About Us

Our people

Proceed

Our management team and country heads. 

Senior staff

Julia Middleton

Founder and Chief Executive, Common Purpose Charitable Trust

Julia is passionate about helping people to develop as leaders, and campaigns to encourage leaders from all backgrounds to make an active and tangible contribution to their communities and to wider society. More...

Aditi Bhat

Director – Global City Programmes

Aditi leads a team that is rolling out a new leadership programme across global cities – the ‘Streetwise mba®’. The ‘Streetwise mba’ is a programme for leaders in global cities to become more inclusive; leaders who can lead diverse teams, serve diverse customers and work with diverse stakeholders. More...

Alison Coburn

Chief Executive, Common Purpose International

Alison is one of the founders of Common Purpose, which now has 70,000 alumni worldwide. Under her leadership, Common Purpose launched in France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, the Netherlands, South Africa and Turkey. She is currently working on the launch of Common Purpose US. More...

Andy Coxall

Chief Executive, Common Purpose Student Experiences

Andy joined Common Purpose in 2007 to run courses for middle managers in London, before becoming Curriculum Director in 2011, overseeing the curriculum for all our programmes around the world. He is now Chief Executive of Student Experiences and leads our work with university students globally. More...

Ed Herman

Chief Operating Officer, Common Purpose Student Experiences

Ed joined Common Purpose as a Senior Co-ordinator in December 2003. Since then he has acquired in-depth knowledge of Common Purpose across a number of disciplines. Ed was responsible for the development of Common Purpose's first modular leadership course (Meridian) and international events (Quests). More...

Elsbeth Dixon

Chief Executive, Common Purpose South Africa

Elsbeth joined as Chief Executive of Common Purpose South Africa in 2006. Since 2011, she has held additional roles in the global operation of Common Purpose, including setting up the international student leadership team and offering leadership programmes across Africa from the South African hub. More...

Lloyd Fleming

Group Finance Director, Common Purpose Charitable Trust

Lloyd’s commercial experience began in London over 25 years ago and has spanned both small and large organizations internationally. He joined Common Purpose in August 2015 to head the Group Finance function and act as Company Secretary for Common Purpose Charitable Trust. More...

Ayşegül Gurerk

Director, Common Purpose Turkey

Ayşegül is the Founding Director of Common Purpose Turkey. During her time at Common Purpose, Ayşegül has delivered Meridian and Frontrunner, as well as customised programmes. More...

Marie Mohan

Chief Executive, Common Purpose UK

Marie joined Common Purpose in 2000, becoming Chief Executive of Common Purpose UK in 2014. Marie has a track record at Common Purpose of bringing leaders together to tackle complex social problems, to understand collaborative working and to More...

Dale Pearson

Communications & Marketing Director

Dale has worked with Common Purpose since February 2014. He holds both a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing and a BA in English Literature from Newcastle University. Prior to working at Common Purpose, Dale was Editor of PictureShow Magazine—an online film magazine. More...

Johannes Roux

IT Director

Johannes' primary role is to oversee IT operations, projects and support for Common Purpose group-wide. Johannes has been working for Common Purpose in various IT roles since 2001. More...

Julika Rollin

Chief Executive, Common Purpose Germany

Julika set up the Common Purpose Hamburg office in 2006 and managed it until she took over the role of Chief Executive Common Purpose Germany in July 2014. More...

Adirupa Sengupta

Chief Executive, Common Purpose Asia-Pacific and Interim CEO India

Adirupa joined Common Purpose in 2001 as Programme Director in London, subsequently moving to the East Midlands as Regional Director. She then focused on international development; launching and growing Common Purpose in India More...

Dara Connolly

CEO, Common Purpose Ireland

Dara has held senior roles in a number of organisations, recently as Head of Business Development in Young Social Innovators (YSI) and now the CEO of Common Purpose Ireland. He also enjoyed 4 successful years taking Recreate, a Creative Reuse social enterprise working with children and individuals with disabilities, from start up to a sustainable business model, winning a number of awards along the way including Social Entrepreneurs Ireland’s Impact Award. More...