Catherine Eve Poole (born 5 February 1972), known as Eve Poole, is a British writer. In 2022, she was Interim CEO at the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

, having served as the

Third Church Estates Commissioner The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccle ...

from April 2018 to October 2021, one of the most senior lay people in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

. She was the first female Chairman of the Board of Governors at

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is locate ...

, an independent school in Moray, Scotland, from 2015-2021. Her books include ''Capitalism's Toxic Assumptions'' and ''Leadersmithing'', which was Highly Commended in the 2018 Business Book of the Year Awards.

Early life and education

Poole was born on 5 February 1972. One of four children, she was educated at

Madras College Madras College, often referred to as Madras, is a Scottish comprehensive secondary school located in St Andrews, Fife. It educates over 1,400 pupils aged between 11 and 18 and was founded in 1833 by the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell. History Madras Col ...

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's four ...

and at

Westminster School (Connecticut) Westminster School is a private, coeducational college-preparatory, boarding and day school located in Simsbury, Connecticut accepting around 20% of applicants. The total student population is approximately 400, and includes pupils from 25 US s ...

, having received a scholarship from

The English-Speaking Union The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational membership organistation. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages and cultures, by building skill ...

. She studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

at Durham University and was awarded a BA in 1993 before going on to work for the Church Commissioners. She graduated with a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accou ...

(MBA) degree from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1998. She completed a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(PhD) degree in Divinity at

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millice ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

, in 2010 with a thesis titled ''From the fall of The Wall to the collapse of credit, Church of England views on capitalism 1989–2008''.

Career

Poole started her career working for the

Church Commissioners The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Ecc ...

for England between 1993 and 1997. From 1998 to 2002, she worked as a

Change management Change management (sometimes abbreviated as CM) is a collective term for all approaches to prepare, support, and help individuals, teams, and organizations in making organizational change. It includes methods that redirect or redefine the use o ...

consultant for

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of professio ...

, specialising in capital markets and the public sector. In 2002, she joined the faculty at

Ashridge Executive Education Ashridge Executive Education (also known as the Ashridge Programme or Ashridge) is the executive education programme of Hult International Business School, housed in Hult's Ashridge Estate campus. Formerly an independent business school, know ...

to teach

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

and was the Deputy Director of the Public Leadership Centre and ran programmes for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

and local government. This unusual combination of careers has made her a frequent commentator on ethics in public life and about how leaders should behave at work. She is a regular contributor to Thought for the Day for

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scotland, Scottish radio station, radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same na ...

. In June 2015, she became the first female Chair of the Board of Governors of

Gordonstoun School Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located ...

. In 2018, Poole became the

, one of the most senior lay people in the

, in succession to Andrew Mackie. As Commissioner, she was a member of the Church Commissioners' Board of Governors and the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

. She also chaired the Bishoprics & Cathedrals Committee and the Mission, Pastoral and Church Property Committee. During her term she successfully introduced the Cathedrals Measure 2021, which modernises cathedral governance and places Church of England cathedrals under the regulatory ambit of the

Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , ...

for the first time. Prior to taking up the role of Third Church Estates Commissioner, Poole was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

of the

William Temple Foundation William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conqu ...

and the St Paul's Institute. She also served on the management boards of

Theos THEOS, which translates from Greek as "God", is an operating system which started out as OASIS, a microcomputer operating system for small computers that use the Z80 processor. When the operating system was launched for the IBM Personal Comp ...

and of Faith in Business at

Ridley Hall, Cambridge Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and memb ...

. She was a founding director of the Foundation for Workplace Spirituality (2007–2014), a trustee of the Foundation for Church Leadership (2006–2012), and trustee and deputy chair of the Christian Association of Business Executives (2005–2011). She is a Life Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

and a visiting scholar at

Sarum College Sarum College is a centre of theological learning in Salisbury, England. The college was established in 1995 and sits within the cathedral close on the north side of Salisbury Cathedral. The Sarum College education programme ranges from sho ...

Selected works

* ''The Church on Capitalism: Theology and the Market (''2010) * ''Ethical Leadership: Global Challenges and Perspectives'' (2011, with Carla Millar) * ''Capitalism's Toxic Assumptions: Redefining Next Generation Economics'' (2015) * ''Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership (''2017) * ''Buying God: Consumerism and Theology (''2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poole, Eve 1972 births Living people Church Estates Commissioners British Anglicans Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Alumni of Trevelyan College, Durham