ConnEx connects senior executives with UK charities that need strategic expertise but cannot always access it. Here, the charity leaders who took part in our most recent event and the La Fosse Executive team who built the programme share an honest account of why ConnEx exists, what it delivers, and why it matters.
The idea that became ConnEx
Ross Tanner, Managing Partner at La Fosse Executive
Ross Tanner, Managing Partner at La Fosse Executive, traces the origins of ConnEx from a single observation: charities were struggling to access the senior expertise they needed, particularly in cybersecurity, and the traditional routes simply weren’t available to them.
What started as an idea in 2018 has since grown into a programme spanning technology, cyber, data, people, finance and operations.
Why fresh eyes matter when the challenges are this big
Locks Farmer, Managing Director, Action for Children
Action for Children is navigating a perfect storm: rising demand for services, real pressure on voluntary income, and a need to build broader public awareness of the organisation’s work.
For Managing Director Locks Farmer, access to senior advisory expertise through ConnEx has the potential to drive meaningful progress across all three.
Why the right values matter more than the right CV
Peter Sparkes, CEO, RNLI
For the RNLI, finding the right advisor isn’t simply a question of expertise.
CEO Peter Sparkes explains that the organisation is complex, values-driven, and deeply purposeful, and the advisors who will make the real difference are those who share that sense of purpose, not just those with the strongest track record.
What good advisory partnership actually feels like
Sam Monaghan, CEO, MHA
MHA’s experience of ConnEx has been one of genuine partnership, equal, respectful, and grounded in a shared appreciation of what the charity is trying to achieve.
CEO of MHA, Sam Monaghan, sets out the specific challenges where senior advisory support can make a difference, from integrating technology into the Pathfinder home care model to developing future funding approaches and applying design thinking to the environments where older people live.
200 years old. Transforming for the next 200
Emily Tierney, Director of Strategy and Transformation, RSPCA
The RSPCA has been protecting animals for 200 years. Ensuring it can do so for the next 200 requires the kind of transformation that demands diversity of thought, private sector experience, and the practical knowledge of having delivered change at scale.
Director of Strategy and Transformation Emily Tierney sets out what that means, and why ConnEx is central to making it possible.
What happens when world-class expertise meets a world-class cause
Caroline Rassell, CEO, Parkinson’s UK
Parkinson’s UK is a learning organisation, and for CEO Caroline Rassell, that means actively seeking out the challenge and fresh thinking that commercial expertise can bring.
In a sector where specialist knowledge is hard to access and funding is constrained, ConnEx offers a route to combining the very best external expertise with Parkinson’s UK’s deep roots in research and community.
What joining ConnEx actually means for a charity
Charity leaders who have experienced ConnEx first-hand make the case for why others in the third sector should explore the programme.
The message is consistent: access to senior executive expertise is genuinely transformative, and the programme works best when charities come with openness, honesty about their challenges, and a real willingness to accept the help on offer.
Partner with ConnEx
ConnEx 2027 is already in planning, and we are looking for a small number of partners who want to be part of it. Sponsoring ConnEx offers direct access to a senior executive audience of 300 to 400 C-suite leaders, authentic association with genuine social impact, and the opportunity to build meaningful relationships in a setting that reflects your organisation’s values.
To find out more about partnership opportunities, contact Ross Tanner at ross.tanner@lafosse.com.
