Karyn Johnston

Background

About Karyn Johnston

Chief Executive, Accountable Officer and Serial Volunteer Karyn Johnston became Chief Executive and Accountable Officer for East Cheshire Hospice in 2018 and leads cohesive and focused teams who operate successfully in the public, private and third sectors to deliver a better end of life experience for all. Karyn joined East Cheshire Hospice in 2014 to serve as Marketing Communications and Retail Business Lead. After taking on the role of Income Generation Director in 2015 she set about developing integrated teams and income streams which supported the ambition of one of the most agile and progressive hospices in the UK. Prior to joining the Hospice Movement, Karyn cut her third sector teeth with Age UK working locally on income generation and nationally by being a member of the Partnership Board. She gained valuable experience in change management as well as charity mergers when Help the Aged and Age Concern formally merged in 2009 to become Age UK. Before moving to the charitable sector, Karyn spent 10 years in mutual financial services working for Cheshire Building Society initially in marketing communications and then helping to set up the new eCommerce department. She was a leading member of the team which delivered the first ever online mortgage decision and application platform. After graduating in 1988, Karyn began her career in advertising working for various agencies in Manchester where she learned that relationship building and excellent communication are key elements of problem solving and progress. A committed and enthusiastic volunteer, Karyn has held many non-remunerated roles in support of the communities in which she lives and works. These include being a Magistrate, a Samaritan, a PTA secretary, a fundraiser for various charities and the first follower/enthusiastic supporter of someone else’s really great idea. Her current volunteer roles include Chair of St Alban’s Macclesfield Pastoral Parish Council and Trustee Director of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury. Karyn is married to composer, Adrian Webster, from which union two more creative and compassionate humans have been produced. A keen, if unaccomplished pub quizzer, Karyn also enjoys honing her views on social justice, politics and religion on the anvil of robust debate. Specialties: • Management and leadership • Service/product development • Strategic Marketing Communications • Complex problem solving • Relationship building • Mentoring