Originally from Toxteth, Claire’s career spans over 30 years within the voluntary and community sector where she has been instrumental in setting up and leading a number of organisations, including Liverpool Black Sisters, which was initially a policy and campaigning group for Black women. She is the Chief Executive of Blackburne House Group, a training-led organisation which runs a number of social enterprises providing career opportunities for women in non-traditional sectors such as construction and IT.

She worked in the early 70’s for the Martin Luther King Foundation where, with two other colleagues, she set up International Personnel, (now known as South Liverpool Personnel), an employment agency whose remit was to redress the many inequalities in employment practices across the city.

Claire moved to the United States and studied at the University of Houston whilst working as a Manager for an International Recycling Company. Moving back to the UK, she worked for Plessey Telecommunications as a Regional Manager and later became the Director of the Charles Wooton College following the Toxteth riots in the early 80s.

Claire has led the Blackburne House Group since it’s inception in the 1980s and her entrepreneurial skills have helped the organisation grow into an extremely successful award-winning business with social aims. It not only helps disadvantaged women into work but is self-sufficient thanks to its flourishing conference facility, café, nursery, health club and design consultancy, all of which make a profit.

She was awarded an MBE 16 years ago and has an honorary fellowship from John Moores University. She was named as one of the countries most inspiring leaders and listed 15th in the top 100 movers and shakers on Merseyside a few years ago. She is currently the Chair of the national body, Social Enterprise Coalition.