CIMSPA’s senior leadership team is a diverse group of experienced professionals with a passion for supporting the sport and physical activity sector workforce.
Supporting each department of the organisation to deliver our strategy, our leaders have extensive experience in their area of expertise. Below you can find out about each of member of the team, but make sure to look out for the news stories we share with their insight into the latest sector updates.
Tara Dillon FCIMSPA (Chartered)
Chief Executive Officer
Having led the organisation for over 10 years, Tara pioneers CIMSPA’s strategy and vision. She oversees all aspects of the business and works to future-proof its operation through close collaboration with the senior leadership team and board of trustees. Tara speaks at events on a regular basis, sharing her experience, insight and vision with stakeholders within and outside of the sport and physical activity sector.
She is also a member of many sector boards and groups, including Moving Communities, the Sports Governance Academy and Women in Coaching.
Beginning as a lifeguard in 1987, Tara advanced quickly to management roles in the leisure industry before taking on the mantle of Executive Director at IQL. She originally became CEO of CIMSPA on secondment, however permanently joined the organisation in 2015.
Tara is extremely proud of how CIMSPA has evolved over the past decade to a position where its strategy revolves around leading by listening and responding to sector needs. This is reflected in her contribution to the sector as a whole, where through her infectious energy and focus, she has helped to raise the standards for education and professionalism across the board.
In 2024, Tara was awarded the Jan Spaticchia Special Recognition Award in recognition of her transformative work and passion for the sector.
On a personal note, she sees being a role model for women in the sector as a great achievement and believes in the importance of supporting women to achieve their career goals.
Tara is hugely motivated by helping people to grow and realise their potential. She enjoys supporting her team through a coaching-oriented leadership style and is skilled in bringing out the best in individuals with her approachable and honest manner.
Seeing CIMSPA and the sector as being on a steep upward trajectory, Tara is keen to deliver professional recognition to its workforce as it grows into its natural role as a healthcare partner. She believes that sport and physical activity is ready to deliver in collaboration with the health sector.
Spencer Moore FCIMSPA
Chief Strategy Officer
Spencer drives CIMSPA’s strategic output, ensuring that the organisation delivers widespread impact to sport and physical activity in the UK. Drawing on his extensive expertise, he spends much of his time gaining foresight into the sector, using it to ensure that CIMSPA is adaptable to change and that the frontline teams he manages are able to work effectively to deliver the strategy.
Alongside his role as Chief Strategy Officer of CIMSPA, Spencer Moore is also a member of the International Confederation of Registers of Exercise Professionals (ICREPS) board of directors and of the advisory board for Safe Sport International.
As an international swimmer, Spencer’s first professional role in sport and physical activity was as a recreation attendant. From this, he progressed through several frontline roles to teaching sports science, which he studied at university. He then moved on in the education sector to become head of curriculum for sport, public services and outdoor education.
A highlight of Spencer’s career has been his involvement in the UK Coaching Certificate coaching programme while working at British Swimming. The national governing body acted as a trailblazer for the initiative to create a consistent, high-quality education framework for coaches across a wide range of sports in the UK.
After a short time working as a consultant, Spencer joined CIMSPA to play a fundamental role in growing and shaping the organisation into the impactful representative body it is today.
Spencer is motivated by a drive to create positive change in the sector. He brings an adaptable leadership style to CIMSPA, supporting his team in ways that best suit the individuals to maximise their strengths. He weaves together complex elements of the organisation’s work to ensure that its strategy’s whole-system approach is delivered effectively.
Looking forward, Spencer is keen for recognition of the sector’s power in terms of its ability to contribute to national health, social and economic priorities. He sees CIMSPA’s system of issuing professional status as the future of sport and physical activity workforce deployment and gaining this recognition.
Annette Wade-Clarke MCIM
Chief Communications and Engagement Officer
As the strategic lead for the organisation’s end-to-end customer journey, Annette manages the teams that support the success of customers and partners, providing them with the highest quality experience through the sport and physical activity workforce’s professional body.
Annette’s first role in the sector was in community engagement at a professional sports club. Having gained a wealth of experience there interacting with schools, community groups and on major campaigns, she then moved towards supporting education providers – first delivering careers guidance in schools and colleges, then working at a further education college connecting with employers to develop apprenticeships and workplace training across all sectors of industry.
