We’re happy to let you know that the fantastic Sarah Swanson is going to be our next chief executive, starting in November.
Sarah’s worked in health, social care, housing and community services for more than 20 years, leading large charities and organisations across the North West. Throughout her career, Sarah has focused on helping people live safer, healthier and more independent lives, while supporting teams to do their best work. Right now, Sarah’s executive director of Syncora, part of The Calico Group, where she’s leading a range of care, support and housing services that reach thousands of people each year.
Sarah’s known for being approachable, compassionate and people-focused, with a strong belief in listening to others, building partnerships and making sure the voices of the people who use services are at the heart of decisions. In a complete full-circle moment, Sarah actually did her placement with PSS back when she was at uni… and now she’s back as our new CEO.
Sarah says:
‘I’m delighted to join PSS as chief executive. PSS has such an impressive history and continues to deliver a range of essential services to people who need them. I am looking forward to spending time in services, meeting with all team members and hearing more from the people who use our services. It’s an exciting time with the recent launch of PSS’s five year strategy (The Big Plan) to create more opportunities for us to support more people.’
Julie Cooke, Chair of the PSS Board of Trustees, led the recruitment of a new chief executive for PSS. She said: ‘Sarah’s impressive mix of skills and experience align perfectly with where PSS is heading and make her an excellent choice to be our next chief executive. She has lots of experience in leading large, complex organisations and has a brilliant track-record with continuous improvement and growth. Sarah’s compassionate leadership style and big belief in listening to her team, building partnerships and making sure the voices of the people who use services are front and centre when making decisions, made her an outstanding candidate. The PSS Board and I couldn’t be happier with our selection.
'While Sarah gets ready to join us, we’re really pleased that PSS will be led by Harriet Michael-Phillips, our director of operations, who we’re really happy has accepted the role as our interim CEO. Harriet has a huge breadth of expertise, and, having been an integral part of our leadership team for over seven years, knows PSS inside-out and has a deep understanding of our values, our services and our ambitions for the future. Working closely with Sharon, our director of finance and people, Harriet will provide the strong and steady leadership she’s known for, making sure we carry on giving people the best possible support, led by our values.’
We can't wait to introduce you to Sarah when she starts with us in November.