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Chris Cooper
Chris, Associate Director, is an economist, and his particular areas of
expertise are labour market and economic analysis, lifelong
learning, and ICT based learning. Chris is currently managing a major
research project for Becta investigating levels of e-maturity amongst LSC-funded
work-based learning providers and practitioners in England, which involves a
literature review, survey of the sector representatives and in-depth
interviews to establish the organisations' and individuals' current capacity
and capability to use ICT and technology.
Chris joined The Mackinnon Partnership in 2000 from
Segal Quince Wicksteed where he led the Skills and Employment team in
England
and
Wales. He was previously Research and Evaluation Manager at Milton Keynes
Chamber of Commerce/Training and Enterprise Council (TEC) where he was
responsible for all aspects of the Chamber’s economic research programme,
evaluation strategy and co-ordination of its lifelong learning policy. Before
that worked in the research team at Hampshire TEC. Chris has a first
class degree in economics from Portsmouth and is a member of the Employer
Advisory Board for the university’s Economics Department.
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Will
Youngman
Will Youngman joined us as a Senior Consultant in 2009after two years experience in more junior roles with
another consultancy, where he specialised in the enterprise, business
support and worklessness fields, and worked on evaluations, economic
appraisals, feasibility studies and strategy formation. He has recently
managed our evaluation of the economic activity and worklessness theme for
the Aylesbury New Deal for Communities programme, and, with James Kearney,
created a very well-regarded model for the Qualifications and Curriculum
Development Agency, to demonstrate to employers what would be involved in
them becoming recognised as Awarding Organisations. Others projects
include interviews for our annual review of the state of e-maturity in the
work-based learning sector, for Becta, research for the Maritime Skills
Alliance to support the development of its Qualifications Strategy, and
for Skills for Health, exploring the nature of the alcohol workforce, as a
first step to identification of ‘nationally transferable roles’.
Will’s degree is in geography, from
Leeds
University
.
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Rudaba
Osmani
Rudaba joined us in 2009 as a Senior Consultant, with an excellent reputation as a project manager, most
recently with Age Concern
England. Before that she managed publicly-funded projects supporting young people
who are NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training). She is currently managing a research project for
Skills for Health to identify ‘nationally transferable roles’ within
the alcohol workforce (ie both specialists and non-specialists) as a
prelude to the creation of National Occupational Standards for those
roles. She has also been managing a Skills for Health funded project
for the Uganda AIDS Action Fund, exploring the scope for people suffering
from HIV / AIDS to take up work within the healthcare sector, and interviewed
employers and trainees for our review of onboard training for officer
trainees within the Merchant Navy. Rudaba’s degree was in Arabic
with Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, which she studied at
Durham
University
, with a year at
Damascus
University
to study the language and politics of the
Middle East.
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James
Kearney
James is an economist, with a first class degree
in economics, and a Masters, from the
University
of
York. He is currently managing several projects, including two which update the
model which we created some years ago to identify the economic benefits of
action to reduce smoking. James has ranged widely since he joined us, building a
broad-based portfolio, including development of labour market information in the
maritime sector and exploring gender segregation in the East Midlands;
interviews with project managers for our case study review of flexibility in
provision for young people Not in Employment, Education or Training; interviews
with participants in regeneration projects for New Deal for Communities
projects, and desk-based mapping of management and leadership courses for Skills
for Care. James joined us in 2008 after completing his Masters. Between his two degrees he spent a year as a
Teaching Assistant in an inner city school in
Leeds.
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Andrew
Goll
Andy currently has the most prominent role in a project
for the Council for Administration researching the nature of Business Continuity
Management, through both desk research and interviews with a wide range of
businesses, so that the Council can develop National Occupational Standards for
the role. Other projects include interviews with people who have
participated in, or run, enterprise or employment projects on the Aylesbury
Estate in Southwark, and interviews with port employers in
Scotland
to ascertain their interest in apprenticeships. Andy joined us in 2009, after a
year’s teaching geography at secondary level in Ealing. His degree was in
Geography from
Edinburgh
University
and his teaching qualification was from
Exeter
University.
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Krystyna
Bak
Krystyna is an excellent telephone interviewer. She
has a BSc in Civil Engineering from University College London, and an MSc in
Public Health Engineering from
Imperial
College. Her subsequent work experience has been mostly in commerce in
London, working on business-to-business sales and international trade – which has
proved to be a superb foundation for the business and other interviews which
she conducts for us.
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Louise Mackinnon
Louise is our Finance Director, a role which has gradually taken more and more
of her time as the company has grown. She is also a very experienced field and phone
interviewer, drawing on excellent initial training as an employment adviser
with the Employment Service, and wide-ranging experience including interviews
with trainees on Government-funded programmes, training providers and project
managers, through to high-tech businesses. Her degree is in French,
from
Birmingham
University.
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Anna Sebastian
Anna is our Office Manager. She studied Public Relations at university in St Petersburg,
and holds an HND in Business Studies from Uxbridge
College. Anna also undertakes telephone interviews, manages surveys and
fieldwork, and makes the arrangements when we run conferences for clients.
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Tim Barnes, Thinking For A Living
Tim is an educational researcher and consultant with a wealth of practical experience and a variety of
perspectives. He is principal of educational consultancy, Thinking for a Living, specialising in
three broad areas: consultancy about disaffection, work on social inclusion, and learning and learning policy. Tim
has worked with us on nearly a dozen youth projects over the last few years,
in Bristol, County Durham, east London, the Isle of Wight and the wider South
East region.
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Rachel Papworth
Rachel is a Senior Associate. She has worked as a regeneration researcher and
consultant since 1989 and set up Papworth
Research & Consultancy in 1997 with the aim of maximising the impact
of organisations working to address social and economic disadvantage. In
policy terms, Rachel specialises in education/workforce development, in labour
market interventions designed to address social and economic
exclusion/deprivation, and in community capacity building. In methodological
terms, she specialises in evaluation, consultation and primary research.
Rachel's
work with us has included consulting stakeholders across the coastal South
East to contribute to the production of a briefing paper on SEEDA's work in
the area for a SEERA Select Committee, evaluation of QCA's Employer
Recognition Programme, and regeneration programmes. Rachel holds a Masters
degree in research techniques.
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