Jean Gamester, DTM

Relevant work experience and how it relates to Toastmasters and your role as a Board Member:

Strategic Change: I have led change in large global organisations like British Telecom and Centrica as well as across complex local government organizations. I bring a deep understanding of how transforming culture, business models and technology can enable organizations like Toastmasters to achieve our goals.

Leading together: Through my change work I have become skilled at engaging, encouraging and inspiring people at all levels to achieve results together. When leading change I form strong teams of very different people with different skills who trust each other and work towards common goals. These skills help in enabling board members to work effectively together and connecting when acting as an ambassador. I develop deep one to one relationships which helps in mentoring, sharing feedback and creating a supportive space.

Education: I served as an interim CEO of a public speaking education charity, teaching over 30,000 adults and young people in 18 months. As head of customer service for a sales training firm we developed online and classroom training for customers worldwide. As an MBA and business school lecturer, I educate in the areas of strategy, change, leadership, business research and innovation. I bring deep education and business expertise along with strong critical thinking, communication and mentoring skills to board working.

Finance: I have managed corporate budgets and investment including developing a shared $600m business case to merge services across five organizations. I bring financial awareness and rigor to fulfil fiduciary responsibilities and deliver value.

Personal Growth and Commitment: As a doctoral researcher I specialize in developing practitioner self-awareness, adaptability and enablement. Through this journey I have developed my own capabilities and deep critical thinking skills. I have grown my commitment to caring for people within our Toastmasters community, standing for fairness and inclusion for all.

What experience do you have in strategic planning?

Toastmasters Strategic Planning: As an International Director I contributed to developing the 2024 Strategic Plan, as well as individual strategies for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Recognition, Region and District Realignments that were taken forward for implementation. When chairing the Change Management Working Group for Toastmasters, I led past Board and District leaders to propose improvements on strategic implementation. As District 91 Director our strategic planning fed into strong performance resulting in becoming the 4th highest performing District in the world and highest percentage of clubs at 20+ members.

Transformational Strategies: I have worked with executive boards to develop, engage and consult on strategic plans for change. As Charity CEO I led organization-wide strategy development with the board in consultation with philanthropists, head office staff and a network of associate trainers.

Developing Strategists: As a business school educator I supervise MBA and Masters students in shaping and conducting research to drive strategic change in their organizations, in a wide range of contexts such as education, healthcare and banking.

What experience do you have in the area of finance?

Financial Troubleshooting: I stabilized a charity’s at-risk finances as an interim CEO. Addressing these risks required me to understand, account for, and make decisions about financial conduct at a detailed level, working closely with auditors and the trustee board.

Business Cases, Procurement and Grant Funding: I have developed strategic business cases, procured and negotiated supplier contracts and managed commercial relationships. One program I led was a $600m procurement process to outsource multiple support functions for five local authorities. Early in my career I advised organizations on how to gain grant funding. Later as a charity CEO I developed funding strategies, led funding bid creation and managed philanthropic relationships.

Fiduciary Responsibility : As an International Director I focused on fulfilling my fiduciary responsibility in monitoring and budgeting, with attention to financial performance, risk management, and possibilities for investment.

Financial Education: In my leadership practice I draw on my early career Accounting and Finance diploma (ACCA) as well as my Masters in Economics.

What experience do you have in developing policies?

Toastmasters Policy and Parliamentary Procedure: As International Director I actively engaged with developing and reviewing policies and recommendations for change to our governing documents, related to District realignment. I have led the Board’s Parliamentary Procedure learning group, which is a key skill in teamworking to shape policy language and make decisions.

Developing Policy for Change: My change and organizational leadership work has involved high impact policy development. This includes:

• Creating shared policies across multiple government organizations to enable merging of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, such as in finance and human resources.
• Consulting with leaders, staff, and trade unions to build consensus and trust in the development of HR policies in an organization undergoing a challenging transformation.
• Negotiating and collaborating in the development of shared policies and performance agreements to support newly outsourced finance, technology, and procurement services.

What lessons did you learn from previous leadership positions?

Connection: An early leadership lesson made me realize that if I wanted to lead, I needed to communicate effectively. This is what first brought me to Toastmasters! From my change management practice, I’ve learned it is vital to engage and involve people. Collaboration is important to set vision, and I have found that constructive conflict can enable growth and performance as well as enrich relationships and communities. I now share reasons for change, act on concerns, and advocate for voices to be heard.

Adaptability and Agility: I’ve learned to lead according to the needs of the situation, the community and the person, with a preference for empowerment. I have also learned that personal and professional agility, curiosity, and resilience are key to sustaining success, especially in challenging times.

Growing the Individual: A critical lesson that I’ve learned through Toastmasters is the value of focusing on developing the individual. This lesson has been of such importance to me that the themes of self-enablement have come to be at the heart of my doctoral research. When we develop ourselves, the capability to be of greater service to others follows. As an International Director, I experienced the power of self-acceptance, openness and how much you can discover when deeply immersed in work that serves our community and members.

What experience and key strengths would you bring to the Board of Directors?

Leadership and Change: As an educator I share knowledge in the areas of strategy, leadership, innovation and change, supervising MBA and Human Resource Masters practitioner-based research. My educational practice builds on extensive international experience in strategic implementation, digital technologies, organizational development, and cultural change. I have a proven ability to lead and work successfully with global teams, flexibly and adaptively. I get things done. This experience is invaluable for thorough strategic committee work, strategy development, prudent governance, and lends credibility and insight when connecting as an ambassador. At a time of significant change for our organization, this expertise enables me to share change strategies, track progress and adapt so that our strategic goals are delivered.

