Top 25 charity chief executives on social media announced 2018

08 Nov 2018 News

Kate Collins, of Teenage Cancer Trust, was named the charity chief executive with the best social media presence at the Social CEO Awards last night. 

Paul Streets from Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales, Girish Menon from ActionAid UK and Louise Macdonald from Young Scotland were among those to make the list.

The awards are now in their sixth year and 132 people were nominated. But judges decided that 25, rather than 30 as in previous years, made the cut. 

This year 15 of the top 25 were new entrants and 14 were women. Just one chief executive has made the list in all six years. 

Collins said: "I am chuffed to bits - thank you very much." She added: "I can't imagine doing my job without social media." 

The awards were founded by Zoe Amar and Matt Collins, who both run digital marketing agencies that work with charities. 

Amar said: “This year’s winners continue to blaze a trail for others by creating debate online, championing their charities and developing relationships which help their organisations. Digital is now central to how the modern charity leader strategises and operates.”

Collins added: “By introducing two additional awards in our digital categories we are recognising how charity leadership is changing, and how these skills now need to be represented at every level in your organisation. Our awards also show that there is a new, hungry and ambitious generation of charity leaders emerging for whom digital is central to their modus operandi and who are using this to help drive their organisations forward.”

There were also three individual awards for use of social media: 

  • Caroline Price of Beat won Best Senior Leader
  • Helen Stokes-Lampard of The Royal College of General Practitioners won Best Trustee
  • Nikki Bell of the British Heart Foundation won Best Rising Star

And there were three individual awards for use of digital:

  • Julie Dodd of Parkinson’s UK won Best Digital Leader
  • Helen Stokes-Lampard of The Royal College of General Practitioners also won Best Trustee 
  • Liz Green of Youth Link Scotland won Best Digital Champion

Judges did not select a winner for the digital chief executive category as they did not feel anyone met the all the criteria. 

The judging panel was chaired by Simon Blake chief executive of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England. The other judges were: Matt Hodson, executive director at NAM, Steve Ford, chief executive of Parkinson’s UK, Kirsty Marrins, digital consultant, Lara Burns, chief digital officer at Age UK and Saeed Atcha, chief executive of Xplode Mag.

Top 25 social CEOs 

  1. Kate Collins, Teenage Cancer Trust, @KateCollinsUK
  2. Sophie Biebuyck, Hearing Help Essex, @SophieBiebuyck
  3. Tracey Bleakley, Hospice UK, @TraceyBleakley
  4. Sarah Brook, The Sparkle Foundation, @SarahBrook7
  5. Shona Cardle, Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity, @ShonaCardle1
  6. Brita Fernandez Schmidt, Women for Women International UK, @BritaFS
  7. Frank Fletcher, Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, @frankfletcher 
  8. Michelle Hill, TLC: Talk, Listen, Change, @TLCCEO_Michelle
  9. Jules Hillier, Pause, @rosylight
  10. Martin Houghton Brown, St John Ambulance, @hblondon
  11. Sarah Hughes, Centre for Mental Health, @_Sarah_Hughes_
  12. Matt Hyde, The Scout Association, @matthyde
  13. Mandy Johnson, Small Charities Coalition, @msmandyj
  14. Matt Lent, Future First, @MattSL
  15. Josiah Lockhart, Firstport, @josiahlockhart
  16. Louise Macdonald OBE, Young Scot, @Louisemac
  17. Girish Menon, ActionAid UK, @GirishMenonAAUK
  18. Helen Milner OBE, Good Things Foundation, @helenmilner
  19. Gemma Peters, Bloodwise, @gemmapeters
  20. Toby Porter, Acorns Children’s Hospice Trust, @tobyhporter
  21. Chris Sherwood, RSPCA, @RSPCAChris
  22. Anna Smee, UK Youth, @AnnaSmee1
  23. Paul Streets OBE, Lloyds Bank Foundation, @PaulStreets_ 
  24. Jeremy Taylor, National Voices, @JeremyTaylorNV
  25. Peter Wanless, NSPCC, @PeterWanless

For social media tips see the Social CEOs' infographic.

 

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