Vanessa Browne

Vanessa specialises in management development, personal effectiveness, effective communication 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, 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

During our Project Management training, I have been helping teams from Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra connect with the fundamentals of managing projects of all shapes and sizes. Together, we’ve successfully explored the scoping stage, and ways to effectively communicate with different groups of people involved in our projects.

I’ve also been really enjoying working with groups of aspiring managers at Cancer Research UK and the DEC. Together, we’ve been exploring the skills of effective managers, and I’ve enjoyed guiding them through reflective exercises to consider their own experiences, strengths, and development opportunities.

I’ve been helping existing managers from University of Surrey and Unicef UK to understand the fundamentals of people management and leadership. This has included discussing the importance of emotionally intelligent leadership, feedback cultures, delegation and adaptability during our people management training.

It’s helpful for staff of all levels to be able to have difficult and challenging conversations at work, while remaining respectful and upholding each other’s rights. I’ve been delivering assertiveness training to the World Cancer Research Fund and Cogent Skills, breaking down how to have honest, solution-focused conversations.

In terms of upcoming training, I look forward to delivering more sessions for emerging managers, including teams from United Reformed Church and Cancer Research UK.

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.