The National Youth Agency - Quality Mark Consultants

Quality Mark Consultants

An organisation eligible through an Established self-assessment position, and intending to seek accreditation of the Award would need to register and prepare their self-assessment according to the National Award Guidance. The assessment would then be forwarded and checked by The NYA and assigned to a Quality Mark consultant who will act as the assessor in the accreditation process.

The Quality Mark consultants are a small group of consultants who have received training and ongoing support to act as assessors. They will also assist with the refinement of the process for accreditation.

The consultant will arrange and agree the specification for a visit to the organisation, after which a report and recommendation will be produced and forwarded to The NYA's Quality Standards Committee for a final decision.

The consultants are also available to provide support and advice to organisations working through the Quality Mark self-assessment framework.

If you are interested in any consultancy support for the Quality Mark please contact Lyndsay White.

The Quality Mark Assessors are:

Fiona Factor

Fiona Factor - Quality Mark Assessor Previously responsible for the delivery of the professional youth and community work qualification and Connexions training at the University of Luton, Fiona now works as a freelance consultant undertaking a variety of projects that contribute to the enhancement of service delivery for a range of client groups. In her career she has been a detached worker, local authority trainer, researcher, evaluator and author of key publications within the field. FJ consultancy >>

Sunita Grigg

Sunita Grigg - Quality Mark Assessor Sunita has worked in Central and Local government as well as in the Private, Community and Voluntary sectors as a middle and senior manager. For the last eight years she has successfully run her own training and consultancy business, specialising in leadership, management, business development, quality assurance, equal opportunities, cultural awareness and work/life coaching. She is a qualified NVQ assessor and verifier and an Associate Inspector and consultant with the Adult Learning Inspectorate, OFSTED, LSDA and NYA.

Harriet Gore

Harriet Gore - Quality Mark Assessor Harriet has a wide range of experience of leading and managing informal education. Having worked in both formal and informal educational settings, Harriet’s main area of expertise is youth work and developing integrated services for young people. She has worked in a number of settings including in local authorities; the voluntary and community sector; as a lead inspector with Ofsted, inspecting Connexions, youth services and youth offending teams; and as manager of the organisational development team at the National Youth Agency. Harriet has particular interest in organisational development, equalities, inclusion and diversity, health education, advice, information and counselling, curriculum development and staff development and training. She also has extensive experience in working with socially excluded young people and has developed provision targeted at black and minority ethnic young people; disabled young people; teenage parents and Gay, Lesbian and bisexual young people.

Jude Kutner

Jude Kutner - Quality Mark Assessor Jude has worked for the last 20 years in the social care field across the voluntary, statutory and private sectors. She began her professional life as a youth and community worker and has been responsible for the delivery of a range of young peoples' projects and services. Jude has taught in both FE and HE and she is a qualified assessor and verifier. Now working as a freelance consultant, she undertakes research, evaluation and organisational development for a range of services across all sectors. FJ consultancy >>

Hazel Malcolm

Hazel Malcolm - Quality Mark Assessor Hazel holds a degree in Social Policy and Administration, Youth and Community Work Diploma and is currently studying for a MBA. She has extensive experience in the youth sector. She also offers valuable experience of developing and implementing quality systems such as IIP, BSI 9002, Charter Mark, PQASSO and Business Excellence Model. She developed and implemented The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Quest for Quality initiative and currently sits on the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Midlands Regional Advisory Committee.

Louise Atkin

Louise Atkin is a professional youth and community worker and began her career in youth work as a Community Service Volunteer in Toxteth, Liverpool in 1986, working with young people at risk of school exclusion. Since that time she has worked in a range of youth work and youth justice roles in Liverpool and the West Midlands. In 1999, Louise was appointed as a policy adviser to the Youth Justice Board for England & Wales. She was involved in the establishment of Youth Offending Teams and was responsible for policy development with persistent young offenders. She was then responsible for management of the YJB human resources strategy, this included the development of National Occupational Standards for youth justice and Louise managed the national pilot of the advanced modern apprenticeship. Louise was an additional Ofsted inspector for Connexions and the Youth Service was also part of the Ofsted team inspecting YOTs. Louise established Atkin Associates in 2002 as a small group of associates who specialise in work with young people. This includes consultancy work to develop policy and management within services that work with young people. Atkin Associates also develop and deliver training to managers and practitioners who work with young people.

Maxine Green

Maxine Green Maxine works as a consultant with the voluntary and statutory youth work sector. After qualifying as a youth worker in the 70's and working in a range of different contexts Maxine also studied Social Anthropology and is currently in training to be an Organisational Transactional Analyst and a qualified Coach. These skills have enabled an open consultative approach to her work with a strong emphasis on working with the skills and experience within organisations and building and developing excellent future outcomes. Her broad areas of expertise are: Organisational Development, stabilising organisations facing disruption and change, future positive planning, team building including trouble shooting difficulties, coaching individuals in change situations, coaching individuals and teams to enhance management and develop skills, review of organisational needs and recommendations on future development for increased efficiency and performance and integrating new ways of working in organisations e.g. performance management schemes.

Bryan Merton

Bryan Merton MA, PGCE and BA (Hons) is an independent consultant. He has worked for over 30 years in teaching, youth work, adult and further education and community development. From 1984-96 he was a member of HM Inspectorate for Schools and became the staff inspector responsible for the youth, adult and continuing education team. Bryan has evaluated a wide range of initiatives in the fields of youth policy and community-based learning, in particular with regard to young people at risk, social exclusion and disadvantaged communities. He has written over twenty project reports and has actively contributed to policy-making at senior level within local and national government. Bryan has written and taught extensively on informal learning and its contribution to countering social exclusion and has published his work in books and professional journals. He has also produced materials for training, teaching and learning, and has devised and run training programmes and conferences for managers and practitioners on policy and practice. He is committed to improving the quality of services for young people in their local communities and to exploring innovative responses to enduring social policy challenges.

Colin Smith

Colin enjoys working with young people and youth services. His main youth work experience includes clubs and projects, detached, outdoor education, information and advice, residential, 1:1, group work, sports, and youth centre management. As a consultant, he has been seconded to the Government Office for the South East, for the Department for Education and Skills, and has been employed independently, working closely with Connexions Partnerships and Youth Services in the south east and other regions. With the DfES he has also worked closely with a wide range of voluntary organisations. Colin was also an Additional Inspector with Ofsted, having been a member of teams inspecting local authority youth services, Connexions Partnerships, and a national voluntary youth organisation. In addition to youth work and management skills, Colin offers expertise on self-assessment; observation and evaluation; quality assurance, organisation development -- strategic and operational, management development, project and bid evaluation, preparation and assessment of strategic and operational plans, internal and external inspection of Youth Services and Connexions Partnerships, with assessment, evaluation and feedback, partnership development.