Joel Saddler Chief Operating Officer Expand As Chief Operating Officer Joel is responsible for the day to day operational management of the charity in addition to income generation, including fundraising and business development. Joel has over 35 years’ experience in the public sector and third sector having careers in the NHS, Ofsted Early Years, a national advocacy charity and a private sector childcare business. Contact [email protected]
Dr. Julie Elliott Clinical Director, Adoption UK Expand As Clinical Director Julie is responsible for the clinical and therapeutic delivery across Adoption UK and ensures that we have robust clinical governance around the therapeutic services we offer. She manages the Psychology and Therapy Hub (PATH) which deliver a range of therapeutic programmes. The team includes qualified and experienced psychologists and therapists, and experts by experience who deliver on the peer support components within PATH. Julie is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with over 25 years’ experience of working within Children and Family services across the NHS, Social Care, Education and the Independent/Charity sectors. Following an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Moral Philosophy and Applied Ethics, she completed a PhD in Psychology, focussing on the effects of trauma in childhood. She then went on to complete her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Julie has previously managed Psychology and Psychological Therapy services within the NHS.
Jane White Director for Quality Assurance and Impact Expand As the Registered Manager for England and Wales Jane is responsible for ensuring the service is compliant with legislative and regulatory requirements. Jane is our Director for Wales, Quality and Impact for Adoption UK, she is responsible for ensuring an effective system of quality assurance and evaluation operates within Adoption UK’s support services. This will support the service to evidence good practice, and continuous improvement. Jane is also the lead for Safeguarding for England and Wales . She has 29 years of safeguarding experience, primarily within Local Authority Children’s Social Care. She is experienced in partnership working and is passionate about service user participation and involvement in service development and improvements. Jane’s experience spans across all areas of children’s social care and includes a number of years of strategic leadership of permanence services such as Children in Care, Care Experienced, Adoption, and Fostering services. Jane’s aim is to support the teams to deliver high quality services, demonstrate the impact of the services provided and to showcase best practice within Adoption UK. Contact Jane [email protected]
EJ Havlin Director, Northern Ireland Expand As the director of our service in N.Ireland, EJ is responsible for service delivery and development across N.Ireland. EJ manages a team of skilled and experienced staff members who have personal and professional experience allowing them to offer information, advice and support to adoptive families in N.Ireland. With a degree in Social Sciences plus a range of community development and adult education & training qualifications, EJ comes from a voluntary sector professional background. Previous roles have involved widening participation & social mobility in higher education at Queens University Belfast, capacity building initiatives in Belfast community projects & developing empowerment programmes for older people across N.Ireland. EJ is committed to enabling the voices of adoption to be raised. EJ is an adopter and was previously a volunteer with Adoption UK. Contact EJ [email protected]
Fiona Aitken Director, Scotland and UK Safeguarding Lead Expand As the director of our services in Scotland, Fiona is responsible for service delivery and development across Scotland. Fiona manages a team of skilled and experienced staff members who have personal and professional experience allowing them to offer information, advice and support to adoptive, kinship and other care experienced families in Scotland, including those impacted by prenatal alcohol exposure. With a degree in Sociology and a qualification in Speech and Language therapy, Fiona comes from a child focussed professional background and is also a short breaks specialist disability foster carer. Previous roles involved developing and coordinating family support services for children and families affected by disabilities, and working in a residential respite environment. She has a further qualification in Autism, and a qualification in Child Welfare and Protection. Fiona leads on our UK wide safeguarding work, young people’s support services and our work on kinship care and foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Contact Fiona [email protected]
Sam Parkin Director for England and Membership Expand Sam is responsible for service delivery and development across England. She manages a team of skilled and experienced staff members who offer information, advice, and support to adoptive families in England. She is also responsible for oversight of Adoption UK's Membership service. She first joined Adoption UK in 2017 as a Volunteer, then became a member of the team running the successful peer mentoring service and has now gone on to become Director. Sam comes from a customer services background and spent 20 years in the Hair and Beauty industry working for one of the leading hair and beauty companies in England. She also has a background in training.
Mandy Rowsell Director, Wales Expand Mandy is Director of Wales, both staff and volunteers. Her role ensures that all of the services are delivered to the highest of standards. Mandy also works closely with the central team at the National Adoption Service, as well as working collaboratively with regional managers and teams to deliver support and improve standards and services in Wales. She has over 25 years of practical management experience , 10 of those gained in the charity sector in a number of roles supporting volunteers, families and young people. She is also a qualified children and young person advocate representing care-experienced young people's views and experiences. Mandy is a mum to 2 boys and outside of work her life revolves around their hobbies. Mandy loves all things Rugby and is also a Team Manager for her son’s rugby team. Mandy’s family are avid caravanners and like to jump in the car and take their tourer to new places whenever they get the chance!
Joanna Duggan Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications Expand Joanna is a senior fundraising and marketing leader with over 15 years’ experience in the nonprofit sector. At Adoption UK, she leads income generation, marketing, communications, and policy, driving sustainable growth, strengthening brand and engagement, and influencing policy to improve outcomes for adoptive families. Prior to this, she was Director of Fundraising, Communications & Marketing at Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children and Director of Income Generation & Marketing at John Taylor Hospice. Joanna has also served as a magistrate and held several board-level roles. She holds a degree in psychology and a certificate in fundraising management.