Dame Julia Charity Cleverdon (born 19 April 1950)Dame Julia Cleverdon profile
debretts.com; accessed 2 April 2014. is a British charity worker who served for 16 years as Chief Executive of

Business in the Community Business in the Community (BITC) is a British business-community outreach charity promoting responsible business, CSR, corporate responsibility, and is one of the Prince's Charities of King Charles III (formerly the Prince of Wales). BITC work ...

, one of the Prince's Charities of

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

.Honorary graduands 2010-2011: Dame Julia Cleverdon (LLD)
,

University of Exeter , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

website; retrieved 2 April 2014.

Biography

Born in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

, Cleverdon is the daughter of

Douglas Cleverdon Thomas Douglas James Cleverdon (17 January 1903 – 1 October 1987) was an English radio producer and bookseller. In both fields he was associated with numerous leading cultural figures. Personal life He was educated at Bristol Grammar School and ...

, the BBC Radio producer.Davidson, Andrew (2007)
The MT interview: Julia Cleverdon
, ''

Management Today Haymarket Media Group is a privately held media company headquartered in London. It has publications in the consumer, business and customer sectors, both print and online. It operates exhibitions allied to its own publications, and previously on ...

'', 28 September 2007; retrieved 2 April 2014. She was educated at

Camden School for Girls The Camden School for Girls (CSG) is a comprehensive secondary school for girls, with a co-educational sixth form, in the London Borough of Camden in north London. It has about one thousand students of ages eleven to eighteen, and specialist- ...

and graduated with a History degree from

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

. Cleverdon has honorary degrees from the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

and

Harper Adams University Harper Adams University, founded in 1901 as Harper Adams College, is a public university located close to the village of Edgmond, near Newport, in Shropshire, England. Established in 1901, the college is a specialist provider of higher educa ...

. She joined The Industrial Society, a business relations organisation. She eventually became the society's Director of Education and Inner City Division. She was appointed Chief Executive of Business in the Community on 1 April 1992. During her service she significantly expanded the charity's work, and was named one of the "50 most influential women in Britain" by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''. Since stepping down as Chief Executive on 1 March 2008, she has served as Vice President. She held voluntary roles as Chair of Teach First, membership of both the National Council for Educational Excellence and the Prime Minister's Talent and Enterprise Taskforce Advisory Group, patron of the Helena Kennedy Bursary Scheme and previously Beanstalk (formerly known as Volunteer Reading Help), an ambassador for the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

, and director of In Kind Direct.

Honours

In recognition of her work, she was made a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in 1996. In the 2002 New Year's Honours, she was made a Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(CVO). In the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2008, she was elevated to

DCVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

. She is one of the co-founders of the #iwill campaign, along with Amanda Jordan, for youth social action and sits on their board of trustees.

Personal life

Cleverdon was first married to Martin Ollard, a stockbroker. In 1986 she married W. John Garnett (died 14 August 1997), former director of The Industrial Society, by whom she has two daughters, Charity, a nurse, and Victoria, a Metropolitan Police officer. She is the stepmother of

Virginia Bottomley Virginia Hilda Brunette Maxwell Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone, (née Garnett, born 12 March 1948) is a British Conservative Party politician, and headhunter. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons from 1984 ...

(née Garnett).

References

External links

Julia Cleverdon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleverdon, Julia 1950 births Living people British philanthropists Businesspeople from London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Dames Commander of the Royal Victorian Order English nonprofit executives Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge People educated at Camden School for Girls