Associates Team

Katie is an experienced trainer, facilitator and coach. She is especially interested in helping people think well for themselves and with each other to improve decision-making and deliver meaningful change. Formerly a Senior Civil Servant with over twenty years’ experience in the Department for Education and Department of Work and Pensions, Katie has been a Dods Associate for eight years. She regularly leads strategic thinking, leadership and policy development courses for public servants and public policy partners in the UK and overseas. Katie is also Vice Chair of Governors for her local Further Education College group.

A 30-year career in education, with more than a third of it as part of the SCS working at the highest levels of government. David has led teams, divisions and groups of all sizes. He was Bill manager for the 2005 Education Act, regional lead for the Education Funding Agency. He was heavily involved in the Trojan Horse affair in Birmingham. He has been a leader in early years, schools and further education policy arenas. He worked directly to 8 Secretary of State and countless ministers. David continues to work in the education sector, helping to improve governance, financial decision making and strategy. He chairs a junior school, 2 secondary schools, an FE college and the Board of Studies at the Faculty of Nedicibe and Allied Health at the University of Buckingham.  He has been a Dods associate for over 5 years, with a particular focus on leadership, strategy, policy making and drafting skills. 

Sam is a proven coach, trainer and facilitator with extensive experience of operational and policy delivery, Parliamentary business and leading through change gained during a diverse 28 year Civil Service career, including ten years in the SCS. Working in departments including the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice and their executive agencies, her experience includes extensive collaboration with public and third sector agencies and partners and a secondment to the charitable sector. Sam was also a senior Trade Union representative and a Departmental Diversity Champion for the MOJ.  

In her training and facilitation, Sam draws on her career experience and professional qualifications in coaching and workplace mediation to enable individuals, leaders, teams and organisations across the public, charitable and private sectors to communicate effectively, collaborate widely, explore choices and solutions and work towards successful outcomes. She is passionate about enabling individuals, teams and organisations to understand and work with their strengths to achieve their goals. 

Sam has been a Dods Associate for seven years and regularly leads sessions on communicating well, negotiating effectively and policy development for a range of public sector organisations in the UK and for overseas delegations. She is also a sought-after mentor for participants on the Crossing Thresholds development programme for aspiring female leaders.’ 

Matthew Cox is an experienced trainer on policy courses and a former UK senior civil servant.  His specialisms include trade policy, relations with the European Union and regulatory impact assessment.   

Matthew’s civil service career included trade, regulatory policy and industrial sponsorship roles as well as Private Office.  He holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from University College London. 

Simon is an experienced trainer with a strong background in policy development and delivery. A former UK Civil Servant, Simon spent most of his career working on domestic security policy, including the Government's response to the Bichard Inquiry and the terrorist bombings of July 2005. He was also a Programme Director within the Home Office where he had responsibility for delivering the National Police Air Service.  

Upon leaving the Civil Service, Simon spent several years as a Strategic Advisor to Abu Dhabi Police and the Ministry of Interior in the United Arab Emirates where he supported senior leaders develop the country's policy capability. Since returning to the UK, Simon now works in cyber security and recently became Chief Executive Officer of the Cyber Resilience Centre for London - a key deliverable of the Government's new National Cyber Strategy.

Charles Lister has been a Dods Associate for 10 years and has extensive experience of running workshops on policy and negotiating skills, working with stakeholders and writing for Ministers. 

Charles was Head of Policy at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology where he led public consultations on cutting edge areas of science and influenced changes in UK and European legislation.   He also held senior roles at the Department of Health on areas including blood safety and supply and NHS leadership. 

He currently chairs the board of the Caldecott Foundation which provides residential care, fostering and education for some of the UK’s most vulnerable children. 

Zoë is a highly experienced, CIPD-qualified training consultant, delivering advice, coaching and training in policy and communication skills. She spent much of her career in the civil service, mostly as a policy adviser in various departments, before being appointed as a senior lecturer in policy and government at the National School of Government. It was here she discovered her passion for helping people to work more effectively and with impact and confidence.

She is a highly effective and motivational coach and trainer, and has applied her professional experience, together with her training and coaching skills, to deliver training programmes for a wide range of organisations, both in the UK and EU as well as extensively across the world. She has run effective and engaging writing and policy development courses for a diverse range of bodies over many years and is a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe.

Zoë was a Private Secretary to a senior Cabinet Minister and headed up a Strategy Unit, working closely with the Ministerial team and Special Advisers. She has also worked in the private, local government and voluntary sectors, and is a published author of several short stories.

Gareth is highly skilled in learning design and delivery, coaching, facilitation and delivering capability improvements at organisational level. He particularly enjoys working with cause-led organisations and helping individuals unlock their innate potential. 
 
Formerly a civil servant with over fifteen years’ experience in central government, Gareth has been a Dods Associate for over three years. Gareth regularly leads leadership and management development programmes for public servants, and has facilitated learning for over 3,600 people since January 2018, including technology-enabled learning to c.2,300 people from March 2020 onwards(*).