People

Team

Ben Cairns
Director
ben@ivar.org.uk

Ben has 20 years' experience of work in and around the third sector as a volunteer, manager, trustee, trainer, writer and researcher. He has an MSc (Distinction) in Voluntary Sector Organisation from the London School of Economics. As co-founder of ACVAR, Ben led the development and delivery of a dynamic new approach to action research and capacity building with local, regional and national organisations. Now, as the founding Director of IVAR and Visiting Fellow of Birkbeck College, Ben is responsible for taking this work forward.

Margaret Harris
Academic Adviser
m.e.harris@aston.ac.uk

Dr Margaret Harris is currently Professor of Voluntary Sector Organisation at Aston Business School and Visiting Professor at Birkbeck College. She was formerly Assistant Director of the Centre for Voluntary Organisation at the London School of Economics. She has conducted and managed collaborative research with numerous national and local voluntary agencies and published articles in academic and professional journals on a range of topics, notably voluntary management committees, the impact of public policy on the voluntary sector, volunteering, and the work of religious organisations. She is the author of "Organising God's Work: Challenges for Churches and Synagogues" (Macmillan, 1998) and editor (with David Billis) of "Voluntary Agencies; Challenges of Organisation and Management" (Macmillan, 1996) and (with Colin Rochester) of Voluntary Organisations and Social Policy in Britain; "Perspectives on Change and Choice" (Palgrave, 2000). Within IVAR, Margaret will provide advice to staff, associates and board members on third sector specialist matters, theories and research practice.

Kulwinder Thind
Office Manager
kulwinder@ivar.org.uk

Kulwinder has a BA in Marketing and Law from Hertfordshire University. She joined IVAR in August 2006 and is now responsible for establishing, managing and developing all administrative systems and structures for IVAR's research and capacity building work, including joint projects with Birkbeck.

Dr Mike Aiken is a Research Associate at IVAR, with key skills in research, consultancy and facilitation. He has worked for over 20 years in the not-for-profit sector with organisations such as Community Matters, Save the Children and the Development Trusts Association. Since 1998 he has undertaken research at the Open University examining the organisational values of voluntary organisations, the co-operative advantage in mutual organisations, and an investigation of UK social enterprises offering work for disadvantaged groups. Recent assignments have included researching case studies on funding profiles for the Charities Aid Foundation and evaluating a 3 year outcomes programme for the Charities Evaluation Service. He has lectured in voluntary sector management at the University of Sussex and remains a Visiting Research Fellow at the Open University.

Dr Sam Brier, Senior Research Associate, works as a freelance consultant in the voluntary and public sectors. His assignments in the past year as a Senior Research Associate for IVAR include a Partnership Improvement Programme for local authorities and voluntary organisations and a Capacity Building programme for second tier voluntary organisations. He has also recently carried out a strategic review for a national charity and facilitated a merger between two regional agencies.
Sam was chief executive of Kids, a national charity for disabled children, for seven years. Prior to that he was executive director of Norwood, a charity providing services to learning disabled children and adults. Sam worked for many years in several London local authorities as a social worker, team leader and area director. He has a Masters degree in Public and Social Administration and a PhD in strategic decision-making in voluntary organisations.

Pradip Gajjar, Research Associate, has an MBA in Public Services Management and extensive experience in the voluntary sector, principally through his work in the UK chapter of the international religious charity, ISKCON. He has extensive capacity building and community development experience, particularly within the Hindu community; he has also produced training manuals for faith-volunteers developing fundraising initiatives. He has also worked as a faith advisor for a government volunteering initiative. Over the past three years he has been developing a delivering a range of VCS capacity building workshops and programmes.

Jane Harris, Research Associate, most recently worked on the Partnership Improvement Programme, a six-month action research project which aimed to improve cross-sectoral working between local government and the voluntary and community sector. Jane is also managing director of Cordis Bright Consulting, a specialist research consultancy which exists to help organisations in the not-for-profit sector to improve their performance. Through Cordis Bright, Jane works with a wide range of agencies and departments across the statutory and voluntary and community sectors. Jane's current work includes leading two local evaluations of a government-funded initiative to develop preventative services for older people, financial appraisal and modelling for a social care commissioner, and supporting individual voluntary organisations in strategic planning and performance improvement. After ten years as a finance director in the voluntary sector, Jane completed the MSc in Voluntary Sector Organisation at LSE in 1997. She has also worked as a freelance consultant and research associate.

Romayne Hutchison, Senior Research Associate, has worked as a freelance researcher, trainer and consultant since 1993. Prior to that she held various posts in the voluntary and community sector and in the statutory sector, focusing mainly on working with volunteers and the development of projects involving volunteers.
Romayne was a Research Associate of the Aston Centre for Voluntary Action Research from the time of its establishment, working on various research projects relating to quality systems and performance improvement; organisational mergers; faith-based organisations and volunteering. She took the lead on fieldwork and report writing for ACVAR’s projects for the Diocese of Birmingham, Manchester Jewish Community Project, Volunteering England and for NCVO on the impact of quality systems in the voluntary sector. Since the establishment of IVAR she has been involved with research studies for bassac, the Community Alliance and the potential merger of TACT and the Independent Adoption Service.

Shona Reed-Purvis, Research Associate, has worked as a freelance trainer and consultant since 1992. She is also a counsellor and supervisor. Previously she has worked with the NHS and the voluntary sector developing the skills of professionals and volunteers working in the field. Shona has been with IVAR for six years, working on many specific initiatives, as well as having a focus on workshop design and effective group work.

Patricia Young, Senior Research Associate. Following her MSC in Voluntary Sector Organisation from the London School of Economics (1999), Patricia became interested in 'social cohesion'. She obtained several years practical experience of voluntary organisations (including BME-led organisations) involved in urban regeneration and community development and also worked for large-scale regeneration programmes, for example 'New Deal for Communities'. Patricia Young joined the Aston Centre for Voluntary Action Research in 2002 as Capacity Building Co-ordinator. She developed a detailed understanding about research and practice of capacity building with voluntary organisations and has contributed to a number of conference papers and research projects on capacity building issues. Since 2004 she has also worked as a researcher on a range of other research projects, including performance improvement and collaboration between large/small voluntary sector organisations. She is currently involved in a study on grass roots activities intended to build bridges between diverse religious and ethnic communities.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees comprises senior VCS practitioners, scholars and funders; it meets quarterly or more often if required.

Julian Ashby, Chair, is formerly MD of a quoted public and voluntary sector consultancy. Now Associate Director of Tribal Consulting.

Terry Connor is Director of the Catholic Children's Society.

Jon Fox is Active Citizenship and Senior Development Director at BVSC.

Alison Harker is a freelance consultant with many years experience in the community and voluntary sector and charitable foundations.

Jenny Harrow is Professor of Voluntary Sector Management at the Centre for Charity Effectiveness, Cass Business School.

Jane Hatfield is Director of National and Regional Development at Breast Cancer Care.

Tim Jones, Treasurer, is a Chartered Accountant and currently Treasurer at Green College, Oxford. His previous experience focused on the telecommunications industry, including time at BT, and working internationally.

Nick Plant is Senior Lecturer in Information Systems at the University of the West of England.

Last updated: 5thMarch 2007