Transforming Services for Women's Futures Expert Advisory Group

Baroness Hilary Armstrong was appointed to the House of Lords in July 2010. Previously, Hilary served as the MP for North West Durham – from 1987 to 2010. She is Chair of the Public Services Committee and a member of the Joint Committee on the Draft Domestic Abuse Bill.

Octavia Aronne is a Systems Practice Manager with the Making Every Adult Matter Coalition. She works with local areas across England, applying systems thinking to identify barriers and opportunities around the design of, provision and access to services for people experiencing multiple and complex needs.

Dr Laura Bracey is a Research and Development Manager at Research in Practice. Laura oversees the annual programme of development and delivery of the evidence-informed resources produced for Partners. She also works with individual partners to support the promotion and best use of resources within local areas.

Having witnessed from childhood how injustice impacts on the most vulnerable in our society, Leigh Elliot is proud to be the Chief Executive at Children North East, the North East’s largest regional Children’s charity. In this role, she advocates for children’s views being heard at a strategic level.

Brigid Featherstone is Professor of Social Work at the University of Huddersfield. Her current research projects include exploring responses to domestic abuse and child protection and helpful care pathways for mothers who abuse substances. She has researched in the areas of gender relations, engaging fathers and families’ experiences of child protection and family support services.

Kenneth is a Chartered Accountant by training but has worked in the charity sector for the last 15 years. He is currently the Director of the Vardy Foundation which has a particular focus on funding work which stops children going into the care system and supports them when they leave.

Haley has worked as an Expert by Experience with Fulfilling Lives for five years and taken part in research and collaborative projects to help change the system to improve things for those in society who need the most help. She is particularly passionate about improving services for women who have suffered with addiction, child removal and domestic violence.

Alison Lowe is the West Yorkshire Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC). The DMPC works with the Mayor to oversee policing in the county, on behalf of the public. Alison is passionate about inclusion as a Black woman and mother of 2 gay children and she will be working with the police to deliver the Mayor’s pledge to recruit more diverse police officers and staff.

Joanne McGrath is a PhD Public Health Student at Northumbria University, researching how women with multiple exclusion access services. She has also held various roles in community development and grant making and takes a broad interest in social exclusion. She currently works freelance for Comic Relief across various programmes and is a trustee at Tyneside Women’s Health.

Kim McGuinness was elected as Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria in July 2019 following a successful campaign that focused on tackling the root causes of crime, supporting victims and keeping communities safe. Professionally, Kim has worked across a range of sectors and has held senior posts across charities and the education sector, where she gained considerable experience helping communities with issues and people with personal struggles.

Naima is a professional lived experience researcher who has worked for a number of organisations, including AVA, McPin and Agenda. Her research specialisms include multiple disadvantage, trauma, and peer support.

Nicola has worked with Changing Lives for five months. During that time, she has taken part in research with people who struggle to get back into work after long breaks in employment. From that experience she has been able to gain an insight into the challenges that other people face.

Cathie Williams is Chief Executive of the Association of Directors of Adults Social Services. Her work has been based in a history of local government, social work and social care, mainly with adults. Cathie maintains a personal passion for working with women experiencing multiple disadvantage and the under-recognised impacts relating to mental health, ‘compromised capacity’, substance misuse, safeguarding and domestic abuse.