Mark Norbury, CEO of UnLtd, succeeds Rosie Ferguson in November 2024
ACEVO is delighted to announce the appointment of Mark Norbury as the incoming chair of the board of trustees, following a robust and extensive selection process to identify a successor to Rosie Ferguson who ends her term as chair in November of this year.
Mark brings a wealth of experience from the charity and social enterprise sectors, sharing ACEVO’s commitment to support civil society leaders so they can make the biggest possible difference.
Since 2016, Mark has been chief executive of UnLtd, an organisation dedicated to supporting social entrepreneurs from startup through early growth, empowering these leaders to deepen their impact and enable their organisations to become sustainable.
Under his leadership, UnLtd has transformed the diversity and inclusivity of its support, governance and management. Since 2020 UnLtd and partners have made grants, awards and investment to over 2,000 social entrepreneurs, more than 50% identifying as Black, Asian, minority ethnic and/or disabled.
Prior to joining UnLtd Mark was chief executive of CW+, the charity for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Mark successfully built up CW+’s fundraising, its relationship with the hospital, and its role in finding and accelerating patient-centred clinical innovations.
Prior to CW+, Mark was a partner at Leader’s Quest, where he built leadership capacity among CEOs, boards, and social entrepreneurs globally. Early in his career, Mark held roles at the British Red Cross and Diabetes UK.
His governance experience includes serving as chair of The New School, a pioneering education charity in South East London, and as a trustee of Bridges Ventures’ foundation.
Mark will be taking over from Rosie Ferguson, who has been ACEVO’s chair since 2018, on 26 November. He will also be leading the board of trustees as ACEVO’s new strategy comes into place in 2025.
Commenting on his appointment, Mark Norbury said: “I am honoured to join ACEVO as its new chair. Rosie has done an exceptional job, and I’m lucky to build on her legacy. ACEVO’s mission to support and empower civil society leaders aligns perfectly with my passion for fostering impactful, inclusive leadership to drive social change. I look forward to working with the ACEVO team and members to champion great leadership across our sector.”
Rosie Ferguson, outgoing chair of ACEVO, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Mark as ACEVO’s new chair. I am confident that his insight, commitment to social change and boundless energy will be invaluable as we continue to support and challenge civil society leaders to make the biggest possible difference”
The selection process for the new chair was thorough and rigorous, designed to attract eligible candidates from a diverse network through the support of Cadence Partners. To be considered for appointment every candidate had to be eligible to be an ACEVO member and therefore an active CEO of a civil society organisation, in line with ACEVO’s constitution.
All candidates were assessed on their governance experience, their alignment with ACEVO’s values and commitment to progressive, inclusive leadership, and their ambition for ACEVO’s purpose.
Rosie Ferguson added, “I’d like to thank Joyce Materego-Woodall, our treasurer, for her skill and wisdom in chairing the nominations panel and to trustees Sarah Atkinson, Rashid Iqbal, Andrew Copson, Neil Heslop and Kye Adams for their support in making such a successful appointment.”
