Our People

Annie joined Khulisa in March 2018 and is focused on building Khulisa's evidence base to expand our impact and influence within the sector. She is passionate about tackling social exclusion and inequality in the UK.

Annie has a Masters in International Development and has spent much of her life living and working overseas in Japan, Cambodia and South Africa. Prior to joining Khulisa, she also worked as Head of Evidence and Learning at a global NGO, and spent a year as an independent evaluator in the non-profit sector. She previously managed a flagship UK Government-funded randomised control trial exploring prevention of sexual abuse among adolescent girls in refugee camps. Annie started her career in the private sector at Accenture, specialising in the non-profit arm, Accenture Development Partnerships.

When she's not at work, Annie loves taking photos, travelling, cooking, walking the dog with her partner in North London and going to gigs and festivals. She's also an active women's health advocate.

Prior to Khulisa, Despina worked as a Project Manager within a Pan-London Forensic Mental Health Practitioner Service where her main focus was to manage the Mental Health Liaison and Diversion Service in courts and police custody suites, as well as the Persistent Offending Programme within the London Probation service, commissioned by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime. Her academic background is in Forensic Psychology and she has previous hands-on experience of working directly with those affected by mental illness and the criminal justice system.

Despina's early career was within the field of dementia and cognitive impairment and involved various mental health roles. Today, she is a qualified Mindfulness Teacher, supporting groups and individuals to use mindfulness and compassion skills in their everyday lives.

When not at work, Despina enjoys dancing salsa, travelling and painting.

Caroline joined Khulisa in August 2018 as a Programme Manager responsible for delivery in prisons, schools and community programmes across the North West. Caroline previously delivered programmes as an associate for 12 months.

She has a Master's degree in Dramatherapy, and has worked with adults with mental health challenges, children affected by trauma, and young people within the youth justice sector.

Caroline is passionate about the intersection of neuroscience and mental health and strives to bring a trauma-informed approach to all her work.

When she's not working, you will find Caroline reading three different books at any one time, watching theatre and live performance, or walking her beloved dog in the countryside.

Victoria is responsible for supporting the growth of the Milestones project in Greater Manchester. Victoria achieves this through recruiting, training and supporting mentors to work through the gate and in the community with ex-offenders and partner agencies.

Prior to Khulisa, Victoria worked at Addaction a national substance misuse organisation as operations manager where she managed relationships with key funders, managed and supervised a team of specialist workers, led the development of a successful fundraising programmes and oversaw all specialist projects and compliance. Victoria is qualified in Criminological and Forensic Psychology, and began her career in the voluntary sector, working in various locations and roles for Addaction.

When she's not at work, you can find Victoria in a photography class, listening to music, spending time with her family or planning her next holiday in the sun.

Damian joined Khulisa as a Programme Manager in February 2013. In June 2016, Damian was promoted to the role of Director of Delivery, where his main task is to oversee the set-up and delivery of Khulisa programmes across a number of geographical locations. Damian is also a lead facilitator and supports the delivery of programmes.

Prior to Khulisa, Damian worked in social housing as a Neighbourhood Manager for two of London’s oldest and largest registered social landlords. Damian is also a fully qualified integrative counsellor/psychotherapist and registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

When he's not at work, you can find Damian in the gym, at the cinema, eating out and travelling.

Cara joined Khulisa in January 2017 as Development Director. During her time as Director of Development and Communications, she transformed our brand, doubled our income, raised our profile and policy influence, established new partnerships and built the capacity of the team.

As Chief Executive, Cara's expertise in education (and her experience as both a classroom teacher and Chair of Governors) will serve Khulisa well as we continue to prioritise our preventative work with young people and as we expand our trauma-informed training for professionals.

Prior to Khulisa, Cara worked at Teach First as Head of Business Development where she managed relationships with key funders, led the development of a successful fundraising strategy and oversaw all fundraising operations and compliance. Cara is also a qualified English Teacher, but began her career in the private sector, working in various commercial roles at Procter & Gamble.

When she's not at work, you can find Cara in a yoga class, at the theatre, in a restaurant or travelling to a new part of the world. Cara is also the Chair of Governors at a Primary School in South London.