DEI: I bring a personal value of fairness to my work and relationships. My deep insights and commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, emerge from my leadership and teaching practice as well as my doctoral research. As a board member, I contributed to developing our Diversity, Equity and Recognition and Recognition strategies and as part of the Executive Committee would contribute to ensuring we deliver on these.

Contribution to Toastmasters: Prior to my Board service I led Board-level election campaigns, co-founded a new regional Parliamentary Procedure community, served on the International Leadership Committee (ILC), and chaired the Board-facing Change Management Working Group.

As a Toastmasters District Director, I led my District to high performance, including reaching the highest level of clubs with 20+ members. This broad international experience and commitment to performance would be put to good use as a member of the Executive Committee.

Relationships: I’ve been told that I bring a well-informed, creative, and open minded approach to collaborative and leadership work. Feedback also indicates that I am a caring listener and trusted confidant who is focused on what is best for our members, someone who influences and develops people. The Board’s work is significantly enabled by supportive relationships and collaborative working.

Love of Learning: I am continuously learning and seeking to discover, as can be seen by my research, my deep post-graduate learning and achievement of three Distinguished Toastmaster awards. This particularly plays out in strategy work which requires learning what is happening now and discovering what might be possible for the future.

Why do you want to serve as an International Officer/Director?

Toastmasters is where we ignite our unique potential. I want us to emerge from our recent difficult times even stronger than before. I believe my skills in directing change, navigating complex relationships and situations, and my focus on growth of the individual can help us achieve those goals.

What volunteer experience do you have outside of Toastmasters?

Emergency Response: My first leadership experiences were as a teenager volunteering with the Irish Red Cross. I was selected to lead teams of adults and young people in simulated accident situations to prioritize and deliver emergency care before the medics arrived. We delivered first aid and emergency support at events and hospital emergency rooms. It was the first time I experienced being a leader, giving early confidence, self-belief and the humility to realize I didn’t have all the answers alone. This service enabled me to develop decision making, collaboration and leadership skills I bring to board service.

Educating People in Prison: As an adult I became a mentor for young offenders; I helped them prepare to re-enter the world with greater self-awareness and strategies to survive and thrive. I also supported and coached them through painful memories, regrets, and feelings about their past. We reflected on changing habits, developing practical skills, and preparing for the challenges and risks they would face on release. Now as a lecturer I support prisoners studying virtually from prison and have developed simulated collaborative learning experiences on which they can work, even when they are isolated in their cells. I bring this experience of supportive working with people, without judgement, under challenging circumstances, to my leadership, mentoring and relationships.

Have you worked with other Boards of Directors outside of Toastmasters? If so, describe your experience.

I have experience collaborating and guiding the planning and execution of strategic change and enabling strong governance.

Transformation Board: In a public sector body, I led an organization-wide transformation program. On the Board I worked with the CEO, other board directors and elected representatives to develop strategy and govern the change while ensuring that the operation continued to work effectively as we transformed.

Charity Board: I was asked to serve a charity as their interim CEO to troubleshoot and provide continuity during a time of crisis. I worked with the board to address significant issues around financial sustainability and conflict across the different stakeholder groups for the organization. Together we improved financial and operational transparency to enable stronger governance and built improved relationships with key funding providers.

In your opinion, what are Toastmasters International’s major objectives and how would you work to achieve them?

In my view, a key imperative is for us to move beyond the turbulence of the pandemic, to stabilize the organisation, return to pre-pandemic levels of growth and revenue, ready for significant expansion from there. I support the objectives outlined in the 2024 Strategic Plan, which I was part of developing as a member of the 2023/24 board. Our focus is on strengthening our global community and enhancing our communication and inclusion across that community. We seek to extend our reach, reduce our administrative load and exploit technologies like AI. If elected, I will be a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, playing my active role in tracking our progress, exploring future possibilities and developing our strategies.

Key opportunities I see are;

A Culture of Club Excellence: Less than 50% of our clubs were Distinguished in 2023/24 which means we need to focus on supporting clubs to grow and achieve excellence. We can develop our culture of excellence with a sense of anticipation, expectation and possibility for all clubs. We can also bring Moments of Truth up to date for the digital online/hybrid age.

Brilliant Member Achievement: Our education program is core to member experience and achievement. We must continue to improve our content, functionality, and translations so current and future members are engaged, developed, and inspired to grow. Though we have limited funding for resources, we can expand the involvement of our deeply skilled members to develop our capabilities together.

Growth and Reach: We have started to re-grow our membership since the Pandemic, but there is more to do to return to growth in numbers of clubs. We have opportunities to improve support and setup for precharter clubs to reach charter status and to improve experience and access to education for pre-charter members. In order to grow for today and create strong foundations for the future, we must expand our reach and relevance to younger generations.

Resources and Funding: Leaders across the organization report challenges with the tools and resources available to them. We must continue investing and innovating to streamline and extend resources for leaders at all levels. Having experienced the challenges of the Pandemic, it is key that we develop additional revenue streams to enable that investment and assure financial sustainability in a complex and changeable world.

Additional information about candidate:

Background: I was born in Dublin, Ireland and lived in Toronto, Canada until I was five. My family then returned to Dublin where I grew up surrounded by Irish culture. As a young adult, I moved to the UK and now I live in Cardiff, Wales with my supportive husband of 27 years, Steve. We share our home with our canine companions Loki and Nova who came to us as rescue dogs.

Toastmasters History and Beyond: I joined Toastmasters in 2006 because I wanted to speak confidently at work. Since then, I have developed as a speaker, storyteller, and leader, and far beyond those early intentions when I joined. My doctoral research has become an extension of the self-development and search for self-understanding that has come from my Toastmasters life.

Interests: I love walking amongst nature and have a daily yoga practice routine. These give me quiet time, strength, and resilience. I love the creativity that being a Toastmaster awoke in me, which comes out now in my storytelling, photography and poetry.