Unicef chief to take top job at Mencap

Charity

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Unicef UK, has been appointed to the top job at the learning disability charity Mencap. 

Sparkes, who joined Unicef in January 2022, will take up his new role in June. 

He succeeds Edel Harris, who stepped down in August after three and a half years in the role. 

Jackie O’Sullivan, executive director for communications, advocacy and activism, has been interim chief executive at Mencap since Harris’ departure. 

Before joining Unicef, Sparkes spent seven years as chief executive of the homelessness charity Crisis, and previously worked for almost six years in the top job at the disability charity Scope. 

This was punctuated by an initial spell at Unicef UK between January 2012 and September 2014, when Sparkes was chief operating officer. 

He has also been on the board of other charities including the sight-loss charity SeeAbility and the charity leaders body Acevo. He is a current trustee of the homelessness charity St Petrocs. 

Sparkes was appointed to the top job at Unicef UK after Third Sector revealed that his predecessor Sacha Deshmukh had quit five months into the role, having alleged bullying behaviour by the charity’s former chair, Douglas Alexander. 

An independent inquiry subsequently rejected claims of bullying and improper conduct against the former government minister, who had stepped down in the wake of Deshmukh’s departure to allow the inquiry to take place.

In Sparkes’ first year at Unicef UK, the charity reported a record income of almost £180m, a 27 per cent increase on the previous year that the charity attributed to “unprecedented support” for its emergency campaigns, particularly its Ukraine war appeal, which raised more than £55.7m. 

In November 2022, Sparkes apologised and promised action after a report commissioned before he joined concluded that “covert racism, everyday racism and unconscious bias are part of life for some at Unicef UK”. 

Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, chair of Mencap, said Sparkes would bring a “unique mix of leadership experience across both service delivery and policy influence at the highest level, alongside a deep commitment to leading values-led organisations”. 

She said: “Jon’s personal passion for improving the lives of people with a learning disability will be invaluable as we continue on our mission to make the UK the best place in the world to live for people with a learning disability.”

Sparkes said: “It is unacceptable that people with a learning disability continue to face inequalities and discrimination. 

“Mencap’s work to deliver high quality and empowering support services at the same time as working alongside people with a learning disability to campaign for equal rights and opportunities is an inspiring mission that we should all get behind. 

“It will be an absolute honour for me to play a part in this movement and to work with the incredible team that delivers Mencap’s work day in, day out. 

Shatish Dasani, chair of Unicef UK, said: “I would like to thank Jon for his leadership, vision and commitment to Unicef and the children it supports over the past two years.”

He said that under Sparkes’ guidance, the charity was “implementing an ambitious strategy to achieve maximum results for children, which has been enhanced by his leadership of the talented, diverse and passionate wider team”. 

Unicef said it had begun the process of appointing a successor to Sparkes.

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