Visiting Senior Fellow in Leadership for Change
School of Business, Leadership and Enterprise
Pat was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire in 1955. She obtained a 1st class Honours degree from the University of East Anglia in 1976, with a major in Economic History and a minor in Environmental Sciences.
Pat has had a 35 year career in local government, holding senior management positions for most of that period.
Pat’s principal professional discipline is in Housing and she has been a member by examination of the Chartered Institute of Housing since 1979.
She worked for three London Boroughs (Greenwich, Croydon and Bromley) before holding Director of Housing positions with Tandridge District and Maidstone Borough Councils.
In June 1999, Pat took up the position of Chief Executive with Babergh District Council, South Suffolk and remained in that role until May 2011.
During the course of her career, Pat has had extensive people, budget, resource and performance management responsibilities. She has worked in both rural and urban environments, and has had a strong customer/citizen focus in all her roles.
Pat has a proven track record of leading cultural and organisational change in a political environment and has a strong background in partnership working within local government and with other public, private and third sector organisations. She has provided mentoring support to a number of individuals both within her own and other organisations.
Through her role as Senior Visiting Fellow with UCS, Pat is now keen to build understanding and awareness of the obstacles faced by individuals and communities who want to build their capacity for self help in the face of declining public sector resources and other acute social and economic pressures. She then wants to build on that knowledge base to craft imaginative and innovative solutions to specific local issues and problems.