Dr David Atkinson is both an award-winning researcher and a practitioner of enterprise and entrepreneurship in their widest sense. His monograph, Thinking the Art of Management, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2007. With a new book project nearing submission, his interest in applied philosophy accompanies 15+ years commercial, entrepreneurial and organisational leadership experience, built on an extensive career as a communications and IT & systems analyst, consultant project engineer and manager in public service. With one of his more recent ventures, he held a position in the StartUps.co.uk ‘Top 100 startups to watch’. for three consecutive years.

David is openly, and proudly autistic. In 2000, he embarked on an academic journey while engaging in business creation. Since 2018, he has been working part-time in academia, where his neuro-divergent free-thinking and curious nature have been central to what and how he achieves what he does. His focus in his new book project is on developing his past and current research and experience of embedding critical philosophical approaches to sensemaking about the reality of capitalist enterprise. This offers potential benefits to understanding our place within the moral, social and political dimensions of socio-economic organisational praxis.

In short: David thinks critically about our emergence in an uncertain world of socio-economic, enterprising work.

Compassion for all is Sal’s guiding principle. She brings literature, particularly poetry, and play to the conversation in order to bypass habitual thinking and allow people to take themselves by surprise with their responses.

Experiential learning, where we learn something through experiencing a shift, in our understanding, is more likely to help us find something new in ourselves than any amount of reading textbooks, attending lectures or seminars, and sitting tests or exams. It is also results in expanded appreciation of ourselves and others, and of how we can choose a new response in order to get a transformed result.

Sal came to InterBe after; 20 years in education, an NLP Diploma, Practitioner, and two Master Practitioner trainings, coaching certification and a Narrative Coaching programme. All of her training has been in the form of experiential learning and has had a deep impact on her way of being.

She is particularly inspired by literature and film; the pioneering work of Michael White; and, since 2006, by working with Mo and Simon at InterBe.

Minter Dial is an international professional and energetic speaker and a multiple award-winning author, specialised in leadership, branding and transformation. An agent of change, he’s a three-time entrepreneur who has exercised twelve different métiers and changed country fifteen times.

Minter’s core career stint of 16 years was spent as a top executive at L’Oréal, where he was a member of the worldwide Executive Committee for the Professional Products Division. He’s author of the award-winning WWII story, The Last Ring Home (documentary film and biographical book, 2016) as well as two prize-winning business books, Futureproof (2017) and Heartificial Empathy (2019). His next book on leadership, You Lead, How being yourself makes you a better leader (Kogan Page) comes out in January 2021.

He’s been host of the Minter Dialogue weekly podcast since 2010. He is passionate about the Grateful Dead, Padel Tennis, languages and generating meaningful conversations. @mdial / minterdial.com   

His new book, You Lead, How Being Yourself Makes You A Better Leader (by Kogan Page), which launches Jan 3, is available at all fine etailers.

John Preston joined The Conservation Volunteers (then BTCV) whilst still at school, after a degree (geography and statistics) at St Andrews.

He came to Leeds as a live-in Long Term Volunteer at Hollybush Conservation Centre.

After 18 months in Doncaster with BTCV on Community Programme he came back to Leeds as a Project Officer. For 20 years he was the “Centre Manager” of Hollybush, leading its evolution into the busy inclusive environmental volunteering centre it is today.

In 2018 he moved sideways to be Business Development Manager for TCV covering the North (Liverpool to Hull) this role has a strong Leeds focus as 15% of TCV nationally is Leeds. 

He continues to contribute to environmental and general third sector forums. 

Outside of work he is a volunteer recorder and speaker for the BTO and holds a private pilot licence.  

Aaron was appointed Chief Executive of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust in March 2018 after first joining in January 2014 as Director of Finance / Deputy Chief Executive.

An experienced and motivated professional, Aaron’s previous roles include Director of Finance / Deputy Chief Executive of Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, and Director of Finance at Liverpool Heart and Chest NHS Foundation Trust.

Aaron began his career in the NHS as a National Graduate Trainee in 2000 and has held a number of senior management positions in the acute and community provider sector during this time.

More recently, Aaron was chosen to take part in the National Leadership Centre programme to improve public services, and has also had involvement in the Covid-19 national test and trace programme. Aaron also sits on the Integrated Care System (ICS) Digital Portfolio Board.

Aaron has also held a number of national roles including chair of the Foundation Trust Network Finance Directors’ Forum and the Government ProcurementServices (GPS) Customer Board, as well as being a member of the National Procurement Council.