Our people

Jayne Harrill practises in all aspects of public law children cases, mental capacity and the protection of vulnerable adults.

Jayne represents local authorities, children and adults. She has developed expertise in the most serious cases with concurrent criminal proceedings involving charges of murder, assault and sexual abuse. Her extensive experience encompasses cases of non-accidental injury, neglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children. She is currently developing a pro bono advice service within chambers for a charity that supports grandparent carers. Jayne has a particular interest in representing vulnerable clients and those lacking capacity which has led her to establish the Court of Protection team within chambers.

Julian is a senior partner at Ernst & Young and has over 25 years’ experience in financial services. He leads in the Wealth & Asset Management sector and has gathered experience in the UK, Australia and the US. Julian’s experience encompasses a wide variety of disciplines including assurance, regulatory advice, governance, risk and M&A, working with innovative start-ups through to large international firms.

He holds a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics from Imperial College and is a chartered accountant (ACA). Julian has two teenage children, and experience of adoptive care in his wider family.

Beverley has spent 30 years working within the children’s social care sector. She is currently Associate Director for Practice and Impact at the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. She works on expanding the capacity of the Nuffield FJO to make its evidence count on the practice front by making connections, developing conversations, and fostering opportunities for innovations and activities that will unlock systemic change in the family justice system. Beverley has previously worked in frontline roles within social work practice and management roles in local authority and family court settings. She is also a member of the FDAC partnership. In June 2018, Beverley received an MBE for her work with children and families.

Elaine Farmer is Emeritus Professor of Child and Family Studies at the University of Bristol.  She spent several years as a social worker in the UK and Australia before moving into research and teaching. She used to teach on the qualifying post-qualifying programmes in social work at the university and was formerly the Head of the Centre for Family Policy and Child Welfare at the university. Her research interests on which she has published widely include foster and residential care, the reunification of separated children with their families, child protection and kinship care. She has undertaken studies in a number of Department of Health and Department for Education research programmes, including on child protection, residential care, family support, adoption and neglect.

Her publications include: Kinship Care: Fostering Effective Family and Friends Placements (Jessica Kingsley 2008); Spotlight on Kinship Care: Using Census micro data to examine the extent and nature of kinship care in the UK at the turn of the twentieth century (University of Bristol 2011) and The Poor Relations? Children and informal kinship carers speak out (University of Bristol 2013). The latter study was an investigation of informal kinship care, funded by the Big Lottery. She also worked with a team of researchers on the Grandparent’s Plus study ‘Growing Up in Kinship Care: Experiences as Adolescents and Outcomes in Young Adulthood’ (Grandparents Plus 2017).

Natalie is Managing Director of Clarke Holland Estate Agents. A busy family run business that sees her and her husband work alongside each other managing their team to sell people’s homes as well as managing their own and other property investors portfolios. Her knowledge of property and the Estate Agency industry enables her to be best placed to support others to start their own Estate Agency, this is done via a mentor based franchise. Women’s Property Network is a monthly property support group that Natalie set up with her partner Michelle after spotting a need for the event for females in property to come together and form lasting friendships.

Natalie is mum to four and a kinship carer for her niece who resides with her and her husband on a Special Guardianship Order. Natalie has been a befriender to kinship carers in the north east of England and believes that support for kinship carers is a must. Kinship care is something that is misunderstood and under supported, as a kinship carer she herself has at times felt very alone, let down and put upon. Her hope for her role is to help grow the charity in order to support those in her position who really need to have their voice heard.  Charity and children are subjects that Natalie is passionate about she is also a trustee for Hope 4 Kidz, a governor for a local school and is a volunteer for the Parent Child Home Program being trialled in the North East of England after being brought over from the USA.

James is an experienced strategist, specialising in developing new teams and digital ventures within and for organisations. James started his career at Deloitte before moving to help setup an AI platform at a leading Magic Circle law firm. James has since moved to WT Consulting, and is responsible for building out the UK practice.

James is an entrepreneurially-minded professional with a postgraduate degree in Strategy and Innovation from the University of Oxford and a BSc in Economics & Politics from the University of Southampton.

Yvette became Ofsted’s National Director, Social Care in April 2018. Prior to taking up this post, Yvette was Director of Children’s Services in the London Borough of Merton, a position she held for over 9 years following a 20 year children’s services career in London.

Yvette’s career has been shaped by her passion for making a difference for children and in particular the most vulnerable; her commitment to creating an environment across all children’s services where the very best practice can thrive; and a deep interest in system, organisational and institutional self-evaluation to support continuous improvement and effectiveness. Yvette has two adult children, one with autism, and prior to her current post was a longstanding FE Governor and keen supporter of a range of children’s charities, including serving at board level for a number of years.

Fran is an experienced marketeer who has held Director level roles in charities and social enterprises including Turning Point and at social housing provider Places For People. Fran currently works with the National Collaborative Outreach Programme which supports the government’s social mobility goals in increasing the number of young people from underrepresented groups going into higher education. With kinship care experience working with her family to support the upbringing of her nephew and niece, Fran was motivated to join the Board of Kinship to help make life easier for other kinship carers, and to help as many children as possible stay within their families.

Joe is a Senior Policy Adviser and International Secretary at the Labour Party. He has previously worked for a number of Members of Parliament which developed his policy and strategy expertise on a number of different areas including in housing, social security, social care and criminal justice. 

As a Councillor in Lambeth, Joe sat on the Corporate Parenting Board and the Children’s Services Scrutiny Sub-Committee. In particular, he focused on ensuring young people’s voices were heard and that they were able to evaluate and mould services and delivery. 

In previous roles, Joe has worked as a teacher, at NGOs in Brazil and Senegal, with Lambeth Palace to tutor a family from Syria and at Volvo as Continental Material Planner.

I am a kinship carer to my oldest grandson who is 9 and who has been with us since he was 18 months old. I am also an adopter of 25 years with three adult adopted children and three more grandchildren. I worked as a social worker in my first career and then as a lecturer in further and higher education until I retired early to care for my grandson. My main subjects were safeguarding, children and families and children’s development. I like to socialise with friends and family, go for walks and read. As well as my involvement with Kinship I also volunteer as an independent visitor for a care leaver and her baby and I campaign with a local adoption group to improve adoption support.

Founder and Chief Executive, Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA)

Nicola is an expert in economic abuse as it occurs within the context of coercive control. She has worked in the violence against women and girls (VAWG) sector since 2006 and held policy-influencing and research roles before moving into charity leadership.

In 2016, Nicola was made a Winston Churchill Fellow and travelled to the United States and Australia to explore innovative responses to economic abuse. It was her determination to ensure that women in the UK have access to the same responses that led her to establish Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) in 2017. The charity’s mission it to raise awareness of economic abuse and transform responses to it.

Nicola is also an Emeritus Research Fellow in the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU), London Metropolitan University and a Visiting Senior Fellow in Social Policy at the School of Law and Social Sciences, University of Suffolk.

In October 2020 she was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to victims of domestic and economic abuse.