Our Greater Manchester centre is powered by a passionate team of staff and volunteers who coordinate and deliver our service across the Greater Manchester area. We are also incredibly grateful to our Board of Trustees, chaired by Jan Iceton, who are responsible for the oversight of our day to day operations and fundraising.
Meet some of the Greater Manchester staff and volunteer team
Louisa Hussey
Louisa Hussey
Greater Manchester
Fundraising and Partnerships Manager
“I’ve always been passionate about supporting women with their confidence, so this role at Smart Works is really exciting. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in, and doing my part to raise funds to keep this incredible charity going. Please do message me if you have a Women’s Network within your organisation that could potentially support us”
Megan Brough-Aikin
Megan Brough-Aikin
Greater Manchester
Client Delivery Lead - Manchester City
“Beyond honoured to be working for Smart Works – to have the opportunity to share the magic of clothes and female support towards empowering the incredible women of Manchester further towards confidence, purpose and financial independence. It’s my dream job.”
Claire Goodman
Claire Goodman
Greater Manchester
Service Delivery and Volunteer Lead - Stockport
“I take a lot of pleasure from seeing the transformation from when a client arrives to when they leave. It’s fabulous to be a small part of a clients story to financial independence and happiness.”
Cara Mahon
Cara Mahon
Greater Manchester
Engagement and Referral Outreach Lead
“The work and overall experience delivered by the Smart Works team is truly inspiring! I’m thrilled to be a part of the team, making a genuine and positive impact on women’s livelihoods.”
Victoria Cronquist
Victoria Cronquist
Greater Manchester
Head of Smart Works Greater Manchester
“It’s quite amazing seeing women’s confidence grow in front of yours eyes – nothing beats that smile when a client feels on top of the world”.
Corina Herhenteris
Corina Herhenteris
Greater Manchester
Wardrobe, Events and Communications Lead
“It is a privilege to be surrounded by so many inspiring women – both those who we support and the team here at Smart Works”
Meet the trustee team behind Smart Works Greater Manchester
Jan Iceton
Jan Iceton is Chair of Smart Works Greater Manchester: “I’m passionate about supporting women in the workplace and the Smart Works proposition is both fabulously simple and uniquely empowering; the position of Chair embodies everything that I personally believe in. It is a privilege to lead the Smart Works Greater Manchester team of Trustees, Staff and Volunteers in helping more women every year to secure employment.”
Alison Lever
Alison Lever is a chartered accountant and our Treasurer. She joined Smart Works in 2018 as a Trustee after becoming involved through fundraising events supported by PricewaterhouseCoopers. “I love spending time in the Smart Works office seeing the transformation in confidence and self belief of our clients during a 2 hour styling and coaching appointment with our wonderful volunteers and staff.”
Kay Barratt
Kay Barratt works as Senior Creative Director and Joint Partner at Cheetham Bell advertising, part of the WPP group. Kay has worked on many clients accounts, building brands making them profitable, relevant and famous. “I was delighted to be asked to be a trustee of SWGM, I believe that we all need help and mentoring at some point in our lives and SW gives women confidence to flourish, realise their full potential and in turn change their lives”.
Sue Weighell
Sue Weighell is a Chartered Accountant and freelance finance professional who works with organisations on their financial strategy and business development. The work undertaken ranges from producing a business plan and budget to monitoring that plan with regular management information. Sue also uses information from the financial reports to recommend improvements to the business that impact on profitability and often works with clients on a regular basis in an FD type role.
Sarah Martin
Sarah Martin is a trustee at Smart Works Manchester, Sarah’s background stems from Business development and relationship management predominantly in the Technology Sector. Most recently she has taken the lead in Manchester’s newest Technology Innovation Centre Mi-IDEA. First involved in Smart Works as a volunteer providing interview coaching Sarah now joins us as a trustee to offer her core competencies in Business operations and Strategy.
Sam Reed
Sam Reed is a trustee at Smart Works Greater Manchester and has worked in risk and compliance for almost 15 years. Sam is our lead Governance, Risk and Compliance trustee drawing on her career in Financial Services and Automotive. Alongside volunteering for Smart Works, Sam is the Head of Compliance at Lookers Plc having joined there in 2020 following a career at PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) within their Financial Services Risk and Regulatory practice. Sam combines her strategic leadership and risk management experience with a solid understanding of governance, culture, interpreting and operating under regulation. Sam is passionate about making a difference to society and in particular supporting women to achieve their goals and full potential. Sam was recognised by the Automotive 30% club in 2022 as an ‘Inspiring Automotive Women’.
Elsa Zekeng
Dr. Elsa Zekeng is a Senior Consultant in Life Science Strategy at Guidehouse Consulting. She is a scientist by training with a PhD in Infectious Diseases and Global Health from the University of Liverpool. During her PhD, she received the “Queen’s Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa” after deploying to Guinea with the WHO during the biggest Ebola outbreak in West Africa. She is an independent council member at the University of Salford, supporting senior leadership of the University, she sits on the General Assembly of the University of Manchester and she is also a board apprentice for the Science and Industry Museum Manchester. She advocates on all things: youth empowerment, equal employment opportunities, diversity, equality and Inclusion. She is frequently involved in dialogue about rethinking partnerships between the African Union and European Union to build more equitable and sustainable relationships. She was one of the founding members of a startup – Jobseekrs, a careers platform mitigating unconscious bias at the sourcing and screening stage of recruitment. She has been recognised as one of the “Top 50 most inspiring, prominent & influential black voices in UK Tech” by Technation and nominated “One to Watch” by the Northern Power Women 2020.
Helen Rendle
Helen Rendle is an experienced event manager having worked in the sector for a decade. She was drawn getting more involved with Smart Works after the opening of the City Centre Hub. Helen joined us in December 2023 as our new Fundraising and Events Trustee (Guest).
“I am excited to be part of Smart Works Greater Manchester and their mission to empower women into work. I was drawn to Smart Works GM as I feel strongly that providing women with the clothes to feel confident as well as the coaching support for them to truly believe in themselves is the perfect recipe for women’s empowerment in employment and beyond. I cannot wait to start working with the other volunteers and trustees to create memorable events to spread the message and ensure even more women are positively impacted by Smart Works and their mission.”