Women’s Breakout Executive Board Members

 

Stella Vickers (Chair)
Director, Inspire

Stella has worked primarily in the women’s sector where she has developed a strong passion and commitment toward social justice.  Stella believes the need to campaign for increased rights for women and girls across social, political and economic structures have not diminished. Historically, the treatment of women in criminal justice system has been appalling, ignoring the needs of women and their children, increasing inequalities such as poverty and homelessness and leaving many women, already disadvantaged in cycles of despair and hopelessness.

Stella considers it a privilege to be the Chair of this dynamic organisation and has absolute belief in the women’s services we represent. Stella is committed to ensuring this transformative agenda stays firmly at the forefront of public policy.
 

Bernie Bowen-Thompson (Deputy Chair)
Deputy Chief Executive, Safer Wales

 
 

Jackie Russell
Director, Women’s Breakout

Jackie is the Director of Women's Breakout, the national infrastructure organisation working with voluntary sector organisations across England and Wales delivering gender specific community based alternatives to custody for women; and engaging with strategic partners in the Criminal Justice System, including the Ministry of Justice and the National offender management Service. 

She has over twenty five years of experience in local government, mainly in Birmingham City Council where she held senor management positions for 11 years, including two JNC (Chief Officer) appointments.  As the Director of the Safer Birmingham Partnership, she engaged at strategic levels in all of the partner organisations, particularly with the local authority, probation and the Police. In addition to the above senior role, Jackie worked for ten years in the City Council’s Equality and Diversity Unit and as Head of Equality for the City Council she provided strategic leadership across race, gender, disability, faith, age and sexual orientation.  She has professional qualifications and practical experience in teaching and youth and community development, and has an MBA in the Public Service from Birmingham University.
 

Baroness Jean Corston, House of Lords

Baroness Corston was commissioned by the Home Office to conduct a report into vulnerable women in the criminal justice system of the United Kingdom.  The Corston Report was published in 2007.
 

Liz Hogarth
Researcher for Baroness Jean Corston

From the mid-1970s to 1992, Liz worked as a practitioner and manager in both the statutory and voluntary sectors: HMP Holloway, London Probation, Nurses Welfare Service, Turning Point and UCH Drug Clinic.

Liz returned to HMP Holloway as Head of the Probation Team/Throughcare Manager for 8 years, moving to strategy work as Head of Treatment Programmes in HMPS Drug Strategy Unit in 2000. From 2002, worked on women offender policy and strategy work in the Home Office and latterly the Ministry of Justice, as Head of the Women's Policy Team until 2008 and then Deputy Head of the Cross-Departmental Women's Strategy Team - responsible for the Women's Offending Reduction Programme and delivery of the Government Response to the Corston Report; a member of Baroness Corston's Reference Group in 2006 and awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to women offenders.

Since retiring in May 2011, Liz has undertaking voluntary work as a Research Assistant to Baroness Corston, working to maintain cross-party political interest in the women’s agenda and advisory work with the Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition.
 

Dionne Reid
Chief Executive, Women’s Work (Derbyshire) Ltd

Dionne has worked in the voluntary sector for a number of years and has won an honorary award from the Chartered Institute of Housing Professionals and returned to education in 2002 lead to the completion of a Post Graduate Diploma in Addictive behaviour. Dionne then took on the challenging role of Project Manager at Women’s Work in 2003. After spending the past 8 years with the organisation and moving it from conception to an independent award winning organisation with a staff team of 18 and 30 volunteers, a natural progression to the post of Chief Executive followed in March 2008.

Dionne is an elected Women’s Ambassador for the East Midlands and represents women and the service users of Women’s Work on number of local, regional and national issues and forums. More recently, joining the City’s Health and Wellbeing Strategic Board.  Dionne is also the Vice Chair of Derby’s Gender, Diversity and sexuality forum and the Chair of the City’s International Women’s Day Planning Committee.  Dionne has also served as an independent member of Derby City Councils Standards Committee for the past 2 years.
 

Maura Jackson
Director, Advance

Maura has worked in social care for 22 years across the statutory and voluntary sectors.  Maura’s background in homelessness and housing led her into working in supported housing, domestic violence and anti social behaviour projects which finally led into the criminal justice work focussing on women.

