We Win National HR Excellence Award

Community Integrated Care was proud to celebrate the success of our Chief Corporate Services and People Officer, Teresa Exelby, who was named HR Director of the Year at the prestigious HR Excellence Awards on Wednesday 3rd December 2025. The accolade recognises exceptional leadership in people strategy, culture and workforce transformation.

Teresa received the award in recognition of her significant contribution to strengthening our charity’s culture, championing colleague wellbeing and leading sector influencing work that highlights the essential role of social care. Teresa has dedicated the achievement to colleagues across our charity, emphasising that the award reflects the commitment, compassion and teamwork shown every day by people throughout our organisation.

Since joining Community Integrated Care in 2020, Teresa has worked closely with teams at every level to deliver a people centred approach that places colleagues at the heart of our charity’s success. This has included major improvements in engagement, recruitment, development, inclusion and wellbeing, made possible through strong collaboration between our People Team, operational leaders and frontline colleagues.

Under Teresa’s leadership, our charity has continued to build a positive workplace culture with colleagues reporting high levels of pride, connection and motivation. Recruitment and retention have strengthened despite national challenges, and new learning and development programmes have supported hundreds of colleagues to progress in their careers. The introduction of a pay uplift, the development of innovative wellbeing support and the embedding of colleague voice have all contributed to making our charity an employer of choice within the social care sector.

We’ve also gained national attention for our Unfair To Care campaign, which Teresa has championed on behalf of our charity and the wider workforce. The campaign has played an important role in raising awareness of the urgent need for fair pay and greater recognition in social care.

Reflecting on the award, Teresa said: “I’m incredibly proud, and this is very much a recognition of our entire People Team, our leaders and our colleagues across Community Integrated Care. Everything we achieve happens because of the dedication, compassion and kindness of our teams and the incredible work they do every day, often in challenging circumstances.

She continued: “I feel privileged to work alongside such talented and committed people, and I am proud to be part of such a truly special organisation that puts the people we support at the heart of everything it does.”

Jim Kane, Chief Executive Officer at Community Integrated Care, said: “This award is hugely deserved and reflects the extraordinary impact Teresa has had on our charity over many years. Her leadership has helped us to build a strong, inclusive and values-driven culture that supports colleagues and enhances the lives of the people we support every single day. Teresa leads with integrity, compassion and purpose, and we are absolutely delighted that her work – and the remarkable work of our teams – has been recognised at a national level.”