Our People
Who we are
Do-Well brings a wonderful band of people together with a wide range of leadership and management expertise and experience across many different sectors and specialisms.
Launched in 2014 by founder Ken Perry, our passion is for helping people, places and organisations to find their purpose, do well and succeed.
Our approach to our work is unique. Our aim is always to work with you to understand your challenge and to use this understanding to create a programme of work that is tailored to the needs of you, your organisation or your place. Nothing that we do is ‘off the shelve’.
We work across the UK with much of our work currently focused in the North West of England and North Wales. We’re also proud to be able to deliver programmes in Welsh.
The Do-Well Team
Ken Perry, Director, Do-Well
What do you know
I have almost 40 years’ experience working across the public, private and third sectors from the most junior level to holding a Chief Executive position of a high growth, values led organisation for 14 years. I am also a current and very experienced Non-Executive Director, Chair and Vice Chair. I have a MBA from the Open University Business School, am a Fellow of the RSA and the Institute of Directors, a Visiting Industrial Fellow at Wrexham Glyndwr University, an enabler with the Leadership Centre and a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing by examination.
I know what it feels like to practice leadership at the highest level and it is this lived experience, good and bad, that I add to my ongoing learning to help others succeed in a very practical way.
Why do you do what you do?
All of my life I have taken great joy from seeing others succeed. I am now in a fortunate position where I work every day alongside good people who are striving to do great things. If, by having some contact with me it helps them do well, then I am living a useful life and that means everything to me.
I am the Founder of Do-Well but I am not alone. I am surrounded by a wonderful band of people who all share my passion for enabling others to succeed. I help them with their work by co-ordinating and developing the business. My job is to stay connected to everyone we serve, ensure that what we do is the very best it can be, look to the future, ensure we are contemporary in our thinking, connect people and make sure that Do-Well always stays useful.
How can you be useful?
I have found that I am useful in helping people, organisations and places craft and then achieve their purpose and goals. My track record of their successes is strong and grows every day. Working on a one to one basis or working with executive teams, Boards, social movements and communities of interest and/or place, I help others make sense of this ever-changing world, to think deeply and clearly before working with them to act and crucially in many cases, staying with them through the ups and downs of their leadership life.
I am active providing one to one support to leaders and aspiring leading through my unique Consiglieri service. I also help build and maintain social movements for change, connecting people, building personal, community and organisational resilience. I teach people the art of public narrative, I help build and maintain leadership capacity and competence.
What album has most inspired you?
Music is a key part of my life. I do not have a single album that inspires me; as with all of my life I love diversity and have an eclectic taste so when it comes to music I love moving through classical pieces, opera, jazz, folk and rock music as my mood takes me. The first album I remember saving up to buy was ‘The Kids are Alright’ by The Who, so that has a special place in my collection.
Rodger Cairns, Practice Manager
What do you know
I have worked for 35 years across the social housing sector at the interface between housing health and social care. My work has ranged from being a residential social worker working with children in care to the Managing Director of TrustCare, Trafford Housing Trust’s Independent Living service for older and vulnerable people which involved establishing a registered domiciliary care business with an annual turnover of £2m. I am good at developing stakeholder relationships to support business growth and have used my experience to support other organisations with their business development and strategic growth plans. As a trained coach I enjoy supporting teams and individuals to assess and resolve the challenges they are facing.
I am the Chair of MACC – Manchester’s Voluntary sector infrastructure body – because I believe the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector plays a vital part in creating a kinder and more inclusive society. Plus, I’ve benefited personally from the experience of being a volunteer.
Why do you do what you do?
“We teach best what we need to learn,” said someone much wiser than me. I get real satisfaction from work that has a real impact on people and places, improving life chances and choices for the people who live there. At the heart of this work is a desire for people to be healthy (physically and mentally), happy and at peace. This is what I want for myself and my family and it’s what I want for others too.
How can you be useful?
People say they find me easy to talk to and I build rapport quickly with individuals and help me facilitate groups. I am naturally reflective, curious and analytical which means I will ask questions and encourage you to do the same. Clients have found my specialist knowledge and experience useful to help them review their services and approaches and to identify what approach will suit them best. I like to build on what’s already working because I’ve found people respond more positively when they can build on their existing successes.
