Susan Ritchie

Hi, I’m the Director of MutualGain. You’ll  find me at the heart of our training and delivery programmes.

I set MutualGain up because of a passion for democracy: I love listening to all the different perspectives on any given issue, and want to hear as many of those perspectives in all our government’s policy development and service design.

By building social capital we can increase the voice of those most marginalised in society, and value their experience positively.

Committed to social justice in our democracy I am a former volunteer prison mentor.

When I’m not working I’m looking for new places to visit and learn from, or cuddling my gorgeous grandchildren, or sitting in my garden enjoying the little bit of nature that you get living in a city!

Welcome to MutualGain – I look forward to learning with you.

Contact details

Email: susan@mutualgain.org
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Mutual_Gain
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mutualgain

Dr Andrew Fisher

Hi – I am Dr Andrew Fisher and I am MutualGain’s lead associate for Community Safety. I started to work with MutualGain in 2012 following my retirement as a police superintendent.

My role is to liaise with new clients and work with them to plan a training programme that suits their needs. I am then involved in writing and delivering the training programme and supporting the participants as they plan and deliver their events.

I am very interested in the changes in language and behaviours of participants as the clients learn and apply new methods of engagement; and I enjoy the fun of encouraging learning through creativity.

Our moto is ‘Capture The Learning‘, and as an academic (I am an an sessional lecturer at Liverpool John Moore’s University) I enjoy being able to write papers based on the learning from the programme; you will find some of these in the various sections of our web site.

When not working I enjoy cycling, watching my favourite football team, travelling and spending time with my beautiful grandchildren – not all at the same time though.

Email: andrew@mutualgain.org
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-c-fisher-7b6a501b
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MG_Andrew

Liz Citron

After a 25-year career helping a wide variety of organisations – from tiny businesses to large institutions like the BBC and the Ministry of Justice – create easy to use technology, I changed my focus away from software delivery in the last two years to support people in achieving their goals and formally trained as a coach.

With a background in user-centred design, I find the skill of understanding users’ needs, applies almost directly to coaching because it’s all about helping people understand how their own minds work in order to make changes in order to get different results.

I am delighted to be one of the MutualGain associate coaches because their great work in connecting individuals and groups with public services allows for many communities to be given both the voice and the means to contribute much more meaningfully to society as a whole.

Outside of work, I love to spend time with family and friends and can often be found in a quiet spot curled up reading a book.

Email: liz@mutualgain.org
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizcitron/
Twitter:

Brian Roberts

Brian joined Cheshire Police in 1986. He has worked as a Detective in local CID teams and in the County Drug Squad. On promotion to Inspector he focused his work on Community Policing and Partnerships.  In 2004 he worked in the US as part of a Group Study Exchange where he worked with Law Enforcement Agencies and Communities in Chicago.

After his promotion to Chief Inspector in 2006 he obtained a Foundation Degree in Policing. He later took over as the Detective Chief Inspector and was awarded a BSc Honours Degree in Criminology at The University of Portsmouth.

Brian was appointed as Deputy Director of Intelligence where he remained for five years. Brian’s team spear headed the law enforcement response to Cyber Crime in Cheshire. Brian was a qualified and experienced Tactical Firearms Commander in Cheshire where he led on numerous critical and firearms incidents.

In 2014 he took up a position to embed Evidence Led Policing with frontline staff and took responsibility to use those principles to drive a culture of preventing crime and reduce re-victimisation. Brian has been part of a developing relationship between Cheshire Police and the University of Chester.

He has received numerous Commendations for his performance on tackling Drug Trafficking, Crime and Community Policing.  Married with three children, Brian runs an under 15 football team and recently completed his third Triathlon.  He is currently undertaking a postgraduate studies (PhD Digital Criminology).

Brian retired from Cheshire Police in 2016 and now lectures across a variety of Departments across the University of Chester. He is in the process of writing a research paper with colleagues from the University on Police Use of Firearms. Brian has recently returned from The Hague for Global Justice in Holland where he lectured on the ethical issues affecting firearms officers with the challenges of terrorism.

Email: brian@mutualgain.org
LinkedIn:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MG_Brian

Antigua Riley Corion

Antigua is one of the junior consultants at MutualGain. She has an interest in being a voice for those that do not feel heard, and hopes to make a difference for future generations. A resident of Bedfordshire, Antigua has been involved in MutualGain programmes seeking to understand the views of the communities in relation to violence, civic participation, climate change and a variety of other topics.  Antigua has been heavily involved in developing our successful online Participatory Budgeting process and delivering World Cafes across the UK.

Outside of work, her interests include the arts, music, and philosophy.

Michael Keating

Gained from a range of roles in local government, the health service and higher education, Michael Keating has wide experience researching and understanding sensitive and controversial diversity, equality and engagement policy and service issues, developing effective practice and the skills to manage them successfully.

Since June 2012 Michael has been working freelance on the management of change – to understand its nature, to strengthen the confidence of organisations and individuals in handling it and build the energy to find innovative solutions. Given the challenging public sector context Michael is interested in strengthening our collective capacity to articulate problems, be unafraid to acknowledge their difficulty and thus work out ways of addressing them.

Michael chairs the Tower Hamlets Education Partnership Steering Group which is developing a collaborative partnership of all local schools to drive school improvement. This draws on thirty years’ experience of being involved in education including being a governor of Stebon Primary School in Limehouse since 2012. Michael is also a member of the Council of Spitalfields Music, a music charity which brings together world class artists and local people to produce two annual music festivals and run creative music projects throughout the year in the local community.

