Who we are

Emma oversees Capacity’s Design and Doing team, leading on strategy, business development, service design and implementation across our projects. Emma thrives when she is getting under the skin of the problem, working with and through others to define the stuff that isn’t working.   

By the age of thirty, Emma held an interim CEO position in an organisation she grew up with. Starting on the ‘shop floor’, designing and delivering interventions with people who struggled with their mental health I progressed across the organisation into management and leadership roles across operations and business development.  

From here, Emma joined a start-up public services boutique consultancy and created its position in Health and Social Care. She built a portfolio of work with clients who support the poorest and most sick.  

Emma’s skills and experience in organisational design equip her with the ability to focus on methodology and direction rather than output and destination which enables her to ask how things can be different.  

A proud Lancastrian, Emma enjoys spending her free time with her young son Harry and getting to grips with the rules of football – Harry’s new love. 

Chris has significant experience in managing, securing funding and developing the capacity of community businesses and non-profit organisations. As well as leading the team, Chris works with clients across all areas of healthcare, adults’ services and children’s services.   

Prior to his role at Capacity, Chris was part of the core team who developed The Reader Organisation from a University of Liverpool ‘spin-out’ into a leading social organisation, where he tripled revenue, raised £5 million in funding for the transfer of Calderstones Mansion House and created opportunities to support health and wellbeing through shared reading activities.   

Chris is also a Board Member for Local Trust – Local Trust is a place-based funder supporting communities to achieve their ambitions.  

Outside of work, Chris is an avid Liverpool FC fan and lives in Crosby with his wife and two daughters. 

Sarah has 18 years of experience in various finance roles both in the private and third sectors. Most recently, building financial models, developing budgets and managing cash flow for a variety of health, adult social care and community-based organisations.

Outside of work, Sarah enjoys listening to music and going to gigs and city breaks.

Sophie leads projects at Capacity supporting positive change for children and families.

Sophie and her team work with a range of public and third sector partners helping to make growing up here the best it can be. Sophie oversees the development of Juno, a not-for-profit, high-quality children’s residential care organisation co-designed with care-experienced young people. Juno will open a network of brilliant homes across Liverpool City Region, starting with its first home in Wirral in early 2023.

Sophie came to Capacity after 10 years at The Reader, where she led on Business Development, Quality Practice and Learning. Passionate about the role that literature can play in helping us all to live well, Sophie has an MA in English Literature, is a Clore Social Leadership Fellow and lives in Liverpool with her family…and her books!

As Senior Project Manager, the majority of Alice’s week is focused on Children’s social care projects ‘Juno’ and ‘Community Matters’, for which she draws on project management experience across communications and fundraising at the national fostering and adoption charity, Home for Good. She is also focused on the children and young people’s emotional health and well-being project.

Alice also has experience in the public sector, having worked as Grants Officer at Liverpool City Council before joining Capacity. Coupled with out-of-work commitments in her local community in North Liverpool, it has offered Alice a broad knowledge base of voluntary organisations across the city.

In 2019, she also won The Young Programme’s ‘Young Thinker of the Year England and Wales’.

Outside of work, Alice loves to go abroad and practice her language skills (she speaks four!), while sampling some local vegan cuisine.

Sara joined capacity in September 2023 as a project manager having worked in local authorities since 2015. She’s worked in the area of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in different roles including as a caseworker, post-16 commissioning and interim service manager.

Outside of work, Sara likes spending time with her friends and family, reading and doing sport.

Peter joined Capacity in March 2024, having previously worked for Marketing Liverpool (part of Liverpool City Council) on destination marketing – tourism, conferences, major events and all that jazz.

Prior to that, Pete worked for Liverpool Vision, the city’s urban regeneration company. At Liverpool Vision, Pete worked on some big, game-changing projects like ACC Liverpool, Liverpool ONE, Cruise Liner Terminal, Lime Street and Baltic.

Plot twist… After 20 years of working in the public sector, Pete wanted a change, and decided to move to Capacity.