Iman joined Khulisa in May 2017 as our Programme Assistant. Now as our Research and Programme Coordinator, Iman works to build our research agenda, assist in the monitoring and evaluation of our impact and the sharing of our evidence base and learnings with a number of research partners, sector peers and policy makers.

Prior to Khulisa, Iman worked at GT Stewart Solicitors as a Criminal Defence Paralegal specialising in criminal appeals.

She graduated from SOAS, University of London in July 2016 with a Masters in Law specialising in Human Rights and began her career working as a Project Management Intern with Team Up - a social enterprise engaged in furthering social mobility through education.

When not at work, you can find Iman trying new recipes, trying out new podcasts or practicing her Turkish.

Joely joined Khulisa part time in December 2018 as Khulisa's Youth Engagement Advisor. As part of her role Joely ensures young people's voices are being heard and to encourage participants to engage and get the most out of Khulisa's programmes. She believes that many young people are being failed and not taken seriously by the education system and that all young people should be able to express themselves.

Joely first got involved with Khulisa as a student at Wac Arts College in 2017 when she attended a Khulisa taster day. Seeing how Khulisa breaks down people's resistance to life made Joely want to be more involved. Following this she helped design and develop the #lookbeyondthelabel campaign and has been an advocate for Khulisa's work ever since.

Joely is passionate about photography, sports, travelling and socialising and hopes to use her experience and skills to work with children who have been in similar situations to her (both education-wise and life-wise) to help them achieve their goals.

Sonia joined Khulisa in May 2016 as Programme Manager developing our work in the North West. She now works for Khulisa as the Regional Lead for the North.

Prior to Khulisa, Sonia worked as a Director at Mercy UK a residential facility for women affected by various forms of abuse and trauma. She also worked in a number of settings with individuals affected by drugs & alcohol misuse, her most challenging role being with West Yorkshire Police supporting their vice department with women involved in street prostitution.

A mum to two young adults, she is passionate about supporting people to overcome the sometimes difficult challenges that life brings, having overcome many difficulties of her own. Her motto for life is 'Live on Purpose'.

When Sonia is not working for Khulisa, she is busy running her own coaching & training business.

Yetunde joined Khulisa in June 2018 as Head of Finance and Operations. She is responsible for maintaining Khulisa's finance and human resources functions.

Yetunde has worked in the charity finance sector for the last 10 years, leading finance teams through difficult periods due to the economic climate. Prior to working in the charity sector, Yetunde gained experience in the commercial and education sectors. Yetunde has a degree in accounting and
finance.

When not at work Yetunde likes to read, listen to music or spend time with family.

Nicola joined Khulisa in September 2018 as our Commercial Manager. Nicola comes to Khulisa on secondment from the civil service and is focused on developing a commercial strategy for Khulisa to earn its own income.

Prior to Khulisa, Nicola has worked in procurement and commercial roles in the Departments for Work and Pensions and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. She graduated from Cardiff University with a Law degree in 2014, beginning her career as an Industrial Disease paralegal with Slater & Gordon.

When not at work, Nicola loves eating out with friends and making her way through the various museums and attractions on her London bucket list.

Lisa Rowles joined Khulisa in 2009. Initially managing the set-up of the UK operation, Lisa’s role developed into that of Lead Facilitator, and she now leads on Design & Development of new programmes, projects and facilitator training. Coming from a corporate background, Lisa’s experience spans 14 years in sales and commercial management, supported by 10 years’ consulting, facilitation and executive/business coaching. To support her capacity in this role, Lisa has also trained and studied in various disciplines. These include dramatherapy (Adv Dipl.), psychotherapeutic counselling (Dip), NLP (Master Business Practitioner) and Coaching/Mentoring (Adv Dipl, OCM, Oxford Brookes University). She's also qualified as a TEFL teacher and restorative practitioner (Transforming Conflict, CALM and Restorative Solutions); as well as spending 2 years studying Family Constellation Therapy. Passionate about Africa, Lisa has spent time learning with Khulisa in South Africa and volunteered in animal welfare across Southern Africa.

