Staff

Senior Management

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Karen Napier MBE

CEO

As the Chief Executive, I have responsibility for working with the Board of Trustees and colleagues across the charity to develop and deliver the organisational strategy in line with our vision, mission and values.

Debbie Hicks MBE

Creative Director

I am a founder member of The Reading Agency and believe passionately in the transformative power of reading. Reading for pleasure is a powerful antidote.

Our Staff

Business Directorate, Finance and Operations

Paul Schofield

HR Manager

At The Reading Agency, I am responsible for all aspects of HR and recruitment.

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David Ballantyne

Head of Finance and Operations

As Head of Finance and Operations I am responsible for most of the back-room functions of The Reading Agency, including finance, IT, business support, as well as business partnering with programme leads.

Paras Puri

Finance Officer

As Finance Officer, I work closely with the Head of Finance and Operations to ensure our organisation’s finances are managed efficiently and sustainably, driving our success.

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Lucy Engelhart

Database Coordinator

As Database Coordinator, I work to ensure our stakeholder records are accurate and up to date, supporting all programmes and teams to track activity and opportunities.

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Chloe Budd

Business Support Manager

I lead our Business Support Team, working across The Reading Agency’s creative programmes, campaigns and core team.

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Whitney Southern

Business Support Officer

As part of the Business Support Team, I provide support for The Reading Agency’s creative programmes and the wider organisation as a whole.

Research and Evaluation

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Carina Spaulding

Head of Research and Evaluation

As the Head of Research & Evaluation, I lead our research portfolio and reading strategy development activity. I work closely with my team and colleagues to better understand the challenges our communities face and how reading can make a difference as a tool for personal and social change.

Becky Norton

Research and Evaluation Manager

I manage the delivery of a research and evaluation programme that demonstrates the value of The Reading Agency’s work, reaching as many people as possible and making a positive difference to individual lives and communities across the UK.

Skills and Engagement

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Emma Braithwaite

Head of Skills and Engagement

I lead our work engaging children, adults and families with reading; supporting them to build their skills and confidence and develop a lifelong love of reading.

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Chris Rushbrook

Programme Manager, Skills and Engagement

I manage the annual Summer Reading Challenge that encourages children to keep reading during the summer holidays, ensuring they are ready for a great start to the new term in the autumn.

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Kelly Baker

Programme Manager, Adult Reading

I manage the Reading Ahead and Reading Families programmes and lead across our adult offer. I am particularly committed to our prison work, seeing the profound impact that literacy has on rehabilitation, connection and personal growth.

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Emma Joliffe

Programme Manager, Community and Schools Engagement

I am a programme manager with responsibility for the Teachers’ Reading Challenge, Reading Sparks and Read, Write, Share.

Olwen Lynch

Programme Officer, Skills and Engagement

I support the delivery of our programmes for children and young people, mainly the Summer Reading Challenge, the country’s biggest reading for pleasure summer reading programme. I manage and develop online content for our children’s website and work closely with libraries to deliver the Challenge.

Health and Wellbeing

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Gemma Jolly

Head of Health and Wellbeing

As the Head of Health and Wellbeing, I lead the Reading and Health team at The Reading Agency. I oversee our work focusing on how reading can positively support and improve health and wellbeing outcomes, including Reading Well and Reading Friends.

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Eve Wilson

Programme Manager, Health and Wellbeing

I manage the delivery of the Reading Well activation programme, extending reach and increasing engagement with Reading Well content.

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Amy Niven

Programme Manager, Reading and Health

I am part of our Reading and Health team and lead on the delivery of our Reading and Health programmes including Reading Well which supports people to understand and manage their health and wellbeing using helpful reading.

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Hannah Pimble

Programme Officer, Reading and Health

I support the delivery of our reading and health work including Reading Well and other partnership projects.

Marketing and Communications

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Hayley Brandon

Head of Marketing and Communications

I head up the Marketing and Communications Team at The Reading Agency. Working to develop our brand and ensure we meet our organisational mission through brilliant communications, creative marketing and exceptional campaigns that deliver impact and reach across the UK.

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Alexander Turton

Senior Marketing & Communications Manager

I lead strategic marketing and communications initiatives to amplify The Reading Agency’s mission, overseeing campaigns that engage new readers and showcase our impact across the UK.

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Kimberley Sheehan

Campaigns Manager

I work closely with our publisher partners to lead engaging promotions in libraries and schools and with book clubs to encourage reading for pleasure. I also run The Reading Agency’s Publisher Roadshow.

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Kathryn Rose

Campaign Manager, National Reading Campaigns

I lead our work on national reading campaigns, working with partners to create and deliver impactful activity for adults and children across the UK.

Natalie Sired

Marketing and Communications Officer

I work in the Marketing and Communications team, managing our online channels and campaigns to support and share the essential work of our programmes.

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Temi Adeyeye

Content Creator

As the Content Creator, I create visual content to engage and inform our audiences on what The Reading Agency does and who The Reading Agency is.

Kathleen Ktorides

Campaign Officer

As Campaigns Officer, I work with publishers to create tailored campaigns that maximise reach and impact for publishers and their authors. These campaigns give library users and reading groups access to brilliant books, nurturing a lifelong love of reading and supporting book sales.

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Caitlin Morgan

Campaign Administrator

I support The Reading Agency Connects and Campaigns teams through various administrative tasks to support the deliverance and communication of our programme with librarian, school and publisher partners.

Amanda Thain

Public Affairs

I lead on public affairs for The Reading Agency, building awareness and support for our programmes – and ambitious agenda – with key political stakeholders.