After 18 years with Derbyshire Voluntary Action, including 14 years as Chief Executive, Jacqui Willis will step down as CEO at the end of September, with Juliet Grace taking over the leadership of DVA in October.
It marks an important moment for DVA, but one that has been carefully planned.
Juliet joined DVA in 2023 as Deputy CEO and Operations Manager and has worked closely with Jacqui, our Board of Trustees and the wider team in preparation for the transition. She takes over an organisation with strong foundations, an experienced and committed team, trusted relationships across Derbyshire and a clear purpose: to support and champion the county’s voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector.
For Jacqui, it brings to a close an extraordinary chapter that began in 2008 – although a career in the voluntary sector wasn’t originally part of the plan.
An unexpected route to DVA
Jacqui’s career began a long way from health, communities and the VCFSE sector.
After studying textile design, first at Chesterfield College and then in Liverpool, she worked as a freelance designer, including work in London and Italy. But despite building a career in design, something was missing.
An idea sparked by a bag brought home by a friend led Jacqui to buy the materials and make one herself. From there, she established her own fashion and textile business, Jacques Sac, designing for clients including Def Leppard and other celebrities.
Running a creative business brought excitement and opportunity, but also the challenges of being self-employed during a difficult economic period. Jacqui eventually moved into a global research company, where she spent around 15 years.
Following mass redundancies, another change of direction arrived.
In September 2008, Jacqui joined what was then North Derbyshire Voluntary Action (NDVA) as Healthier Structures Project Worker.
It was initially only a one-year project.
It became the beginning of an 18-year journey.
Finding her place in Derbyshire’s voluntary sector
The Healthier Structures project was designed to strengthen partnership working between existing infrastructure organisations, the health-related voluntary sector and statutory health and social care organisations.
With a keen eye, Jacqui evaluated existing health and social care voluntary forums and other communication routes across the area, identifying where they worked, where they didn’t and how relationships and structures could be improved.
In many ways, that first role contained the foundations of what would become a much bigger part of Jacqui’s career: connecting people, understanding how systems work and making sure voluntary and community organisations are part of the conversation.
In September 2009, Jacqui became NDVA’s Liaison Officer.
The role brought her even closer to the organisations and people DVA exists to support. She represented the views of NDVA and its members, strengthened relationships with partners, community groups and statutory agencies and helped maintain the forums, newsletters, website and other communication routes that connected the sector.
It also involved taking complicated health and social care information, making sense of it and ensuring that useful information reached the organisations and people who needed it.
Jacqui became increasingly skilled at something that has remained central to her leadership ever since: knowing who to talk to, bringing the right people together and helping make things happen.
From connecting communities to influencing systems
Jacqui became Chief Executive in May 2012. Over the years that followed, DVA continued to develop its role as a trusted link between Derbyshire’s VCFSE organisations, communities, local government, and the health and care system.
For Jacqui, representation has never simply meant having a seat at a meeting. It has meant making sure the experiences, knowledge and concerns of voluntary organisations and communities reach the people making decisions.
That approach has taken Jacqui and DVA into partnerships and conversations across health, local government, community development and the wider voluntary sector.
It has also helped DVA champion new ways of working.
Jacqui was involved in pioneering social prescribing in Derbyshire, helping demonstrate the importance of connecting people not only with clinical services but with the community activities, organisations and relationships that can support their health and wellbeing. That work included initiatives such as Thr1ve with Chesterfield FC and helped strengthen links between health services and community-based support.
DVA was involved in the development and delivery of Healthwatch locally through Derbyshire LINk, working in partnership with CVS groups across the region, further strengthening the connection between people’s experiences and the services designed to support them.
That commitment became particularly important during the pandemic, when voluntary and community organisations became a lifeline for thousands of people across Derbyshire. DVA helped connect organisations, information, referrals and support at a time when communities needed those relationships most.
Through changing health systems, financial pressures, a pandemic and increasing demand on community organisations, one principle has remained remarkably consistent:
Listen to communities, connect the right people and make sure their voices are heard.
Building DVA
Jacqui is the first to say that DVA’s achievements don’t belong to one person.
During her time as CEO, DVA has developed and supported a remarkable range of projects, partnerships and ideas.
