About
Tessé served as an Equal Opportunities Commissioner, a Non-Executive in the NHS (13 years), a governor of International Students House (ISH) and served as a chair of the Governance and Nominations Committee of ISH until December 2019. Tesse, lead consultant for Bates Wells London LLP, was an Associate of the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at CASS Business School and was a CCE Coach (2005-2017). She undertook governance work for the Association of English Cathedrals (2017-2019), has undertaken a governance effectiveness review for British Council and is undertaking a review for Terrence Higgins Trust (THT). Tesse is thrilled to work with GuildHE on inclusive leadership. RIBA commissioned Tesse to undertake work on good practices in the relationship between board and staff which informed its Code of Conduct.
Tesse has authored over 20 books on governance and leadership. Her published work appears in Robust, Resilient and Ready (Assessing and Strengthening Governance in Charities and Education on Emotional Governance. She has been recognised as a thought leader by leading opinion formers and was in a TEDx Panelist in Texas, USA. She was invited by government advisers and businesses to share her thoughts on issues relating to social entrepreneurship, community engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion. She has been recently been interviewed on BBC Radio London in recognition of her work as a social entrepreur. Brent Magazine showcased Tesse as a high achiever. In 2019 she was invited to the House of Lords to speak at an All Parliamentary Group meeting on broadening the reach of trustees in the voluntary and social sector.
Tesse a coach, poet and story teller is a Champion for Governance 2023 (Chartered Governance Institute United Kingdom and Ireland), Fellow for the Association for Coaches (AoC), member of the Havard Business Review Advisory Council and a member of the Mckinsey Global Survey Panel. Tesse has connected with over 500,000 individuals and organisations by hosting two podcasts TesseTalks (professional focus) and TesseLeads (personal focus) . Her passion is supporting and enabling brilliance in organisations and people. Her framework of compassionate accountability brings a global edge of harmony and sustainability to leadership. She was thrilled to co-create a compassionate accountability framework with the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). Success for Tesse is helping a fast changing world by touching organisations and people one interaction at a time.
Tessé extols the impact of board dynamics from composition, effectiveness impact, effective decision making, leadership styles, tone, psychological safety, authenticity and vulnerability. She has been spotlighted by CGI as a leading Governance Professional and empath. She facilitates a bookclub, TesseReads and is a book reviewer for Weaving Influence, NetGalley, and Chartered Governance Institute (CGI).
A creative, Tesse loves musicals, reading poetry, singing and writing. Hanging out with friends and family is her greatest joy as well as meeting new people and making engaging and life-giving connections.
