Darrell McLennan Fordyce is the founder of FEED Leadership Consulting and is a passionate advocate for making leadership development a foundational part of every career journey—especially for those just starting out—so that high-performance and human-centred leadership becomes a shared standard, not a privilege. With a career spanning the military, corporate and sporting worlds, Darrell brings a unique mix of experience, energy and empathy to the individuals and organisations he supports.

Before founding FEED, Darrell spent 12 years as a British Army officer, where he developed his leadership foundations both on operations and as a specialist instructor.  He went on to hold senior roles in global organisations including telecoms giant Orange, international marketing group WPP and the global US sports league, the NBA. He has also led fast-growth start-ups in the consumer and finance sectors and delivered high-profile projects around the world, including Camel Trophy in Mongolia, the BT Global Challenge and America’s Cup in Bermuda.

As a Fellow of The Institute of Leadership, qualified coach, NLP practitioner and Associate of the Compassionate Leadership Academy, Darrell brings his commercial and leadership experience to design coaching and development programmes for clients and organisations from a range of sectors, such as The Professional Cricketers Association, HCA Healthcare and West Sussex NHS Trust to sports teams, senior executives and emerging leaders.

Melanie Robinson is Deputy CEO and Company Secretary at The Institute of Leadership, a professional membership body for leaders, managers, coaches and mentors.  Melanie has a strong interest in Women in Leadership and Young Leaders.

Melanie possesses a comprehensive knowledge of internal business processes, with a particular interest in finance and corporate governance. Her leadership style and expertise are further highlighted through her co-hosting roles in webinars and podcasts, where she engages with leaders across various industries to challenge traditional leadership models and explore modern approaches to leadership.

She holds an MBA from Aston University, has completed the Chartered Governance Qualifying Programme and is a Chartered Global Management Accountant. Melanie is a CIMA Fellow, a Fellow of both The Institute of Leadership and The Chartered Management Institute and a Graduate Member of the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland.

In addition to her role at The Institute, Melanie serves as a Trustee for another non-profit organisation The Mighty Creatives, an award-winning charity dedicated to providing creative youth services for the most under-represented children and young people in our society.

Rachel Mullings is The Institute's Membership Manager. Rachel's early career was in digital marketing roles, before she joined a membership organisation. She has a passion for mapping out member journeys and being involved in developing communities, which is what led her to work in membership for the past eight years. 

Rachel is particularly drawn to the IoL because its values closely align with her own. She is especially enthusiastic about its emphasis on self-awareness through the MyLeadership tool, a subject that she is passionate about because of her work as a counsellor in her spare time.