Graham Allcott is a social entrepreneur, consultant and trainer, specializing in youth engagement, volunteering and voluntary sector issues.
Allcott's social activism has taken him from running kids' projects in inner city Birmingham, to setting up HIV/AIDS education projects in rural Uganda, and advising government departments on youth engagement strategies.
In 2004, at the age of 25, Allcott became one of the sector's youngest leaders as Chief Executive of the national charity, Student Volunteering England. He held the role for three years, overseeing significant expansion of the service during this time.
Prior to this, Allcott established the involve volunteering service at the University of Birmingham, doubling the number of volunteers in three years. He also co-founded Intervol, an organization sending student volunteers on international summer placements in a dozen countries in the developing world.
Allcott was the founding chairman of READ International, an international development charity recyling English curriculum textbooks by sending them to Tanzanian schools. The charity won 'Best New Charity of the Year' at the 2007 Chairty Times Awards. He was also Chair of Volunteering England's national student volunteering advisory group and is a faculty trainer for CSV's Institute of Advanced Volunteer Management.
In 2011, Allcott was named "Future 100 Young Entrepreneur" for demonstrating entrepreneurial flair and innovation in progressing a responsible business venture; one which demonstrates a balance between economic, environmental and social goals to achieve ultimate business success.
Allcott's latest venture, Think Productive, provides time management training, e-mail training, e-mail etiquette workshops and facilitation training. He is the author of a new book, How to be a Productivity Ninja, which combines his love of volunteering with his passion for productivity to discuss how productivity techniques can help organizations, volunteers and volunteer managers be more productive. Allcott's book is available on Amazon and the e-book is being sold in aid of READ International; more info can be found at www.productivityninja.co.uk.
In his spare time, Allcott is a mentor for a young person in foster care through the charity NCH. He is also a Fellow of the RSA, a keen musician, and despite an intolerance of failure elsewhere in his life, an Aston Villa season ticket holder.
