From Songs & Smiles parent to Interim CEO: Meet Alexa Sutheran
We have a small but meaningful update to share from The Together Project and a very joyful story to go with it!
Our Founder and CEO, Louise Goulden, will be taking a break for family reasons. While she’s away, our brilliant Head of Operations, Alexa Sutheran, will be stepping up into the role of Interim CEO.
And if that name sounds familiar, it might be because you’ve met Alexa before, as a parent, a Volunteer Group Welcomer, a Songs & Smiles Group Leader, a Songs & Smiles Coordinator, someone zooming up and down the motorway making joyful connections happen. Her journey is truly one of those ‘started on the mat, now we’re here’ stories.
“I knew this space was going to be important to me.”
Alexa first heard about The Together Project on maternity leave, a story in her local Walthamstow paper about the power of intergenerational friendships caught her eye. Her grandfather had recently passed away with dementia, and the memory of him singing nursery rhymes with her children, even when he could remember little else, stayed with her.
She decided to attend a Songs & Smiles session, toddler and newborn in tow. “Elspeth had just turned two and was wearing a white tulle dress, one of the residents’ daughters said she looked like a Tiny Tears doll, and she really did,”
Alexa remembers,
“Iris was about four weeks old. It was the first thing we’d been to and it was perfect. I didn’t really know what I was doing with two under two, but being there felt like a kind of relief!”
Seeing the residents’ faces light up, she felt something shift.
“For a fleeting moment, I looked at Louise and thought, ‘This is brilliant. I totally get it. I’m going to work for you one day.’ Which was wild because I’d literally just started maternity leave!”
From volunteer to Interim CEO
That first session lit a spark. Within days, Alexa had messaged Louise to volunteer.
“I’d just lost my job towards the end of my pregnancy, our house had flooded, and I had gestational diabetes. I wasn’t feeling that resilient. But coming to the care home each week made me feel like I had something to give. Just chatting with the older people, hearing their stories, it lifted me out of my own head.”
Alexa became a Volunteer Group Welcomer and then joined the team as Songs & Smiles Coordinator.
“I was working 15 hours a week, usually during Iris’s naps or in the evenings, often with Love Island on in the background. (It was the Amy Hart season, she actually ended up coming to one of our sessions later on with her little one Stanley!)”
She and Louise grew the programme together, beating their first-year goal by nearly double.
“We wanted to be in 10 care homes by the end of the year and reached 18. We spent a lot of time in the car together, travelling to new locations and comparing notes on what our babies were up to.”
In 2020, Alexa stepped in to lead the charity while Louise went on maternity leave, only for the pandemic to hit weeks later!
“It was such a tricky time. We had to shut everything down. I personally called all our group leaders, knowing many of them were freelancers and the sudden loss of income would hit hard.”
After the lockdowns, Alexa helped slowly rebuild the programme, navigating new safety policies and care home protocols. Until last week, she supported over 60 weekly sessions as our Head of Operations, drawing on her background in fashion production to keep everything running smoothly.
“It’s a surprising link, but in fashion, I was used to managing huge spreadsheets and making sure everything was in place for production, lots of moving parts. It’s the same here!”
“The simplest things can have the biggest impact!”
One of Alexa’s most memorable moments came during her first visit as a volunteer.
“The care home was dark and all the residents were asleep. For a moment, I wondered if the idea was really going to work. But I lifted Iris, who was six months old, out of her car seat and plonked her on the floor. A 102-year-old woman opened her eyes and started chatting with her. Then others joined in. The room came alive.”
That moment has shaped her ever since.
“It showed me that we all have something in us that can benefit another person. It’s not about special skills, it’s a kind of magic people forget they have. And that’s what I love about The Together Project. Life is better when you share it. People want to feel loved, they want connection, they want to laugh. We help make that happen.”
Looking ahead with optimism
Stepping into the CEO role comes with all the feels.
“Equal parts terrified and quietly confident,”
Alexa says.
“We’ve built such a strong, passionate team. The 2024 end-of-year report was full of things we never imagined we’d achieve just 12 months earlier. I want to create an environment where the team can thrive, and teach me things, too.”
Her plan for the next six months is to tighten processes and improve efficiency, making space for more of what matters.
“I know it doesn’t sound glamorous, but this stuff excites me. I want our systems to match our ambition.”
She’s also keen to explore new opportunities.
“The Haringey Intergenerational Podcasting (HIP) project showed us that our intergenerational model works across all age groups, not just babies and care home residents. There’s huge potential.”
A message from The Together Project
“We’re incredibly proud of Alexa and all she has achieved, from those early days as a Songs & Smiles parent to now leading the charity as Interim CEO. Her journey is a shining example of the power of connection and commitment.
Alexa brings heart, humour, and serious operational know-how to everything she does. We’re inspired by her dedication and vision, and the whole team is behind her every step of the way.”
A message from Alexa
“Thank you, times a million. Whether you’ve come to a session, made a craft, sent us a message, donated, or laced up your trainers for a marathon, you are the joy in joyful connections. We couldn’t do it without you.”