Contact details

Email: michael@mutualgain.org
Phone: 07534223018
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/michael-keating-29baa75

Andy Paice

Contact details

Email: andy@mutualgain.org
Linkedin: /https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypaice/

Debby Mackay

Hi,

I joined MutualGain as an Associate in 2017 after 30 years of police service with Merseyside Police. My 30 year span of service has seen a number of varied and exciting roles, including managing a large operational department through a period of cuts, change and regionalisation. I have a background in safeguarding adults and children, and supported both women and children to have a voice within the criminal justice framework, working alongside a number of other agencies.

I worked for a number of years within the diverse community of Toxteth, Liverpool, coordinating and managing the local neighbourhood team and working closely with the local community leaders. My passion is community engagement and working with the real issues in the community, not just what statutory agencies think are the issues.

I also worked closely with the staff support networks within the Police Service, mentoring and coaching officers and police staff to work towards their aspirations within the work place. I became the chair of the Network of Women in 2015 until I left in 2016.

I have also completed my MSc in Police Leadership studying at Hope University. During my studies I researched and analysed the changing culture of the firearms department within the police service.  I am also a lecturer at Liverpool John Moore’s University where I have completed my CertEd qualification.

As well as delivering on MutualGain’s strengths based learning programmes, I am the Internal Verifier for our online learning platform, MutualiLearn.

Outside work I enjoy travelling, reading, cooking and going to the gym and have recently begun working with a local homeless charity, where I cook on a regular basis and I am in the process of setting up a supportive reading group with this charity at the local library.

Contact details

Email: debby@mutualgain.org
Phone:
Linkedin:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/MG_DebbyM

Dionne Spencer

Dionne joined MutualGain as an Associate in 2019 and is passionate about the community coaching programme being delivered in the Ardwick Community in Manchester. This involves encouraging the local community to establish goals that they care about that will make a positive difference to themselves and others within the community.

Email:dionne@mutualgain.org
Phone:
Linkedin:
Twitter:

Colin Heyman

I have been working in the field of leadership and diversity for over 20 years. My passion for leadership and diversity arises from both my own experience and from a belief that
improving the leadership and diversity practice in organisations that provide services, is vital to improving people’s lives.

My work has been mainly in the public and third sectors, and I have worked with people at all levels of organisations, from boards and top teams, to people working on the front line, to service users and communities.

Through my work I hope to make issues around equality, diversity and inclusion discussable,  help people to realise that those issues permeate almost all of what we do, and help people build social capital.

Outside work I love hillwalking, reading, gardening and cinema, and am active in my synagogue.

Email:
Phone:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-heyman-5895721a/
Twitter:

Toni McLelland

As an active community member I chaired my resident’s association at the age of 22 so the silent voices were heard. I secured the very first and only of its kind Residents Participation Compact as a pilot, set up a Parents and Teachers Association and represented on scrutiny panels locally in my spare time. I was proactively working with councillors through the London riots and bombings as well as being a lay visitor for the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA).

Professionally my journey has seen me spend 18 years as an Officer in Charge with the MOJ Central Government, lead on youth crime as a local authority Community Safety Officer, represent on Trident, GLA Guns Gangs and Weapons, and critical incident panels. I have undertaken crime audits, consultations and developed strategies for the then CDRPs and Children’s Trusts whilst advising Councillors and Chief Executives. I led a successful national campaign and trained Metropolitan Police officers in diversity as part of the Stephen Lawrence Macpherson Enquiry before moving into Principal roles and consulting in education transformation, crisis management and social care |LAC settings. I am very interested in behaviour and learning styles and amongst other qualifications have a master’s in applied criminology community safety and youth justice.

With a wealth of strategic business development experience across criminal justice, education, care and fast forward to the present day, my work has seen me managing multi-million-pound budgets and portfolio projects whilst focusing on large reorganisations, transformations, service reviews and feasibility projects (e.g. The London Mayor projects and MOPAC). All across public sector, voluntary and private sectors. My work includes working with C- Suite executives, leaders and boards at the sharp end whilst also supporting start up organisations with their development, financial and compliance plans for business growth in a critical friend and mentoring capacity.

Here at MutualGain I am an advocate of all the products as they are all so important in building social capital not only in the community but in the workplace.

Outside of work I have a passion for netball, music, cooking and family.

Email: Toni@mutalgain.org

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/toni-mclelland-msc-5167042b

Twitter @Toni_MG

Deborah Cohen

Over twenty years leading and developing services across the NHS and local government, championing integration and joint working across health and social care, and the partnerships with housing, Police, and local communities, as the way to improve service experience. I bring knowledge, skills and expertise of working in complex systems, and of working co-productively with service users, patients, and carers.  I am a qualified Executive Mentor and Coach.

I am passionate about the rights and safety of users of services, and that the voices of the users of services and of the local community are heard.  Since leaving full time employment I have taken up roles as Independent Chair of a Safeguarding Adult Board for a London Borough, and as a lay Mental Health Act manager – roles that are about the rights of individuals.

Which brings me to MutualGain.  My involvement with MutualGain brings an opportunity to promote and facilitate the changes needed in public organisations to enable them to listen and work in partnership with the communities that they serve. I have become an Associate at a time of immense change and upheaval, at a time that might be a “reachable” moment where we can pull together to sustain and build on  the social capital we have seen grow and flourish on the back of COVID

Email: Deborah@mutalgain.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-cohen-35791913

Jeff Gyasi

Hello all my name is Jeff Gyasi. I am new starter at MutualGain and I am taking up a apprenticeship as an Information Communication Technician.

I joined the MutualGain team because I am eager to learn in which ways we can positively interact with different communities to build up social capital and also to see how effectively these practices work throughout the society. I also want to use my time to expand my knowledge and skills with different computer programs.

In my spare time I like to listen to music, I play for an 11 a side football team on the weekends and I also like to watch football, and when I am not doing anything I like to socialise with my friends.