Belinda is the course leader for Leadership in Communities BSc at the School of Social Sciences and Professions.
Belinda gained her PhD (Community Engagement in Commissioning Health Care) from London Metropolitan University in 1997. She led Health Studies BSc at London Met from 1996-2003, when she left to become Senior Policy Officer and later Head of Policy at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). In these roles she influenced government policy on a range of issues affecting voluntary and community organisations from charity law to climate change and was a strong advocate for the sector. From 2011-2022 Belinda was a freelance consultation providing support to voluntary and community organisations to help them meet the challenges of a rapidly changing environment. Her work was tailored to the needs of individual organisations, whether that was strategic planning, governance, research and evaluation, social enterprise development or another issue. Alongside her freelance work, Belinda was an Associate Lecturer on Leadership in Communities BSc at London Met before joining the team permanently as Course Lead in 2022.
Belinda is passionate about the potential of voluntary and community organisations to make a positive difference to people's lives and as a freelancer she worked closely with leadership teams to enable them to make that difference. As course lead for Leadership in Communities BSc Belinda sees her role as supporting the next generation of leaders, teaching them about the theory and practice of leadership and management as well as principles of community work. She runs a module on social enterprise that draws on the same teaching and learning materials and activities that are used with voluntary organisations, bringing the 'real world' into the classroom. Belinda also supervises students in their final year work placement, an opportunity for them to apply what they have learned on their degree and gain professional experience in an area they are passionate about.