Maybe it’s being left-handed but I do tend to see things from a different perspective and people find my insights and observations helps their own thinking and I enjoy collaborating with others to create solutions to the issues they are facing. This lead to Do-Well’s Eat Well to Do-Well Offer.
My interest in wellbeing means I am naturally supportive and encouraging which helps people explore new ideas and practices as they develop.
What album has most inspired you?
I love music – Spotify playlists and BBC6 Music are pretty much constant companions for me. Picking one album feels like a pretty impossible ask. Firstly there’s a lot of great music and secondly because so much depends on my mood. But if I want to be happy and feel alive the Jackie Wilson ‘Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher’ takes some beating but for straight out inspiration I think Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ nails it.
Lisa Scully
What do you know?
In 1995 I secured a role as trainee housing officer in a local housing association. It was in this role that I realised that I was able to combine my passion for social change with my day-to-day work.
After 4 years in frontline services, I moved into a continuous improvement role which gave me the opportunity to work with directors in identifying an implementing their Best Value plans. I loved it, and there began my realisation that creative facilitation, coaching and project management can enable meaningful change.
Following on from this I was successful in delivering a range of service improvement and change management roles both on an employed and self-employed basis across not for profit, public and private sectors. This is where I developed my real-world approach to designing and delivering tailored made programmes of change, through structured planning and creative engagement of key stakeholders.
In 2009 I joined the senior management team at a large social housing organisation as assistant director of business assurance where I led on several corporate change projects that supported the redesign of the organisations systems and approaches following its stock transfer. In 2014, I was appointed as their director of business transformation and was the strategic lead for the design, development and successful implementation of the organisations change programme in its move to a group structure.
After taking voluntary redundancy in early 2017, my partner and I were fortunate to travel on a grown-up gap year to 13 different countries. When we returned to the UK in 2018, I started back working on freelance basis (and now with the wonderful Do-Well Band), using my highly developed organisational, planning and project management skills to successfully develop and deliver change projects to client organisations across a range of sectors. As a Licensed Menopause Champion, I specialise in the design and delivery of menopause education, coaching and supporting organisations to build menopause friendly workplaces.
Why do you do what you do?
My why is to empower and support individuals and organisations to make meaningful change.
I was brought up to believe and recognise that everyone of us has a story to tell and that there is always something we can learn from each other. We simply need to take the time to listen. This way of seeing the world has always served me well in both my personal life and career. By creating the right conditions and approaches where listening, sharing and learning can flourish, we open our minds to the art of the possible.
How can you be useful?
I would describe myself as a sensemaker, with the rare ability to understand and translate complex strategic issues and then create practical manageable solutions to resolve these. My key strengths are in programme planning and management, facilitation, training and coaching, all of which I draw upon as required, so that when you embark on your change journey, it is with full clarity and purpose.
I have a very personable and pragmatic approach and can build rapport quickly at all levels within an organisation. I am energised by collaborating and communicating with people, and have a genuine desire to understand their thoughts, ideas and perspectives, and then work together to channel these into a truly tailored approach.
What album has most inspired you?
I have a very eclectic taste in music to say the least. When I was a teenager in the 1980’s you would find me being inspired and motivated by a lot of the cheesy pop songs of that time, along with some rock music and of course the dramatic power ballads. Still love all that music now.
With my parents influences of The Beatles, Elvis, country music and musical films, I’m sure you can start imagining what my playlists look like.
My top 5 albums in terms of playtime on Spotify are: Now- That’s What I Call Country, Bat Out Of Hell, Les Miserables (Original London cast recording), Queen – Greatest Hits and Abba Gold.
Andy Zuntz
What do you know ?
I have spent most of my working life in public service eventually operating at the highest level in a metropolitan local authority in the North-West; my career includes hands-on experience in housing, community development, regeneration and economic development, policy, strategy, equalities and community cohesion. After finishing full-time work, I have taken on a range of roles: Chair, NED, consultant, advisor, helper, performer, mediator and mentor. Consequently I have committed much of my time to supporting voluntary, community, housing and cultural organisations, mostly charitable.
I recently completed a 9-year term as Group Chair of ForViva, a large Social Housing Company (with a large successful commercial arm) which “aims to create the best possible environment for people and communities to thrive and fulfil their potential.” Currently I chair our local Music Centre, I am also a Director of Glossop’s Well-being Charity, the Bureau and a trustee of Glossop Music Festival.
