Darren creates award-winning strategies and campaigns, delivers comms and digital reviews and offers specialist communication consultancy, support, training and mentoring for both public and private sector clients.

By the time John-Paul Danon co-founded CAN in 2014, he was well-positioned to support the public sector in optimising revenue from their digital estates.

He had already developed commercial digital platforms in education, health and local government, including at Fendix Media – the digital engagement partner for the NHS. CAN has generated over £8m in advertising income so far for the public sector.

John-Paul believes that ad tech can nudge people towards the sort of positive behaviour changes that will help protect and improve services in the long term. CAN’s campaign media-buying service now has more than 1,000 successful examples across 140+ public sector organisations.

With more than 20 years’ experience in the email marketing space, Dan is an expert at getting email to deliver. Dan’s love of email is rivalled only by his love of pizza. But don’t be fooled; his black belt isn’t just to keep his trousers up.

Dee Cowburn is a crisis communications specialist and trusted adviser to senior leaders operating in complex, high-pressure environments and runs her own consultancy, Dee Cowburn Communications Ltd.

With nearly two decades spanning investigative journalism and political communications, she brings a blend of media insight, strategic judgement and frontline crisis experience.

Dee began her career as an investigative journalist, developing a deep understanding of how stories are shaped and how reputations can be built or damaged under scrutiny.

She later moved into public sector communications, where she spent over a decade leading high-stakes communications for policing and crime in West Yorkshire, including the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Mayor’s office.

Throughout her career, Dee has advised on some of the UK’s most sensitive and high-profile incidents, including the murder of Jo Cox, helping organisations navigate intense public, political and media attention with clarity and integrity. Her expertise covers reputation and risk management, crisis response, media strategy and leadership counsel in fast-moving situations.

Dee, a 2026 winner of the Independent Impact 50 Awards and a crisis communications specialist partner of crisis agency Alder, works with organisations across the public, private and third sectors to prepare for, respond to and recover from crises. She also supports leaders to communicate with confidence, transparency and empathy when it matters most.

Carmen is Social Media Content Creator at Staffordshire County Council, with over five years’ experience creating campaigns, telling stories and connecting communities through digital content. She’s passionate about using social media to make public sector communications more creative, accessible and engaging.

Within her first year in the role, the team won Best Social Media Account at the comms2point0 UnAwards, and has continued to focus on creating impactful campaigns, particularly through video content and storytelling. Carmen is also the 2025 winner of the Orlo Unsung Hero Award.

Outside of work, she’s always creating content — including attempting to make her dog Leo the next social media sensation!

Ellie Moore is the Digital Communications and Marketing Officer at Reading Borough Council, where she leads the council’s corporate social media channels and champions digital content that engages residents, showcases local stories, and celebrates the achievements of staff and communities across the borough. She is also the 2024 winner of the Orlo Unsung Hero Award.

James has spent the last 20 years creating stories with impact. At Alive With Ideas, he led numerous award-winning campaigns, comms and branding projects for the public sector, as well as charities and businesses. He created Turn The Page to unleash the power of stories across comms and campaigns and create genuine impact.