With over 17 years of experience, Andi Hargreaves is a veteran of mediation. So much so that there is little area in the public sector that Andi has not coached and investigated, from the NHS to the Civil Service and the House of Commons. Andi has put people first throughout her career, supporting everyone from vulnerable children to senior politicians. But, whatever you do, don’t ask Andi to walk on a steep incline. She still laments about her Kilimanjaro experience to this day.
Andi is an experienced and well respected senior HR and OD professional, resilient and confident under pressure with experience of leadership in a variety of sectors including public and commercial, not for profit, charities and the secondary and tertiary education.
She has demonstrable experience of designing and implementing HR strategies and OD solutions to align with organisational business objectives and extensive experience in conducting investigations from fraud, bullying and harassment, racial, sexual and disability discrimination as an internal expert and external independent and also supports organisations through appeals, grievances and disciplinary hearings.
Andi led the Civil Service departmental approaches to safeguarding and combatting sexual misconduct following media exposure of Oxfam and Department of International Development (DFID) issues in 2016. She worked with DFID and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to set up an enhanced due diligence set of standards for the UK and overseas partners to apply safeguards in their work and in particular, to safeguard children and adults at risk of sexual exploitation and abuse.
Andi has excellent coaching and facilitation skills demonstrated at Board, team and individual levels working with internal and external coachees from many organisations including Save the Children, NHS Leaders during COVID-19, Judge Business School in Cambridge, Kings College as well as commercial organisations.
Andi trained as a mediator in 2004 and has since successfully mediated many cases in organisations and the community to endeavour to support better working, living and professional relationships.
Outside of work Andi is a Trustee for Time 4 Young Carers, which aims to support young people with caring responsibilities to have quality time out be a young person, interacting with others. Andi is also an Appropriate Adult for young people and vulnerable adults in police custody.
For time out, Andi loves walking – with the exception of hills which she loathes despite climbing Kilimanjaro to celebrate a friend’s birthday, travelling – she once used her surname to claim she was a footballer’s mother to escape Sierra Leone, and watching sunsets with her family.
What people say:
“Thank you so much for all the time and effort you have clearly taken in pulling this together. The recommendations were clear and the findings well evidenced and balanced.”
Investigation client
“It has been such a pleasure getting to know you Andi and, like you, I remain very passionate about mediation and my work as a mediator.”
Training client from the Home Office
“Personal and down to earth approach from Andi delivering the training. Fascinating seeing tools being used in a mediation and making the parties see the situation differently and skills that you will be able to use in work and life. An enjoyable experience, I learnt a lot from Andi.”
Mediation training client