After several positions in senior leadership within membership organisations, Annette joined CIMSPA in 2023 as Director of Marketing and Communications before incorporating responsibility for additional aspects of customer relationships into her current role.
As an experienced and thoughtful communicator, Annette is motivated by telling the stories of professionals having a positive impact on people’s lives to achieve recognition for individuals and the sector as a whole.
She sees her biggest achievement as championing vocational education and career pathways through this storytelling, which has opened doors politically and raised the profile of the sector in tackling key issues faced by the country and government.
As a leader, Annette is very hands on. She is keen to ensure that her asks are realistic and founded in her own experience, using her self-proclaimed skill in overthinking to ensure that she fully understands how strategic decisions impact and can be interpreted by individuals.
She also uses this talent to find empathy for a wide range of viewpoints, from individual customers to the UK government, reacting quickly to ensure that communications are precise and effective.
With the introduction of professional status and close collaboration on health and education agendas, Annette is determined to ensure that the sector receives professional recognition for its foundational role in society.
Izabela Puchalska FCCA
Director of Finance
As Director of Finance, Izabela and her team safeguard CIMSPA’s financial health. She provides strategic financial insight to its board, committees and executive leadership team, and her expertise supports effective decision-making and ensures that the organisation’s financial strategy aligns with its long-term goals.
Izabela oversees the organisation’s financial operations, including budget planning, forecasting, audit preparation and the continuous development of robust financial policies and procedures. She also leads and mentors the finance team, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration and professional growth.
With a career spanning across the legal sector, international corporations, the pharmaceutical industry and higher education, including roles from management accountant to financial controller, Izabela brings a wealth of experience and a strong track record in financial leadership, strategic planning and process improvement.
Driven by her commitment to excellence and forward-thinking approach, Izabela combines analytical rigour with a genuine passion for developing people and improving systems. A keen cyclist, she was inspired during a career break to combine her financial expertise with her love of sport, leading her to join CIMSPA.
Izabela believes that every team member contributes uniquely to organisational success and focuses on empowering others to reach their potential. She is enthusiastic about leading CIMSPA’s financial strategy and supporting the organisation as it continues to grow and deliver impact across the sector.
Ritchie Brett
Director of Digital Transformation and Innovation
In a role of many components, Ritchie is responsible for ensuring that the organisation’s technology and approach to technology are fit for purpose, developing digital products to align with strategic needs. His team also establishes best practice across CIMSPA’s projects and processes and manages IT provisions from hardware to software.
While he now designs digitally, Ritchie’s professional experience began with physical product design, creating children’s toys for major high street retailers. However, early to note that product thinking could be better applied to digital solutions, he pivoted to applying his understanding of product principles and human-centred design to the digital world.
Ritchie’s work in digital product design has led him to work with major organisations across the world, from supporting the NHS to managing international products for private sector brands. He then joined CIMSPA in his current role in 2023.
With him, Ritchie has brought a well-developed skill in lateral thinking. Drawing on his experience across a broad range of businesses, he is able to transfer past learning and solutions to be applied effectively in new bespoke digital products.
Reflecting on his career so far, Ritchie sees his biggest achievement as having supported organisations to stabilise and move forwards in a sustainable and dynamic way through the digital products he has developed with them.
In his work, Ritchie is motivated by the opportunity to use his creativity to bring ideas to life. He enjoys being able to condense a complex business situation into a simple, elegant digital solution.
Having spent his time at CIMSPA so far building foundations for an innovative new digital experience, he is keen to move forwards with improving interactions with stakeholders as well as connecting the dots at a more strategic level through the organisation’s digital platforms.
Clare Dunn MCIMSPA (Chartered)
Associate Director of Engagement
Clare manages the delivery of CIMSPA’s local skills work, initiating collaboration between partners within and outside of the sport and physical activity sector to solve workforce development challenges and better serve local communities. Clare also manages the organisation’s customer engagement and accreditation, aligning products and services with individual as well as organisational needs.
A visionary leader with high emotional intelligence, Clare has established a cohesive and productive team. She inspires and unites its members around the organisation’s strategy while allowing them to be creative and innovative in working towards it.
