I’m a Windrush child
My parents came to the UK in 1960, encouraged by the promise of opportunity. My dad was from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, my mother from Saint Kitts and Nevis. I was born five years later and we lived first in Tottenham, then moved to Leytonstone where I grew up and went to school. We were some of the first Black families in the area and that came with its own hostility.
My parents arrived with hopes and plans, but the reality they found here was very different. There was a lot of racism and as a child it was painful to experience. Money was tight. Mum and dad worked hard just to put food on the table, while trying to build a life in a country that was unfamiliar to them.
My mother brought us up believing we could achieve anything
What grounded me was my mother. She raised me and my siblings with a deep belief that we could achieve anything we wanted in life. Even when things were hard, she was always clear: do the best you can, keep focused, don’t let what’s happened knock you off course.
I was a big reader. I read about people I admired and aspired to be like, including Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman and Malcom X . They helped shape how I saw the world. I experienced racism, including being attacked, but my mother’s voice was always louder than anything else.
I wanted to give back to society
I started my first business at 18. I’d buy clothes from warehouses, knock on doors and sell them house to house. By my twenties, I owned a print and design company. But I became disillusioned. I didn’t just want to make money. I wanted to do something that mattered, something for society.
That’s what led me to the National Deaf Children’s Society. I joined as an administrator on their child abuse project and I was deeply moved by the work. My manager wanted to publish books to help deaf children keep themselves safe, but there wasn’t the funding. I told her that if she increased my hours from part time to full time, I’d raise the money myself.
I fell in love with fundraising
I was put with the fundraising manager and told I’d be raising money from trusts and companies. I had no idea what that was. I was shown how to write funding letters and what was needed. Eventually, I raised the £10,000 needed to publish the books. That was the moment I fell in love with fundraising. I could see how money, used well, could genuinely change lives.
I suddenly found myself on a flight to meet Sir Terry Waite KCMG CBE
Not long after, I applied for a role at Y Care International. The chair at the time was Terry Waite, who I had admired for his courage and bravery. Two years into the role in 1996, I suddenly found myself on flight to meet Terry in India, heading to Calcutta to meet Mother Teresa and visit the charity’s projects. We then moved on to Kenya and Uganda to visit our community projects and partners.
In India, I saw children in Mumbai receiving vocational training to get them off the streets. I visited clinics in Uganda I’d been fundraising for, to enable pregnant women to have local facilities to give birth. Prior to the clinics being built they were travelling on a bike in labour, as much as 20 miles to reach a medical facility to give birth. It was a humbling, rewarding and a life changing experience that has stayed with me: the desire to serve became even more present.
I stood up and said, “I’m going to adopt”
I worked my way up in charities and I did my leadership training with Landmark Education. During a presentation in front of 300 people, I found myself saying out loud, “I’m going to adopt.” It had been in my mind for years, but suddenly, saying it out loud made it real. In 2000, I adopted my two daughters, who were one and two at the time. I am now the proud grandma of four grandchildren!
Leading through challenge and change
Inspired by my daughters, I’ve worked across fundraising, leadership and chief executive roles for various causes from housing, regeneration, reuse and recycling, to managing a central London City Farm. I’ve worked with Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s charities both here and in South Africa and I’m now an ambassador for his UK foundation. I’ve led organisations through periods of change, growth and uncertainty.
That was the case during my time as CEO of Vauxhall City Farm. When I arrived, the organisation was run-down and close to going under. I rebuilt it from the ground up, launching mobile farms, delivering educational programmes that took animals into schools and communities, delivering services on the farm that attracted over 60,000 visitors, raising the farm’s profile through media work and securing a diverse funding base. By the end of my second year, the organisation was stable and thriving.
Then Covid hit. Overnight, everything stopped. The café closed, the riding school shut, staff were furloughed and income disappeared. I launched an emergency appeal, set up a GoFundMe, brought the media in and the community to rescue the charity from permanent closure. Together, we raised £600k+ and kept the organisation going when it mattered most.
It’s always been about the people
I’d been taking a break for about six months when a friend sent me the job advert for interim CEO at Sounddelivery Media, saying it sounded right up my street. I met Jude and the trustee board and spent time understanding the charity. Whatever cause I’m working in, it always comes back to the people and empowering them to realise their dreams and shine. That’s why Sounddelivery Media resonated so much with me.
Stay tuned for Monica’s second blog, where you can hear her plans for Sounddelivery Media in the year ahead.
About the Author
Monica Tyler is the Chief Executive Officer at Sounddelivery Media, bringing over 25 years of leadership experience across the voluntary sector. She is passionate about amplifying underrepresented voices and building organisations that create real, lasting change.
Monica has a strong background in fundraising, organisational development and strategic leadership. Throughout her career, she has successfully led teams through periods of growth and transition, developed award winning programmes, and secured significant funding for grassroots, national and international initiatives. She is deeply committed to Sounddelivery Media’s mission of empowering people with lived experience to tell their stories and influence change through the media.