Zoe joined Khulisa in September 2013 and is the Lead Facilitator for our Silence the Violence programme.

Prior to Khulisa, Zoe was a Prison Officer at HMP Wandsworth, London, where she worked in the psychology department delivering a rehabilitation programme called the Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) to help prisoners address their offending behaviour. Zoe is also a fully qualified professional Tennis Coach having taught tennis for 17 years before becoming a Prison Officer.

When she's not at work you can find Zoe in the gym, taking part in some extreme sporting event, reading, socialising and seeking out a good beat to go and dance to.

Thalia started as a Programme Manager for Khulisa in July 2018 after working as an associate facilitator for a year prior to this. She is responsible for delivery in prisons, schools and community programmes across London and the South East.

Thalia is a trained Relational Transactional Analyst and Restorative Justice Practitioner and has over 10 years experience of working within a variety of different projects aimed at building resilience and self-awareness in individuals who have experienced trauma. She has over 7 years experience with the SAFE! Project providing 1:1 support for young victims of crime and also worked for the Empower project in Safer London with young people and families affected by Sexual Exploitation and Gang-related violence.

Thalia also worked for 3 years developing and providing preventative programmes for schools to build resilience, confidence and understanding of emotional health, healthy relationships, consent and risky behaviours. She is a published author and co-wrote a book called ‘What Does Consent Really Mean?’ which is a graphic novel exploring the topic of consent, pornography, sexting and healthy relationships. She is currently in the process of co-writing a resource book for schools to use in conjunction with this.

During her training Thalia founded, developed and managed a successful Community Interest Company called Plaintalking, which offers a range of accessible therapeutic services whilst providing a platform for other trainee psychotherapists to practice.

In her free time Thalia loves taking photos, practicing yoga, running, travelling and making extravagant fancy dress outfits.

Karl is a fully qualified youth worker (level 3) with 6 years experience working with young people, with 4 of those five years working with young people who are on youth offending orders.

He is skilled in the areas of conflict resolution, restorative justice and has recently trained in A.R.T (Aggression Replacement Training®) He has also developed numerous arts-based interventions of his own which have been used in a variety of youth offending services. with his latest group of young people having won a Koestler award for their identity project.

With a background in the arts, Karl is also a noted published photographer.

Matt started his career building nuclear submarines which took him all around the world, most notably Australia, Singapore and Thailand. He then studied to be a teacher specialising in environmental science and outdoor education.

Having taught for fifteen years he became more involved in working with children who struggled to stay in mainstream education. Having gained a diploma in psychology and training in numerous therapy interventions, he has used his skills both in schools, YOI and prisons. He has trained prison staff to deliver Inner Strength, a domestic violence programme, and has trained to deliver Footsteps a resilience wellbeing programme.

Matt is currently involved in training Positive Solutions, a structured model of supervision, incorporating cognitive behavioural therapy and drama dialectical behaviour therapy skills to Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria Probation Services. Matt is a lead facilitator for the Silence the Violence and Face It programme in Manchester and Bolton.

Julianne is a H.C.P.C registered Dramatherapist and Badth registered clinical supervisor. She has worked in education, healthcare and private practice. She is the resident therapist at The Tinnitus Clinic, London. Her clinical work also includes working with children and adolescents. She was an associate lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University for six years where she completed her PhD. Her doctorate research investigated the efficacy of employing strategies from Dramatherapy supervision with newly qualified teachers as a method of reducing attrition rates. She has also provided clinical supervision to hospice staff. She has designed and facilitated mental health awareness training for the Metropolitan Police and other frontline service staff. Julianne is a qualified secondary school teacher and taught drama for over ten years in secondary and further education. Julianne is a theatre practitioner and interested in the therapeutic benefit of autobiographical theatre. She enjoys yoga and walking her dog.

Lucy is a HCPC registered Dramatherapist and joined Khulisa in 2017. Lucy works with children and adolescents in both state and independent schools and has a private practice. Her clinical experience includes adult mental health NHS, community work with both victim and perpetrator of domestic abuse and work with special needs clients.

