At SocietyWorks we’re proud to have a small but incredible team of people using their skills and experience to support our public sector clients and help our parent charity mySociety achieve its ambitious objectives.
In this series of blog posts, we speak to the people behind SocietyWorks to share their stories.
This time we’re chatting with Mandy Merron, Chair of the SocietyWorks board of directors.
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Mandy Merron became Chair of the SocietyWorks board of directors in January 2022.
Like all of our board members, she gives her time and extensive expertise to SocietyWorks voluntarily.
As well as being our Chair, Mandy also sits on the board of our parent charity mySociety as a Trustee.
Could you tell us a bit more about yourself and your career?
“Well, I trained as an accountant and then I moved into specialising in working with media, marketing and digital media businesses.
“I spent over 30 years of my career working at Moore Kingston Smith. For most of that time I was advising businesses on how to grow and build value. More recently I set up a specialist mergers and acquisitions division of the media team.
“Also, I served on the board of the Data and Marketing Association for ten years and the Telephone Preference Service.
“In addition to sitting on the SocietyWorks and mySociety boards, I’m involved in various other things including sitting on the board of a local athletics club and a local primary school. I’m also a non-executive director for two other businesses.
“So although I’ve stepped back from full-time work now, I’m keeping busy but enjoying having a bit more time to play!
“I feel very lucky to work with some lovely people and to be able to help some very interesting organisations which in turn help me to continue to learn.”
As a not-for-profit group, it’s great for us to have someone with your financial and commercial background steering the board. What brought you to SocietyWorks?
“My journey here started when I joined the mySociety board as Treasurer. It’s a position that organisations often struggle to fill, but I’d worked with mySociety’s former Chief Executive Mark Cridge in the past, he knew my background and he invited me to take on the challenge.
“When the position of Chair came up on the SocietyWorks board I was very interested because of my history working with growing digital businesses, so I thought, yeah, I could probably help make a difference here!”
What’s it like being Chair of the SocietyWorks board?
“I see my role here as being the chief cheerleader and bouncer-of-ideas for the senior leadership team. My experiences mean I can be there for the ‘what-if’ scenarios. I’m a sounding board and a critical friend.
“I can’t tell you how rewarding and exciting it is being on the SocietyWorks board. There’s a wonderful team here punching way above their weight, we have genuinely excellent products that bring about genuine impact for the public sector and it all supports the important work mySociety does.”
What are you hoping to achieve in your position on the SocietyWorks board?
“I suppose ultimately what I want to achieve is for SocietyWorks to reach its full potential, both in terms of what it can do for the public sector and in how it can support mySociety with unrestricted funding to fuel democracy technology that feels more necessary and relevant than ever.
“We share the same goals as our customers, and that’s a really important differentiator. We’re not here just to make money, we have a purpose to extend the impact of mySociety and help the public sector better serve people through technology.”
What does being a board member for a not-for-profit organisation mean to you?
“I think like most people who volunteer their time to help not-for-profit businesses grow, it’s about giving back. If you’ve got a skill, a growth mindset and the time, then why not?
“It’s not just a cliche of giving back, though. In all honesty, I have learnt and continue to learn exponentially from the teams at SocietyWorks and mySociety.
“What’s in it for me is a lot of new learning about civic society and civic tech, and on a more basic level, it makes you feel good to be doing something that’s not just for you.
“There’s a podcast I listen to called The Happiness Podcast by Dr. Laurie Santos and on there is a lot discussion about how one of the things that makes people happy is doing things for other people – and I agree with that.”
Thinking about the challenges facing the public sector, how important is the work SocietyWorks does?
“Councils are under immense pressure to deliver all of the things that are required of them with depleting resources.
“The fact that we can automate that delivery across different services in an incredibly user-friendly and reliable way, while reducing costs and freeing up resources, is game-changing, and I really do believe that we can and will do more to support councils in the future.”