Dr Nia D Thomas

I work with charity boards and senior leaders at moments of change: when a chief executive leaves, when a board needs a clear picture of how the organisation is really doing, or when a period of transformation needs experienced leadership. My aim is always the same: a calm, well-run organisation, ready for its next chapter.

I have more than 25 years’ experience across the NHS, the civil service, local government and the charitable sector. Most recently, as Interim Chief Executive of Maggs Day Centre, a homelessness charity in Worcestershire, I led the organisation through significant operational and governance change and secured more than £500,000 in new grant funding. Before that, as Director of A Better Start Southend, I led a £36.7 million National Lottery-funded early childhood programme to a purposeful, well-managed close. It reached more than 8,000 children and families and delivered measurable gains in early language, social and emotional development and nutrition, which you can read about in the programme’s stories of impact.

I lead calmly and practically. I listen first, look carefully at the evidence, and agree priorities with the board in order of importance, so that staff, funders and partners know where they stand. My values are care, respect, creativity and learning, and they shape how I work with boards and staff alike.

My doctorate is in self-awareness and leadership, and it underpins The Knowing Organisations Approach: understanding an organisation properly before changing it. I am the author of The Self-Awareness Superhighway and host of the Knowing Self Knowing Others Podcast. I am also a trustee and vice chair of Aspire Foundation, which provides early years and family support, and a volunteer director of FoodLoose, a plastic-free refill shop.