Lucy trained and worked as an actress. She continues to use her skills therapeutically and has co facilitated workshops for vulnerable young people at The Greenwich and Lewisham Young Peoples Theatre.

In her free time Lucy enjoys socialising, theatre , reading and travel- like other Khulisa facilitators she loves walking her dog!

Christina Anderson Joined Khulisa as a freelance facilitator in October 2018, delivering programmes in PRUs, Schools and Prisons across London and Manchester. Christina is a fully qualified MA Drama and Movement Therapist (Sesame), trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London. Christina is registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) as an Arts Therapist as well as the British Association of Dramatherapist (BADth).

Christina is Visiting Lecturer at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London and a Consultant Therapist at Frank Belford, looking at ways to explore challenges within the corporate industry, creating a unique approach using dramatherapy. The programme helps organisations reduce the amount of employee turnover and feel more secure about change. Christina has worked with a range of organisations and always open to expanding network both in the UK and abroad.

Christina has also written a chapter in the book “Talk Yourself Better: A Confused Person's Guide to Therapy, Counselling and Self-Help”.

In her free time Christina enjoys listening to Reggae music and attending Bashment raves, its her way of connecting to roots and heritage.

Daniela Gallini is an HCPC registered dramatherapist. After completing her BSc (Hons) in Psychology at The Univerity of Nottingham she specialized in working with the arts and drama at The University of Roehampton. She has a wide range of experience facilitating individual and group therapy to victims of domestic abuse, minorities living in London and cancer patients. She also has experience working with children and adolescents with a wide range of psychological needs including, depression, anxiety, and misbehaving conduct.

Daniela has a special interest in helping clients explore and process their anger and negative emotions through the arts and the use of mindfulness.

Chance is a Dramatherapist registered with the Health & Care Professionals Council who trained in Drama & Movement Therapy at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London.

Chance is currently Lead Practitioner at Self Space, a contemporary mental health service that supports adults with varying mental health needs. As well as managing a client caseload, Chance delivers talks, trainings and workshops to organisations and agencies on mental health. He also works as a Dramatherapist at Kairos Community Trust (Peckham) a 12-Step, abstinence-based treatment programme, at Play for Progress (Croydon) delivering therapy to unaccompanied minor refugees & asylum seekers and within schools.

Chance came to dramatherapy with a background in theatre-making, film-making and storytelling and has performed in theatres and in arts spaces around the country. He has received publishing credits from Triarchy Press and commissions from Northern Film and Media, Channel 4 and The Baltic.

Becky Sheppard is a HCPC registered dramatherapist and member of the British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth). Becky has a BSc in Drama and Psychology and a Master’s degree in Dramatherapy.

Becky joined Khulisa as an Associate Facilitator in 2018. She has a wide range of clinical experience of offering group and individual therapy interventions. She particularly enjoys working with young people and has worked in mainstream and specialist schools. Becky has also worked within NHS adult mental health services and, following graduation, she set up a pilot dramatherapy intervention within a women’s acute mental health ward. Becky is also an experienced workshop facilitator, working predominantly with children and young people. Previously Becky worked for a theatre company based in schools and youth centres, with work focussed on re-engaging individuals with school and the curriculum. She has a real interest in promoting the participation and engagement of young people within organisations (and she wrote her under-graduate dissertation on this topic) and has also written an article about the use of therapist self-disclosure, which was published in the Dramatherapy journal.

In her free time, Becky enjoys travelling, writing and volunteering.

Jonathan Bines, is a Partner at JLT Specialty Ltd, one of the world’s largest insurance providers of insurance. Jonathan has over 12 years experience in the design and placement of both conventional and non-conventional UK and International Casualty programmes and is an expert in providing complex risk transfer solutions multinational clients. He has worked for Integro, Jardine Lloyd Thompson and Marsh, is ACII qualified and as a Lloyds broker.

