Joanna Manning, National Lead Substance Misuse, The Children’s Society People have always seen the potential in me Expand As someone who entered the sector in 1991 as a volunteer with few qualifications, I welcome your campaign. I left grammar school at 16 with no qualifications and little aspiration. Although I always kind of felt I had something to offer – empathy and understanding. I grew up in a working class family who didn’t go to university or have degrees, plus as a family we had our own share of dysfunction and stress to deal with. In my career I have been lucky and people have always seen the potential in me and looked beyond qualifications. As a manager in a children’s charity I too have done the same with others and the service and especially the service users have benefitted as a result.
Katharine Sacks-Jones, CEO, Become Expand Katharine is the Chief Executive of Become, the charity for children in care and young care leavers. Become helps young people to heal, grow and unleash their potential. They do this through direct support, driving improvements in practice and campaigning for change. Katharine has a background in politics and campaigning and has worked in charity sector for over 10 years. She has worked on issues including homelessness, unemployment, mental health and domestic abuse. Before joining Become Katharine was the inaugural Chief Executive of Agenda, the alliance for women and girls at risk.
Katherine Hill, Strategic Project Manager, 4in10 London Child Poverty Network Katherine Hill, Strategic Project Manager, 4in10 London Child Poverty Network Expand Katherine Hill, Strategic Project Manager, 4in10 London Child Poverty Network We are delighted to announce that Katherine Hill will be joining our team as 4in10's new Strategic Project Manager on March 8th. She joins us after serving for several years as a specialist to the Joint Committee on Human Rights in parliament, and before that she has had a succession of human rights policy and campaigning roles at Age UK, Scope and The Children's Society.
Kathy Evans, Chief Executive Chief Executive Expand Kathy Evans, Chief Executive Kathy joined Children England in 2010 as Deputy Chief Executive, leading Children England’s Programmes as the DfE’s Overarching Strategic Partner for the VCSE sector. She became CEO in April 2013. After graduating from Trinity College Cambridge, Kathy took a full-time CSV volunteer placement in a children’s home, leading her to train in counselling and to work with young people in secure accommodation for several years. She moved into policy work in 1997: firstly for DrugScope, specialising in drug treatment for young people; then to The Children’s Society where she remained for 8 years, as its Policy Director. During her career Kathy has been the Chair of the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, a trustee of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, a member of the ACMD Hidden Harm group and DCSF Care Matters advisory group. She was also consultant to the Police Foundation and Justice, devising potential alternatives to Youth Courts, to support the Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour. Kathy is also passionate about her role as a Humanist Celebrant for the BHA, performing non-religious weddings and baby namings whenever she is able! Contact: [email protected]
Keir Lewis, Research and Learning Officer, 4in10 London Child Poverty Network Expand I have joined 4in10 from the Just Finance Foundation, where I devised and rolled out their Covid Cash Recovery training for hundreds of voluntary organisations. I recently completed an MSc Inequality and Social Science at LSE and have also previously worked for the National Careers Service, Thriving Places Initiative, and Yik Yak app.
Lauren Seager-Smith, CEO, Kidscape Expand Lauren Seager-Smith FRSA is CEO of the UK based bullying prevention charity Kidscape. Lauren has worked in child advocacy and youth development for over twenty years previously working for the National Children's Bureau, Save the Children and global volunteering charity Lattitude. Lauren is a member of the Action for Children England Committee, UK Safer Internet Centre Board and Internet Matters Expert Advisory Panel. Lauren is a regular media spokesperson and campaigner, with a focus on child rights in education and the digital world.
Lisa Byrne, Director of Finance and Central Services Director of Finance and Central Services Expand Lisa Byrne, Director of Finance and Central Services Lisa Byrne joined Children England in 1993 and is a member of the Senior Management Team. In her role as Director of Finance and Central Services she has responsibility for all finance and personnel functions across the organisation. In her role as Company Secretary Lisa administers the governance tasks for the Trustee Board. Lisa holds a CIPD qualification, is a School Governor for a secondary school in East Sussex and is a Trustee of a small charity in Brighton. Contact: [email protected]
Liza Dresner, Community Outreach Officer, 4in10 London Child Poverty Network Expand Liza Dresner, Community Outreach Officer, 4in10 London Child Poverty Network Liza Joined 4in10 following her ‘retirement’ after 13 years as CEO of Resources for Autism, a front line service charity. She has always worked in direct delivery and with over 45 years of experience of the sector both as a volunteer and in a paid capacity and brings extensive knowledge of disability, refugee, women and children, HIV and homelessness services. What links them all has been a lifelong commitment to fighting poverty and discrimination in both political and practical forums. She has been an active campaigner for the rights of the child from her school days to her current role as Community Outreach Officer with 4in10.
Lucy Peake, CEO, Kinship Expand Lucy Peake joined Kinship (formerly Grandparents Plus) as Chief Executive in September 2015. Since then, she has led the charity’s work to raise awareness about kinship care, influence policy change and to transform support for kinship care families through an expansion of evidence-based programmes. During the covid-19 pandemic, Lucy focused the charity on understanding and responding to the specific needs of kinship care families. During the pandemic, Kinship grew significantly to develop and deliver new support services across England and Wales. Lucy is a member of the Adoption & Special Guardianship Leadership Board, the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory Stakeholder Advisory Council and the Kinship Care Alliance. She has been interviewed recently on Sky News, Channel 5 News, BBC World at One, BBC Five Live and Radio 4 Women’s Hour. In 2019 she was honoured to take part in a month-long kinship care knowledge exchange, meeting kinship carers and other kinship care experts across Australia. Previously she spent 11 years at The Fostering Network where she was Director of External Affairs and then Director of Development. Her team led the successful Staying Put campaign which means young people are now able to remain living with their former foster carers beyond the age of 18. She has a PhD in women’s political representation from Southampton University where she worked as a researcher on the British Representation Study 1997 and other projects focusing on gender politics.
Mark Lee, CEO, The Together Trust Expand Mark has been CEO of The Together Trust since July 2013, having been Regional Director Northwest and Project Director at Barnardo's between 2007 and 2013. Prior to that he worked at The Children's Society in roles including Head of Social Work and Regional Director for the North. He has been a trustee of Children England since 2014 and also sits on the board of the Greater Manchester Council of Voluntary Organisations.