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Dominic Charkin

Dominic Charkin

CEO

Dom discovered his passion for Community Development career in the late 1990s when he travelled to the highlands of Guatemala to volunteer for AIRES, a small community organisation working with indigenous Maya communities to once more become resilient following their decimation after many years of bloody civil war.

On his return he worked as a learning mentor at a school in South Leeds before itchy feet took him to work as a Project Supervisor for Voluntary Service Overseas on the World Youth Millennium programme. A six month personal and community development programme for young people aged 18 -25 run in disadvantaged communities in the UK and overseas. Working in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the UK and the developing world cemented his beliefs that only by building the skills and confidence of people living in those communities will you be able to truly achieve sustainable solutions to those inequalities.

Since then Dom has worked alongside some amazing people in some fantastic communities from Kendal to Phnom Penh and back again and made some great friends along the way. Now firmly settled in Leeds he is the CEO at Zest.