Invite me to speak at your event

If you are looking for a speaker who can open up a conversation your organisation needs to have, I would love to hear from you. I have spoken to leaders, trustees, fundraisers and teams, at national conferences and in smaller rooms where people are braver because there are fewer of them. I tell it plainly, with warmth, and with humour where something is genuinely funny, and I want everyone to leave feeling less alone with it and clearer about what they can do next.

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Lucy's bio

Lucy Caldicott is an executive coach, speaker and consultant with thirty years of leadership experience in the non-profit sector, including as a charity CEO. She founded ChangeOut in 2018 and has worked with organisations including Comic Relief, The Children's Society, Samaritans and HomeStart UK on leadership, strategy and equity. Today most of her work is one to one coaching with purpose-driven leaders, and she shares what she learns with a wider audience through her YouTube channel, LucyOnLife, where hundreds of viewers have told her their own stories of work that left them worn down. She has completed her professional certificate in executive coaching at Henley Business School, is working towards ICF accreditation, and is writing a book on workplace happiness and fulfilment. She lives in Birmingham.

What sort of speaker am I?

People tell me my style is calm and friendly, clear and focused, and I think that is because I am sharing my personal experiences, it's not theory. I have held senior leadership roles, including as charity Chief Executive, I have had a bullying boss, and I have been made redundant twice, so when I talk about what work can do to people, and what leaders can do about it, I am speaking from experience rather than from a textbook.

I am not relentlessly positive, because your audience will not believe me if I am, and I do not soften topics like power, race, gender and access, because equity is central to how I think about leadership. I will always spend time with you beforehand so the talk speaks to your people and the conversation your organisation actually needs to have.

Some of my public speaking experience

I gave the keynote at the BOND conference in 2018, with a talk called 21st Century Leadership in the Age of Populism, and the keynote at Visionary's annual conference in November 2021. In 2020 I was a panellist on the Chartered Institute of Fundraising's webinar Beyond Diversity and Inclusion, which opened their online Convention with around 350 people booked. For ACEVO I co-led the workshop Unpacking EDI for Charity Leaders in May 2022, and an EDI event for their members in January 2023. In October 2025 I spoke on a panel at the Citizens Advice annual conference, exploring the opportunities and challenges of devolution, and in November 2025 I joined a panel at the Festival of Trusteeship. I also deliver regular training on local and regional campaigning for the Sheila McKechnie Foundation. I have also spoken at the NCVO conference and at the Blackbaud virtual conference in 2020.

On television

• BBC Midlands Today, July 2025: road danger
• Sky News, 2017: young people and voter registration, as chief executive of UpRising
• Channel 4 News, 2015: young people's sexuality and health and relationships education, as Chief Executive of Diversity Role Models
• This Morning, 2010: young people's cancer, twice - to launch and close that year's ITV Christmas appeal
• The Wright Stuff, 2014 while I was at CLIC Sargent: young people's cancer

The topics I cover:

Toxic workplaces

What toxic leadership and culture actually do to people, why so many of us stay far longer than we should, and how to recognise what is happening before it costs you your confidence. It draws on my own experience and on hundreds of stories shared with me by people who have lived it. Your audience will leave able to name what they are seeing, and with a first step they can take.

Workplace fulfilment

Most of us were promised that meaningful work would feel meaningful. This talk looks honestly at the gap between what work promises and what it delivers, and what leaders and organisations can do about it.

How to be happy at work and happy in life

Practical, grounded and not relentlessly positive. What tends to make the difference between a working life that drains you and one that feels like your own again, and how to start making changes this week rather than next January.

Building happy, equitable and inclusive workplaces

Equity is central to how I think about leadership, not an add-on. This talk looks at what it takes to build cultures where people feel safe to speak up and encouraged to do their best work, and where the work of inclusion is shared rather than left to the few.

Formats

I can shape any of these topics into a keynote, a conference session, a workshop or training session, or a panel or fireside conversation, in person or online, and I am happy to adapt the length and content to your audience.

What people say

A brilliant session that was incredibly helpful. The Chartered Institute of Fundraising

Thank you so much for taking part! It was a great session, and we are so happy with how Conference went overall. Citizens Advice

Lucy's presentation style is genuinely inspiring: calming and friendly, yet clear, focused and highly professional. Her videos have helped me make sense of challenging situations at work. Theresa, Wellington, New Zealand

We were delighted to have Lucy join us as keynote speaker at Visionary's annual conference. Her wide-ranging and inspirational talk about her work on lived experience and equity within the charity sector was thought-provoking and insightful. She gave our audience much to reflect on, alongside a range of useful and practical steps to take in their own organisations. Amy Pearman, Operations Director, Visionary UK

Thinking about an event?

Tell me a little about it and I will come back to you as soon as possible.