Our leadership team

Corinne Mills, Interim Chief Executive

I strongly believe a diverse, skilled, engaged and empowered workforce of volunteers and employees is fundamental to delivering the vital support the Society wants to provide for people with dementia. We want everyone who shares our vision to play a role.

About Corinne

Corinne Mills has been leading the work to support, develop, enable and engage Alzheimer’s Society employees and volunteers for four years as the Chief People Officer and more recently as Interim Chief Executive Officer.

With a career spanning more than 30 years, working with organisations such as Marks & Spencer, Ofsted and RNIB, she has delivered outstanding results in organisational development, employee relations, employee engagement and large-scale transformation. Her achievements have been recognised through industry awards including Best HR Strategy in Line with Business and Excellence in Recruitment Innovation. She is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD).

Under her leadership, Alzheimer’s Society has introduced a leadership coaching programme, a comprehensive apprenticeship scheme, and a new pay and grading framework. She is currently spearheading an ambitious culture development programme designed to help employees and volunteers thrive and deliver their best in support of people affected by dementia.

Her impact has extended beyond internal transformation. She led the organisation to significant cultural improvements, resulting in national recognition:

• Twice named one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work
• Ranked No. 1 Most Inspiring Workplace in the Not-for-Profit category in 2025
• Awarded Most Inspiring Workplace in the UK and Ireland overall in 2025

Driven by personal experience, her grandad lived with dementia, she brings deep empathy and unwavering commitment to her work.

Outside of her professional life, she continues to challenge herself and give back, having completed the London Marathon in both 2023 and 2024, raising funds for Alzheimer’s Society.

Michelle Dyson, CB, Chief Executive from 3 November 2025

About Michelle

Michelle Dyson CB was appointed in 2025 as the new Chief Executive Officer of Alzheimer’s Society. From 2020 to 2025 Michelle was the Director General of Adult Social Care at the Department of Health and Social Care.  As the top civil servant leading on adult social care, she was responsible for advising Ministers on policy and for operational oversight and reform of the adult social care system. Prior to this, Michelle worked as a senior civil servant in different roles in the Ministry of Justice, Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Education, always with a focus on social policy and delivery particularly as regards disadvantaged groups. Michelle is a qualified solicitor and spent the first part of her Civil Service career as a government lawyer.

Michelle was awarded a CB (Companion of the Order of the Bath) for services to health and social care in the New Year's Honours List 2025.

Three of Michelle’s grandparents had dementia, so she has personal experience of the devastation that the disease can cause.

Fiona Carragher, Chief Policy and Research Officer

My career has been underpinned by taking the best of research and science through policy into practise. There is no doubt that dementia is the biggest health and societal challenge we face and if we all put our strength behind it, we will make a difference.

About Fiona

Fiona joined Alzheimer’s Society in January 2019. She plays a pivotal role in the Society’s vision to create a world without dementia: leading our world-class research programme and striving to strengthen our position as the national charity leader on dementia health and social care policy. 

A Consultant Clinical Biochemist by background, Fiona has worked in multi-professional teams for two decades at a range of large hospitals, including the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Edinburgh) and Kings College Hospital (London) – with a focus on providing high quality, innovative services. 

Prior to joining the Society, Fiona was the Deputy Chief Scientific Officer for NHS England. Here, she provided leadership for 50,000 healthcare science professionals, and expert advice to the health system on science, innovation, and diagnostics – most notably in establishing the UK Antimicrobial Resistance Diagnostics programme and the system wide Action Plan on Hearing Loss. 

Fiona is a passionate advocate for women in health and led the establishment of the first Women in Science and Engineering fellowship programme in the NHS.

She has also joined the board of Kent and Medway Health and Social Care Partnership NHS Trust as a Non-Executive Director. 

Marcus Campbell, Chief Technology Officer

About Marcus

Marcus leads our Technology directorate, supporting the organisation to be at forefront of technological advancement and ensuring that we have the data to drive further impact where it matters most. Marcus joined the Alzheimer’s Society in March 2024. 

Prior to joining Marcus was Chief Technology Officer at Hermes Logistics Technologies where he led their air cargo technology, delivery and their engineering teams based in UK, Israel, and India.  

Over a 20-year career, Marcus brings a wealth of experience and a stellar record of driving change and innovation across a range of sectors, including retail, insurance, and charity, where he was Senior Head of Technology for the Prince’s Trust.

