Soda Innovation

Soda People

Ann Porter

Soda is based upon the vision and experience of its Chief Executive, Ann Porter. A former freelance social entrepreneur in Scotland, Ann spent 10 years working at Director level in the NHS where she was appointed to achieve change. As a social entrepreneur in Scotland, she successfully built up a number of social ventures from the good idea stage with projects ranging from community initiatives to a national health-related charity. As an innovator in London and the South, Ann learned how to ‘deconstruct’ the entrepreneurial process and she grounds her innovative work in the reality of organisational life in the NHS.

Michael Smith OBE

A chief executive with experience in leading successful national organisations including the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation and the National Federation of Shopmobility UK. Mike has worked for UNHCR in Geneva on multi-national humanitarian projects. He has formed and developed many social enterprises including Route2Mobility Ltd, a multi-million pound financial company supplying electric wheelchairs and scooters through the government’s Motability scheme. He has extensive experience in non-executive roles in the both the NHS and the private sectors.

Liz Archer

Liz Archer has been a general practitioner since 1980, and is currently a part time GP in West Sussex. During a varied career she did emergency relief work in Africa with the Red Cross and Save The Children, and was briefly a medical advisor at the Overseas Development Administration (now DFID). She worked for many years in community health, and was acting clinical and training lead of the Worthing Family Planning Service from 2004 to 2006. She has developed a portfolio of teaching and training work related to healthcare and medical education, drawing on experiential and transformative learning techniques. She has run courses for clinical staff at Brighton and Sussex Hospitals Trust on Values in Healthcare, and for students at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, on cross cultural awareness in healthcare. She currently teaches an undergraduate module on global health issues at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Liz has a Masters degree in Health Promotion Sciences from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Mark Baker

Mark Baker has many years experience working with the NHS, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations. He has set up and supported social enterprises to deliver health and wellbeing in areas of high deprivation and health inequalities. Examples include the Knowle West Health Park and Wellspring Healthy Living Centre, in Bristol. In these projects he built partnerships involving GP practices, voluntary sector organisations and local authorities. He brought together a range of services to promote wellness as well as provide treatment. He ensured the involvement of local communities in the design, planning and delivery of services. Within NHS organisations he has developed systems and processes to embed patient experience at the heart of the quality framework, he has worked with teams to improve services through innovation and entrepreneurship. He has delivered service improvement for particular equality communities. In 2008 his work with Bristol Race Equality Health Partnership: the Black & Minority Ethnic Customer Service Project, won an NHS Alliance Acorn Award.

Associates Soda works with a diverse mix of dynamic, senior level associates from wide ranging backgrounds. From:

• cutting-edge design and branding
• product and service design
• futures and strategy
• media and communications
• education
• new business start up
• social enterprise
• organisational psychology
• and innovative clinicians currently working on the ground,

Soda brings together teams that are unlike any other.


Ann Porter	Soda is based upon the vision and experience of its Chief Executive, Ann Porter. A former freelance social entrepreneur in Scotland, Ann spent 10 years working at Director level in the NHS where she was appointed to achieve change. As a social entrepreneur in Scotland, she successfully built up a number of social ventures from the good idea stage with projects ranging from community initiatives to a national health-related charity. As an innovator in London and the South, Ann learned how to ‘deconstruct’ the entrepreneurial process and she grounds her innovative work in the reality of organisational life in the NHS.
Michael Smith OBE	A chief executive with experience in leading successful national organisations including the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation and the National Federation of Shopmobility UK. Mike has worked for UNHCR in Geneva on multi-national humanitarian projects. He has formed and developed many social enterprises including Route2Mobility Ltd, a multi-million pound financial company supplying electric wheelchairs and scooters through the government’s Motability scheme. He has extensive experience in non-executive roles in the both the NHS and the private sectors.
Liz Archer	Liz Archer has been a general practitioner since 1980, and is currently a part time GP in West Sussex. During a varied career she did emergency relief work in Africa with the Red Cross and Save The Children, and was briefly a medical advisor at the Overseas Development Administration (now DFID). She worked for many years in community health, and was acting clinical and training lead of the Worthing Family Planning Service from 2004 to 2006. She has developed a portfolio of teaching and training work related to healthcare and medical education, drawing on experiential and transformative learning techniques. She has run courses for clinical staff at Brighton and Sussex Hospitals Trust on Values in Healthcare, and for students at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, on cross cultural awareness in healthcare. She currently teaches an undergraduate module on global health issues at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Liz has a Masters degree in Health Promotion Sciences from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Mark Baker	Mark Baker has many years experience working with the NHS, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations. He has set up and supported social enterprises to deliver health and wellbeing in areas of high deprivation and health inequalities. Examples include the Knowle West Health Park and Wellspring Healthy Living Centre, in Bristol. In these projects he built partnerships involving GP practices, voluntary sector organisations and local authorities. He brought together a range of services to promote wellness as well as provide treatment. He ensured the involvement of local communities in the design, planning and delivery of services. Within NHS organisations he has developed systems and processes to embed patient experience at the heart of the quality framework, he has worked with teams to improve services through innovation and entrepreneurship. He has delivered service improvement for particular equality communities. In 2008 his work with Bristol Race Equality Health Partnership: the Black & Minority Ethnic Customer Service Project, won an NHS Alliance Acorn Award.
Associates	Soda works with a diverse mix of dynamic, senior level associates from wide ranging backgrounds. From: • cutting-edge design and branding • product and service design • futures and strategy • media and communications • education • new business start up • social enterprise • organisational psychology • and innovative clinicians currently working on the ground, Soda brings together teams that are unlike any other.