MeetOur Team

Cecilia is our Participation and Engagement Manager, overseeing our In-Prison Advisory Boards and leading on our commitment to platforming the voices of the young people we work with. She joins us with knowledge of the criminal justice system (most recently as a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Kingston University) and has extensive experience of working with young people, including facilitating leadership, mentoring, confidence building and self-esteem sessions and programmes. Cecilia is passionate about working with young people and committed to nurturing, encouraging, and developing the expression of their voices, having experienced the unequivocal impact this has.

Vicki joined as CEO of Spark Inside in 2020. Vicki has worked for over 15 years in leadership roles in the criminal justice sector, following an earlier career in public policy. She has led justice collaborations to secure legislative change; and helped found the ground-breaking Transition to Adulthood Alliance on young adults in the criminal justice system. She holds a Masters in Social Policy from the LSE, is a Winston Churchill Fellow, and a regular media commentator. 

Luke joined Spark Inside as Head of Service Delivery in February 2022. He has been managing services in the criminal justice sector for the past ten years, most recently with Pact where he was responsible for projects across London & South East. He has extensive operational experience, particularly running services providing professional support to vulnerable adults in the community and in prison, as well as in the areas of homelessness, mental health, supported housing, training and volunteer management.

After gaining several years of administrative experience, Charlie joined Spark Inside to use her skills to make a social impact. In 2020, after two years as office administrator, Charlie was delighted to move to the Communications team where she centres and amplifies the voices of young people empowered by coaching!

Tom worked for 15 years designing and delivering experiential personal development training, culture change programmes and practice innovation workshops for corporate, statutory and community clients. Then, in 2006 a tragic stabbing on his doorstep motivated him to focus on the local community. He delivered community cohesion and youth engagement projects for his local authority before landing the first in a number of management roles in youth charities. Over the next 12 years he gained a solid grounding in programme design, impact assessment, project management and leading quality processes in education, prison, and community settings. Tom is committed to addressing the systemic and cultural issues that cause inequality. He believes in social justice and everybody’s potential to lead a fulfilling and valuable life. After serving Spark Inside as a trustee, leading on Monitoring and Evaluation, Tom joined the staff team as Head of Impact and Innovation. The first project he worked on was Black Hero’s Journey, which went on to be commissioned by the HMPPS Innovation Fund and won the 2024 Innovation in Diversity & Inclusion Award from the Zurich Foundation. He is now piloting The Conversation — Spark Inside’s systemic coaching programme and supporting the learning processes for a team piloting coaching in the female prison estate. When not working, Tom enjoys getting lost in music, either singing with his vocal improvisation group or behind the decks of a sweaty dance floor. 

Eloise joined the team as an Unlocked Graduates Ambassador, having completed three years as a prison officer. She is passionate about equal opportunities for all and overcoming both personal and social barriers. She is therefore a firm believer that every individual can succeed with the right guidance and support and consequently feel that life coaching is an invaluable tool in enabling agency and empowerment. She believes that rehabilitation not only requires the individuals’ willingness and engagement, but a change in the prison system itself. She is therefore a strong advocate for interventions and courses that challenge perceptions and place personal growth and future-thinking at their core.

Kate provides a reflective and supportive space for coaches working in complex environments. With over 25 years of experience in mental health nursing, operational leadership, and organisational development, including senior roles in the NHS, public sector, and charities, she understands the pressures of working in high-intensity environments. Her approach is relational and dialogic, helping coaches explore their practice, develop their skills, and sustain resilience in challenging settings. She supports coaches in deepening their awareness of relational dynamics, managing ethical dilemmas, and navigating systemic challenges, while also considering how broader systemic influences shape the nature of their work. In addition to her nursing background, Kate trained in Gestalt Psychotherapy at the Metanoia Institute. She is an EMCC accredited Senior Coach Practitioner and Supervisor and an accredited Relational Organisational Gestalt Practitioner with the European Association of Gestalt Therapists.

Lanre joined Spark Inside as a Service Delivery Manager in December 2023. Lanre bring to Spark Inside 12 years of experience working with vulnerable and under-served children and young people, including as a county lines caseworker, gang violence prevention facilitator, and young mother and baby group leader. He is also in the process of completing a therapeutic wellbeing practitioner course. Lanre is pleased to be working with Spark Inside, using his skills and passion for supporting children and young people to help them make positive changes in their lives.

Benita joined Spark Inside in December 2020. As Operations Manager she is the first point of contact and responsible for the smooth running of the organisation’s operations including office, facilities, database, IT, and supporting with finance, HR and governance. Prior to this, Benita worked for several charitable organisations in a variety of roles including operations, fundraising, events and communications, working with some of the most vulnerable and marginalised in the areas of children and families, young people and human rights, justice and prison reform. Benita feels passionately about using her skills within organisations that provide education and opportunities to address inequality and break down the cycles of poverty and disadvantage.

