Rosemary Watt-Wyness is a highly experienced third sector leader. Her leadership roles have covered service delivery, policy and strategy.

Prior to joining Safer London, she was CEO for 8 years of London Youth, the largest network of youth organisations in the capital. She worked with the MS Society as their Director of Services and Support. She spent 6 years at the Prince’s Trust in roles including Director of Strategy and the Director for the South of England. She is a previous CEO of PACE, an organisation supporting the mental health of the LGBTQ+ community and Deputy Director of Safe in the City, an organisation tackling youth homelessness. In her early career Rosemary worked as a youth worker with young people who were not attending school or at risk of exclusion.

Rosemary has a Master’s in Public Administration (despite taking forever to finish her dissertation…) and Post Graduate Certificates in Coaching, Systemic Therapy and Managing Social Services.

Katie is an experienced leader within the children’s charity sector with over 12 years’ experience managing and delivering services across the UK. Katie came to the third sector having worked as a teacher.

Katie’s achievements include heading up advocacy, early years, and services for young people with disabilities. More recently her work has concentrated on the successful running and management of charities – overseeing teams of talented individuals focussed on governance, business development, finance, communications, and HR. Katie has experience in setting the strategic direction of charities, contributing to policy and practice improvements and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders.

Katie is passionate about inclusive practice and is a proud BSL and Makaton signer.

Carly Adams Elias is an experienced social worker and manager within the children’s charity sector; with 15 years’ experience specialising in supporting children, families and communities affected by sexual abuse, violence, exploitation and trafficking.

Carly has previously held national roles with both the NSPCC and The Children’s Society delivering, managing and developing services across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This includes leading the national Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) Prevention Programme, delivered in partnership with the National Police Chiefs Council and Victim Support; responsible for creating regional and national CSAE strategies, resources and toolkits to support improving practice in this area.

Through her work Carly has extensive experience of delivering training, influencing campaigns and strategic responses and contributing to policy and practice improvement.

Desmond Edward is a seasoned leader in support services, with over 30 years’ experience across both the private and charity sectors. His roles have included lead responsibility for safeguarding and the design and delivery of high‑quality, person‑centred support.

Drawing on both professional and lived experience, he brings a strong track record in managing diverse teams, addressing operational challenges and delivering services and projects on time and within budget. Desmond has held senior management positions developing and implementing new delivery models - particularly in youth justice and violence reduction - and has been instrumental in building effective multi‑agency partnerships in complex, front‑line environments.

Christopher's experience is rooted predominantly in the criminal justice system. After university, he began his career with Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) before moving on to the Probation Service, working in specialist units focused on young adult male offender management. His work in Probation centred on public protection and safeguarding, where he was actively involved in various safeguarding and risk management boards and panels across Hampshire and Berkshire, including several years chairing MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements).

Following over a decade with the Probation Service, Christopher served as the safeguarding lead and clinic admissions manager at a residential mental health clinic for young people, prior to joining Safer London in June 2024.

Kathleen joined Safer London in 2021, having worked in various youth offending services across London. She has extensive experience directly supporting children and young people affected by violence and exploitation as well as managing practice teams and for the past 22 years, she has worked in both the statutory and charity sector, in the UK and Canada.

At the start of her management career, Kathleen contributed to a successful inspection of youth justice services and has subsequently driven quality assurance and strong case management in various roles, always striving to achieve the best possible outcomes for children, young people and their families.

Kathleen is passionate about safeguarding young Londoners and supporting their families, working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders.

John manages all income generation activity at Safer London, working in collaboration with staff across the organisation and through positive relationships with external partners, funders and commissioners.

John is an advocate for the unique power of charities to build fairer communities, and believes how charities raise their money defines whether they achieve this or not.

He has 12 years’ experience in income generation roles in the charity sector covering business development and fundraising. This has included supporting all domestic services at the British Red Cross as well as securing contracted income in substance misuse and children’s services at several smaller charities.

Sara’s role is to provide advice and guidance to Trustees and the Senior Leadership Team to help ensure Safer London remains financially secure to deliver the best possible support for young Londoners.

Having trained as a chartered accountant with Deloitte, Sara worked within internal audit for over fifteen years for General Electric, RBS and then the UK's financial services regulator. Sara is passionate about supporting young people and changed careers in 2015 to work in education, initially as a school business manager for a community primary school in Islington, followed by time working at Dulwich Prep School and then as the Finance Director at St Dunstan's Educational Foundation. During her time at St Dunstan's, she helped to arrange the financing of the new STEM block and junior school. Her latest role before joining Safer London in January 2025 was as the Director of Finance and Operations at Chelsea Academy.

Sara has a master’s degree in mathematics.

Naomi is Safer London’s Head of People, leading on all things people and culture. She brings experience from both the public and private sectors, including work with charities and social enterprises.

Passionate about building positive workplaces, Naomi supports the team with everything from recruitment and onboarding to wellbeing and development.