Ep 15. Angela McConville, CEO National Childbirth Trust: Creating a Movement for Change
April 12, 2021
“Great Chief Executives... they are not (necessarily) the innovators; they might be the change-makers... its about creating the conditions for the team to thrive and for the movement to thrive...”
Angela McConville is the CEO of the National Childbirth Trust, also known as the NCT Charity.
In this episode we explore how NCT has created a grass-roots, volunteer-led movement providing services for expectant and new parents. Angela describes how embracing the power of digital during the pandemic actually led to a huge increase in the organisation’s reach and in the uptake of its services.
NCT campaigns for change and we discuss some key campaigns the charity has led, including mental health support and provision for new mothers (#HiddenHalf). We also spotlight the important work carried out by MBRRACE-UK on improving maternal mortality rates and outcomes for Black mothers.
We discuss community organising and how NCT has seen a paradigm shift in the way it empowers and engages its volunteers, as a result of the pandemic. Angela holds that organisations need to do more to remove barriers to volunteering and to really harness the power of ‘hyper-local’ community engagement.
Angela also shares personal stories juggling leadership and motherhood and life.
Recorded March 2021.
“Great Chief Executives... they are not (necessarily) the innovators; they might be the change-makers... its about creating the conditions for the team to thrive and for the movement to thrive...”
Angela McConville is the CEO of the National Childbirth Trust, also known as the NCT Charity.
In this episode we explore how NCT has created a grass-roots, volunteer-led movement providing services for expectant and new parents. Angela describes how embracing the power of digital during the pandemic actually led to a huge increase in the organisation’s reach and in the uptake of its services.
NCT campaigns for change and we discuss some key campaigns the charity has led, including mental health support and provision for new mothers (#HiddenHalf). We also spotlight the important work carried out by MBRRACE-UK on improving maternal mortality rates and outcomes for Black mothers.
We discuss community organising and how NCT has seen a paradigm shift in the way it empowers and engages its volunteers, as a result of the pandemic. Angela holds that organisations need to do more to remove barriers to volunteering and to really harness the power of ‘hyper-local’ community engagement.
Angela also shares personal stories juggling leadership and motherhood and life.
Recorded March 2021.
Guest Biography
Angela McConville is CEO of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), the UK’s largest charity for new parents. Angela joined NCT in January 2020, having previously been Chief Executive of a number of charities working in community development, social and economic regeneration and heritage management.
After an early career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Angela has spent her working life in charities and not-for-profit enterprises. Her experience ranges from managing a leading visitor attraction and world heritage site, to creating a new strategy for one of London’s largest community development trusts. Angela has also served on a number of not-for-profit Boards, including The London Apprenticeship Company, City of Westminster College and the London Transport Museum.
Angela grew up in Northern Ireland and found inspiration in the work and efforts of her family and local community to forge opportunity and create provision, in the face of social and political turbulence. She studied at Trinity College Dublin and Henley Business School, and also spent a year studying at the University of Paris, Jussieu.
Angela now lives in Oxfordshire with her young family.
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