Why do you do what you do?
Several things drive me: a desire to be useful and helpful, an insatiable curiosity, a love of actually producing something and a passion for equality and fairness. I am a firm believer in lifelong learning for everyone. If my skills and experience can help a person or an organisation pursue just causes, then I feel happy and fulfilled. I think the current socio/political/economic/cost-of living climate is calling us all to action!
How can you be useful?
I love strategy, planning, and big picture thinking, drawing on my work and lived experience, and applying a powerful sense of curiosity. Equally I can help organise work and shape ideas: I love facilitating groups, of any size, helping them work out what is important to them and what they want to do. I enjoy detail and analysis too, and will happily explore new territory or develop my existing knowledge. I am numerate and literate, educated to degree level in mathematics and languages. I love joining things up, making links between organisations, ideas and plans.
What album has most inspired you?
A terribly hard question. I love music and it has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I listen to everything from classical to jazz, via rock, soul and blues. I play saxophone in an ensemble and love performing in small venues. So choosing one album is impossible for me, but as Bob Dylan’s music has been with me since my early teens, the track I will go for is “Desolation Row’ from the 1965 album “Highway 61 revisited”. For me it is an amazing piece, blending fabulous poetry with great music.
Sheena McDonnell
What do you know?
I am a people professional having gained my HR qualification over 25 years ago. I am a Fellow of the CIPD and have worked in the public and not for profit sectors for most of my working life. I have lots of experience as a senior leader having been a CEO of a third sector organisation and Executive Director of a Housing Association. I am an experienced at Board level both in terms of being a Board member myself and also in supporting effective Governance through the work that I do. I am currently a Non-Executive of a healthcare foundation trust and a community leisure service.
Why do you do what you do?
In choosing this work I want to be able to make a difference, to support individuals and organisations to be the very best they can be and that often starts with leadership. I have experienced and witnessed the good and not so good in leadership terms and understand through my own lived experience how impactful that can be both positively and negatively.
How can you be useful?
I enjoy being part of Do-Well where I can contribute my people focused skill set into the diversity of skills, we as a collective offer. I work across sectors with individuals, organisations and communities on their approach to leadership development and systems leadership. Clarity of purpose is key and through facilitation, individual coaching, strategic and organisational development reviews and supporting organisations going through change we can help organisations hold true to that purpose.
What album has most inspired you?
My music taste is very eclectic – as a teenager my music ranged from the Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks to Whitesnake and Deep Purple, and now I tend to listen to music depending on the activity I am doing or the mood I am in. One of my claims to fame is that while at Uni I saw the then Housemartins at a ‘free ents’ night and still today I am a fan of Paul Heaton so I will go with this.
Kieran Timmins
What do you know?
I’m an experienced executive leader who has been lucky enough to have all sorts of unusual experiences in a career that has covered wide range of sectors and roles. I’m an accountant – but don’t judge me! – who has had led ranging service portfolios in executive roles local government, housing and the charity sector. I’ve been a housing association board member for 25 years and chair Cobalt in North Liverpool and have board level experience with a range of organisations.
Why do you do what you do?
I pride myself on seeing the strategic and finding clever solutions to make the world a little better .
How can you be useful?
I’ve been really lucky to have a huge range of experiences from major NW PFI programmes to managing small groups of board members through conflict and challenging times, from running large scale international sporting events (the World Firefighter games) to helping a small charity set its first budgets and strategic plans. I’ve seen all sorts of issues and solutions and I’ve learnt a great deal from what’s worked (and more importantly what hasn’t) along the way .
My real strengths lie in seeing to the heart of complex problems and pulling people together to find shared solutions
What album has most inspired you?
I love live music and play the piano in equal measure of badly and enthusiastically. I try and have fun in whatever I’m working on so I’ll pick Professor Longhair’s, Crayfish Fiesta …….. the piano sound of new orleans shows what fabulous stuff comes from fusing ideas and skills from different backgrounds and the ongoing lineage of musical geniuses from there shows what can happen when experts share freely of their experience and enthusiasm . I dare you not to dance listening to this Professor Longhair – Big Chief