New voluntary sector CEO ready to help her community grow
The new CEO of a city voluntary action organisation has vowed to champion all the organisations under her watch and help them flourish.
Sharon Nanan-Sen has set out her mission statement as the new chief executive officer (CEO) for Wolverhampton Voluntary and Community Action (WVCA), an organisation which works to help voluntary groups and organisations across the city to flourish.
She said: "We are here to support and champion the voluntary and community sector, which ranges from very tiny organisations to multi-million-pound charities across Wolverhampton.
"We have to make sure that we champion those organisations and the voice of the sector in forums where they don't usually go, such as the One Wolverhampton Board, and be the voluntary sector champion, take the part of the agenda and take it to the board.
"I think it's a huge priority for WVCA to be recognised as the voice of the sector and champion the voluntary sector."
Ms Nanan-Sen has been in the role since the start of September, having been part of the organisation for eight years and building up a relationship with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, making sure they had the resources and funding to be able to grow and have success.
This followed on from working in Local Government for more than 25 years, with her roles including strategic lead for services for young people in children’s services and general manager for Adult Services.
She said she had helped hundreds of groups across the city to access funding, with particular focus and success with groups supporting children with sensory difficulties, Afro-Caribbean communities, Asian communities and LGBTQI+ communities.
She that after eight years of working in that role, she decided to apply for the role of CEO when it became available as she wanted a new challenge and described the application process for her new role.
She said: "I've been through a very long and thorough recruitment process and I didn't tell anyone I was applying for it, but did and was shortlisted among about six or seven other people.
"I then had to go to the interview, do a Powerpoint presentation to the panel, which was the previous chief executive and two board members, and then do a staff interview after that.
"After they reduced the shortlist to three people, there was a further interview, with five people on the panel, then a further interview, after which I was given the job."
Ms Nanan-Sen said she had been overjoyed to be offered the role, saying that she had screamed with excitement when she got the call with the offer.
She also said that she had had to hit the ground running since starting the role, but said she knew that coming in and had laid the foundations before starting the role, and also said the demands on her time had become greater.
She said: "I'd made it clear that I wouldn't have applied if I hadn't wanted to do the job, so I've been working on laying the foundations for what I wanted to do in the role in the weeks before I started.
"Once I knew I'd got it, I called a staff meeting and met with everyone to basically re-introduce myself as they haven't known me in that role and the years of work I'd done in the sector before I joined WVCA.
"We have some serious pressing agendas in Wolverhampton in terms of health and social care and voluntary sector, so it's absolutely full on and everyone wants you to be at their meeting, so it's very much about being organised and having your priorities straight."
Looking ahead, Ms Nanan-Sen said the role of WVCA was all about the communities of the city and about how the organisation can contribute towards improving people's lives in the city.
She said: "I've lived in this city for more than 30 years and I'm from this area, so I think it's important that we always talk about local people in local jobs and every penny I spend contributes to the local economy.
"I'm not spending my money anywhere else and I think it's important that we contribute to Wolverhampton and we grow the economy and our communities and we make sure they have good services and activities and are able to live better lives."
To find out more about the work of Wolverhampton Voluntary and Community Action, go to wvca.org.uk
