Micah Gold is founder and Director of Micah Gold Associates.

Micah set up MGA in 2005 as a vehicle to bring experienced practitioners and consultants together to provide solutions across public and third sectors to improve people’s lives.

Prior to this he was a Principal Consultant of Shared Intelligence, during which time he managed and coordinated the National Neighbourhood Management Network on behalf of the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit (DCLG). Between 1998 to 2005, Micah was Development Manager for the London Borough of Hackney and then Neighbourhood Manager for London Borough of Greenwich on its round 1 pathfinder in Woolwich. These positions included responsibility on a major housing regeneration scheme and he was honoured with the role of Regional Champion for Neighbourhood Management in London by the DCLG.

Between 1993 to 1998, Micah served as a youth worker and education officer, where he set up the successful Maccabi Street Project and provided solutions to change and improve some of Camden’s most difficult neighbourhoods.

Micah’s formative experiences include detached and centre based youth work, community safety, drug education and crime reduction, community involvement and development, and service improvement and integration.

Micah is also a Director of the not-for-profit education organisation, Limmud, a global charity that promotes Jewish education through conferences, educational activities and events.

A native Liverpudlian, Micah holds degrees from the London School of Economics and University of Greenwich in Economics and Social Psychology and Youth and Community Work.

He is married and has twin girls aged 4, and a boy of 1.

Ian joined MGA in 2008 after working for the London Borough of Greenwich, and has extensive experience within neighbourhood management/renewal, economic development, and physical and social regeneration. This has provided him with a detailed understanding of key challenges facing communities around place shaping, delivery through partnerships, service improvement, customer focus and community engagement and cohesion.

After graduating from Essex University with a BA (Hons) Economics, Ian began his career in the private sector providing business development consultancy for SMEs in marketing services. Unfulfilled, Ian changed careers ending up at the Liverpool Construction Initiative providing training and employment opportunities for the long-term unemployed through the City’s regeneration activity. Having found his calling Ian undertook a MSc Economic Development & Policy at Birmingham University.

Ian joined Gosport Borough Council, Hampshire in 1998 where he led on the Economic Regeneration Strategy, inward investment, external funding and regeneration programmes, and the co-ordination to the predecessor of the Borough’s LSP. In 2001 Ian moved to Greenwich Council, where among other roles he was the lead officer on the Thames Gateway, developed the Borough’s Regeneration Strategy, and managed the Changes in Common Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder.

Ian is an experienced manager who has operated at a Senior level. He has worked closely and successfully with councillors (including lead members) and strategic decision makers in partner organisations, across all scales from neighbourhoods, to sub-regional, regional and national levels. Ian has a proven track record of innovation and delivery within policy, partnership and operational contexts.

Kerry Wilkins joined Micah Gold Associates as Associate Principal Consultant in May 2006, after working for the London Borough of Camden as a Neighbourhood Manager for one of the first Neighbourhood Management Pathfinders in the country.

Kerry started her career in 1994 as an Arts Development Officer on Humberside and then North Wiltshire, progressing to the London Boroughs of Brent and Camden in 1999 where she was Town Centre Regeneration Manager for three years, working independently with a newly recruited partnership to oversee development and implement policy and strategy to regenerate a greater London town centre.

From there she managed five pilot Business Improvement District partnerships in central London in 2003 advising on business development and allocation of government funding for the Central London Partnership, then managing the neighbourhood management pathfinder initiative for 23,000 people for the London Borough of Camden. She has since worked as an Associate in areas such as Tendring in Essex, Barking and Dagenham and Lambeth in South London.

One of the highlights of Kerry’s career saw her involved at the forefront of new legislation for the first Business Improvement Districts for the UK - working with some of the first few to win their ballots and deliver bespoke solutions to their business and local communities.

Kerry plays a key role in MGA, specialising in service and business development. She holds a first class degree in English & Drama from Lancaster University and holds a Diploma in Management Studies.

David is a former Chief Executive of a metropolitan district council in the West Midlands and district councils in the midlands and southwest. He has been operating as a freelance management consultant in the public sector for over five years. He is a national adviser to the DCLG on neighbourhood renewal, and in that capacity is an ‘Assignment Manager’ to Local Strategic Partnerships considered by the DCLG and Government Offices as requiring support in order to improve their performance. He is also ‘Lead Adviser’ to Neighbourhood Management Pathfinders and is currently advising county and district authorities on aspects of their development of Local Area Agreements.

In addition he has:

• Delivered a programme of workshops on partnership working to public sector agencies through the University of London.
• Worked on a wide range of change and improvement programmes as a Senior Associate of SOLACE Enterprises, and a member of the Improvement and Development Agency’s Performance Support Network.
• Facilitated a number of best value reviews and advised on Gershon type joint procurement approaches to service provision.
• Provided senior management and partnership working perspectives on a number of elected member development and training programmes.

David has been and remains independent chair of a Member’s Remuneration Panel for a Metropolitan Borough Council in Yorkshire which has undertaken pioneering work in linking remuneration with member development and training.

Alix is an experienced independent consultant with expertise in policy development and service improvement in Children’s Services. This involves close working across Education, Social Services and Primary Care Trusts. She has a strong track record in developing better service co-ordination to improve outcomes for children and their families. Alix has worked in social care for over 15 years in both the public and voluntary sectors. She has both direct experience of working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and in Social Services.

Alix’s recent assignments include:

• Policy Advisor for NCH with particular lead on the HM Treasury’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
• Children’s Trust development work, including commissioning strategies, needs analyses, and writing a Children and Young People’s Strategic Plan.
• Participation in a range of National Advisory Groups – including the DH’s Policy Collaborative, the CAMHS Mapping Development Group and the Workforce Council, Skills for Health Development Group;
• Early Years development work and speaking at national conferences.
• Project management of a multi-agency, open door neighbourhood family centre – from the build stages; Developing a Youth Strategy for a Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder;
• Putting together a package of Neighbourhood Services to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families within a Children’s Trust framework.