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.

Janine McDowell joined the Prison Service in England and Wales in 1989 as a Prison Officer at HMP Holloway and over the next 10 years worked at a number of establishments and in various roles before her appointment as Deputy Governor at HMP & YOI Feltham in 1999.

In 2001 Janine left the Prison Service and joined Sodexo Justice Services as Deputy Centre Manager at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre before appointment as Director – HM Prison Bronzefield in 2003. Janine was responsible for the start up and operation of this brand new prison for women from the opening of the establishment until taking up post as the SJS Operations Director, England & Wales in November 2007.

In January 2010 Janine was appointed Deputy Managing Director for Sodexo Justice Services in the UK with responsibility for operations and business development. Janine was appointed as CEO Justice UK & Ireland in August 2015. In addition she is the chair of the Sodexo UK & Ireland Diversity Council and is a trustee of Safer London and the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.

Tim is a solicitor who worked at the international law firm Freshfields, Bruckhaus, Deringer for over 30 years and held a number of senior positions including Managing Partner of the London office. Between 1994 and 2000 he worked in Madrid.

He is Trustee of a number of other charities including Access Sport and Connection at St Martins. For a number of years he chaired the London Steering Group of Business Action on Homelessness and in recognition of that work was appointed by HRH Prince Charles as his Ambassador for Responsible Business in London 2010-2012. Tim has been a Trustee since 2013.

Dr Anthony Gunter is Programme Lead for Childhood and Youth Studies at the Open University in the School of Education, Childhood, Youth & Sport (ECYS). Previously, he worked as Principal Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of East London.

Before embarking on a career in academia he worked for over 14 years in South and East London, firstly as a detached community and youth worker before taking on Project and Area Manager roles. His research interests and expertise are in the areas of: Black young people; youth cultures and transitions; serious youth violence and gangs; race/ethnicity, crime and justice; and policing multi-ethnic urban neighbourhoods. During the past two decades he’s carried out a number of ethnographic research studies examining and exploring contemporary urban youth subculture(s) and alternative youth transitions. More recently, his work has focused on serious youth violence with regard to: (i) current policy, policing and preventative practice aimed at tackling ‘street gangs’ and; (ii) youth led and community-based/ driven solutions and interventions.

Val has worked in the voluntary sector for over 25 years, both at grassroots level and as a senior leader. The majority of this time has been spent in the children and young people’s sector, working in communities that have often been left behind in terms of service provision, and with cohorts of young people whose needs and ambitions have not been understood by policy makers and those providing services.

Val has extensive experience of the charity sector from a variety of perspectives including service delivery, safeguarding, quality assurance and operational oversight. In addition to being a trustee with Safer London Val has been a trustee for an international anti-slavery charity and more recently in a lottery funded heritage start-up organisation.

Val is committed to working in partnership and has been able to develop some really strong, mutually beneficial partnerships in both her current and previous roles.

Vaneesha Bailey is chief financial officer of cyber and intelligence solutions for Mastercard, a global payment technology company. She oversees the finances including financial planning and analysis, business development and strategy of the business unit that develops product solutions to ensure the safety, security and experience for consumers, merchants, partners and governments around the world. Prior to this role, Vaneesha relocated to Canada as chief finance officer of MasterCard Canada.

Before joining Mastercard in 2010, she held finance positions at HSBC as Senior Pricing Analyst and Cards Business Partner at HSBC Retail Banking division, based in the UK. She received a bachelor’s degree from Aston University in Accounting and Management, and qualified ACMA from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Born in London and living in Essex with her husband and son, she enjoys the best of both city and coastal life.

Gemma Bailey is a HR senior leader and business partner who has worked in the payments and financial services sector for over 20 years. Gemma has been at Mastercard for 14 of those years and, during her tenure, has held a number of senior global, regional and UK positions.

Gemma is married with two children and lives in Essex. Safer London is Gemma’s first Trustee position

Nabeela has over 12 years of experience working with children and young people, including roles in PRUs and SEBD schools, as well as supervising reparation sessions for Camden Youth Offending Service. Since joining Safer London in 2018, she has progressed from a frontline Practitioner, specialising in supporting girls and young women affected by violence and exploitation, to her current role as Service Delivery Lead.

Passionate about supporting marginalised, vulnerable and isolated young people affected by exploitation and violence, Nabeela enjoyed frontline work and now finds fulfilment in seeing her staff have the same impact. In her new role, she aims to develop services that address emerging needs and reach more young Londoners and their families.

Alyson is Service Delivery Lead for the Violence and Exploitation Support Service (VESS) in London, where she oversees the strategic and operational delivery of the service which support young Londoners and families.