I’m passionate about the power of technology to support colleagues to thrive in their roles and to unlock meaningful and lasting change through our Help and Hope strategy for those living with dementia.

Alex Hyde-Smith, Chief Marketing Officer

I joined the Society because I believe this is the generation that is going to make the most significant breakthroughs and progress on improving the lives of people affected by dementia.

About Alex

Alex joined Alzheimer's Society in June 2019. The focus of his role is to ensure both fundraising and our supporters are at the heart of the organisation.  

Alex started his working life in market research for one of the UK’s largest research agencies, moving then into direct-response marketing. Here, he worked with corporate and charity clients, including The Prince's Trust, Save the Children and FilmFour.  

The interest and respect Alex developed for the art and science of direct response prompted a move into the charity sector (they were far-nicer clients!), where he later joined Marie Curie.

Alex worked here for 9 years - latterly as the Director of Fundraising. Here, he learned the true power of collaboration and influencing across diverse stakeholder groups within large complex organisations. 

Now, he leads a dedicated, unified team across a strong portfolio of fundraising activities, with a clear ‘one team, one target’ strategy.​

Dara de Burca, Executive Director of Dementia Support and Partnerships

“Alzheimer’s Society puts people like my mother at the heart of everything we do, empowering people with dementia not just to shape, but to lead the change we want to create in our world”

About Dara

Dara joined Alzheimer’s Society in April 2022 as Director of Operations and is determined to transform the support and advice available to people affected by dementia. She believes magic can be created by bringing together great people, with an unrelenting focus on impact and co-designing services with people affected by dementia. 

Dara is responsible for all the services delivered across the three nations. This includes information, advice and support services delivered online, our Dementia Support Line and dementia support services in local areas. Her team is also responsible for ensuring the safety and quality of our services, service improvement and business development.

Dara was raised and educated in Ireland, graduating from University College Dublin. She qualified as a social worker at the University of North London and continues to be a registered social worker. Dara has post graduate qualifications in health and social care leadership and social work practice teaching, and she is an alumni of the Windsor Leadership Programme. 

Dara has over 30 years' experience of leading and managing health and social care services in both statutory and charity settings. She was Youth Impact Director at the Children’s Society where she secured £5m in National Lottery Funding, delivering the groundbreaking, and award-winning, Disrupting Child Exploitation Programme. During her time at the Children’s Society, contracted income increased by £3m and more children than ever benefitted from direct services.

Previously, Dara was Director of Services at Young Lives vs Cancer, where she worked with NHS hospital partners to introduce a children’s cancer nurse keyworker scheme across all 19 Principal Treatment Centre's in the UK and led the building of 3 new Homes from Home for families to stay whilst their children were undergoing inpatient treatment. Dara oversaw the development of social care services for young people with cancer. 

Emma Hillyard, Chief Finance Officer

About Emma

Emma is a qualified Chartered Institute of Management accountant admitted as a Fellow of the Institute in 2021. 

She brings a lot of experience in the not-for-profit sector, including roles at the Voluntary Service Overseas and Oxfam. 

Her last two positions have been as Financial Director and Chief Financial Officer of two leading chains of bookshops, Blackwell’s, and Waterstones, where she has built a wealth of experience of working within large operations, in a very much customer focused environment, of complex multi-site organisations
 

Katherine Sargent, Interim Chief People Officer

About Katherine

I believe that true organisational strength comes from embracing diversity, cultivating ambition, and empowering all our people to bring their authentic selves to work. I am committed to building inclusive environments where every voice is valued, and where talent can grow without barriers. My approach centres on aligning people strategy with business ambition—ensuring that we not only attract and retain exceptional individuals but also create a culture that inspires innovation, collaboration, and long-term success.

Katherine Sargent has worked for the Alzheimer’s Society for 3 years, bringing with her deep cross-sector experience spanning corporate, public, and not-for-profit sectors. Katherine started her career straight from her A levels, joining the Marks and Spencer young management training programme, progressing to various leadership positions. She subsequently ran her own HR Consultancy business for 14 years supporting a wide range of organisations across all sectors with her first Chief People Officer being for the Whiteley Homes Trust Almshouse charity. 

Katherine brings strong expertise and experience in leading complex cultural and organisational change, embedding equity and inclusion, and driving high-performing, values-led environments. Katherine is our interim Chief People Office, leading a broad spectrum of people-focused teams dedicated to delivering our mission of ending the devastation of dementia.