Meet the minds behind Social Simulator: Building resilience with expertise

Our passionate group of experts brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table, ensuring we deliver the most effective and impactful crisis simulation training available.

Our team boasts backgrounds in crisis communication, public relations, and emergency management.

They understand the media landscape and how to navigate challenging press inquiries under pressure.

They are skilled at guiding participants through simulated scenarios, offering valuable feedback and insights.

Explore our individual profiles below and discover how their unique expertise can benefit your organization.

Chris is CCO and co-owner of the Helpful Digital Group. Chris leads business development strategy for the Group.

He brings his extensive crisis experience and network to the business, helping clients benefit from industry knowledge and experience.

Relevant Experience:
Chris is a former BBC Wales reporter. He went on to work for Cohn & Wolfe, followed by Regester Larkin by Deloitte.

He has supported clients through live issues and incidents, as well as prepared them for anticipated risks.
Chris has brought a deep knowledge of crisis management to Helpful Digital, combining this knowledge with the innovative approach of Social Simulator.

In 2021 Tim and Chris bought Helpful Digital and Social Simulator in a management buy-out, having been employees since 2014.
Chris has led the development of the business in the USA and Australia.

Formal Qualifications:
Master’s degree in International Public Relations, Cardiff School of Journalism.

Languages Spoken:
English

Featured Projects

Tim is CEO and co-owner of the Helpful Digital Group. He leads the business’s strategic development.

Tim’s overall responsibility is to ensure clients are confident and resilient in the face of crisis, and how they use social media.
His vision is to complete the building of a scalable business, delivering extraordinary value to clients, investors and staff.

Relevant Experience:
Tim is a former local news and trade journal reporter who switched teams to become a Head of Digital Communications for the UK government.

For successive governments, Tim pioneered social media advocacy for Ministers, health workers and civil servants. He co-authored definitive nation-wide social media guidance.

He led social media strategy through multiple issues, including elections, industrial unrest and health epidemics.

Tim has represented the UK on a diplomatic mission that focussed on how an overseas government monitors and engages with citizens.

In 2021 Tim and Chris bought Helpful Digital and Social Simulator in a management buy-out, having been employees since 2014.

Tim is a media and crisis speaker at Melbourne University, the University of Zurich, Bournemouth University, the National Defense University and William & Mary.

Languages Spoken:
English

Featured Projects:

- Crisis communications workshops for a high profile royal family

Sonja is our People Director. 

She supports the recruitment, growth and development of the team.

Relevant Experience:
Sonja has a wealth of experience at Helpful Digital and Social Simulator. She led our US business through a strong growth phase shortly after the management buy-out.

Sonja has led the development of our education client base in the US. She has also led the design of our social media advocacy training program, training more than 100 industry leaders to date.

Sonja has a strong background in strategic communications, crisis preparedness, and digital training, including roles at Edelman New York and Washington D.C. on their Energy, Financial, and Healthcare teams.

Formal Qualifications:
BBA Belmont University (Magna Cum Laude)
MBA College of William & Mary

Languages Spoken:
English

Featured Projects:

- Developed a social media policy for 62,000 staff worldwide

- Weekly social media training and support program for 300+ communicators across the US, Europe, and Asia

Phil is our Technical Director and a member of the executive team.

Phil is responsible for our security, technical infrastructure and the overall direction of Social Simulator and Crisis90.

Relevant Experience:
Phil has worked in web development, DevOps, and platform management for more than 10 years.

He was lead web developer at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology “the Nobel Prize factory”, where he developed WordPress sites for both the institute and international MRC units.

Phil was part of Helpful’s management buy-out in 2021, from which time he revolutionised the development of Social Simulator and Crisis90. He works closely with clients to identify priorities, manage development time and budgets.

Phil has led the development and roll-out of our large scale simulation packages, enabling clients to run multiple exercises simultaneously and with minimal support.

Formal Qualifications:
BSc Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia

Languages Spoken:
English

Featured Projects:

- Setting the vision for Social Simulator and Crisis90

- Roll-out of a bespoke social media and security training programs to more than 10,000 client staff

- Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation for Helpful Digital and Social Simulator

Dan is our Platform Manager.

Dan is responsible for managing our product roadmap, the configuration of simulation platforms and supporting clients.

Relevant Experience:
Dan has more than 10 years experience developing user-friendly, business-critical web applications and supporting clients worldwide. He was Product Owner at the International Student Identity Card in Amsterdam, supporting more than 3,000 users.

Dan masterminds our product roadmaps for both Social Simulator and Crisis90. He has led the design and roll-out of several new features on our platforms, enabling clients to scale their simulation experience.

Dan has also pioneered early steps into AI generated content for Social Simulator.

Formal Qualifications:
BSc (Hons) Business Information Systems, Anglia Ruskin University

Languages Spoken:
Fluent in Dutch; conversational in Korean, Spanish, and German.

Featured Projects:

- Monthly validation exercises for two of the world’s largest energy companies

- Platform localisation and scenario development for international crisis training sessions

Claire is an Associate Director and a member of the executive team at Helpful Digital. 

She manages several major accounts, and leads the design of digital training.

Relevant Experience:
Claire is a former UK public servant and local authority communicator, as well as a digital communications specialist for the UK Environment Agency.

She is a founder, running her own social media business for more than 10 years, as well as being one of the longest-serving members of the Helpful team.

