Carol chairs the Think Ahead board and has provided a dedicated commitment to the organisation since we were founded in 2014. As a former consultant rheumatologist she provides expert advice to the Department of Health and Public Health England on a range of health and social care policy areas. She has completed four independent reviews for the UK Government: of the health of the working-age population in 2008 as National Director for Health and Work; of sickness absence in Britain in 2011 as co-chair; of employment outcomes of addiction to drugs or alcohol, or obesity, in 2016; and on illicit drugs, demand, supply and treatment Professor Black is a past-President of the Royal College of Physicians, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and the British Lung Foundation; past-Principal of Newnham College Cambridge; and past-Chair of the Nuffield Trust for health policy.

David is Executive Chair of the Government Standing Commission on Carers, Dementia UK, and the Public Health Advisory Committee at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. He is also the board member for Higher Education, Medical Education and the NHS Leadership Academy at Health Education England. A former Chair of Skills for Care and Hft, in 2014 David authored the Croisdale-Appleby Review, Re-visioning Social Work Education for the UK government. He is the UK Ambassador to the Nelson Mandela Legacy Programme, including the creation of the first specialist paediatric hospital for the 14 nations of South African Development Community.

Ruth is Chief Executive of the British Association of Social Workers and has been a qualified social worker since 1994. Ruth was formerly Director of Social Work for South West London and St George's Mental Health Trust and Research Fellow at St George’s University of London. She is Chair of the national Social Care Strategic Network for mental health, and an advisor to the Chief Social Worker for adults. Ruth is currently working with the Department of Health on the ‘Social Work for Better Mental Health’ initiative, and she is a spokesperson for social work and social care in a variety of other forums.

Levi trained with us in the very first year of our programme and is the first alumni representative on our board. Working for Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust, Levi holds two roles as an operational manager and divisional social care lead. She manages different teams and services across community mental health, early intervention, home-based treatment and inpatient services. The people they’re supporting may have psychosis, complex emotional and relational needs, eating disorders and many more. Ultimately, Levi is responsible for ensuring that everyone has access to person-centred and timely support. Levi was previously the programme manager for mental health and adult social care transformation across Greater Manchester, and began her social work career in South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.  She is a qualified Approved Mental Health Professional and performs this function in both Trafford and Manchester.

James is the Chief Executive of Transform Society. Previously, he headed up the Teach First graduate recruitment department and saw Teach First grow from a ‘modest’ recruiter to become the largest graduate recruiter in the UK. James was previously European Head of Graduate Recruitment at Credit Suisse. He was previously the Chair of the Board for Police Now and is currently on the Board for Unlocked Graduates.

Kamaldeep holds a wide range of roles across mental health, research, and academia. He is Professor of Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences at the University of Oxford. He is also Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at East London NHS Foundation Trust and Editor in Chief of the British Journal of Psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, amongst other roles. Kamaldeep has a strong interest in preventing health inequalities and improving mental health services for diverse communities. His research interests include multimorbidity and ethnicity, and ethnic inequalities in experiences and outcomes of severe mental illness.

Jayne  recently retired as Director of Finance at the British Library after eight years. Prior to this she had a long career as the Director of Finance for a large Metropolitan Probation Trust. Jayne is values driven and has a passion for ensuring high quality and value for money in public services. Her long accountancy career has spanned social housing and care, higher and further education, criminal justice, libraries and culture.  Jayne is a Non-Executive Director of the Heart of Yorkshire Education Group, is a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant and has an MBA from the University of Durham. She lives in North Yorkshire and enjoys table tennis, photography and travelling.

John joined Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust in June 2014 as Chief Executive.  He is also Chair of the Children and Young People’s mental health inpatient Quality Improvement Taskforce across England. His earlier career included roles as a Chief Executive of a Primary Care Trust in West Yorkshire between 2010 and 2013 and as Chief Executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust between 2006 and 2009. Prior to his NHS career John worked as a Civil Servant  in the Department of Health and prior to that as a school teacher in South Yorkshire.