Shivonne is our Chair & the Managing Director at Women for Women International – UK and previously served as Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications for 5 years. She has worked in leadership roles in a range of charities and not-for-profit organisations for over 20 years, leading teams to success at Shelter, Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres, Comic Relief, Global Radio Charities and AMREF Health Africa. Shivonne was a member of the Fundraising and Communications Committee at Womankind Worldwide and she is an alumni of Civil Society magazine Fundraising's 50 Most Influential list (No:17, No: 9). Shivonne holds a degree in Development and International Relations from the University of Sussex. Shivonne loves her dog, her nieces, running, yoga, pilates and power-lifting.

Jean-Marc is a Managing Director in Risk for the Wealth Management & Investments business in Barclays Bank UK plc, which provides wealth management, investments and banking services to UK high net worth clients.

He joined Barclays in November 2011 in Singapore, relocating to the UK in 2013. Jean-Marc was previously with Goldman Sachs, in Hong Kong and London. He has also worked for JPMorgan and Bank of America in London and South Africa.

Jean-Marc holds an Honours degree in Economics from University of Johannesburg. He is married with two children, and is a passionate rugby and cricket fan.

Aditi Thorat is Director of Development at the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Aditi has worked in international development for twelve years and has strategic experience in the non-profit, philanthropy and leadership sectors. Previous roles were London Director for Common Purpose, UK Director of Leaders’ Quest Foundation, Chief Operating Officer of Indian venture philanthropy organisation EdelGive Foundation and Officer on Special Duty to the Chief Minister of Rajasthan in India. Aditi sits on the UK board of EMPower – the Emerging Markets Foundation. Aditi has a Master’s degree in Philosophy Politics Economics from the University of Oxford where she was a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Chevening scholar.

Philippa is the director of programmes and learning at SSE Central. She has worked in learning and skills development organisations for 15 years, with a particular focus on enterprise training and employability programming for young people. She has held training delivery and programme management roles in the UK with the Prince’s Trust and internationally with World Challenge Expeditions. Prior to joining SSE she spent seven years launching and leading the UK office of Canadian charity Street Kids International, training local NGOs in the developing world to deliver participatory enterprise skills training for street youth.

Sharon joined Khulisa as a Trustee in March 2019 and will bring with her a wealth of experience in Clinical Governance, organisational and people development. Having worked in the field of psychology for 25 years, she is committed to supporting people and organisations to develop their full potential in their pursuit of excellence and social justice.

Prior to joining Khulisa, Sharon worked a clinician in the NHS, in the prison service and in low, medium and maximum security forensic hospitals, focussing her interests on the management of trauma caused by profound neurological difficulties, severe and enduring mental health conditions, sexual abuse, combat/war/civil unrest and chronic illness. Passionate about employment and civil rights, and social justice, Sharon worked for many years as a Union Representative and went on to become Vice Chair of a national committee at UNITE the Union which aimed to uphold employment rights and standards of professional practice for the psychological professions.

After many years of being a clinician, Sharon went on to work in executive management, leading two national charities through complex transformational change and also worked as a business consultant in multinational industries within the corporate sector, working with executive teams to respond effectively to regulatory and customer requirements, and supporting the agencies many of which worked in safety critical environments, to recover in the aftermath of industrial action or critical incidents. A licensed and registered Clinical Psychologist, Sharon now runs her own company, providing business consultancy, executive coaching and mentoring and training, trauma-focussed psychological therapy and medico-legal assessments to the statutory, charity and corporate sectors. She also works with professional regulators to ensure standards of practice are maintained, and mentors and advises a number of charity boards.

When Sharon is not working she loves to cook and entertain family and friends, paint portraits and sculpt. A keen traveller, she is determined to get New Orleans, Cuba and India under her belt in 2019 as well some exploring around the UK!

Rob Dickinson heads the Philanthropy and Partnerships team within The Children’s Society. Rob leads the organisation's strategic relationships with high value funders, individuals and corporate partners. He has a broad experience of the Charity sector, having previously led Business Development teams across the North of England, and managed service delivery across family support, young carers, and therapeutic teems in Lancashire and Greater Manchester. Rob spent 4 years as a trustee of Child Action Northwest, a regional foster care and early intervention service provider.

Rob is an associate consultant for Warren Larkin Associates and advises on system change within trauma focused service design, delivery and training.

Rob is a keen Blackburn Rovers supporter and father of 3.