Leadership Team
Leadership Team
Founded by Richard Barkey in 1997, Imparta now employs over 80 talented, dedicated people in the UK and around the world. The company’s leadership team has a long and successful track record in sales and service enablement, and each major client has an Executive Sponsor to make sure we deliver the results we promise.
Richard Barkey
CEO & Founder
Richard Barkey
Richard Barkey created Imparta in 1997 after seven years at McKinsey & Co. Richard remains involved in sales research and learning design, as well as taking overall responsibility for the direction of the business. Richard is a thought leader in sales, strategy and learning. Richard holds a first-class degree in Engineering from Cambridge University and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.
Mark Abell
Chief Information Officer
Mark Abell
Mark Abell has been with Imparta since its inception in 1997 and brings deep experience in delivering revenue growth. He has held key roles including MD UK, COO, CMO, and CIO. Mark now oversees client and supplier contracts, acquisitions, partnerships, IT and data infrastructure, and HR, while managing some client relationships. He holds a Master’s degree with Distinction from London Business School.
Charlene Lyons
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Charlene Lyons
Charlene is the Deputy CEO and re-joined in 2025, having previously worked for Imparta in 2001. She is an accomplished leader and consultant, specialising in transformational change, governance, and strategy. Charlene has worked across public and private sectors on topics including sales, restructuring, and culture. She has also held executive roles, most recently as CEO of Black Sheep Brewery, leading transformation, pivots, and an acquisition. She holds voluntary Board roles in health and education.
Lisa Sottosanti Doyle
Chief Operations Officer
Lisa Sottosanti Doyle
Lisa Sottosanti Doyle is the Chief Client Officer and Chief Operations Officer at Imparta. She joined as part of the VantagePoint Performance acquisition in 2023. An organisational psychologist, coach, and instructional designer, Lisa is passionate about turning research insights into action. She ensures Imparta’s training and enablement solutions empower better decision-making and drive high-impact, agile sales execution.
Ross Cooper
Chief Financial Officer
Ross Cooper
Ross is an experienced CFO with a demonstrated history of working across a range of Professional Services companies. Ross has experience working with fast-growth companies for over 10 years before joining Imparta and has expertise in stakeholder engagement, FP&A, Strategic planning, IT & infrastructure, Facility Management and HR. From this experience, Ross can lead management and teams through significant organisational change to drive operational and financial performance.
Nigel Webb
Chief Revenue Officer
Nigel Webb
Nigel has over 20 years of experience in consulting globally, with a background in culture change, quality assurance, sales, customer service and learning and development. Nigel is dedicated to improving business and people performance with sustainable results. Nigel works within companies or with clients to create quality assurance strategies, learning and development strategies or designing bespoke and innovative training programs.
Michelle Vazzana
Chief Innovation Officer
Michelle Vazzana
Michelle Vazzana, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer at Imparta, is a prolific researcher and sought-after speaker on sales management and agility. She has conducted extensive research on sales coaching and agility, and is co-author of Cracking the Sales Management Code, Crushing Quota, and, in 2023, The Sales Agility Code: Deploy Situational Fluency to Win More Sales.
Imparta is a fast-growing company that employs staff with a diverse mix of knowledge and skills. Our various teams work closely together to make sure our clients experience the highest quality of solutions and service.