Susie is an experienced and respected corporate innovation and strategy leader, entrepreneur, speaker, writer and coach.  She has an unusual career and her experience and expertise as an innovation leader is unique.  

 

Corporate Experience

Her 21 years in the public sector covered a broad spectrum of roles, predominantly in the National Security arena. Her experience included managing large operational and assessments teams and navigating new legal, ethical and compliance issues. As a leader, she dealt with many fast-paced, changing and complex situations; she also stood out for her exceptional people leadership skills.

 

Between 2016 and 2021, Susie led innovation efforts within the UK Government as Head of Innovation, first at the Ministry of Defence and then at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).  In 2017, she set up and ran an Incubator comprising multi-agency and multi-disciplinary teams to iteratively design and develop solutions to some of the most challenging and complex problems in the national security space using a disciplined approach to innovation. 

 

Moving on in 2018 to develop the organisation-level innovation ecosystem at the FCDO, she designed and developed innovation strategy and governance; provided education, awareness and skills in innovation; tackled the friction and bureaucracy that slows progress; and developed organisational mindset and culture to explore alternatives to the way things have always been done.

 

Between 2021 and 2023, Susie supported a cross-agency executive team leading a large-scale digital transformation. She coached the executive team's dynamics and alignment. She also had responsibility for developing digital culture and skills, and EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion).  

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Consulting and Coaching

In 2020, Susie co-founded Yellow Cat Innovation. Yellow Cat provides innovation training and coaching to those heroes in not-for-profits and public sector who are trying to transform their organisations from within. This is about achieving impact through mission-driven innovation. Clients have included: Police Scotland, Ayrshire College, Thirteen Housing Group, NHS Scotland, London Borough of Camden, Paradigm Housing, and the Graduate Management Admissions Council. 

 

Since 2023, Susie has also been advising with Change Logic, a specialist strategic innovation firm, based in Boston, US but operating globally. Change Logic advises firms who want to grow outside their core business, using an evidence, data-led approach.

 

Change Logic's founders, Professor Charles O'Reilly of Stanford University, Professor Michael Tushman of Harvard University and Andrew Binns, are internationally recognised for their work on executive leadership, organisational renewal, and ambidextrous organisations. Books they have written include: Lead and Disrupt (2016), Winning Through Innovation: A Practical Guide to Leading Organizational Renewal and Change (2002), the Corporate Explorer: How Corporates Beat Stuartups at the Innovation Game (2022), and the Corporate Explorer Fieldbook: How to Build New Ventures in Established Companies (2003). 

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Guest Speaker and Writer

Susie routinely writes and speaks about both leadership and innovation, providing insights from her experience and thought leadership.  You can find her writing here, and on Medium and Substack.  Susie has a natural and engaging style and her refreshingly candid approach makes her a popular speaker. 

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Susie lives in south-east London with her family.

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