Whom we like to work with
We welcome work with business leaders who not only feel pressure to comply with sustainability measures, but instinctively understand that their long-term business success depends on the flexibility, efficiency, resilience, customer-alignment and authenticity that comes with a shift to sustainable business models and relationships.
We work best with people who understand that change is made possible by those who share a sense of common purpose, and that teamworking and communication are key to making this happen.
Our people and our stories
We are a truly diverse team, with a depth of skills, experiences and backgrounds that enables us to work with organisations and their suppliers across borders and cultures. We encourage portfolio working as it increases the diversity of experience that we can offer clients. Many of us also teach at business schools. Together we have worked with small businesses, major corporations and international organisations.
How we structure for sustainability
We work together in a learning community where we practise embedding collaboration and inner development as a process for creating psychological safety and improving productivity. With a decentralised organisational structure – coordinated by a core team, with an advisory board drawn from our associates – we have more individual autonomy to make decisions and encourage cross-collaboration. This leadership helps us remain agile and adapt to changing needs. Rather than a vertical structure, our organic nature facilitates communication between and among all staff. Although it is more complex, we choose it because it can be the most productive and fosters a positive company culture; staff don’t feel like they have superiors. This structure is also more cost-efficient because it reduces the need for middle managers.
Our Core Team
Felicia and Gerard first met in London, UK, as entrepreneurs and content specialists in the late 1990s, early in the digital dot-com boom when the ‘internet industry’ could fit around a pub table. They frequently collaborated and each heeded the early alarm calls of climate change, journeying into the low-carbon world with its vision of ‘peak oil’: Gerard building practical expertise in facilitating individual and organisational change, and convening a network of exceptional practitioners and investors; Felicia, through her research and writing, building a reputation for knowledge and strategic insight among international policymakers and business leaders. Fast-forward 25 years, and our core team was selected for the Global Leadership for Sustainable Development programme supported by the United Nations, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Lund University, one of some 50 organisations worldwide chosen to facilitate a global eco-system to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Gerard Davies, Founder & CEO
Lead auditor, leadership and organisational change facilitator, media producer and Industrial Fellow at Aston Business School, delivering sustainability thought-leadership since 2005. After two decades as a foreign correspondent and documentary producer, Gerard worked with global investors on media start-ups during the dot-com years and won awards for his creative tech networking events. He founded Contented Ltd in 1999 and facilitated culture-change and social impact programmes across educational institutes and their communities. In 2005, he participated in the pioneering sustainability masters programme at University of Bath, founded with Anita Roddick, CEO of ethical consumer brand Body Shop, and joined her as a founder member of the Association of Sustainability Practitioners. For 10 years, he co-financed an international leadership programme with the EU. He says he’s most contented leading team coaching in mountains and moorland across Europe.
“Recognising our impact on society and the environment is a tremendous opportunity for differentiation and improvement. Commitment towards net zero is a great message and our journeys are inspiring stories for all stakeholders.”
Felicia Jackson, Principal Consultant
Clean tech author (Conquering Carbon, 2009), UN advisor (SDG17), podcaster, and serial enterpreneur: co-founder of the Sustainable Finance and Data Initiative at SOAS University of London; founder of The Net Imperative Ltd; founder of New Energy Finance (later bought by Bloomberg).
Felicia’s built her career upon foresight that the intersection of innovation and global challenges – such as technology, climate change, and sustainable development – are driving economic change. As well as co-leading much of our work and strategy, she teaches on the MSc Global Energy and Climate Policy and Finance, Sustainability and Climate Change at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
“It is imperative that businesses understand how climate and sustainability risk are changing economic models and patterns. Failure to respond suitably could result in lost opportunities, increased costs, reputational damage and injury to the social contract. This year we all have a chance to stand-out for our thought-leadership. Next year, we might stick out for our lack of preparation.”
Michelle Furtado, Senior Sustainability Manager
Michelle brings particular experience planning decarbonisation with NHS Trusts, public and community sectors which she adeptly applied for us to clients from the transport sector. She describes herself as a guide for sustainability transformation and regenerative systems-thinking, as well as a community activist and artist.
Siddhant Agarwal, Business Manager
Sid joins us from one of the world’s four largest professional services networks, bringing skills in financial modelling and client relations, with eight years’ experience across philanthropy and entrepreneurship. He managed a GBP1.2m fundraising portfolio and excels in writing tenders, managing campaigns and engaging staff. Sid’s MBA dissertation explored social impact measurement and reporting and he’s helping support our clients’ supply chains in India and elsewhere.
