Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Adrian Sell as Interim CEO effective from 1st July 2020 through to the end of the year.
This follows the announcement that current CEO, Jayne Woodley, will leave on 30th June after ten successful years in which OCF was transformed from grant maker to an organisation focused on strategic programmes.
“OCF’s key focus right now is developing and using our COVID-19 Resilience Fund to help the voluntary sector in Oxfordshire respond better and recover stronger from the pandemic,” says Nick Case, Interim Chair of OCF. “So, finding someone with the skills and experience to lead OCF to deliver the maximum benefit possible for the county was our top criterion.”
Adrian is uniquely qualified for the task ahead, with a background in crisis response around the world, and strong connections with the local community and voluntary sector in Oxfordshire. His experience includes working on hurricane response, refugee and post-conflict programmes in Rwanda, Liberia, Kosovo, Dominican Republic and Algeria. Locally he has worked for Oxfordshire County Council and spent 10 years in the voluntary sector with East Oxford Action, Director of Services for Age UK Oxfordshire and Executive Director of OXPIP. More recently he was CEO of international mental health charity BasicNeeds.
Looking forward to the new role, Adrian comments, “I am humbled and excited to be taking on the CEO role at OCF at this critical time. The organisation has been at the forefront of supporting and driving the community response to COVID-19 across Oxfordshire, and I hope to continue the good work and help make sure that the sector and communities of Oxfordshire can recover stronger from the crisis.”
Adrian has been involved with OCF’s Resilience Fund work since April, leading the planning of the ‘recovery’ element of the work which will move beyond immediate relief to help communities and the voluntary sector recover stronger.