Pete loves promoting the brilliant work Capacity does, but hates promoting himself.

George joins Capacity as one of our Senior Designer and Doers, George has over a decade of experience working in the third sector for a variety of organisations, including the National Trust, The Bishop Palace and Designability in a variety of senior management roles including Acting Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive.

George has significant commercial, operations and programmes management experience with a strong track record of developing and leading high performance teams to deliver impactful services.

George lives in rural Somerset with his family, one dog and six chickens and enjoys playing sport.

Sophie joined Capacity in January 2024, after starting her career in adult social care and the third sector.

A strong generalist, Sophie supports the production of Capacity’s digital comms content, monitors our impact and captures our organisational learning. She’s passionate about improving how things are done to have a bigger impact, loves a good Theory of Change and is a Canva whizz.

Sophie lives in Liverpool with her partner Jack and her pet bearded dragon Hal. An MA graduate in English Studies and Critical Theory, she loves to spend her time outside of work reading a good book, enjoying a glass of wine or cooking for friends. When she’s not in the office, you’ll most likely find her next door in the gym.

Heather joined Capacity after graduating with a degree in English Literature. As a Business Coordinator, she provides support for the Senior Leadership Team as well as working on HR, contracts, internal systems, and looking after our Queen Avenue office. She’s passionate about bringing people together with previous experience coordinating the University of Liverpool’s School of the Arts Showcase and coaching and refereeing for women’s and girls’ grassroots football.

Heather loves attending live gigs, and playing the guitar and has hosted a literature-themed radio show whilst at university. Originally from the Wiltshire countryside, Heather’s enjoying continuing to explore Liverpool.

Sarah has been at Capacity since 2022 as a finance assistant, having worked in a similar role in the charity sector for the previous 5 years.

Outside of work, Sarah can either be found singing in the choir, where she’s been a member for 7 years or singing in the terraces, where she’s been a season ticket holder at Goodison since she was six years old.

Harriet joined Capacity in April 2024. A registered social worker, Harriet brings three years of experience working directly with children, young people, and their families to support them through difficult times in their lives (in Lambeth and Warrington). Prior to social work, Harriet was an Associate Director at Social Finance where she worked with amazing people to develop ambitious programmes of work, often funded in innovative ways.

Harriet has completed a MSc in Relationship-Based Social Work and her research was published in the Journal of Social Work Practice in October 2023. This action-research explored how feelings of safety impact relational practice within the Child Protection context.

Having recently moved to Liverpool from London, Harriet spends her time outside of work getting to know the city and the wider city region (and is always open to recommendations!).

Becky joined Capacity in September 2024, having just made the move up North from London. In London, Becky worked as an Organisational Designer for the London Borough of Camden. Prior to that she worked in frontline roles in the public and third sector, including in Homelessness Prevention and leading an advice and guidance service. Becky is driven to fix the broken systems she saw too often let people down in her frontline work.

Outside of work, Becky keeps busy with reading, yoga and exploring Liverpool’s many restaurants and bars!

Toni is the Accounts Manager for one of Capacity’s clients. Her role includes analysing and presenting key financial data. Overseeing accounting procedures and preparing budgets.

Before Capacity, Toni worked in roles including Finance Officer and Accounts Assistant, where she was involved in all aspects of the management accounting process, including balance sheet reconciliations, monthly journals for fixed assets, prepayments, and monthly management account packs.

Ailsa has 15+ years of experience across the charity, social enterprise and public sector and works with a variety of Capacity’s clients across the Northwest.

Prior to joining Capacity Ailsa was Chief Operating Officer at a leading national charity and social enterprise based in Liverpool City Region and has previously held senior positions in local economic development as well as roles with Citizen’s Advice and The Charity Commission in her early career.

Ailsa has experience in designing new initiatives from scratch as well as bringing a considered approach and ‘fresh pair of eyes’ to existing systems and plans. Ailsa has hands-on experience across all aspects of the effective running of an organisation, in particular, she has strengths in strategic and business planning, commercial planning, business innovation and service design as well as development and fundraising.

