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Our Leeds centre is powered by a passionate team of staff and volunteers who coordinate and deliver our service across West Yorkshire. We are also incredibly grateful to our Board of Trustees, chaired by Helen Oldham and Tracy Fletcher, who are responsible for the oversight of our day to day operations and fundraising.
Meet the Leeds Staff Team
Emily Zadok
Emily Zadok
Leeds
Centre Manager
Emily is one of our Centre Managers at Smart Works Leeds. She oversees our volunteer and staff team and looks after our clients.
Kate Murphy
Kate Murphy
Leeds
Centre Manager
Kate oversees the smooth running of the centre alongside Emily and heads up our fundraising efforts.
“I feel lucky to be Centre Manager as it allows me to be part of our clients’ employment journey, and supporting them is a true privilege. Smart Works Leeds is supported by volunteers, staff and stakeholders and working with them daily is fun and rewarding.”
Lottie Roberts
Lottie Roberts
Leeds
Outreach and Communications Manager
Lottie manages our network of 80+ referral partners across Yorkshire, and oversees all Smart Works Leeds communications from socials through to press engagement.
“I love working at Smart Works because my role is creative, dynamic and challenging. It is wonderful to be part of so many clients’ journey into work”
Fran Murphy
Fran Murphy
Leeds
Outreach Assistant
Fran oversees our Outreach efforts across West Yorkshire, working with community centres, charities and job centres to bring women across the city into the service.
Keziah Kong
Keziah Kong
Leeds
Client and Service Delivery Lead
Keziah books all our wonderful clients in and takes referrals from our partners by phone and email.
“The part I enjoy most about working at Smart Works is the client interaction. I love seeing the clients through every step of their journey from booking them in through to them calling us to let us know they got the job!”
Hannah Boyle
Hannah Boyle
Leeds
Fundraising & Partnerships Lead
Hannah leads on corporate partnerships and several fundraising initiatives.
“I love working at Smart Works due to the positive impact we see daily. From supporting our clients with dressings, to fundraising and seeing the support we can offer to women across Yorkshire – it all makes my job incredible!”
Meet the Leeds Trustee Team
Helen Oldham
Helen Oldham is a Founding Board Director of NorthInvest, an early stage tech funding connector, and Founder of Fund Her North. She is an active advocate for female founders seeking funding and a signatory of the Women In Investing Code. Prior to this she was the Managing Director of The Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman.
“When you walk into a Smart Works Centre the value of the service comes to life. Providing women with a community of people who believe in her, support her and help her to be at her best in an interview is a powerful experience.”
Tracy Fletcher
Tracy is the Managing Director of a niche recruitment company, providing career management advice to senior professionals within Financial Services. Prior to this Tracy enjoyed a 20 year career at HSBC, working in senior leadership positions. A keen advocate of the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter and an active signatory, she is committed to championing female talent in banking. She was appointed as an NED at Clear Factor in 2019, a digital invoice factoring company bringing fairness to SME funding. She chairs the Smart Works Leeds Trustee Board.
“I am so proud and privileged to have the opportunity to be the chair of Smart Works Leeds. I am excited for the future of the centre.”
Ruth Cherry
Ruth is one of our founding trustees and helped to bring Smart Works to Leeds in 2019. Having spent most of her career in banking and corporate finance, her original degree was in Textiles, and in 2021 she returned to university to study for an MSc in sustainable textiles. She is currently researching the potential for reuse of post-consumer waste as a LITAC funder scholar, working towards a PhD.
Ruth looks after our wardrobe here at Smart Works Leeds and can sometimes be found volunteering with the dressers.
“Smart Works provides unemployed women with high quality, interview appropriate clothing that is sustainably sourced, and one-to-one coaching to give them the confidence to succeed, all delivered by our volunteers. It’s a powerful combination and it works.”
Juliette Dennett
Until recently Juliette was MD of Dale Carnegie’s Northern UK operation and was also the first female and the first non-American President of the International Franchise Association. Prior to her 25 years with Dale Carnegie she held leadership roles with Max Factor/Revlon and with IBM. Currently she is providing consultancy to organisations in the areas of culture development and senior team facilitation. Juliette has joined us to support with fundraising. Juliette says:
“Our clients at Smart Works are women who want to be in employment, and the service we provide gives them the boost they need to be successful. These happy stories of individual accomplishment are all the motivation we need to keep expanding the Smart Works impact. I’m proud and excited to be part of the team looking to raise awareness and backing for the crucial work in support of women in Yorkshire.”
Emma Illingworth
Emma is a HR professional currently heading up People Transformation at OVO. She has joined us at Smart Works Leeds to support us with HR, Finance and Governance. Emma is very active in promoting a culture of belonging. Her work focusses on leading large transformation and culture change projects. Emma has followed the Leeds centre since we opened in 2019, she says:
“I love what Smart Works stands for and the great work is does to support women back into work. I am incredibly proud to have joined the Leeds team.”
Stephanie Smith
Stephanie Smith is Fashion Editor at the Yorkshire Post, having joined the county morning newspaper in 1998. She trained as a journalist in London and has worked for publications across the UK. She has written extensively about the fashion industry, interviewing many key figures and icons along the way. She also works as a brand creative copywriter and consultant.
“The very concept of Smart Works – giving women confidence by providing them with the wardrobe and the interview skills they need – is dear to my heart, and I hope to play my part in spreading its message of hope and empowerment far and wide.”
Amanda Clarke
Amanda set up her own accountancy practice in 2010, specialising in small and medium type businesses in the Yorkshire area, having spent most of her professional career working in the accounting industry. She has been an active volunteer for a small charity in Leeds which raises funds for young people with disabilities. Amanda has recently been appointed the Treasurer for the Smart Works Leeds Trustee Board.
“Having experienced myself the difficulties of working and being a single parent, I was instantly drawn to everything that Smart Works represents and look forward to supporting this Charity”