It is with a mix of sadness and gratitude that we today say goodbye to our Chief Executive Officer, Alison Howard.
Alison has played a critical role in the development and success of the organisation. After starting out as a volunteer treasurer in her early 20’s, Alison became Rounders England’s first ever employee in 1999.
We asked Alison to list some of her proudest achievements during her time at the organisation:
“Being the first ever employee and building a team to grow Rounders England to be a well-respected, forward thinking National Governing Body
Obtaining over £6m in grants to support the growth of Rounders, with regular adult participation rising from around 3000 to 80,000
Establishing externally accredited qualifications and a committed workforce to deliver them
Receiving the Emeritus Award for services to sport from the Sport and Recreation Alliance
Enjoying my job! And never forgetting what a privilege it is to work in sport and support others to do the same.”
With goodbye’s come new beginnings and we are very happy to welcome our new CEO, Natalie Justice-Dearn, who will be starting in September. Natalie joins the organisation from British Triathlon where she was the Director of Development for four years.
We asked outgoing CEO Alison what advice she has for Natalie:
“Always expect the unexpected and remember you can’t and shouldn’t control everything. Be open and honest and consistently lead by example – build the right team and culture. It’s important to establish relationships with key stakeholders early on and to have a trusted mentor or advisor. And finally, always remember to take care of yourself.”
Natalie joins at an exciting time for Rounders England who are midway through their current strategy and appointed their new Chair to the post in January. You can learn more about the organisation and current strategy here.