Sharon is a partner and co-founder of Q5, an international consultancy specialising in organisation change. She has been a consultant for over 20 years and has worked with a wide range of FTSE 100 companies across most industries both as an external and internal consultant supporting leaders of those businesses to review, change and ensure their organisation is fit and healthy. She previously worked at BAA and Accenture. She is a fellow of the CIPD and has an MBA from City University Business School. Sharon leads the Q5 foundation which works with a number of mental health charities including Think Ahead and MQ.

Nicholas is a former public policy editor at the Financial Times and is currently a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and the King's Fund. He is also a visiting professor in social policy at the London School of Economics, an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and author of the award winning The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State, along with other publications including A Terrible Beauty: A short history of NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence). He worked previously for the science journal Nature, the Press Association, The Times and The Independent.

Aparajita ‘Aps’ Ajit has over 25 years of international experience in the technology, transformation, managed services and not for profit sectors, where she has held several leadership roles. Her client centric and commercial experience sees her helping organisations deliver value, scaling and building high performing teams internationally. She has an MBA from École des Ponts (ENPC) France and an Executive Master in Change from INSEAD, France. Aps champions positive mental health, education for children, racial diversity and gender balance. She is passionate about CSR and has been actively involved in leading social impact programmes both personally and professionally across the UK, India and Bhutan. She is also a non-executive director on the Think Equal UK board. She lives in Kent with her husband, teenage son and two beautiful dogs.

Peter is the England Liaison for the Global Leadership Exchange in Mental Health. He is an experienced chair and non-executive director serving as chair of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the North London Mental Health Partnership, the London Mental Health and Employment Partnership and on the boards of NHS Providers, the Mental Health Network and Recovery Focus. He works to change the narrative around mental health and build stronger links between organisations - particularly housing, education and employment. He is the founder chair of the LGBTQ+ Leaders’ Network and a Visiting Fellow at the John Madejski Centre for Reputation at Henley Business School (University of Reading). He lives with his husband in Peckham.

Liam is the Commercial Director of Public Digital, a global transformation consultancy that works with large businesses and governments to help them become more responsive, adaptable and impactful. Much of his work is with the UK public sector, including the NHS and local authorities. Liam started his career as a journalist, and then spent over a decade working in business development and commercial roles across public sector outsourcing, healthcare and education. This has included winning and delivering contracts for complex services across the public sector, NHS and blue chip businesses. Outside of Think Ahead, Liam is also a trustee at Reset Communities for Refugees, which delivers the UK Government’s Community Sponsorship and Homes for Ukraine schemes. He is also a Visiting Fellow of Practice at the Government Outcomes Lab at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, bringing together research and practice around relational approaches in public sector contracting.  He has degrees from Warwick and Sheffield universities, and an MBA from Warwick Business School.

Sarah leads on service user and carer involvement. She works with the Lived Experience Partnership and colleagues to embed involvement and co-production across the organisation. She has worked in both the academic and charity sector, and has over 20 years’ experience of service user involvement and leadership in mental health and social care research, policy and practice. Sarah uses her own lived experience to inform all her work.

Oliver has been involved in the service user movement for nearly twenty years. Drawing on his ongoing experience as a mental health service user, he works to promote inclusion and improve services. Oliver is working to support inclusion of people with lived experience of autism and learning disability in governance with Your Voice Counts. He also has a role as an associate lecturer on the Occupational Therapy Programme at Northumbria University. Our lived experience partners help shape our work and ensure the needs of service users and carers are represented in everything we do. Learn more about our Lived Experience Partnership

Philippa was appointed as Chief Executive at Think Ahead in December 2022. She is an experienced charity leader and has worked in mental health and social care service delivery since 2006, in an advocacy charity, a user-led disability charity and a housing association providing supported living and residential care for people with mental health care needs. Before that she was Director of Development at a national children’s charity and Head of Consumer Affairs at BT. Philippa joined Think Ahead directly from her role as CEO at Mind in Croydon, where she developed strategic delivery partnerships with NHS Trusts, Integrated Care Systems and the voluntary and community sector. She has a law degree and an MBA.

