Claire Dove

CBE DL

Claire Dove has been a key player in the social enterprise movement since the early 1980s and has led the Blackburne House Group since its inception, using her entrepreneurial skills to help the organisation grow into an award winning and extremely successful social business. 

One of the leading providers of adult and community education in the country, Blackburne House, a Beacon status college continues to expand its training remit, encompassing not only women embarking upon education for the first time but also women and other socially excluded groups looking to broaden their skills and enhance their career prospects in non traditional areas of work.

Over the past 25 years, the Blackburne House Group has successfully established a number of highly acclaimed, award winning social enterprises, whose products and services are sought throughout the country. The businesses continue to support the educational aims of the organisation and provide tangible examples of how new markets can be used to serve local communities and support business development and growth.

Claire has also worked on a national basis to form policy that supports the rights of individuals to education and training and to promote entrepreneurship and social enterprise opportunities across our many diverse communities. Claire was one of the three commissioners on the national worklessness panel that produced the Houghton Review.

Claire is Chair of the Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC), the UK umbrella body for social enterprise, Deputy Chair of Liverpool Community College, Governor of John Moore’s University, a panel member for Coutts Bank looking at their social enterprise strategy and has served on numerous commissions, she is currently chairing a Fairness Commission for Liverpool City Council.

Claire was awarded an MBE for her work in the mid-nineties. She is also the recipient of an Honorary Fellowship of Liverpool John Moores University, a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts, was voted nationally as an exemplary leader in Regeneration and is a Deputy Lieutenant for Merseyside.