“Over the last two years Fiona has worked with us to create our next strategic plan. She has guided us through our thinking at a time of great uncertainty and helped us create a coherent strategy at a time when our operating environment has been anything but. Fiona has a very strategic mind and pushed us when necessary, prompted us, challenged us and encouraged us, as well as helping us to see where we were doing well. And in addition to the considerable skills and clear thinking she brings to a project, she is also an absolute pleasure to work with.”
Julia Weston, Chief Executive, Churchill Fellowship
“Fiona has really helped us to grow as an organisation. Our organisation is for and by Black African women. English is our second language and writing bids and putting what we do on paper has not been easy and because of this we never used to get funding. All our funding applications were turned down. Fiona changed our story, she would listen to us, write things down in a way that would make sense to funders and more so to us. Because of her support we have managed to get many pots of funding from different organisations. We have won awards and now we are being recognised as charity that’s making a difference not only in the UK, but around the world. She is an amazing person with a big heart who loves people no matter who they are or where they are from. People like Fiona are very rare to find. We cherish and salute her.”
Locardia Chidanyika, Director, Women Today NE
“Fiona’s approach is thoughtful and insightful and the work she produced for us demonstrated a high level of sensitivity and contextual knowledge of the women’s centre which brought a significant amount of added value to report and to our work”
Lisa Hilder, Treasurer, Winner / Preston Road Women's Centre
“Fiona has really supported us to produce high quality research in real time to meet the demands for information about the lived experiences in our sector. We have been able to use the research in advocacy and policy work.
“She has been respectful of the experiences of women’s organisations and has supported us to have an impact in the wider discussions about future direction of VAWG strategy and funding”
Baljit Banga, Executive Director, Imkaan
“A refreshing change to receive a strategy which does not just regurgitate what the consultants were told by the organisation’s executives and senior managers. You have pulled together an excellent report which shows where we have been, where we are now and where we could go (without cliff edges). I found the recommendations extremely helpful and wide ranging”
Mike Brooks, Treasurer, Lewisham Refuge and Migrant Network
“Fiona understood a complex and sensitive area of work extremely quickly and won the trust of long-experienced professionals and vulnerable service users. She was utterly committed to the project and produced something both robust and innovative, a replicable model of excellent practice with a clear business case for social investment. She was really great to work with”
Polly Neate, Former CEO Women's Aid England (now CEO of Shelter)
“Part of Fiona’s strength in fostering trust and confidence is that she is prepared to roll her sleeves up and practically support colleagues around complex tasks, thereby establishing comradery and modelling best practice. Fiona also encouraged the organisation to be outward facing, connecting the Council with thought leaders and experts able to give a different perspective. This constructive disruption helped break through a culture of insularity and that has been a lasting legacy.
“Fiona very quickly established credibility and added value. Fiona is able to be very robust with colleagues in challenging fixed paradigms and ideas because she shows passion and belief and is values driven. She is able to encourage colleagues and peers to have open and constructive dialogue and knock-about conversations without that becoming adversarial.”
Stuart Rowbotham, Director of Health and Adult Social Care, London Borough of Bexley
“Having Fiona over to help us with our funding at a time that was crucial for the organisation, has been deeply empowering and insightful. She reached beyond the remits of writing proposals and gave us a positive insight into and deeper understanding of the place that Sangini occupies in the wider cultural and the voluntary sector.
“Fiona is a great story teller. She has an innate understanding of human stories from diverse perspectives and conveys them into powerful, credible narratives that are deeply inspiring”