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Charlie Stainforth

Charlie is an accredited Executive Coach and the CEO and Co-Founder of Circl, a company redefining how business builds leaders, combining experiential leadership training with social impact.

Charlie is out to demonstrate how social impact is no longer a CSR tick box exercise or a ‘nice-to-have’, but a modern-day commercial necessity.

Built on this principle, Circl trains professionals in coaching skills for modern leadership. These skills are then embedded and refined through 1:1 coaching of 16 to 18 year-old students from less privileged backgrounds. The professionals get invaluable experience coaching diverse talent, while the students get effective coaching from someone who’s been properly trained. In very much a two-way development partnership, both the professionals and students receive a coaching certification from the Association for Coaching (the UK’s governing body).

Their clients include big names such as Google, Facebook, Allen & Overy, Etsy, Innocent and British Land. Charlie attributes Circl’s success to the fact that individuals are increasingly motivated by opportunities with meaning and purpose, making the Circl training itself more effective and engaging, while also improving the employer brand of the companies that work with them.

Charlie has an MA (Hons) in Philosophy & Theology from The University of Edinburgh and is an Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC) accredited coach.