Penny is responsible for our external relations strategy and brand. Before Think Ahead, she headed up the communications  team at domestic abuse charity SafeLives. Penny has worked in digital and media teams for organisations such as Comic Relief and The Prince’s Charities. In 2017, she became a Clore Social Leadership Fellow, specialising in gender equality. She also has an MA in Journalism and is a keen writer.

Rachel is responsible for the delivery and quality assurance of the Think Ahead programme. Rachel has over 15 years of experience within the charity sector. Most recently she was working as Head of Operations for a large national social integration charity delivering a large youth and community programme to tens of thousands of young people each year.

Doug is responsible for managing the coffers of Think Ahead, along with the HR, IT Facilities and Business Operations functions. He comes to us having spent three years in a similar role at Gingerbread, the Charity for Single Parent Families. Prior to that, Doug's career covered both the public and private sectors. He is a listening volunteer and training officer at Samaritans and in his spare time is studying with the Open University for a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.

Roxanne joined Think Ahead in 2019 and is responsible for our external partnerships. Roxanne has 20 years experience working within the charity sector, 15 of these as a frontline mental health practitioner within homelessness and criminal justice services. Roxanne is passionate about improving services for service users and before joining Think Ahead she worked closely with many different social care organisations, consulting on and providing training around assessment and support planning. Roxanne also leads our Service User and Carer Reference Group.

Sian is responsible for the team delivering programme logistics and communications to participants- she oversees the participant experience and leads Think Ahead's Retention and Engagement strategy. Before Think Ahead, she worked in the charity sector leading events, and lived in Saigon for three years teaching at and managing an English language centre.

Alexia is Professional Development Lead and was previously a Practice Specialist. She is an experienced mental health social worker, qualifying in 2007 with an MA from Durham University. Since then she has worked in local authorities and NHS Trusts in Durham, Newcastle and London boroughs of Westminster, Hackney and Tower Hamlets. She has worked in adult, older adult and forensic mental health services as a social worker and AMHP. Alexia is passionate about supporting students in placement learning and became a practice educator in 2015, leaving frontline practice to join the Think Ahead programme team in 2018.

Amrit leads the programme and development of the Alumni Community. Before Think Ahead, Amrit was an educator and founded a social enterprise which won various awards and featured in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. She studied History at SOAS, University of London, specialising in colonialism. Amrit is also an accomplished musician, touring internationally since 14. Her notable performances include Glastonbury and the UN General Assembly alongside the Marley family. She is also a Global Youth Ambassador for Sarah Brown’s charity TheirWorld.

Jingyi works with our partnerships of NHS Trusts and Local authorities, growing and engaging our network. She also works with our Service User and Carer Reference Group and academic partner to ensure lived experience is reflected in the programme. She has previously worked in other charities such as Prostate Cancer UK and Groundworks London.

Hayley oversees the operational delivery for the in-person Recall Days and Summer Institute, as well as daily communications on Slack and the programme inbox. Before Think Ahead, Hayley predominantly worked and volunteered for non-profit organisations, in engagement and project management roles, particularly with children and young people.

Jenni joined Think Ahead in 2022 and is responsible for programme policies, processes and the monitoring and evaluation of the Think Ahead programme. Before Think Ahead she completed a MA in Gender and Politics and spent time in Chicago studying Politics and History. She also has an interest for film, music and swimming.

Isabelle works with our recruitment and programme teams. She is responsible for the administrative side of delivering our flagship programme. Before Think Ahead, Isabelle worked as a teaching assistant, supporting children with learning difficulties at a primary school in West London. She has previously worked in communications, research and healthcare. She holds a BA Hons degree in International Relations and Anthropology and has ambitions to train as a counsellor in the future.

