Carey Philpott becomes SATEDA’s new CEO

The SATEDA board are delighted to announce that Carey Philpott has been confirmed in post as Chief Executive Officer of SATEDA. Carey has been working for SATEDA for 6 years now, most recently as Head of Business and Development. Let’s find out more about her work so far and her plans for SATEDA’s vision and mission, supporting women and children escaping and recovering from domestic abuse in the Swale community.

Can you tell us more about yourself, your career and specifically your experience in the charity sector?

I’ve been working in the charity sector since 2015, and before that I worked in social housing for 15 years. Since joining SATEDA it’s been privileged to see the charity grow and more importantly, to play a part in changing lives. I’m a project manager at heart and I love finding new ways we can make a difference and then getting activities started.

What’s been the proudest moment of your career?

I’ve been fortunate in helping others change their lives, this can be very powerful and I am humbled when I see the transformation of those who I’ve worked with. With regards to stand out times, I think completing my MBA while working supporting the charity and our team through the pandemic was immensely challenging, but it opened my eyes to what is possible.

How do you feel about this new chapter taking on the leading role at a local specialist women’s service?

It’s exciting taking over the leadership of such a great team. I am in awe of the work of former CEO Dr Liza Thompson who, from the onset put women first and grew SATEDA to become a specialist violence against women and girls (VAWG) specialist service. My aim is to ensure that the charity is here in another 15 years and still true to our principles.

What are you most looking forward to (both for you as CEO and for SATEDA as a small local women’s sector charity)?

With the changes of the DA Act 2021, I’m looking forward to growing our services for children and young people. This, campaigning for equality and recognition of gender inequality and preventative work may just help to end domestic abuse. One thing is sure, domestic abuse numbers are increasing and the only way this will change is by working with young people to help them be confident communicators and to understand healthy relationships, prevent them becoming abusers in the future and strong enough to stand up to each other when behaviours are negative.

What challenges lie ahead (both for you as CEO and for SATEDA as a small local women’s sector charity)?

Small specialist organisations continue to swim upstream against larger organisations who often exist for different reasons to our own.  This can mean it is more challenging to achieve funding in a competitive landscape. In addition, women’s issues are still a bit of a taboo, this means can be hard for us to get the support of our community too.

What does feminism mean to you?

For me it’s about levelling the playing field. Striving for women and girls to have genuine equality – and what I mean is not the same, but equal to enable them to have the same outcomes in life.