Outside of work Ailsa enjoys spending time with her young family and friends in South Liverpool where she lives.

Katie joined Capacity in February 2025 after working in the charity sector for 12 years. With a background in teaching, many of the projects she’s been involved in since have focused on educational disadvantage, improving wellbeing and providing training to support people to achieve their full potential.

With a strong background in community engagement, she is passionate about bringing organisations together to increase wellbeing, inclusion and social mobility for young people, families and communities.

Outside of work, you’ll often find Katie reading, exploring the Welsh Hills with her 2 young children, or enjoying a lovely meal with the whole family!

Dan is director of 3ni: The National Network for Neighbourhood Improvement, a new social value partnership between Capacity and Local Trust.

3ni brings together policy, practice, the latest research, cutting-edge data and diagnostic tools to support local government and the public sector to work with disadvantaged communities up and down the country to transform neighbourhoods. It also hosts the national network for neighbourhood improvement, sharing best and next practice to support community-led regeneration. 

Before leading the incubation of 3ni, Dan led the policy team at Local Trust. This included delivering the work and research programme for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods, advocating for a Community Wealth Fund, and making the case for C4, the ESRC-funded Centre for Collaboration in Community Connectedness. Dan has a background in local and regional government, working for the elected Mayors of London and in the North East of England, in regeneration policy at the Homes and Communities Agency, and for the think tanks Localis, New Europe, The Young Foundation, and Collaborate.

He has been an elected leader in the British co-operative movement, serving as Vice-President of the Co-operative Group where he led on the creation of its community strategy and as a trustee of the Co-operative Foundation. He is a Fellow of the RSA.

Lisa leads on people and operations at Capacity, helping to make sure the organisation, its teams and its day-to-day systems run smoothly.

Before joining Capacity, Lisa built her career across charities, retail and visitor attractions, holding senior roles in customer experience and operations. She has led teams of staff and volunteers, supported the delivery of major capital projects and events, and developed commercial offers across a range of busy and varied settings.

Lisa brings a practical, people-focused approach to her work, with experience of creating the structures and support that enable teams to do their best work.

Outside of work, Lisa has an on/off relationship with the gym, salsa dancing and swimming!

Born and raised in Canada, where nearly everyone was an immigrant or first-generation Canadian, Liz witnessed the transformative power of diversity and community-led change.  

This experience shaped her belief in co-creating solutions, and to this day she believes that ‘rules are written in pencil’. Endlessly curious, Liz is always listening, sharing, and learning from the stories that shape people and communities. 

Liz is founder and managing director of The Connectives – a values-based, purpose-driven, outcome-focused consultancy operating as a social enterprise, supporting organisations across all sectors. 

Throughout her career, Liz has held 25 non-executive director or trustee positions and chaired 8 boards, specialising in governance. Her work has involved independent reviews, recruitment, development, appraisal, and restructuring of NEDs, boards, and group structures, working across all four sectors, both in the UK and overseas. 

As a lifelong positive disruptor, tackling inequity and discrimination are embedded in all her work and role as chair of Capacity. Outside of work, Liz loves spending time with her two adorable dogs, including one who behaves more like a cat! 

Craig has played a key role in the growth of social enterprise in the UK – as a social entrepreneur, an author, a mentor and adviser. 

As an entrepreneur, Craig is the founder of VoiceAbility – a social enterprise with a turnover of £10 million which has won numerous awards for its advocacy work on behalf of people with mental health problems and learning disabilities.  

His venture Social Minds has assisted NHS and local government staff to spin out and form over 30 new mutual organisations which drive change and deliver enhanced services. 

As an author, he has written three books on social sector leadership and has been a regular contributor on this topic to The Guardian and the trade journal Third Sector.  

His latest projects include: a social sector leadership organisation called Social Club, a start-up incubator called Social Rocket; and a brand new podcast called Social Business Builders. 

Craig’s pioneering work was recognised with an MBE in 2009. 