Claire has delivered training for thousands of UK civil servants. She has also led the design and roll-out of our most successful crisis training for clients including L’Oréal, Lloyd’s of London and Shell.

Formal Qualifications:
MSc American Studies, University of Sheffield

Languages Spoken:
English, French

Featured Projects:

Jess is Senior Consultant for Issues and Crisis at Helpful Digital. 

She supports organisations through live incidents and leads crisis preparedness programmes, helping clients strengthen their internal response structures, communication strategies, and stakeholder engagement strategies.

Relevant Experience:
Jess has held key roles at Regester Larkin by Deloitte, risk advisory firm ILS, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

She combines strategic insight with hands-on expertise in designing training, simulations, and response frameworks for complex scenarios.

Formal Qualifications:
MSc International Relations, King’s College London
PgCert Modern Languages from Bristol University

Languages Spoken:
French (native), English, Spanish, Russian

Featured Projects:

Leah is a Senior Consultant.

Leah manages several of our most important accounts. She is our lead auditor, interrogating clients’ social media activity and delivering practical action plans to improve impact.

Relevant Experience:
Leah has an academic and practical grounding in online culture. She has helped our most high profile clients understand the dynamics of different online communities and how to improve engagement.

Leah has led workshops for senior leadership teams as well as front-line responders and communicators.

She has trained hundreds of energy executives in how to become social media advocates, and written playbooks for organisations who need to tackle online crises.


Formal Qualifications:
MA Anthropology, University of Virginia: linguistic and communicative practices in online spaces.

Languages Spoken:
English, Italian and Spanish.

Featured Projects:

- Crisis simulation development and delivery for US airlines and airports

- Global social media training, channel auditing, and consulting for one of the world’s largest energy companies

Susy is Marketing Manager for the Helpful Digital Group.

She supports the delivery of crisis projects and social media training.

Relevant Experience:
Susy has written Helpful’s first comprehensive marketing plan, incorporating CRM, social, paid advertising and events. She also led the development of our latest brand.

Susy was a digital communications leader in the UK government, both at the Department of Health and Social Care and Home Office. She was directly involved in the response to Ebola, Brexit, and COVID.

Susy has also held digital roles in the charity and green energy sectors.

Formal Qualifications:
Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing (CIM)
MSc Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy

Languages Spoken:
English

Featured Projects:

- Redesigning and scaling business marketing

- Leading a re-brand of Helpful Digital and Social Simulator

- Enabling Social Simulator to reach new marketing and sectors

Sophie is a Digital Account Executive. 

She coordinates crisis management, digital training, and supports our marketing program.

Relevant Experience:
Sophie is our lead facilitator for one of the UK’s largest emergency exercises. Working with local resilience forums she coordinates our live media simulation with on-the-ground role play and the deployment of fire and rescue, police and medical teams. Sophie ensures that footage from evacuation centres and mock media interviews is linked directly to Social Simulator.

Sophie is also lead client coordinator for our crisis training work with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNHCR).

Formal Qualifications:
BA History, University of Southampton

Languages Spoken:
English

Featured Projects:

- Delivery lead for Exercise Deluge

- Social media management for Social Simulator channels

Amanda is Partnerships Account Manager at Helpful Digital. 

She leads delivery with our trusted partners, managing collaborative projects to deliver training and digital product innovation.

Relevant Experience:
Amanda has a background in advertising technology and digital communications, having worked for Yahoo! and the UK government.
She lived in Singapore for 5 years, where she helped develop APAC partnerships for tech companies including Criteo and BidSwitch.

Amanda is a founder of her own health and wellbeing businesses and a women’s health advocate.
Formal Qualifications:
BSc (Hons) Multimedia Technology, University of Hertfordshire

Languages Spoken:
English

Featured Projects:

- Collaboration with media training agencies to integrate simulations

- Design and delivery of major crisis exercises for partner’s clients in financial services and FMCG

Ayla is a Digital Account Executive at Helpful Digital. 

She delivers social media best practice webinars and crisis simulations.

Relevant Experience:
Ayla has designed and delivered large scale emergency exercises for utility companies and state emergency departments. She has a particular interest in helping teams from different organisations to better coordinate their response.

Ayla is also a regular training leader for our education clients too, including Elgin Community College and William & Mary.

Ayla has also delivered social media training webinars for our energy clients, helping them get to grips with new features and emerging trends on Instagram and TikTok.

Formal Qualifications:
Bachelor degree Cultural Anthropology and Communications, University of California, Santa Barbara.


Languages Spoken:
English

Featured Projects:

- Designing social media content for one of the world’s largest energy companies

- Developing messaging frameworks for diverse audiences

Nelly is an independent consultant. 

Nelly specializes in strategic communications and leadership, with over 20 years’ experience across charity, government, and private sectors.

She is passionate about the strategic role of communications, and how it shapes an organisation’s direction as a key lever for change.
She loves bringing a strategy to life and leading the change to make
that happen. with a knack for breaking down big complex, strategic issues into simple (but never simplistic), tangible actions that people can buy in to.

Nelly has successfully engaged diverse audiences on issues including natural disasters, displacement & migration, Covid-19 vaccine development, cutting carbon emissions, housing & homelessness, health, science and military operations, leading to positive attitude and behaviour change, increased growth, and exciting shifts in organisational culture and mindset.