With over 20 years of experience working directly with vulnerable children and adults, Alyson began her career in the direct delivery and management of drug support and criminal justice services. Her career spans both frontline practice and leadership roles, giving her a deep understanding of the complex challenges faced by those she supports. Alyson holds a degree in Social Work.

She is deeply committed to the safety and welfare of children and young people, with a particular passion for supporting care leavers as they transition into adulthood.

Helen oversees all internal and external communications at Safer London, with a focus on supporting income generation and amplifying young Londoners voices and experiences. She has 10 years of experience in communications, having worked across the commercial, private and charity sectors.

Helen is passionate about the safeguarding and welfare of young Londoners and families and this value guides her decision making. She is an advocate for the ethical use of storytellers within the media, ensuring they are able to tell their stories in a way that is authentic and safe.

Craig is Information Governance and IT Lead

Ellie started her career in Child Welfare working for the City of New York. After moving to the UK, she gained extensive experience working for several Local Authorities across different front-line teams, both as a Senior Social Worker and Deputy Team Manager. Ellie also spent a year conducting court ordered parenting assessments for an independent agency.

Most recently Ellie spent 5 years back in New York, working as a Performance Management Analyst and Director for a large human services non-profit. Ellie joined Safer London as Deputy Head of Safeguarding in 2024.

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.

Carrie Timms is Director of Customer Marketing EMEA at Facebook and is responsible for leading a c100 strong team tasked with creating business marketing programmes aimed at audiences such as advertising clients, media and creative agencies, publishers, developers, gamers, and all businesses large and small.

Prior to this, she was Vice President of Global Media, Categories and Partnerships at Unilever, and was primarily responsible for the strategic articulation of multi-market media channel plans for the world’s second biggest advertiser, as well as leading Joint Business Plans in the marketing arena, for Unilever’s key global partners. She additionally contributed to the diversity and inclusion agenda in Unilever, by leading the global strategy for race equity.

Carrie was born in Ghana and moved to the UK when she was 3 years old and completed her formal education by attaining a BA honours degree in Jurisprudence from Oxford University. She started her career with Carlton TV (now ITV) in 2002, before moving to Mindshare as an investment planner working her way up to group director before departure. Subsequent roles have included media positions in blue chip companies such as Nestle and Reckitt Benckiser, ultimately culminating in her current position.

Carrie is extremely passionate about promoting gender and race diversity in the workplace, and along with mentoring young career women, has also just launched a podcast aimed at young black women in the marketing industry.

She is married with two young daughters and in her spare time, when not discussing Disney characters, can be found circuit training or enjoying her husband’s great cooking.

Gemma Perolls is currently a senior leader in the National Health Service (NHS) and is driven by making a difference. Previous to this, Gemma has held a range of roles across government. These included several senior and leadership roles across national security and technology, working closely with Ministers and senior officials.

Living in London, she feels passionately about the city and in particular improving the chances of children and young people. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and finding new music.

Helga Swidenbank is a senior strategic leader with extensive experience across justice, youth services and the private sector. She has held major operational and executive roles, overseeing high-value contracted services and leading improvements that strengthen safeguarding, outcomes and service quality for children and young people.

Helga’s interest in Safer London’s work is rooted in both her professional background and her commitment to ensuring that young people feel safe, supported and able to fulfil their potential. She brings a clear focus on collaboration, accountability and effective delivery.

Outside of her professional life, Helga enjoys outdoor swimming, coastal walks and travelling with her family.

Nikki Marcel is a Director in the Cabinet Office, with over 20 years of experience in the UK Civil Service and the charity sector. She brings a strong background in transformational change, risk assessment, governance and cross-departmental collaboration, having chaired multiple senior cross-government boards and serving as a Professional Head of Analysis for HMG.

Nikki previously worked closely with a charity's Board and Executive Team, spearheading a national change programme and strengthening governance frameworks. She is passionate about driving positive change and ensuring robust oversight to support Safer London’s mission.

Outside of work she is a keen traveller - trying to pack in as many adventures as possible!

Tobi Odetoyinbo is a Solicitor Advocate and Associate General Counsel at the Serious Fraud Office, with extensive experience across the criminal justice system as a defence solicitor, prosecutor and Magistrate. She brings a strong track record in policy, risk, governance, and leadership and is deeply committed to advancing diversity and embedding inclusive practice within her work.

Tobi has spent much of her career witnessing how easily young people can be drawn into cycles of vulnerability. Safer London’s mission to provide safe spaces, trusted relationships, and holistic support strongly resonates with her and she is motivated to use her expertise to help strengthen the charity’s foundations so more young Londoners can thrive.

Beyond her professional roles, Tobi enjoys travelling, reading, and coaching, interests that reflect her curiosity, commitment to lifelong learning and passion for empowering others.