Beginning her sector career as a lifeguard, Clare quickly gained managerial responsibilities. She then progressed to gain experience in the third sector including working at the Royal Life Saving Society where she managed contracts, partnerships and quality assurance both within the UK and on an international level.
Upon joining CIMSPA, Clare grew the organisation’s employer partner network exponentially, leading on the Sport England-funded local skills project and now services for individual professionals too.
Having never been academic herself, she is motivated by ensuring that those with more practical skillsets are aware of and can access the diverse range of pathways into employment in the sport and physical activity sector.
Clare is particularly proud of CIMSPA’s work with Vision West Nottinghamshire College in engaging with local employers to create a vocational course that offers a viable pathway into the sector. She also sees enormous value in how her team’s work has led to the recognition of the sector as a key economic contributor in several local skills improvement plans and a close connection with chambers of commerce.
Clare is keen for CIMSPA to continue to cement its position as a driving force behind the sport and physical activity sector through professional status and developing a workforce that can offer the right people in the right place at the right time.
Colin Huffen MCIMSPA
Associate Director of Standards and Regulation
In his role, Colin ensures that appropriate policies, procedures and practices are in place to enable the sport and physical workforce to safely engage with a wide range of participants.
This is underpinned by extensive consultation with CIMSPA’s partners and members through boards, committees and specialist groups to create an interconnected ecosystem across performance sport, active wellbeing in the community and healthcare as well as the fitness and leisure industries.
Alongside his work at CIMSPA, Colin is also a member of the Coaching Advisory Panel at UK Coaching.
An all-rounder in his work, Colin is equally at ease writing complex policies and presenting them to an audience. He is able to take CIMSPA’s vision and play a major role in making it a reality.
A competitive swimmer from an early age, Colin went on to study sport psychology at university. While working in this field alongside his studies and beyond, he also gained experience in a range of roles in the leisure industry. He then moved into education, progressing from sports lecturer through a range of roles to head of education at UK Coaching. Prior to joining CIMSPA, Colin moved into the role of policy manager for AoC Sport, where he was responsible for ensuring that further education qualifications were fit for purpose.
Throughout, Colin has been driven by supporting people to be the best at what they do. Leading with a motivational style, he sees his biggest achievements as having enabled others to develop and progress in their careers to high-level roles in the sector. Both on an individual level and as part of his wider work developing professional standards and training frameworks, Colin has supported countless individuals to achieve their career goals.
Colin believes that the sector is making great strides in furthering its professionalisation and expects steady progress in improving the attractiveness of the sector and supporting people to provide a better sport and physical activity service over the coming years.
Natasha Schofield
Associate Director of Education and Career Development
Natasha is responsible for managing and liaising with a complex ecosystem of education providers and other education stakeholders to ensure that sport and physical activity learning products are quality assured and align with career pathways, professional standards and wider policy and initiatives.
She has also mentored through the Saracens Foundation Empower Her programme and volunteers with local netball clubs outside of her work at CIMSPA.
Having studied leisure management and sports development, Natasha changed direction to teach PE at further education level. Over more than eight years, she coordinated courses, led programmes and supported many young people with their career goals in sport and physical activity.
Wanting to influence sector education at a greater scale, Natasha then joined CIMSPA in the role of education officer. Her expertise has since grown alongside the organisation, leading Natasha to her current position as a senior leader.
She sees her greatest achievement as having significantly contributed to CIMSPA’s education endorsement framework, which has led to higher-quality, career-driven education products that provide a better experience for learners as well as their eventual employers and clients.
Having already made a substantial positive impact on sector education, Natasha is continually motivated by a desire to improve learner experience and workforce skill.
To achieve this, Natasha has high expectations of her team. This is complemented by a great deal of trust, ensuring that those she leads are able to take confident ownership of their work.
A skilled strategic influencer, Natasha has demonstrated resilience and adaptability in the face of continual change in the sector, spearheading new strategies and driving her team to embrace unfamiliar ideas.
Moving forwards, she sees CIMSPA cementing itself as a kitemark of quality for sport and physical activity education, providing regulation and support for professionals as well as confidence for employers and the general public.