LGF people & jobs: Kate Francis / Executive Assistant to CEO

Publish Date: 21/02/2012

We wanted to say thank you to the staff that are moving on for their work with us, and also ask them to tell us a little about their time with LGF.

We hope that this will provide an insight in to the area of their work, so that anyone who would be interested in applying for some of the upcoming positions can learn a little more about the LGF.

Kate Francis has been Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive since October 2009.

“The pace of change and the variety of work is like no place I’ve ever been before” says Kate when asked about what people can expect from life at The LGF.

"If you are willing to muck in you will get a huge buzz from everything that is going on. No two days are the same; you get to be involved in a wide range of different things and you won’t just be an administrator. It can take over your life, but you will never meet a greater group of people and have as many opportunities to be involved in a wide range of projects and events.”

Since joining LGF Kate has experienced some significant changes to the way the charity works internally; “The biggest difference for me is the massive changes to our infrastructure since the introduction of CRM (Customer Relationship Management).

I also do performance management and manage funding agreements as part of my role, I have really felt the impact of this change.The processes within the organisation are so much more efficient and all areas of our work are interconnected and data is accessible.”

What about the organisations main external achievements in recent years?

“I think our mental health services continue to be one of our greatest service areas. We have an amazing counselling service; the well-being rooms are a really lovely space and all those who are part of this work are highly professional and supportive. There are often many concerns for LGB&T people accessing therapeutic services (particularly around the pathologizing of sexuality) so to have somewhere that is completely affirmative, safe and affordable is a necessary facility.”

“Our schools work continues to inspire me. Our Safer Schools Packs (which are part of our Enough is Enough campaign) are fantastic and so vital. Homophobic bullying is so devastating; all young people should be able to feel safe and supported at school. The work that was done with Roger Crouch will be something I will never forget. Our work around cervical screening for lesbian and bisexual women is fantastic and groundbreaking. It really has made a difference and continues to do so .I feel so proud to have had a small part in this work; which was brilliantly led and demonstrated real team work, innovation and creativity.”

Everyone at the Lesbian & Gay Foundation wishes Kate all the very best in her new job as she heads to London to work at the BBC.

To find out more about the current jobs available please go to: http://www.lgf.org.uk/About-us/Jobs/