ICG Board of Directors
Sarah Finnegan-Dehn President Installed as Vice President at the 2010 ICG Conference in Belfast. Keen to harness the support and potential of careers professionals and others to work on behalf of the ICG and promote the value of Careers work, Sarah is passionate about ensuring that the vital role played by specialist professional career guidance continues to be recognised.
She is a strong proponent of the ICG promoting high quality provision through its activities and developing a persuasive evidence base to present to policy makers. Having been brought up in Sussex, studied in Hull, trained as a Careers Adviser in Newcastle upon Tyne and worked in Cheshire, Sarah moved to Wales and worked in a variety of roles over a period of 20 years, having during that time become a fluent Welsh speaker! She became Chief Executive of Careers Wales North West in 2008. Her experience within a national All Age Career Guidance Service that supports clients in a variety of ways to make effective career decisions provides a positive backcloth in terms of good practice. She is eager to continue to develop the UK perspective of the Institute to support and strengthen the profession in the challenging times ahead. She has been a member of the ICG throughout her career and brings a both a strategic and operational perspective to the role and looks forward to working with, and on behalf of, ICG colleagues to deliver clear messages about the crucial nature of our profession with an ever strengthening voice.
David Milton Vice President   I have over forty years of experience in career guidance, encompassing a wide variety of roles. I began as a careers adviser working in schools with the City of Leicester which had sponsored me to undertake training at the College of Guidance Studies at Swanley.
In 1973 I moved to Kent Careers Service to take up a role as an HE specialist and then moved on to team leader and area careers adviser. In 1993 I joined the senior management team with specific responsibility for planning career guidance in Kent Schools. Under privatisation I became Assistant General Manager first with Careers Enterprise and then with VT Careers Management. My most recent experience, before retiring in February 2011, was as the senior management lead for careers guidance with Connexions Kent & Medway, during which time we were seen as being at the forefront of innovation in career guidance, evidenced by winning four National Career Awards. During the whole of my career, my priority has been to ensure that young people had access to high quality career guidance.
Steve Higginbotham Immediate Past President Installed during the ICG Annual Conference 2010 in Belfast. For 30 years, Steve has dedicated his working life to the practice, provision and promotion of professional career guidance services. He is a passionate advocate of professional career guidance and the need for its universal availability.
As the Chief Executive of Igen, he gained an important knowledge and experience, particularly in relation to lobbying service development, future positioning and presentation at the national level. His position as chair of Careers Scotland's 'Adult Task Force' has also proven to be asn invaluable experience for his involvement with the ICG. He has recognised the emerging public consensus for the need to improve careers IAG for people of all ages and a recognition of a growing need for professional impartial advice. He sees the ICG as being the leading authoritive voice of career guidance professionals, working on behalf of its members to influence future policy and practice and intends to see it recognised as the lead career guidance professional body in the UK.
Director (Chair) Trevor Mason   Trevor Mason is the Chief Executive of Aspire-i Ltd and was appointed in May 2008. He has wide-ranging experience in both the public and private sector of developing and managing IAG, training and recruitment services as well as contributing to broader social and regeneration programmes.   Aspire-i is a social enterprise working primarily in the Bradford area and specialising in providing guidance and support services to individuals in the labour market.	Trevor Mason is Chair of the ICG Board
Prior to taking up this role Trevor worked as Operations Director for a national care organisation and previously as Chief Executive of Lifetime South Yorkshire for some eight years. During this time he established the Company on behalf of its parent organisation, the specialist education provider Nord Anglia PLC, and led its growth and development into a successful business specialising in the provision of career development, employment and regeneration services.   As part of his role with Lifetime, Trevor also contributed to the Nord Anglia portfolio leading a number of strategic and business development projects, eventually moving to a new role in the parent company as Director of Nord Anglia Training and Recruitment. In past roles Trevor has also worked as a Director in a Training and Enterprise Council and as a Principal Careers Officer. His knowledge of developing and managing career development services is complemented by a sound understanding of the learning and skills sector, coupled with significant experience of working with regional and strategic development and funding bodies. He has held a number of senior representational and Board level roles including with Careers England, Connexions South Yorkshire, and the Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Association of Careers Services.
Director Karen O'Donoghue   Karen O'Donoghue has recently been appointed as Joint Chief Executive of Lancashire employment and careers organisations, CXL (a social business based in the North West) and Lancashire Education Business Partnership (a company with charitable status.
Karen was Managing Director of CXL from its inception and prior to that was Chief Executive of CareerLink (the careers service for Lancashire North and West) and Connexions Lancashire Ltd.   A qualified Careers Adviser, Karen has a long track record in the Careers, Connexions and Training & Education sectors and has overseen structural, strategic and cultural changes within the industry.   Karen has Board level experience in the voluntary, housing and training sectors including at chair and national level. She was a finalist in the Lancashire Business Woman of the Year Awards 2007, sponsored by Business Link, and won a Highly Commended award in the 2008 "Woman in Business" East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce Awards.
Honorary Secretary Monica I Lemecha Monica is an ICG past-President. Having trained as a careers adviser in 1974 she worked initially for Sunderland Careers Service before moving to Tameside in Greater Manchester.
Monica was promoted to Principal Careers Officer in 1982 and took on the role of Director of Business Development when Tameside Careers Service became part of Careers Partnership following privatisation in 1995.
Colin Thompson Honorary Treasurer I joined the Institute as a student member in 1971,whilst studying for the Diploma of the Youth Employment Service Training Board, predecessor of the Diploma of Careers Guidance. Within a couple of years I was elected the Public Relations Officer for the London and South East Branch.
In the mid seventies work took me to the West Midlands, where shortly after I joined the Institue's training sub-committee, and then was elected as Branch Representative. Thereafter I was appointed National Press and Public Relations Officer. !n 1989 I was elected Junior Vice President, becoming President in 1991. I was subsequently involved in establishing the Ethics Committee, and later became its Chairman. I then became Chairman of the Board, ultimately retiring in about 2001. At the AGM in 2011, I was asked to put myself forward as Honorary Treasurer for "few months" until the ICG had completed its restructuring, and was able to make a more permanent appointment. My working life took me as a Careers Officer from Inner London to Milton Keynes, Wolverhampton, Leeds and Surrey. I was responsible for the Careers Service in Leeds and then in Surrey. With the externalisation of the Careers Servive in 1994, I established a successful company called Careers Management, which at the time of my reirement provided Careers Services in Hampshire, Isle of Wight, West Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Buckinghamshire,East London, Inner London and North Yorkshire. Shortly before retirement I was made a Fellow of the College of Guidance Studies. Since Retirement I have been invoved in my local Parish Council as Chair of Policy and Resources Committee, and Chair of a local environmental trust. I look forward to returning to obscurity!
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