From Feeling Connected and the Feeling Connected Hub, to the Mental Health Liaison Service, Community Chesterfield, Be Cancer Safe, FutureMinds Collective, Creative Health and more, DVA has continued to find new ways of responding to what communities and the VCFSE sector are telling us.
Different projects have addressed different needs, but there is a common thread running through them: bringing together people who care about their communities and giving them the connections, opportunities and support to make a difference.
DVA itself has changed enormously too.
What has grown around the organisation is a huge network of people, groups and partners who care deeply about what they do, about their communities and about their neighbours.
That network is one of the things Jacqui is proudest of – and one of the things that makes stepping away particularly difficult.
Across Derbyshire there are thousands of volunteers, community leaders, charities, social enterprises, faith organisations and local groups giving their time, energy and expertise because they want to make the places where they live better and more supportive.
DVA has been privileged to work alongside them.
As Jacqui has demonstrated throughout her time with the organisation, thriving communities are built by people looking out for one another – and by ensuring that the people doing that work are connected, supported and heard.
That belief will continue to sit at the heart of DVA.
A carefully planned transition
While Jacqui’s departure marks a significant change, it isn’t an unexpected one.
DVA began planning for leadership succession in 2023. Juliet Grace joined the organisation as Deputy CEO and Operations Manager as part of that longer-term approach to ensuring strong, sustainable leadership and continuity.
Since then, Juliet has worked alongside Jacqui, the Board, DVA’s staff, members and partners, developing a detailed understanding of the organisation, its relationships and the environment in which it works.
In October, Juliet will become Chief Executive.
She brings extensive experience in leadership, organisational development, systems and partnership working, alongside a strong belief in the value of communities and the VCFSE sector.
For DVA, this means continuity and the strong leadership we are used to.
The people, partnerships and principles that have made DVA a trusted organisation remain firmly in place, while Juliet brings her own leadership, ideas and experience to the next stage of its development.
Jacqui Willis said:
“Leaving DVA after 18 years is incredibly difficult because it has never felt like simply a job. I’ve had the privilege of meeting and working alongside an extraordinary network of people who genuinely care about what they do, their communities and their neighbours.
I’ve seen first-hand what happens when you bring those people together, listen to them and make sure their knowledge and experience reaches the places where decisions are being made.
I’m enormously proud of what we’ve achieved, but I’m even more proud of the people and relationships behind it.
One of the things that makes stepping away easier is knowing that DVA is in such strong hands. Juliet understands this organisation, she understands the importance of our relationships, and she shares our determination to make sure the VCFSE sector has the voice and support it deserves. I’m excited to see where she and the team take DVA next.”
Juliet Grace said:
“Jacqui has made an enormous contribution to DVA and the wider VCFSE sector over the past 18 years. I’ve been fortunate to work closely alongside her and to see the passion, persistence and relationships that sit behind so much of what DVA has achieved.
I am incredibly proud to be taking on the role of Chief Executive.
There are strong foundations here: a fantastic team, trusted relationships and an extraordinary network of organisations and people who are making a difference every day across Derbyshire.
My job is to build on those foundations, listen to our members and communities, strengthen our partnerships and make sure DVA continues to be a strong and trusted voice for Derbyshire’s VCFSE sector.
I’m really excited about what we can achieve together.”
Not goodbye
Although Jacqui is stepping down as Chief Executive, this isn’t the end of her relationship with DVA or the sector she has spent so much of her career championing.
Jacqui will continue to be involved with DVA as an ambassador, championing Derbyshire’s VCFSE sector and supporting Juliet and the organisation as it enters its next chapter.
On 30 September, DVA will bring together colleagues, trustees, partners, groups and friends at The Hub in Chesterfield to celebrate Jacqui’s contribution and the relationships built during her 18 years with the organisation.
There will undoubtedly be plenty of memories to share.
But this moment is as much about looking forward as it is looking back.
DVA enters October with a new Chief Executive but with the same commitment to Derbyshire’s communities, the same belief in the power of its VCFSE sector and the same determination to connect people, amplify community voices and make a positive difference.
After 18 years, Jacqui leaves the Chief Executive’s role with DVA very different from the organisation she joined for a one-year project in September 2008.
She also leaves behind something much harder to measure: a network of people who know one another, trust one another and care deeply about making Derbyshire a better and more supportive place to live.
With Jacqui continuing to champion that work and Juliet taking the lead, a new chapter for DVA begins.
