Island23 is a specialist advisory in trust, safety, and governance for online communities — with particular depth in organizations operating at scale or under regulatory scrutiny.

Founded by Darren Gough in 2017, Island23 grew out of Darren's frontline and leadership experience in community management, and has expanded steadily since as demand for serious safety and governance expertise has grown across the sector.

Darren began his career as the first Community Manager at Martin Lewis's MoneySavingExpert.com, helping scale the forum to over 1.8 million active members. He built the moderation systems, governance structures, and escalation processes needed to support high-volume activity and at-risk users — an early grounding in community safety that still shapes his approach today. From there, his work extended into larger and more complex environments, including engagements connected to global platforms such as Airbnb, and public sector and regulated organizations including the NHS, Public Health England, and the UK Government's DCMS, where community systems carry added weight around safeguarding, accountability, and compliance.

Darren has over 15 years of experience building and protecting online communities, is a sought-after industry speaker (including DevRelCon), and has helped shape sector standards as an early member of OSTIA and the Safety Tech Network, alongside work with organizations like Meta on community management certification. He remains a committed advocate for the mental health, safety, and wellbeing of both community managers and the communities they serve.

Why Island23? Based in the UK, the Island23 consultancy has long been a key partner organization extending the ability of Clocktower Advisors in terms of both capacity and time zones globally. Island23 also brings substantial expertise working with communities in safety tech, healthcare, energy, and highly regulated environments.Why Island23? Based in the UK, the Island23 consultancy has long been key partner organization extending the ability of Clocktower Advisors in terms of both capacity and time zones globally. Island23 also brings substantial expertise working with communities in safety tech, healthcare, energy and more.