Anita Kerwin-Nye
Anita is Founder and Director of NotDeadFish – a social enterprise
supporting work between schools and third sector organisations to
improve outcomes for children and young people. With a particular
interest and expertise in bringing together new collaborations Anita has
a track record of creating models of working that break down traditional
barriers and increase impact for all involved.
Working with NotDeadFish Anita helped establish Musical Futures as a national not for profit
organisation driving forward music learning for all. Previously an initiative of the Paul Hamlyn
Foundation Musical Futures is now a thriving not for profit and Anita is delighted to have taken
on the role of Chair.
Anita is Managing Director of London Leadership Strategy – a not for profit body run by serving
headteachers supporting school to school support across England. Anita has helped the
organisation move from being part of the Department for Education to being a stand-alone
business with sustainable income streams. This stability has allowed LLS to deliver a consistent
model of school improvement that builds both those schools providing support and those
receiving it. Over the last year, working with David Bartram OBE and the talented Steering
Group, Anita has built the SEN Leaders programme – a model to improve outcomes for children
and young people with SEND through school to school support and challenge.
Previously Anita founded The Communication Trust – a collaboration of over 40 charities
working in the field of speech, language and communication. These – often traditionally
competing – charities worked together under Anita’s leadership to develop and deliver a UK
wide programme of support to schools, parents and young people including; the ‘Hello’
Campaign - National Year of Communication; resources for schools and parents on identifying
speech and language difficulties; programmes for young people in youth offending and the
development of a whole area approach to early language development, ‘Talk of the Town’.
Within her work at I CAN and The Communication Trust Anita was a key advocate of sustainable
trading streams and license models. Anita drove the organisation to develop its ‘Talk Boost’
intervention and lead the early work, with the formidable Charlie Simpson, on what became a
£1million income generation programme delivered through licensed tutors.
Anita worked for 10 years as a Head of Department at the British Red Cross. She led the merger
of 3 large service departments into the Education Team and rolled out international
programmes targeted at vulnerable learners, including unaccompanied asylum seekers and
young people with SEND.
Heading the British Red Cross team responsible for the organisation’s community first aid work
Anita played a key role in the establishment of public access defibrillation and the concept of
building community capacity to manage their own health emergencies ahead of public sector
support arriving. Bystander theory and community capacity building remains an ongoing area
of interest for Anita and, with her partner Dr Matt Overd, has taken this thinking into Dfuse
and the field of community conflict resolution.
As a local Councillor Anita helped fund and set up Crowborough’s community centre and
fought for better resources and services for local residents. A great believer in local politics she
continues to encourage and mentor young people wanting to move into community action.
Anita is a qualified teacher and youth worker and spent her early career working in challenging
schools, prisons and estates in Brighton and East Sussex – estates like the one she grew up in.
The first in her family to go to University Anita has a passion for how education and youth work
can unlock life chances and credits her parents for running her to weekly youth groups and
London Youth for running the glorious Hindleap Warren where residentials helped expand her
world view.
Anita is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Recognising that
the success of all organisations relies on their people she has a particular interest in workforce
development and organisational behaviour and design. She is also a Fellow of the RSA and
member of ACEVO valuing the debate, challenge and support that such networks bring.
Anita advises several funders and believes that they have a responsibility to ensure that what
they fund does not lead to grantees drifting in their mission or stretching their capacity too far.
She is an advocate of funders covering both core costs and investing in business development
of those that they fund as these are key ingredients of a stable organisation – and without
stability innovation always fails to move to scale.
Anita has 4 children, several small animals and a partner who is wonderful enough not to mind
coming last in a list that includes 17 hamsters. Serious about her work, but not about herself,
the best way to engage Anita in long debate is to start a discussion on the content, structure
and dialogue of disaster movies and films on the world facing apocalypse.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @anitakntweets
Web: notdeadfish.co.uk