Focus, Focus, Focus, Focus, Focus - Bringing an Entrepreneurial mindset to larger organisations

Focus, Focus, Focus, Focus, Focus - Bringing an Entrepreneurial mindset to Larger Organisations

Episode 4 is a cracker - we speak with Avril Chester - a Charity Founder, CTO and also now a Patron, and also with regular co-host and industry leader, Mary O’Callaghan.

We hear some of the ways that organisations can focus in on what they do best, and also talk a little bit about AI, data, and what we would call our AI assistant. Avril discusses her experiences of great decision making at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and Mary talks about the challenges of keeping focus in larger organisations.

This week’s episode features:

Avril Chester - CTO at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Mary O’Callaghan - Interim CTO at Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association

Check below for links to listen to the podcast.

Stay Tuned for more insights in future episodes

If you haven’t listened to Season 1 yet – have a look back at some great previous episodes, with a particular focus on AI Adoption. In Season 2, we’ve had guests from across the NFP/Charity sector, as well as outside challenging voices, and some guests from international organisations. We also have an episode recorded live with a panel at this year’s Charity IT Leaders conference. Virtue & Virtuosity comes out fortnightly. If you’re keen for me to feature something going on in your charity, please get in touch - and do comment on anything in here, or in the podcast that you like. We’re currently planning a Christmas special where we will take a slightly more light-hearted view on things - please get in touch if you’d like to get involved. It may involve a quiz. Enough said.

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This weeks guests

Avril Chester

Avril is an accomplished Chief Technology Officer, an award-winning entrepreneur and a Patron. Recognised as one of Computer Weekly’s top 50 most influential women in UK tech 2024, Avril is currently the CTO at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, previously holding the same role at the Royal Institute of British Architects. Her exceptional achievements include founding Cancer Central, an award-winning technology charity and platform now transferred to the Cancer Awareness Trust. Created with thanks to over 300 individuals and 60 organisations donating more than 70,000 hours, Cancer Central supported over 10,000 people to find the support and information they needed.

Mary O’Callaghan

Mary is an insightful and strategic leader with 20 years’ + experience leading technology, data and digital transformation. After several years as a Technology director at the British Heart Foundation, she is currently interim CTO with the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association, She is an excellent communicator who creates purposeful relationships that have embedded data and technology at board level, driving business change. Passionate about the role of technology in improving health outcomes for all. Mary was shortlisted for IT Leader of the Year, Women in Tech Excellence 2022.

Stuart McSkimming, Podcast Host

Stuart is an independent consultant and founder of the sector-specific Technology consultancy, Virtue Chain . He is an award-winning leader with over twenty years’ experience in NFP/Charity leadership roles, predominantly in the technology/digital and transformation space. He is an expert in getting the most from teams and focusing organisations on strategic goals to get the most from Technology & Digital. He is passionate about organisations focusing on inclusion and finding ways to attract a diverse mix of top talent into their teams. He has worked as a CIO for two organisations – Shelter and Royal British Legion, and also a variety of roles for VSO – including a short stint as an Interim International Development Country Director in VSO Nepal. Stuart is extensively networked in the not-for-profit sector both in the UK, and internationally, and is the Vice Chair of top membership organisation, Charity IT Leaders. Stuart enjoys regular public speaking, and also has been known to do stand-up comedy gigs occasionally.

Virtue Chain offers a unique model for charities to access technology advice from experts with relevant experience within the sector across a number of different specialist skillsets. If you or your charity are looking for one-off tech-focused advice, or an ongoing call-off service with our experts, then get in touch with [email protected]

Virtue Chain offers fixed price strategy and roadmap development particularly with AI, and exclusively for NFP and related sectors.

In case its not obvious, views expressed are Stuart’s own view, and don’t represent those of any organisations he is working with or mentions