Our Team

Stef Nienaltowski

CEO

Stef’s career has spanned over 46 years with 37 of these working for IBM UK Ltd in a variety of Administration, Financial and Business Operational roles.

Stef left IBM in 2010 and worked for a start-up venture, Virtustream Ltd, as their EMEA Director of Operations for one year before moving to Integritie UK Ltd as their Chief Operating Officer.

In 2013 Stef joined the Shaping Portsmouth’s Business & Enterprise (B&E), Programme as a volunteer and one year later took over a Chair of the group.

In January 2017 Stef started this role as the Director of the Shaping the Future of Portsmouth.

Stef was born in London but moved to Portsmouth in 1974 and has made this his home since then.

Having been formally adopted as a local by all his friends he however he still is loyal to his football team, which is his second passion, (his first being his family), that team is Chelsea Football Club.

Stef is married to Liz and has four children, Alex, Natalie, Carol & Gemma, and apart from keeping up to date with the family he enjoys running and off-road cycling.

Although Stef was born in London, he never forgets his family roots which lie jointly in Poland (Father), and Northern Ireland, (Mother).

He is very passionate about helping to making Portsmouth the No 1 City in the UK to Invest, Live, Learn, Work & Visit, and in his role as CEO of Shaping Portsmouth he firmly believes we will achieve this vision.

Stef Nienaltowski

Chief Executive Officer

Sam McGrath

Director of Operations & Marketing

Sam McGrath

Director of Operations & Marketing

Born in Portsmouth, Sam studied Leisure & Tourism at South Downs College and shortly after was given the opportunity to join a worldwide event, production & exhibitions company based in Portsmouth. This led to travelling the world and later moving to London to explore further career opportunities.

When relocating to the South Coast in 2013, Sam worked at Southampton Football Club which led to growing a team, revenue & customer experience which further led to winning multiple awards and securing, planning, and delivering concerts, personally project managing the Robbie Williams Concert in 2017 for 32,000 fans (Sam being 1 of them!).

Since returning to her hometown, she relaunched her own award-winning business development company. Sam is passionate about working in Portsmouth and supporting the business, education & community sectors in all areas of growth.

In her spare time, Sam enjoys walking and exploring the length of Southsea seafront with her young family and is investing in her own development by starting an Apprenticeship MBA Strategic Leadership Degree in September 2023 at The University of Portsmouth.

She is dedicated to Shaping Portsmouth’s partnerships and programmes and enjoys building new and existing relationships. Her wealth of knowledge enables her to support everyone with their business plans and projects.

By utilising her experience, Sam assists the CEO in developing the strategies and plans and ensuring their alignment with the short-term and long-term objectives and the financial sustainability of the organisation.

Matt Farmer

Head of Marketing & Communications

Matt has lived in Portsmouth for his whole life, only leaving to go to university in Stafford, where he received a BSc (Hons) in Digital Film, Animation & 3D Technology.

On returning to Portsmouth Matt joined the office team at Express FM, assisting with recording and editing audio, creating graphics and logos, and managing their website, before moving over to Shaping Portsmouth in June 2013.

Matt manages the Marketing and Communications for Shaping Portsmouth, maintaining and creating content for the website and weekly newsletter, writing copy for news stories about the organisation and our programmes, creating graphics and branding, and ensuring our content and communications follow our marketing strategy.

In September 2021, Matt completed an MA in Illustration at the University of Portsmouth.

Matt enjoys reading, board games, and LEGO, and doesn’t draw as often as he should. In 2022 he welcomed his first child into his growing family.

Matt Farmer

Head of Marketing & Communications

Marian Oshodi-Glover

Business and Marketing Coordinator

Marian Oshodi-Glover

Business and Marketing Coordinator

Marian has recently completed her master’s degree in Digital Business Management at the University of Portsmouth as an international student from Nigeria, graduating in July 2023. Prior to her time in Portsmouth, Marian obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in History and International Studies in Nigeria.