Maura set up and managed the first anti social behaviour FIP service in England and had also set up and managed the North West Together Women Project before moving to London to take on ADVANCE, supporting domestic violence advocacy across 4 boroughs and having the opportunity to develop more services for women offenders through the Minerva project.
Maura is an experienced manager of twelve years and three of those as CEO at ADVANCE.
 

Lynne Fyfe
Director, Asha Women’s Centre

Lynne is the Director of Asha Women’s Centre based in Worcester which provides services for women living in the West Mercia region in Worcestershire. Lynne has almost forty years’ experience in the social care field, including working in social and criminal justice services. During the last two decades Lynne’s career has exclusively been within specialist women’s service provision and the last twelve years working within the voluntary sector.

Throughout Lynne’s career she has been committed to women’s issues and challenging injustice and oppression.
 

Sarah Swindley
Manager, Blackburn Women’s Centre

Sarah Swindley’s Qualifications are BA(Hons) European Studies, PGDip PC Counselling, PGDip Project Management, RELATE PGDip Couples Therapy, MBACP.  Sarah manages of the Women’s Centre with branches in Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley (from Feb 2012).  Formerly Women’s Mental Health Strategy Lead for NHS East Lancashire and The Women’s Centre. Founder board member of the Blackburn with Darwen Children, Young People and Families consortium.

Sarah’s other professional experience is being a person centred counsellor and couples therapist. Sarah is constantly inspired by the ability of the individual to cope with adversity and trauma.
Sarah’s interests are in mental health and community engagement, philosophy and the natural world. Sarah area of work is in one of the most vulnerable to the economic downturn.
 

Emma Stazaker
Operations Manager, Brighter Futures

Emma is the Operational Manager for Chepstow House which is part of Brighter Futures. Brighter Futures provides support to those who require extra help to live independent and fulfilled lives.  Are customers are people whose life chances including their health, employability and social skills have been impoverished by the impact of living in deprived areas and on low incomes.
Chepstow House is a Womens Community Project covering North Staffordshire aimed at reducing offending or reoffending in women through a holistic approach.

Emma has an honours degree in Law and her background includes management and mental health.
 

Ruth Epstein
Manager, New Dawn New Day

Ruth is employed as the Service Manager for New Dawn New Day and has worked within the women’s sector for more than 15 years and has acquired a wealth of invaluable experience.  Ruth has contributed and impacted the lives of young girls and women by cultivating innovation and pioneering a range of Women’s projects.  Ruth is wholehearted committed to collaborative working that ultimately benefits women and their families.

New Dawn New Day’s Just Women project works with women involved with the criminal justice system in a holistic, women-centred way in an environment that is welcoming, safe and non-judgemental.
 

Clare Jones
Joint Chief Executive, WomenCentre

Clare’s working background includes social work, residential work with teenagers, ex offenders and in drugs rehabilitation. Over the past 20 years Clare has worked specifically with women, in a refuge and emergency accommodation settings before joining Calderdale Women’s Centre as a development manager in 1998.  Within her organisation Clare worked with colleagues to establish a one stop shop for women which combines statutory partnership working with women’s involvement and voice.

As Deputy Director in 2003 to Joint CEO of WomenCentre in 2008 Clare has represented good practice for women as exemplified in women centres at local, regional and national levels.
Between 2010 and 2011 Clare was elected chair of the Women Centres Forum, which later that year developed into Women’s Breakout.
 

Jill Rogerson
Deputy Chief Executive, Salford Foundation

After 20 years in the private sector Jill has spent the last eleven working in the Third Sector with a particular focus upon specialist service provision for women and their children. Jill has extensive experience in developing and sustaining provision for women underpinned by a personal ethos dedicated to supporting all women to succeed.

Jill has a proven track record in securing funding from the government, grant givers and philanthropists.  Jill is the host and strategic lead for Salford’s Together Women centre has firsthand experience of the disproportionate way that the criminal justice system serves women and the inequalities women face.
 

Kate Aldous
Programme Manager, CLINKS

Kate has been involved in the non-profit sector for more than twenty years, fifteen of which have been spent in infrastructure organisations. She has been a staff member, volunteer and Management Committee member.

