people who are motivated to advance their own knowledge and skills as well as their pupils’ achievement. Multi-Academy Trusts have to meet extremely rigorous compliance and governance requirements set by central Government and relevant agencies. They also have to deliver results for many thousands of pupils and hundreds of teachers, as well as run a successful business. I provided the Griffin Schools Trust with governance advice and carried out an internal compliance review, designed to put the Trust in a strong position with a tough regulatory regime. Show less