Sharon Nanan-Sen
“The work that the Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise and Faith (VCSEF) sector does and the impact it has on local communities, often goes under the radar and should be understood and valued for its unique position and offer.
“If you think about the roots of the VCSEF, groups develop through a bottom-up approach, not top down. Someone might have a traumatic experience and there is no service for them; they don’t want this to happen to someone else, so they start a group and fill the gap. That is what is special, and it is replicated right across the VCSEF not just in Wolverhampton but across the country. We have hundreds of volunteers and carers so really, it’s about people power and organisations grow from that.”
Sharon spent over 25 years working in local government within different Councils undertaking roles including, Economic Development working with local communities, Commissioning and Contracts Manager for residential and nursing care, General Manager for Adult Services with a focus on modernisation and service improvement and finally as the Strategic Lead for Services for Young People in Children’s Services where she led on service redesign.
In 2015 she moved into the Voluntary and Community Sector working for Wolverhampton Voluntary Community Action (WVCA) where she is now the Chief Executive Officer. WVCA supports the sector to start, develop and grow groups, charities, and social enterprises. It provides infrastructure support to the wider sector, promotes partnership working with a wide range of organisations and strategic partners and works to bring in funding across the VCSEF sector.
Her role within the partnership is to champion the VCSEF perspective and voice of the sector, ensuring that the valuable contribution they make to the local economy and impact they have on improving the lives of local people, is highlighted and taken into account when decisions are being made around service design, co-production and delivery in Wolverhampton. In her spare time, she likes to spend time with family and friends and enjoys playing Fantasy Football.