People
We are a group of management consultants who believe passionately that excellent governance and management are essential for nonprofit organisations to maximise their impact.
We are motivated by a desire to make a substantial contribution to the governance and management of the nonprofit sector. We write and lecture about governance and management and make our knowledge widely available.
Whilst we have backgrounds in the private, public and voluntary sectors, we share a common body of knowledge about the special characteristics of governing and managing nonprofit organisations.
Together we have over 50 years experience working in the sector and over 45 years experience providing consultancy to the sector.
We often work in pairs because we know that strong internal challenge and top quality supervision are essential for delivering high impact results.
On larger projects we work in partnership with other firms to extend our capacity and ensure a multi-disciplinary approach. This can include other consulting firms, lawyers, accountants, HR specialists and policy experts.
Mike Hudson – Founder & Director
Mike has worked as a consultant to the Chairs and Chief Executives of nonprofit organisations for 25 years. He worked for Friends of the Earth and as a business consultant before establishing Compass Partnership.
Debbie Emerson – Business Manager
Debbie has worked in an international manufacturing company and for a large hotel chain.
She has provided research and administrative support for Compass Partnership for 22 years and is PA to Mike Hudson..
Keith Smith – Senior Associate
Keith has 12 years experience working as a management consultant for boards and senior managers in the sector. He was previously the Chief Executive of Broadcasting Support Services and has served as a trustee for a number of charities.
Keith has an MSc (Management Consultancy).
Melinda Letts – Senior Associate
Melinda has 19 years' experience managing and leading of nonprofit organisations.
She has been Chief Executive of the National Asthma Campaign, chaired the Long-term Medical Conditions Alliance and served on various Boards.
She has been a consultant since 1998
Allison Aldred – Senior Associate
Allison has worked as a consultant in the corporate and nonprofit sectors and as a senior manager. She has also served on a number of boards.
She has a first degree in Political Theory and an MBA from London Business School.
Sue Delafons – Senior Associate
Sue has worked as a strategy and organisational change consultant at board level across all sectors. She has an MBA from London Business School, and a background in advertising and international management consultancy.
Over the last 10 years she has worked with many non-profit organisations, and served as a Trustee and Vice Chair of Sight Savers International.
George Levvy – Senior Associate
George has worked in the voluntary sector as employee, trustee and consultant for 20 years, for ten of those as Chief Executive of the Motor Neurone Disease Association. He has been consulting since 2005.
He is a Visiting Fellow of the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at the Cass Business School.
Lyla Rogan – Senior Associate
Lyla has over 15 years' experience in consulting and prior management experience in government and the nonprofit sector. She was a Director of a successful consulting business in Australia that provided services to public sector and nonprofit organisations.
Now based in Boston, she specialises in assisting nonprofit organisations to strengthen their impact, effectiveness, and accountability.
Sheila Cahill – Senior Associate
Sheila has over 20 years experience in the community and voluntary sector in Ireland and the UK and has been a volunteer, trustee, employee, senior manager and consultant.
She was Director of Training and Support Services at the Carmichael Centre for Voluntary Groups and was responsible for the largest management training programme for the community and voluntary sector in Ireland.
Jacinta Ashworth – Research Consultant
Jacinta has 20 years' experience in the market research industry, specialising in quantitative surveys for the public and voluntary sectors.
Formerly a Senior Associate Director with BMRB International, a top six UK market research agency, Jacinta provides expertise in all aspects of research.
Hilary Herritty – Research Consultant
Hilary Herritty is a Research Consultant with Compass Partnership providing expertise in all aspects of research design. She has over 20 years research experience.
Hilary is a member of two local committees of management so has first hand experience of the governance issues.
Paul Strauss – Researcher
Paul is a researcher with an academic background in social anthropology, trained in qualitative and quantitative methods.
He has 7 years' research experience; the last three spent working on a variety of applied projects in the community and voluntary, philanthropy, criminal justice, and informal education sectors.