Nurul Mansor, Quality Coordinator
At Contented, quality is led by the CEO so the coordinator role is key, ensuring that sustainability and responsibility are embedded across all our processes. As an experienced project manager, Nurul heads a team of project coordinators, ensuring that each client assignment is run to budget and on-time across teams of our associates, Nurul leads internal audits for ISO9001, the Responsible Business Standard (ORB-Cert) and our supplier frameworks (such as RISQS and ESPO), and represents the company on visits of the external auditor. In the three years since she began working at Contented, she has improved operational efficiency and stakeholder extensive background in IT infrastructure and system engineering, providing us and our clients with a robust foundation for seamless project execution. Nurul enjoys time in nature, bouldering and rock climbing, and recently moved to Malaysia.
Cayni Ibrahim, Sustainability Coordinator
Many who have engaged with Contented during the past few years, will have met Cayni, who joined us in 2021 with responsibility for setting up a new team to review and implement systems across financial, social and environmental management.
With a background in biomaterials science, her interest in information technology, and her passion for the environment and sustainable approaches, she quickly impressed the team with her confidence, knowledge and curiosity in engaging clients and has become well-known at the Chamber of Commerce and other local business events. She has coordinated all nine cohorts of our ‘green advantage’ coaching project and also oversees the company’s finances, reporting directly to the accountant and our quality team.
Some of our Associates
Laura Morin Quintal, Senior Associate
A business analyst and diversity specialist with more than 20 years’ experience, Laura’s passion is supporting boards to develop strategies to help women thrive in part-time or flexible roles. As an accomplished project manager, she is adept at bringing together internal and external stakeholders to successfully deliver large complex projects. As a native of Mexico, she heads up our engagement into the Americas.
John Dooner, Senior Associate
A corporate team coach, specialising in values-led development, learning and conflict resolution, John headed-up our acclaimed two-year programme facilitating an action-learning community for local authorities to support retrofitting of properties. He’s a firm believer in the value of organisational learning to implementing sustainability in corporations, embedding a growth culture through mentoring and coaching programmes that are benchmarked against international standards.
Audaye Elesedy, Senior Associate
A facilitator and coach, working with clients at depth within ecological contexts, Audaye helps ensure that we work in psychological safety to facilitate the transformation required. Using relational, systemic and embodied approaches, such as constellations, humanistic and psychodynamic psychotherapy modalities, his style is intuitive, embodied, and responsive, to explore underlying questions and go as deep as the situation requires.
Dr Mark Smith, Senior Associate
Based in Scotland, Mark has extensive experience delivering environmental innovation programmes with businesses including low-carbon, eco-design and energy efficiency, with focus on business development with small to medium-sized companies.
He has advised on European environmental policy and worked across universities and research funding with collaborative projects between higher education and industry.
Dr Fernanda Aller, Senior Associate
An engineer and sustainability specialist, Fernanda has developed and implemented company strategies across major corporate supply chains including Jaguar Land Rover and Wealmoor.
She has had a long career in sustainability, decarbonization and environmental protection across different industries, although her main interest is food production systems and agricultural engineering.
Jovin Hurry, Senior Associate
Based in Singapore, Jovin is part of our team supporting client supply chains across Africa (he’s a native French speaker) and Asia. In Japan, where he works with the financial sector, he is a member of leading organisations promoting leadership for sustainability and innovation.
Like many of our associates, he is part of the EU’s network of coaches and experts convened by its Climate Knowledge and Innovation Community (Climate KIC). He works at the nexus of sustainability, leadership and entrepreneurship, thinking holistically and seeking opportunities to create forward-looking, effective, and robust strategies that enable clients to take a progressive and science-based approach towards sustainability. He recognises that there’s a gap between strategy and execution and supports clients in articulating their next-level ambition and adapt to big environmental and social shifts.
Raquel de Mingo, Senior Associate
Our top polyglot, across Australia, China, India, Europe and Latin America, Raquel has gained a broad range of cross-cultural skills and experience with companies and global projects. A highly-trained business consultant and leadership facilitator, developing sustainable business processes, core management strategies and operational improvements, she is passionate about improving companies and people.
In India, she’s negotiated contracts with agents and stockists. In China, she’s advised on central government protocol and business authorisation processes. She was responsible for developing business in eight Latin American countries, negotiating and closing contracts worth US$25 million in five months. She works in six languages (fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish, conversant in Mandarin, with knowledge of Indonesian.)
Contented Carbon Reduction and Modern Slavery
We are preparing to publish our own sustainability strategy here.
Meanwhile, you can view our carbon reduction plan and our Modern Slavery Policy
Our addresses
Birmingham: UK Operations: STEAMhouse, Belmont Row, Birmingham B4 7RQ
London: Contented Ltd is registered in England and Wales at Elms Samsons Road, Greater London, England, CO7 0RN, company no. 03949963.
Dublin: Our associated company in Ireland, Contented Communications Ltd, is registered at 6 Glenaulin Park, Chapel Izod, Dublin 20, company number 0599762.