I was fortunate to have a two-week handover with Meredith before taking up the permanent role as Director of Development at ZSL. Prior to that, Meredith arranged several helpful calls to share her thinking and get my advice and buy-in on the proposed team structure, the budget, and existing policies that were in need of an update. From the moment she joined ZSL in her interim capacity, she always had my future start date in mind. Her work over that interim period made my first few weeks seamless, and I was able to pick things up and hit the ground running when I officially joined.
Meredith came highly recommended to help our fundraising and marketing teams during a period of transition as we looked to hire a permanent person. The challenge, rigour and wealth of fundraising experience she brought to the school was much-needed, particularly at a time of uncertainty and growth. She took the time to meet with each member of the Development Board to understand their value to the organisation and where improvements could be made. She produced a final report to the Board of Trustees that I think we all found very insightful and encouraging. Although I've now stepped down as the chair of the board, I would recommend Meredith to any educational institution in need of a fresh look at their philanthropy and alumni programme.
Meredith has provided expert insight in the development of our global philanthropy strategy with a unique set of capabilities, having run $100 million plus campaigns with extensive experience of high value fundraising in the US, US, and Middle East markets. She is highly strategic, cutting through large amounts of information and analysis rapidly, identifying the key opportunities and challenges. She is also simply a really good person - compassionate and kind and someone who rapidly creates a safe and trusting environment for professional discussion and growth.
In working with Meredith for 4 years at Kew I had firsthand experience of her commitment to hard work and world class standards. As a leader, Meredith is strategic, detailed, but as important, she is someone who takes the time to get to know the members of her team as people. All of these factors together have enabled Meredith to consistently deliver a track record of success at every organisation she has worked with.
Meredith provided much-needed interim support until our permanent hire could join the organisation. Her fundraising experience meant she was able to step in swiftly. She had a clear and direct approach, and worked well both with the rest of the senior team and the Board.
I am extremely lucky to be working with Meredith in her role as a consultant. She has substantial knowledge and all round good sense. She is engaging, enthusiastic, succinct and very easy to work with and cuts to the pith of any query. She has a great sense of humour, is encouraging, totally supportive and has a clarity of mind to find solutions, can see the bigger picture and set goals towards a successful outcome. Meredith is very responsive and draws on her incredible contacts internationally when she needs to. She has helped me immensely on the world stage with my business.
Meredith’s interim leadership of the Philanthropy team at NLCS gave us a clear way forward for the future. She put processes in place, worked superbly well with stakeholders, including the Board and major donors, and was a delight to work with. Her clear communication and decisive approach, as well as her creative approach to problem solving, were so much appreciated.
ZSL was very fortunate to have Meredith's help in the period between the departure of our former director of development and the appointment of his successor. She took the time to meet every member of the Board to hear what we thought was working well and what could be improved, and she worked hard to understand which were our most compelling projects for fundraising and which required development. Her ability to work across multiple stakeholders, both internal and external, and sometimes with competing priorities, was a particular strength. For any charity board that needs an external review of their fundraising programme, I recommend Meredith very strongly indeed.
I had the pleasure of working with Meredith at Kew when she led the Kew Foundation. After she announced her departure, I asked if she would be willing to mentor me as I navigated some tricky areas of my role whilst also looking at career progression. With an empathetic manner, Meredith asked thoughtful, probing questions that allowed me to consider areas I could change, but also areas I could develop. Although she's a demanding boss, she truly cares about people and values family above the job, which was personally helpful, as I went on to have maternity leave not long after.
I was appointed as the new Director of Philanthropy & Communications during Meredith’s first week at NLCS but wasn’t able to start for several months due to relocation from abroad. Meredith kept me informed throughout her time in post and sought my advice and buy-in on both team and budgetary changes she thought the team needed. She revised outdated policies and procedures so that I didn’t need to worry about that once I began, allowing me to focus on the areas that most needed my attention once I arrived.
Meredith makes an enormously valuable contribution to the work of the Board and is engaged across all the areas of the Board's focus. She has deep expertise in fundraising and plays a critically important role in helping advise the Executive on how to improve Barnardo's activities in this area. Meredith would be an active and valuable member of any Board and Barnardo's is fortunate that she is so committed to the work of the organisation and contributes both time and energy to our Board work.