Vanessa Browne

Vanessa specialises in management development, personal effectiveness and project management.

Vanessa spent years working in the creative and non-profit sector – often concurrently as part of a portfolio career. Before joining =mc learning, she specialised in digital marketing and communications. She has coordinated digital campaigns with a nationwide and international reach, in addition to grassroots community outreach projects.

She has experience managing people’s performance and productivity to help them deliver their best to busy teams and support their learning.

At the moment

I’ve been spending time with managers from organisations including Solace Woman’s Aid, Evolve Housing and  Local Trust, to help them understand the fundamentals of leadership and management, and the importance of self-awareness and clear communication when leading staff.

Feedback is one of the most powerful tools managers have, and knowing how to effectively give and receive feedback is an essential skill set for any manager. I particularly enjoy training managers and non-managers on how to implement a culture of feedback in their teams. I’ve connected with individuals from Opportunity Green, Citizen’s Advice, and Save the Children UK to develop and practise these skills.

It’s helpful for staff of all levels to be able to have difficult and challenging conversations at work, while remaining assertive. In our Assertive Conversations training I’ve enjoyed helping teams to build their confidence in this.

And during our Project Management training, I have been helping groups from the Leprosy Mission, the Academy of Medical Sciences  and UK Sports Institute to understand the fundamentals of managing projects of all forms and sizes. Together, we’ve successfully explored the importance of a robust scoping stage and how important it is to consider ways to effectively communicate with different groups of people involved in our projects.

In the coming months, I’ll be leading sessions with University of Sussex Students’ Union, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, UNICEF UK and Hackney Council to explore leadership fundamentals, assertive conversations, project management and much more.

Before =mc learning

I worked for a non-profit focusing on children’s literacy and emotional wellbeing, where I delivered digital marketing campaigns with a national reach.

I’ve always loved grassroots community work, and alongside my day job I worked for an independent bookshop & C.I.C in South East London, where I had the privilege of managing and facilitating funded creative outreach projects for children, and connecting with local families as a storyteller.

And before my journey in the non-profit sector began, I worked in children’s book publishing, where I got to read fantastic stories and work with incredible people in marketing, agency and editorial roles. You will likely find me in a bookshop when I’m not training!

The throughline of all my roles has been a love of learning, creative problem solving, and a belief that sharing knowledge truly does lead to greater social good.