Honorary Fellowship
Social Enterprise UK Honorary Fellowship
2017 marked the 15th anniversary of Social Enterprise UK. Since the beginnings of SEUK, the UK social enterprise sector has grown, evolved and increased its visibility and impact considerably.
The growth of the sector is due, in large part, to the individuals who work at its very heart, taking their own organisations from strength to strength but also playing a large part in shaping, guiding and championing the social enterprise movement as a whole.
We wanted to recognise those who have contributed to creating such a diverse, thriving and truly impactful community from both within the sector and outside, and also those who are making great strides to drive the sector forwards now.
Our Honorary Fellows have been chosen to represent the sheer diversity of talent from across the country.
Each year, we will announce a new cohort of Honorary Fellows each year at the Awards. Click on their pictures below to find out more.
Alastair Wilson
Alastair Wilson has been the Chief Executive of the School for Social Entrepreneurs since 2003. SSE has grown into a national and international network, supporting over 1,000+ people a year develop the skills, strengths, and networks they need to tackle society’s biggest problems. Alastair is the pioneer of Match Trading designed to support the trading resilience of social enterprises. He is also the co-founder of Tonic Housing, the UK's first LGBT retirement community.Read more
Karen Lowthrop MBE & Nigel Lowthrop
Social entrepreneur couple Karen, chief executive, and Nigel Lowthrop, founder/director, have turned an abandoned woodland into a place for young people to find new skills and opportunities.Read more
Gordon Roddick
Gordon helped found The Body Shop with his wife in 1976 as a one-shop venture in Brighton. Today, 28 years on, The Body Shop is a multi-local business with more than 2000 stores serving over 77 million customers in 53 different markets. As Co-Chairman of The Body Shop, Gordon devoted a great deal of energy towards providing assistance to disadvantaged groups around the world, through the company's programme of Trading with Communities in Need.Read more
Faisal Rahman
Faisel has work in the field of financial exclusion for more than 20 years. Initially with the Grameen and World Bank in Bangladesh, for the last 17 years he focused his work in the UK and Europe. In 2000 he set up the first microcredit program in London’s east end, and in 2005 launched Fair Finance, a social enterprise tackling financial exclusion in the UK.Read more
Marie Marin
Founding Chief Executive of Employers For Childcare – a charity and Social Enterprise established to help parents get into, and stay in work - Marie Marin has over 20 years’ experience as a Social Entrepreneur and is a leading light in the sector, renowned for her passion, vision and drive.Read more
Sarah Crawley
Sarah is the founder and CEO of ISE, a social enterprise which was established in June 2000 based in Digbeth, Birmingham. Since its inception ISE has supported the start-up of over 350 social enterprises and works with an additional 500 SE’s supporting business growth and enhancing social value.Read more
Anwar Ali
Anwar Ali is a social entrepreneur, devoted family man, Co-Founder and highly motivated CEO of Upturn Enterprise Limited with over 20 years management experience leading teams that make a difference to people, communities and business.Read more
Professor Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist, and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance.Read more
Guy Turnbull & Margaret Elliott OBE
Dr Guy Turnbull has been involved in the co-operative and social enterprise sector since 1988, and is the former Managing Director of Care & Share Associates Limited. Margaret Elliott OBE is a Founder Member of Care And Share Associates Limited.Read more
Sophi Tranchell MBE
Sophi Tranchell is CEO of Divine Chocolate Ltd, the innovative Fairtrade company which is 44% owned by Kuapa Kokoo cocoa farmers’ co-operative in Ghana. Under her leadership, Divine has become a successful international company, now worth over £12m.Read more
Mark Sesnan
Mark Sesnan is the MD of the UK’s leading leisure charitable social enterprise GLL, founded in 1993 as a ‘spin out’ – and which now runs 258 leisure centres & gyms, 113 libraries and 10 children’s centres across the UK.Read more
Liz Tapner
Liz is the driving force behind Selnet, the Social Enterprise Network for Lancashire and, as chief executive, she’s been responsible for developing it into a major infrastructure organisation.Read more
Fay Selvan & Edna Robinson
Fay Selvan started working as a social entrepreneur in 1991, and established The Big Life group in 2002. Edna Robinson is Chair of The Big Life group and Trafford Housing Trust.Read more
Gina Rowlands
Gina is the Managing Director of Bevan Healthcare CIC. Bevan Healthcare CIC is a social enterprise delivering primary care to the homeless, asylum seekers and refugees in Bradford and Leeds.Read more
Professor Jo Pritchard MBE
Jo, a registered nurse and health visitor, was instrumental in 2006 in establishing the first social enterprise to come out of the NHS in England.Read more
John McMullan
John has been employed by Bryson since 1985 and now holds the position of Chief Executive of the Bryson Group, which is one of the UK’s leading Social Enterprises and one of Northern Ireland’s oldest charities.Read more
Mariana Mazzucato
Mariana Mazzucato is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, University College London (UCL) and Director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose.Read more
Gerry Higgins
Gerry is CEO at CEIS Group and a Director at the Social Value Lab, Ready for Business LLP, CEIS Ayrshire, DSL Business Finance, Indigo Childcare, Social Enterprise UK and Social Enterprise World Forum CIC.Read more
Clive Hirst
Clive believes our society and environment can best be preserved when social enterprise becomes the preferred model for business. He is a passionate advocate for the values of social enterprise.Read more
Lindsey Hall & Matt Little
Lindsey Hall is co-founder and CEO of the Real Ideas Organisation group, leading and managing the organisation. Matt is a founder director and Head of Impact and Research at the Real Ideas Organisation.Read more
Kelly Davies
Kelly Davies founded Vi-Ability - a social business simultaneously tackling the issues of commercially unsustainable football clubs and youth disengagement from education.Read more
Graham Bell
Graham is the Chief Executive at Kibble, one of Scotland's oldest charities now operating as a social enterprise.Read more
Claire Dove CBE DL
Claire Dove CBE DL was recently appointed as the Crown Representative for the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector. She is a passionate champion of the social enterprise movement.Read more
Phil Geraghty
Phil has nurtured the growth of Crowdfunder with the sole purpose of changing the world through enabling great ideas to happen.Read more
Elaine Lilley
Elaine Lilley founded The EBP in 2001. During her time leading the organisation Elaine guided it to become one of the UK’s foremost social enterprises.Read more
Paul Roberts
Paul has been CEO of Ashton for 25 years during which time it has grown from a small community business into a highly successful regeneration social enterprise employing over 230 people in North Belfast.Read more
Lord John Bird and Nigel Kershaw
Lord John Bird MBE is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Big Issue. Nigel Kershaw OBE is Chair of The Big Issue Group.Read more