Karen Jackson has been the Chief Executive of Locala Community Partnerships CIC since April 2018. She is also a governor of a college in Doncaster and a Trustee of 2 local charities. Karen has significant leadership experience having previously acted as interim Chief Executive for Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust. During her time at the Trust, she was responsible for delivering quality and financial improvements and driving a significantly improved culture around quality and patient safety, and staff engagement. Previous to those roles, Karen was an Improvement Director with NHS Improvement, where she was programme manager for the West Yorkshire Acceleration Zone, reporting directly to the Secretary of State. Before that, she was Chief Executive for North Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, a complex acute and community healthcare provider with a turnover of over £300m. Karen led a quality improvement journey that resulted in the trust coming out of special measures.
Catherine joined Locala in September 2023. She is strategic advisor to the Board on corporate governance, ensuring that governance arrangements are fit for purpose to achieve Locala’s strategic ambitions, and to ensure the Company works within the law. Catherine supports the Members’ Council in its role to represent the interests of Members and communities, and to hold them to account. Catherine is a governance, risk, and compliance professional and has held senior roles in the NHS, and Public Health England. She was most recently Company Secretary at her local high-performing NHS trust which provided integrated acute and community care services.
Dianne joined Locala in January 2019 as our Director of Organisational Development and People, having worked in similar roles at Director level for over 20 years. She has worked in a range of sectors including Financial Services, Housing, Education and Local Government. Before joining Locala, Dianne worked for a local authority under the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), chairing and developing the collaboration of the GM Local Authority Human Resource Directors. She represented all GMCA local authorities on the GM Health & Social Care Workforce Board as part of the city’s devolution and integration of health and social care programmes. She was also People Director at Oldham Council, where she supported the Chief Executive by leading an extensive people workstream. The improvement programme was recognised as a remarkable transformation and contributed to Oldham council being awarded the most improved council at that time. Dianne is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and has previously qualified as an Associate of the Charted Institute of Bankers. She also holds a Diploma in Management Studies. Her experience supports cultural change and transformation within Locala, developing our colleagues and leaders and improving the overall colleague experience. Dianne is passionate about continuous improvement, constantly seeking ways to improve processes and systems that support Locala’s ambition to be an Employer of Choice. Living locally in Kirklees, Dianne was delighted by the opportunity to work within her local community. She is also the Chair of Governors at a local High School.
John took up his new role with Locala in December 2023. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director of Finance at Southport and Ormskirk which was an Acute Hospital Trust in Cheshire and Merseyside, overseeing the financial recovery of the organisation and leading on an ambitious improvement programme of both its estates and IT, before supporting the formal transaction of the organisation with another organisation to form Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospital Trust. John qualified as a Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) accountant in 1991. His career has been spent within the NHS provider sector covering acute, mental health, learning disabilities, and community physical health services across the North West. John has experience operating many partnerships with other NHS organisations, private and third-sector organisations. He is a trustee and chair of finance and performance at a large North West mental health and learning disabilities charity and is a passionate advocate of the voluntary, charity and social enterprise sector and the important role it plays alongside the NHS in delivering the best health care and support to people and their communities. John has family experience of complex health needs and believes in system working and removing the barriers for our communities so that they can seamlessly move between services and organisations. John has been the Board lead on Equality Diversity and Inclusion at a previous organisation and is currently the chair of the NHS National Finance Disability Forum and believes passionately in maximising everyone’s potential and organisations being representative of their communities.
Mary took up her new role as Director Strategy & Partnerships with Locala in September 2022. Prior to this, she was national Executive Director of Business Development in 2015 for the Recovery Focus Group, overseeing growth, strategy, partnerships and communications and marketing across the Group partners. Mary’s career has been spent within the voluntary sector in the main, with a focus on grant making, community development and infrastructure support initially before moving into more specialised business development and strategic growth in mental health. She is a passionate advocate of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector and the important role it plays alongside the NHS in delivering the best health care and support to people and their communities. Mary believes partnerships are the best way to work and brings with her experience and expertise in making these happen, to create the best outcomes for the people we support.
Victoria joined Locala in March 2023 as our Chief of Nursing and AHP and Director of Quality and Professional Practice. Prior to this, Victoria worked at the Care Quality Commission (CQC), where she was Deputy Chief Inspector and Director for Secondary and Specialist Healthcare. Victoria delivered a number of regional and national roles to ensure the quality and safety of primary, community, secondary, and integrated care services for people and communities. This included leading national programmes such as the development of regulatory capabilities to review systems, reviews to support improvements in maternity care, reviews to support learning across the UEC pathway, and ensuring a national focus on improving services for children and young people. Victoria began her career as a children’s nurse, specialising as a community specialist practitioner and she is passionate about ensuring the highest quality experiences and outcomes for people and the workforce, arising from safe learning cultures and compassionate leadership. She enjoys investing in ambitious partnerships and ensuring innovative and creative ways of working together to deliver safe and effective health and care services.