Jacqui joined Think Ahead in April 2016 as a Practice Specialist supporting the first programme cohort and became Lead Practice Specialist in 2018. Jacqui qualified as a social worker in 1993, working mainly in East and Central London throughout her career. She has been a frontline practitioner and practice educator, a senior practitioner and team manager in teams including learning disabilities, adults, and older adults. Jacqui holds a role as an independent vice chair of a fostering and adoption panel.

Amanda joined the team of Practice Specialists in April 2019. She has been a Social Worker since 1996 working mainly in the North West within statutory, voluntary and public sectors. She has worked in the Local Authority Children & Families with Disabilities Team, for the NSPCC as a Children’s Service Practitioner, and in CMHTs as a Senior CAMHS practitioner. She is also a qualified Practice Educator, Systemic Family Practitioner and Coaching/Mentoring who enjoys developing others in their social work experience.

Catherine joined Think Ahead as a Practice Specialist in 2022, having previously worked as a Consultant Social Worker with Think Ahead participants in Suffolk for the past two years. Catherine qualified from the University of East Anglia as a Social Worker in 2015 and has mainly worked within adult community mental health teams within Trust and Local Authority settings in the East of England. Catherine qualified as a Practice Educator in 2020 and supported Think Ahead students as she wanted to encourage and support participants to qualify in Social Work with more mental health knowledge. Catherine is passionate about inspiring participants and is motivated to encourage advocacy for individuals with mental health and remain creative when supporting them.

Tom joined as a Practice Specialist in 2022. He has an MA in Social Work and a PG Cert in Higher Education. Tom has worked as a Social Worker in Child Protection, including as a Senior Social Worker in a specialist adolescent ‘edge-of-care’ team; in Youth Justice; and in CAMHS. Tom has also worked as an AMBIT (Adaptive Mentalization-Based Integrative Treatment) Trainer at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children & Families, and as a Practice Tutor on the Frontline programme. He is passionate about collaborative and compassionate approaches to Social Work.

Phoebe joined Think Ahead in 2023 having previously worked as a Senior Social Worker in Children's Services and with Step Up to Social Work as a Regional Practice Educator in London. Phoebe has a passion for working in a trauma-informed, relationship focused way, centred on amplifying the voices of people using services. She wants to continue to support trainees to become reflective, collaborative and empowering social workers for the people they support and to champion the role of Social Work in Mental Health.

Racheal joined Think Ahead in 2024, having previously worked as a consultant social worker with Think Ahead trainees in Durham for the past 5 years. Racheal qualified as a Social Worker from the University of Sunderland in 2014. She completed her first year of practice in children's safeguarding and then moved into adult mental health within trust and local authority settings in the north of England. Racheal completed her Practice Educator training in 2019 with the University of York. Racheal is passionate about the education of mental health including childhood trauma and is motivated to support others to be empowered within their own life experiences for positive change.

Gaia heads up the team who recruits all of the Think Ahead participants. Before Think Ahead Gaia worked in a similar role for a provider of The National Citizen Service.

Katie joined Think Ahead after working for a health and social care recruitment organisation in London, supporting people in gaining employment in the NHS and support work sector. She is an International Relations graduate from the University of Birmingham and has a keen in interest in government policy, particularly surrounding mental health.

Joe is part of the recruitment team and is responsible for running attraction campaigns, screening potential candidates, managing assessment centres, and assisting participants joining the programme. He has experience in a variety of recruitment and project-based roles within the housebuilding, education, and charity sectors. He has an undergraduate degree in English Language and Literature and is currently undertaking a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy. He is a big fan of Fulham FC.

Sumitra works across both the Recruitment and Programme teams. She supports applicants during the application process and continues to do so once they join the programme. Before Think Ahead she completed a BA in Liberal Arts from the University of Leeds. She has worked primarily in admin and education related roles. She has always been passionate about the charity sector and volunteered for various charities based in Leeds and Mumbai.

Paula joined Think Ahead after working for a housing and addiction charity in Bristol, where she supported in campaign development across teams, such as gambling. She also worked at the University of Bristol Careers Service, providing support to graduates and students with interviews and applications and building relationships with employers from Transform Society.