Marian’s decision to study in the UK Stems from her recognition of its global standing as one of the world’s leading destinations for higher education. She was particularly drawn to the UK’s diverse and multicultural society, which fosters a vibrant and inclusive learning environment. The University of Portsmouth captured her interest due to its Industry-relevant curriculum, strong Industry connections, state-of-the-art technology facilities, and its location near the seaside—a reminder of her hometown, Lagos, Nigeria. Her time spent in Portsmouth has nurtured a deep affection for the city.

Her professional background includes a wide range of experience in marketing, local government, retail and the police force, in Nigeria and America. These diverse experiences have equipped her with valuable skills and a well-rounded perspective.

Marian has already achieved significant success in her career, having been promoted to the role of Business & Marketing Coordinator, only 7 months after joining the organisation.

She looks forward to putting her previous experiences to use in this new role, as well as all the new and exciting opportunities, experiences, and connections that await her in the future.

In her spare time, Marian enjoys going for walks along the seafront, exploring different destinations, reading, and spending quality time with family and friends. With a huge love for fashion, technology, business, and social media, Marian gives a vibrant new energy to our already talented team.

Kirsty Hill

Education & Community Lead

Born in Cardiff, raised in the beautiful city of Portsmouth. Kirsty has worked in Portsmouth for many years due to her service in the Royal Navy where she came to join her first ship at the age of 17. Kirsty quickly fell in love with the seaside city and decided to set up home here where she now lives happily with her son Ralph and bulldog Hugo.

Being a Female Veteran in Portsmouth is something that she finds great pleasure in due to the large number of Veterans who provide a community of support if called upon. Kirsty takes great pride of her service in the Royal Navy.

Kirsty is joining us from the Mental Health and Wellbeing sector where she has extensive experience in both the Charity and NHS sectors. Kirsty’s passion for mental health stems from her own lived experiences, she proudly uses this to deliver and provide support to all those that she has worked with. She hopes to continue her passion as a mental health advocate within her new role at Shaping Portsmouth.

Kirsty spends her spare time being a “football mum” and exploring the city with her son. They both have a love for travel and visiting new places and of course the occasional trip back to South Wales which Kirsty misses and thinks fondly of. Kirsty’s passion for people and music has introduced her to the Volunteer sector, where she works closely with a not-for-profit mental health organisation. A community of music lovers, using music as a platform to encourage people to open up and engage in conversation about mental health and wellness. So, she can be found hanging out a festival or gig or hopping on a flight out to Ibiza to support at music retreats spreading the word about Mental Health.

Kirsty Hill

Education & Community Lead

Steffan Jones

Events Lead

Steffan Jones

Events Lead

Steffan grew up in Wales but has called Portsmouth ‘Home’ for the past two decades. He has a 20-year background in Events and Hospitality management in the city since originally moving here for his degree in 1999, studying for a BA in History and Politics at The University of Portsmouth. Before this, Steffan qualified in his ESOL Certificate in teaching to speakers of other languages, at The University of Cambridge.

Steffan brings a diverse background in Operations and Infrastructure event management, running large-scale public events and festivals. With a strong background in Hospitality, he has been successful in both startup and turnaround management roles.

Steffan is a keen cyclist and can often be found out and about on the roads, trails, and gravel of the South Coast and further afield. Working up to taking a cycling tour of Northern Italy!

Steffan has worked with local partners and companies such as Victorious Festival, Cafe Henry Ltd, The Belle Isle Southsea and Chichester.

Steffan joined us in May 2023, bringing a wealth of experience to lead Shaping Portsmouth’s events department. Leading from the front with all event planning and delivery for every confirmed event. Ensuring all event processes are in place for the whole team to follow and execute whilst pushing the benchmark for our current success in past events.

Imogen Hambry

Youth Consultant

Imogen originally came to Shaping Portsmouth for a two-week work experience placement in May 2023, and is returning to join us for a summer role. Imogen is passionate about Business, which she is studying at Trafalgar School, and would like to one day become a Project Manager.

Imogen said “When looking for work experience, I was really struggling to find a place where I could learn as well as understand the role I would like to go into in the future. I would really like to become a project manager, so when telling the school about it one of my teachers told me about Shaping Portsmouth. After hearing everything that they do I knew that this is where I wanted to do my work experience.Being here I have learnt so much about how a not-for-profit business works, how a business comes together, as well as learning new skills to help me in my future life.”