Kate joined Clinks in August 2008. Prior to this, Kate set up and managed NCVO’s Collaborative Working Unit four years, promoting and supporting collaboration in the Sector. Kate worked for Councils for Voluntary Service (CVS) for five years, as Director of Kensington and Chelsea and Assistant Director of Lewisham. Before this Kate was Communications Manager at an environmental mediation organisation.

As Communications & Partnerships Manager at Clinks, Kate manages communication and membership, leads on women’s issues and leads on partnerships.
 

Rokaiya Khan
Chief Executive, TWP

Rokaiya was appointed Regional Manager of Together Women Project in November 2006 and was instrumental in the setting up and delivery of this new and exciting demonstration project. She has successfully established strategic partnerships with Criminal Justice agencies across Yorkshire and Humberside, and in April 2009 became the Chief Executive of the newly formed TWP Independent charity.

Previously, Rokaiya worked for Foundation Housing over a period of 10 years. During this time she managed a number of schemes specialising in: young people leaving care, teenage pregnancy, supported housing for ex-offenders and a 24 hour hostel for young people. She was also involved in development work for Foundation Housing in York and North Yorkshire and worked both the Harrogate and York offices. Prior to this she worked for five years in London for a Supported Housing project specialising in the resettlement of long term offenders.
 

Felicity Gerry
Barrister, 36 Bedford Row

Felicity Gerry is a high profile criminal barrister specialising in serious fatal, sexual, financial and violent offences. She has been instructed in several high profile trials involving domestic extremism, infant death or serious injury, gang related murder and serious violence as well as substantial allegations of conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration and people trafficking. She is experienced in low copy number and partial profile DNA cases and in the use of intermediaries for vulnerable witnesses and defendants. She has a long history of representing women defendants charged with a range of criminal offences as well as prosecuting cases with women and child victims.

As a “Rape Specialist” advocate, Felicity is particularly experienced in complex and lengthy trials concerning recent or historic sexual crime. Felicity is the co–author of “The Sexual Offences Handbook” published 2010.

Felicity is also a regular media commentator and has appeared on BBC TV News, Panorama, The Big Questions, BBC Radio 4 Today Programme and Law in Action, BBC Radio 2 and 5 Live and Sky News. She writes regularly for the broadsheet and legal press, has lectured with the OU and recorded podcasts and is due to appear in 2 legal documentaries in 2012.
 

Joy Doal
Manager, Anawim

Joy Doal’s background is working with the Asian community involved in supporting women in abusive relationships and marriages.  Joy was also involved in setting up services for women such as playgroups, stay & play, ESOL classes, advice & pregnancy centres, home visiting & toy library, a safe house to provide accommodation and a supportive family environment for Asian women, this ran for 7 years taking referrals nationally often from the Police. Many of these women were involved in prostitution or became coerced into it.

7 years ago Joy went to work at Anawim. It was a very small project at the time with only 2 part time staff, Catholic Sisters and volunteers involved. Its centre was only open 2 days a week.  Today the project has a large centre offering a full timetable of courses and structured support, prison in-reach, street outreach and alternatives to custody in the shape of Community Payback packages and Specified Activity. It has successfully diverted many women from entering the CJS and many others from becoming more entrenched. It is part of a network of similar women’s centres across the country under the banner of women’s Breakout and has developed some very good local partnerships.
 

Charley Wilkinson 
Coordinator, Blackpool Women’s Centre

Charley brings a wealth of experience ranging rom several years working within the field of criminal justice field and management.
 

Dave Bagley 
Chief Executive, Urban Outreach

Dave is the Chief Executive of Urban Outreach and founder of ‘Bolton’ which is a registered charity and limited company.
 

Diane Martin 
Director, Lambeth Trust

Diane was instrumental in founding a voluntary grass roots women’s project in 1999 which has gone on to become a registered charity.
 

Lynda Dearlove 
Chief Executive, women@thewell

Lynda is the founder and CEO of women@thewell which is a national charity providing a ‘one-stop’ shop through the centre located in Kings Cross, London.
Lynda brings with her a wealth of experience as a qualified social worker, practice teacher and experienced worker within women related services.

 

Last Updated on Jan192012