Rose joined Think Ahead in 2022 having, previously, recruited diverse staff teams to lead and mentor 15–17-year-olds on NCS residential programmes. From 2014 she built collaborative, inclusive relationships with universities, colleges and local authorities. With over 13 years specialist experience in teaching, training and projects; Rose led the development of IT excellence and innovation in more than 40 primary and secondary schools including pupil referral units for Camden Borough. She is passionate about making positive change in people’s lives.

Zsofia has joined Think Ahead driven by a passion for social change. With roles as a trainer, youth worker, and support worker, she's aided vulnerable populations, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. Holding a Master's in education, Zsofia strongly believes in the vital role of play and creativity in all aspects of life. Beyond work, she finds joy in hiking, cooking, and playing chess.

Ferdusi joined Think Ahead in 2022 and supports the team and applicants in the recruitment process. Before Think Ahead, Ferdusi had worked in higher education doing outreach and in a local authority working with schools to improve careers curriculum. She has an English Language and Linguistics degree. She has an interest for the arts and enjoys photography.

Katie joined Think Ahead in 2016 when our first cohort were just about to start the programme, and has really enjoyed being part of the organisation’s growth and development since then. Katie’s role involves sharing stories of our participants and the people they support, in order to help more people to understand the value of social work and the broader mental health workforce. Before joining Think Ahead Katie was a journalist and then worked for a disabled children’s charity.

Emma leads on our media, social media, brand and messaging. Passionate about the power of storytelling, she's works hard to bring our charity's work to life through the words of others. Before joining Think Ahead Emma was a PR and media manager at Macmillan Cancer Support. She's worked across an array of charities and started her career at the global PR agency Weber Shandwick.

Alex joined Think Ahead in 2021 and supports the external relations team's activity across the organisation. Before Think Ahead, Alex was part of the communications team for Mental Health First Aid England, moving to the third sector after working for a public relations agency and some broadcasting work for the BBC. He is interested in politics, and is passionate about storytelling and challenging mental health stigma.

Tia joined Think Ahead in 2023 and leads on Impact and Evaluation. Before Think Ahead, Tia worked as a Project Officer at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, focusing on quality assurance and quality improvement of mental health services. Tia has always been passionate about mental health and, since graduating with a degree in Psychology, has volunteered and worked with various mental health services.

Alice leads on our policy and research work, helping the organisation to promote innovations that deliver effective mental health support. Before joining Think Ahead, Alice was the policy lead at homelessness charity Jimmy’s. She has co-produced various research projects spotlighting peer-led substance misuse support for carers, mental health support within homelessness hostels and modular housing as a solution to homelessness.

Ella joined the team in 2023 and works across Think Ahead's digital marketing and communication channels. Before Think Ahead, Ella was Communications Officer for Northern Ballet, leading on integrated marketing and press campaigns and working with theatres across the country. She is a keen reader with an interest in writing and the arts.

Minhee is responsible for producing management accounts and general financial management of Think Ahead. She has the AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) qualification. Before joining Think Ahead, she predominantly worked in the higher education sector in a similar role. She has an interest in film and horse riding.

Bhanu is responsible for the day to day HR support to the Think Ahead team and the effective operation of our office and IT systems. Her earlier background was in retail banking including some HR and later learning & development roles. In recent years she has been volunteering as a listener with Samaritans as well as taking on additional responsibility in the areas of training, mentoring and volunteer support.    

Katy is responsible for HR and Operational work alongside being an executive assistant to Think Ahead's CEO Philippa Mariani. Before joining Think Ahead, Katy was studying at SOAS University of London and has a MA in Politics. She has also spent time volunteering for Amnesty International, working in the charity's Artists and Events team.

Marina joined Think Ahead as an Operations Assistant, supporting the Finance and Operations Team. Marina is a recent law graduate who has spent the past two years studying for her LLM. Marina is also passionate about history, politics and literature, having studied History at the University of Southampton.