Founder , Magic Breakfast
Carmel McConnell is a lifelong social activist and award winning charity founder. She is also a best selling business author of five titles published by the FT/Pearson, including Change Activist, Soultrader and Make Money Be Happy. In 2001 she set up, and now runs, a children’s food poverty charity, the Magic Breakfast. Magic Breakfast delivers healthy breakfast food and nutrition education to primary schools in greatest need. Magic Breakfast won Guardian Charity of the Year in 2005 as well as the Caroline Walker Trust Social Enterprise Award. Carmel is a Board member of the UK School Food Trust, a non departmental Government body, established to transform school food in the UK. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. To fund the charity, in 2003, Carmel founded a social enterprise, Magic Outcomes. The Magic Outcomes approach is one of social brokerage, to help the neediest primary schools through better community and business partnerships. All profits from the programme go to Magic Breakfast to expand food deliveries. So far Unilever, BT and Pearson Education employees have taken part, and successfully shown how enlightened corporations can make a difference. Carmel believes a well managed social enterprise can bridge even the widest social chasms.