Pat Fitzsimons is chief executive of Community Network

Born and brought up in Chicago, Fitzsimons came to the UK to study at Birkbeck College before embarking on a career in the voluntary sector. She has worked for a number of organisations dealing with a range of social issues, from community regeneration and renewal to projects delivering training and employment opportunities to inner city areas.

Throughout her career she has gained a reputation for successfully developing projects and increasing the impact they have on the communities they serve. In March 2008, she took up her current post with Community Network, a social enterprise providing telephone conferencing services to the third sector, which then uses the profits to support projects tackling isolation and social exclusion.