Debbie Lawley
From the Management Team
Managing Director
Debbie Lawley is the co-founder of WillowDNA and a specialist in knowledge and learning.
Debbie is acknowledged as a skilled entrepreneur and a passionate advocate of learning and innovation in the workplace. Debbie has been responsible for developing and implementing strategy in these fields for a number of companies, including the Orange Telecommunications Group, before setting up WillowDNA.
A passionate and challenging speaker, Debbie is a favourite on the conference circuit and at business schools. She has also presented regularly at Henley and Warwick Business Schools as part of their MBA programmes and also programmes for the CIPD and Cranfield amongst others.
Never happy to accept conventional training methods, Debbie has been ahead of the curve for a long time. This shared passion is now very much a part of the WillowDNA approach.
Lisa Minogue-White
From the Management Team
Head of Product Development
Lisa’s main focus at WillowDNA is to lead the research and development of new learning products and support the teams in ensuring the core learning design delivers the best possible learning experience.
As a closet geek, she is never far away from the latest gadget or application; bringing the best of the latest technology back into Willow products.
Lisa has worked in this field for 12 years and has written papers on the field of online learning, delivered presentations on the subject and has been known to dream about online learning!
She also knows what it’s like to implement online learning strategy and led the implementation of global learning and knowledge sharing tools and practices across the Orange group of companies.
John Curran
From the Management Team
Head of Learning Design
John Curran is an expert in all things e-learning! He has helped a wide variety of commercial and public sector organisations take their first steps in e-learning.
In addition to consulting on e-learning strategy and developing online learning programmes, he works with clients to implement Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Virtual Learning Environments (VLE).
John is passionate about developing new approaches to learning and in addition to technology supported learning he has considerable experience in the area of business games and simulations.
He is passionate about learning and how we can make use of the latest web and mobile technologies to free learning from the confines of the classroom.
Joanne Southard
From the Programme Development Team
Instructional Designer
As an instructional designer at WillowDNA, I create Learning Path designs that take the learning objectives of a client and translate them into engaging and exciting online learning experiences. This means I really need to get to the heart of the learning need and create the learning journey, looking for opportunities to connect learners around the topic and get them reflecting of their experiences.
I do it because I love a challenge. For me it’s really important that learning at work emphasises the value of people, recognises the contributions people make to the organisations they work for, and acknowledges that organisations don’t achieve their goals in isolation. If learning builds on the vision, mission and values of an organisation and provides opportunities to get people talking and sharing, teaching each other and generating ideas, ideally in a creative and joyful way, it can help an organisation to lever its greatest asset.
I also do it because I don’t like being bored. I don’t like being patronised. So I like to work closely with a client to bring their learning objectives alive with genuine opportunities to really engage the learner with the topic that ensures engagement and real genuine knowledge and skill transfer. And I love telling a great success story!
Sue Rennoldson
From the Programme Development Team
e-learning Designer
I create e-learning modules, walkthroughs, quizzes and diagnostics that inspire and engage learners around the topic and act as a springboard to other learning experiences.
It’s also about ensuring the design, user experience and the pitch of the e-learning fit with the organisation’s culture and audience expectations.
We really want our e-learning to reach out to the audience and inspire them to really get involved in the learning experience.
To me, there can be no better job than helping people to develop their professional skills and get more out of their working lives.
And along the way I get to do the things I really enjoy – making a complex subject understandable and dabbling with the latest technology. I do like a challenge.
Lorraine Andrews
From the Programme Development Team
Content Developer
I work with our instructional designers to deliver the learning resources needed to deliver great Learning Paths. This means getting to grips with the learning story – making sure each of the pieces fit together to create an effective and coherent learning experience.
It’s about building up the topic through each interaction and making every piece of material engaging and interactive.
I enjoy the challenge of taking a learning content script and translating it into a story that is both interesting and engaging for the learner, whilst also meeting the learning objectives of the client.
Having previous experience in a classroom based training design, development and delivery environment I truly value how important it is to create a feeling of involvement and interaction for the learners, within the online learning field.
Jon Atkey
From the Operations Team
Quality Manager
I ensure that every piece of learning delivered to a client is of the highest standard, is fit for purpose and satisfies customer requirements in terms of technical and copy standards – both stated and implied.
I am responsible for maintaining standards for layout, language conventions and design, ensuring that we produce materials that are quality assured and consistently provide a great learner experience.
At WillowDNA, we take pride in providing our customers’ learners with a great learning experience – and we want them all to be delighted with the work we do. We therefore set high standards for ourselves and I’m here to ensure they’re maintained.
Delighted customers and learners are the best advert for our services.