Our People

Jane Cooper

After reading English at Oxford, Jane joined NatWest where she gained a significant grounding in marketing and product innovation, working primarily in the small business and card services arenas.  Later a stint in Group Strategy and Communications played to Jane's strengths as a strategic thinker and problem solver. Here she worked directly for the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive of the division, honing her policy writing and speech writing skills in tandem.
 
The opportunity to create and lead the Major Gifts role at The Prince's Trust lured Jane to the third sector in a paid capacity for the first time, though she had been volunteering from an early age. Jane led a successful team at the Trust, building on strong existing relationships and developing some significant new ones, especially with US funders and UK based foundations.

After a brief career break to have her first child and take her Masters Degree at the University of London, Jane returned to work as a consultant, working with charities as diverse as the Toxoplasmosis Trust and Help the Aged. She has also led consulting teams working on strategic corporate responsibility with Vodafone, BP and Microsoft.

Jane has run numerous training courses in Corporate partnerships and creative thinking, and has been a frequent contributor to the trade press.

She has recently returned from five years working and travelling in Asia, where she ran her own not-for-profit and began learning Mandarin.

Jane has been a Trustee for Centrepoint — the leading charity for homeless young people, on the Southern Board of the Lotteries' Board, and now volunteers for a number of charities, including the Countryside Education Trust, founded by her father.  She is a published poet and a Fellow of the RSA.