Andy is Catch22’s Chief Development Officer where he oversees Business Development, Partnerships, Evidence and Insight, Communication and External Affairs functions. 

With over 10 years in the charitable sector, Andy has a strong track record of developing and implementing strategies for sustainable growth. Prior to joining Catch22, he was Commercial Director at Shaw Trust where he oversaw significant growth, robust commercial principles, and the development of innovative operating models to meet the changing need of people and place. 

Andy believes positive impact is best achieved through partnership and has a wide range of experience in developing organisational strategies for engagement and relationship building with stakeholders, commissioners and third sector organisations alike. 

Alison is a freelance consultant with considerable and varied experience gained working in the third and social purpose sectors. 

She has spent 25+ years helping organisations grow stronger, govern better, and serve their communities more effectively. Alison cares deeply about working with people and making a difference – whether through better services, smarter strategy, or simply doing the right thing. 

She specialises in organisational transformation, governance, and project development and delivery, bringing proven expertise in leading complex organisations, driving change, developing staff and volunteers, and delivering services tailored to community needs.  

She also has extensive experience securing sustainable funding, shaping policy, and building partnerships that enhance social impact. 

Above all, Alison is passionate about creating resilient, high-performing organisations that empower individuals and communities. 

Christine is Managing Director of The Eric Wright Group’s Health and Care business and Co-Founder of Loxie, a consultancy building healthier places through a bold, creative approach to infrastructure. 

From banking to Benetton owner, from interior designer into the world of NHS, partnerships and the boardroom. Christine has worked with incredible people throughout her career. 

She believes it’s possible to design a different future and move away from outdated structures, systems and siloed funding models, which are blocking the evolution, development and future delivery of our public and civic infrastructure.   

As a self-confessed ‘people person and maverick’, Christine loves the power of togetherness-thinking – making the connections, and creating an environment where people become the catalysts and advocates for change. 

Ann is a marketing and brand communications professional who has been at the helm of her own businesses since 1999. Ann currently heads up Propelled, a brand consultancy working with businesses across the North West and UK.  

Ann has been advising boards on brand positioning and working with marketers to help them grow their brand’s impact for many decades. Ann works with companies that value people and are ambitious to challenge the norms in their sector. 

As a trustee at Bolton Lads and Girls Club, she helps guide the organisation’s marketing communications and is passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of young people and developing their skills, creativity and opportunities through education and training.  

Paul has over 25 years of cross-sector experience in the field of technology, digital, change and programmes.  

He is currently Chief Strategist and Advisory Team Lead for Public Sector for Softcat plc – a leading international provider of IT infrastructure and services.  

An experienced leader of large, agile and high-impact teams, Paul has worked in leadership positions in NHS and local government throughout his career. 

Paul spent fifteen years in senior leadership roles across local government, the NHS and three years with the Department for Education (2022 – 2025) as a commissioner and advisor before moving into consultancy. Since then, he’s worked with local authorities across the country to support improvement to children’s services. 

He joined Coral Reef as a Partner in 2025, leading their practice and commissioning work and mentoring current and aspiring Directors of Children’s Services. He also sits on the board of Mersey Youth Association.

Paul is committed to getting public services right for the children, young people and families that rely on them. He received an OBE in 2021 for services to children across Liverpool City Region.

Outside of work, Paul is a Liverpool FC supporter and a published recording artist.  

Louise is Group Chief Executive of MSIF and has spent the past two decades in boardrooms and leadership teams, helping organisations through the moments that matter – scaling a start-up, steering a turnaround or guiding a mission-driven enterprise towards sustainable impact.

Louise has held CEO, CFO and NED roles across PE-backed, listed and not-for-profit organisations, prepared companies for investor readiness and secured multimillion-pound equity raises. That combination – finance, strategy and operations – is what Louise brings to MSIF, River Capital and now to Capacity’s board.

Outside of work, you’ll find Louise in open water when it’s warm enough, the pool when it isn’t or heading off in the camper van with the bikes on the back.