Joanne Lacey
Senior operator (aka do-er)
I don't just advise. I help make it happen.
Someone recently asked me what my superpower is. I was a tiny bit tempted to answer, 'not using terms like superpower'’, but I paused and remembered something a former colleague once said: 'Your biggest strength is your ability to rapidly understand context, connect the dots and then do something about it.'
I’ve been a COO, CMO and CCO making me a generalist by design, a specialist by company type. I love nurturing teams, taming internal chaos, planning GTM strategies and building trusted partnerships; even more so if the organisational purpose is impact led.
As an operational leader, I think ahead and untangle problems or challenging situations. I build processes that keep everyone and everything on track, spotting risks before they become painful. My commercial background means I have a keen eye for positioning and communications, and always prioritise the PL over vanity projects. I’m also a pretty good diplomat, despite being known for saying it how it is.
Could you use someone like me on your team? Let’s talk.
STARTUPS & SMES
What I’ve done / what I do
- Fundraise
- Co-led $10m raise across seed and pre-Series A rounds; help early stage start-ups get investment ready, develop grant applications and pitch decks, manage data rooms to support due diligence.
- Build
- Hired remote international teams and created operational infrastructure; design playbooks and reporting frameworks, shape and challenge business plans.
- Scale
- Helped scale a business from 15 to 150 people and led post-acquisition integration; manage restructures and pivots.
- Exit
- Led a positioning and rebrand programme that supported fundraising and contributed to a $50m+ exit.
IMPACT-LED ORGANISATIONS
What I’ve done / what I do
- Lead
- Stepped into interim CEO roles; work with boards and SMTs to navigate periods of organisational change or crisis.
- Govern
- Overseen investigations & audits and fixed grant making operations; develop policies, SOPs and data management frameworks.
- Engage
- Led cross-stakeholder initiatives involving industry, government and public bodies; design programmes from concept through to implementation.
- Influence
- Co-chaired industry committees leading to parliamentary debate and new standard adoption; facilitate collaboration, change and innovation.
When I can help
- You've raised and now need to build the organisation behind the plan.
- You're growing and need someone to reduce the chaos or own a new project.
- You've hit a roadblock and something fundamental needs to change.
When I can help
- You're a board embarking on leadership or organisational change.
- You need commercial thinking without losing sight of impact.
- You're launching a new programme, event or income stream.