Julie is passionate about helping individuals and organisations to thrive, and has spent over 25 years working in Leadership Development. She joined Ella Forums as chair of the Southern Forum in March 2020 and was appointed to the position of Chief Membership and Development Officer in August 2021. Julie became CEO of Ella Forums in October 2023.

Julie has extensive experience of Leadership Development and Executive Coaching and uses a strengths-based approach in her work, underpinned with the latest research in neuroscience. She has worked with a diverse range of private and public sector organisations including Pharmaceutical, retail, engineering and construction businesses as well as the NHS, housing associations and large charities. Julie is a Chartered Member of the CIPD, holds post-graduate diplomas in HR and in Executive Coaching and Leadership Mentoring, and is a Master Practitioner in NLP as well as a qualified user of a wide range of counselling techniques.

Prior to setting up her own business in 1995 Julie was an HR Director in a blue-chip global business and spent 11 years working as an HR professional in the public transport, engineering and FMCG sectors.

Amy was appointed Board Director in October 2020; she has considerable experience in the charity sector. Since 2012, Amy has been a member of Pilotlight, a non-profit organisation that enables skilled business leaders to provide expertise and advice to charities and social enterprises across the UK. She has also acted as a mentor to a number of CEOs of charitable organisations. In addition to being a trustee of Tender, Amy is the Chair of its Development Board, with the aim to ensure sustainability and growth through fundraising, income generation and profile-raising. Furthermore, she volunteers as a peer supporter to expectant and new parents in her local community.
With a career built over 25 years in management and IT consultancy, Amy has worked with a wide range of public and private organisations in the UK and Europe. She’s currently a director at Kalimia Consulting, specialising in business transformation, strategy development, transition planning, service proposition development, marketing and communications.

Danny was CEO of Ella Forums from 2019 to October 2023 when he became Chair of the Board. Prior to taking on the role of CEO, he was on Ella’s leadership team and co-chair of one of Ella’s forums. In his corporate life, his career was mostly in HR and for a short time in Marketing. His last role was at Panasonic where he worked for 21 years where he had a number of positions including becoming HR Director for Panasonic Europe and for 7 years Global Head of Talent.
Since leaving Panasonic in 2013 Danny has co-authored two books on Talent Management, became an accredited executive coach and a part-time senior lecturer on leadership at Middlesex Business School.
‘ I enjoy my role at Ella as I feel that I can share my experiences of promoting good and effective leadership in the charity sector and in particular both speaking at and attending our groups’

Marcia has been CEO of Women Acting in Today’s Society (WAITS) for 18 years. WAITS is a charity that supports women to develop community-based support groups. Marcia has developed Domestic Abuse projects, Resettlement projects for female offenders suffering domestic abuse and WAITS Refuge’s safe and confidential accommodation for women fleeing domestic abuse. She has also written programmes to support women’s development and involvement in the workplace, in boardrooms and in communities. Marcia has delivered presentations in Chicago, Zimbabwe, Rome, Istanbul and Brussels, and in front of audiences in the House of Lords, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Canadian Embassy and Local Government on gender, race and empowerment models for women.

David has worked in leadership roles in the voluntary sector for over 20 years, with his last two roles being CEO of local charities. He has recently set up a new recruitment business, Jobs with Purpose, supporting non-profit organisations to source people who connect with their values. His background cuts across the charity, public and private sectors and he brings with him senior management experience in the fields of youth, learning disability, mental health, employment support, corporate social responsibility and local regeneration. He has also held posts in private sector recruitment and sports retail buying. David takes a real interest in the community and voluntary sector, especially in the North East and has held trusteeships with regional voluntary sector infrastructure organisation Voluntary Organisations Network North East (VONNE) and Healthwatch North Tyneside. He is a Clore Social Leadership fellow, completed the Common Purpose North East Meridian leadership programme and has been involved with Pilotlight, both as a leader of a charity benefitting from the programme and as part of a team supporting a charity. David has chaired the Ella Forums North East forum since January 2021 and from October 2022 he will join ella Forums as a Director. He has a degree in Management and Masters in Psychology.