Welcome Ellie Kerr!

Hi, I’m Ellie,

I joined the South West Leadership Academy as the Leadership Development Manager at the end of April… so it’s back to being the ‘new girl’ for a while!

Prior to joining the SWLA I spent 17 years in the energy industry working for a large-scale energy supplier. During this time, I spent most of it working within Training, Learning & Development, as well as Coaching and Operational Management.

I’ve worked across a broad variety of projects and programmes which have ranged from induction of new starters, coaching & mentoring, Manager Development & working offshore to lead partner programmes. I’ve also spent a considerable amount of time looking at service, quality & performance improvements via Operational Excellence projects & programmes.

I’m sincerely passionate about people & how they contribute to the success of the organisation; I have a real interest and curiosity around Emotional Intelligence and behaviours and how we, as leaders, can influence our people using this skill. I’m also a huge supporter of coaching and mentoring having spent two years as a Team Performance Coach.

I’m sure the move to Public Sector will be a learning curve , the way in which it operates and is governed means I am very familiar with certain pressures!

Most recently I spent the last 12 months working for a national agricultural retailer as a L&D Business Partner. I was responsible for leading the customer service and engagement programmes as well as employee engagement agendas… a fascinating insight into a hybrid world that brings together farming & retail was quite an experience! 

First impressions of the team have been great; everyone’s been super-welcoming and I’m already seeing & hearing about some of the great work you’ve done. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in & working with everyone…. However, apologies in advance if I ask a million questions!