Naina is a leadership and executive coach, a coach supervisor, a communication skills specialist and a diversity and inclusion consultant. Her facilitation and training style is highly experiential, engaging and energising and her systemic approach and coaching credentials inform her approach in helping teams and individuals move forward and achieve personal and professional growth. Naina also had a 22-year career in journalism and broadcasting and is a Media Skills trainer and consultant. She has been involved in Spark Inside’s pioneering coaching programme delivering coaching to prisoners and prison officers since 2014.

Louise joined Spark Inside as Head of Communications and Advocacy in March 2022. Previous to this role she spent seven years working at the Prison Advice and Care Trust, heading up their communications team and leading on their marketing, PR and communications strategy, as well as advocacy work. Louise has spent many years in marketing and communications roles in the charity sector, with a particular focus on social justice. She has additional experience working in the corporate PR industry, where she started her career, and holds a degree in Journalism. Louise is passionate about providing a platform for people with lived experience to have their voices heard and effect positive change.

Julia is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience, advising and working closely with a variety of organisations, including charities and commercial companies. She qualified with the accountancy practice BDO, where she worked for over 10 years before setting up her own company to provide a range of finance services, supporting trustees, boards, and staff. Julia has been Head of Finance and Operations at Spark Inside since 2022, helping to steer the organisation through an exciting period of growth. She is proud to work for an organisation seeking to unlock the potential of individuals and to drive culture change in the criminal justice system so that rehabilitation is possible.

Sophie joined Spark Inside as a Service Delivery Manager in January 2024. Sophie brings more than 5 years’ experience of the Prison Service: joining as a Prison Officer as part of the Unlocked Graduates Leadership and Development Scheme, completing a Master’s degree and focusing her dissertation on stress, burnout and compassion fatigue among Prison Officers. Most recently she worked within Learning and Development in HMPPS, leading aspiring new Prison Officers through their initial training course, ensuring new staff were equipped with the tools to engage and communicate with people in prison effectively and fairly, with the aim that new officers begin to change the culture of prisons. The effective rehabilitation of people in prison is something that has always been at the heart of Sophie’s work and she is pleased to bring this passion to her role at Spark Inside.

Melissa is an executive and leadership coach, working mainly with clients in the public, academic and charitable sectors. Her previous executive career was in the Civil Service, primarily in justice and constitutional policy, and mostly recently as a Policy Director in the Ministry of Justice. She was part of a long term successful jobshare partnership, and has a particular interest in coaching job shares and others working flexibly in senior leadership roles. Melissa is also a mindfulness and yoga teacher, and chairs a small charity focusing on medical education in East Africa.

Stephanie is currently a pupil barrister at Doughty Street Chambers. Before converting to law, she was a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and worked in policy roles at the Howard League for Penal Reform and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Stephanie has a Philosophy degree from Cambridge, a management qualification from the Judge Business School and a master’s in Gender Studies from UCL.

Simon is an experienced prison Governor, committed to supporting children and young people, with a demonstrated history of working in the government administration industry. He is currently Governing Governor at HMYOI Werrington, and was previously Governor of HMYOI Cookham Wood. Simon has two children and loves watching F1 and playing golf. 

Lynn is a partner in global law firm, Ashurst LLP, and a member of its Global Board. She specialises in financial services disputes and internal and regulatory investigations. She also leads the Firm’s contentious restructuring and insolvency practice. She has been involved in significant litigation for large financial institutions and alternative investment funds and also regularly advises insolvency practitioners.

Rob is a financial technology executive and board member with significant corporate governance experience. He was formerly a finance partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a leading international law firm. Rob has a law degree from Oxford and a business degree from London Business School.

Experienced criminal justice professional working extensively in prison-related roles for thirty years. Regular visitor to prisons, courts and police custody settings in England and Wales, resulting in a comprehensive knowledge of the justice system. In current role, at the charity One Small Thing, responsible for trauma-informed programmes, delivered across His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). This includes regular and direct consultation with senior civil servants, prison governors and practitioners and oversight of prison-based projects. Prior to this, employed as an academic in Higher Education, teaching criminology to postgraduate level and previously as a Prison Inspector working for His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons. During a five-year period at HMIP, attended over eighty inspections, where custodial settings were assessed against a range of indicators, to provide independent scrutiny and report on findings. Before this, as the Director of Services for the national charity Pact, managed a national team working in over thirty prisons across England and Wales. This position offered a breadth of experience in the delivery of services, senior management decision making, contact with trustees, governance, board reporting and liaison with families affected by the criminal justice system.

Erica is an executive coach and a non-executive director with over 30 years of experience working in the City as a law firm partner and General Counsel. She currently combines her executive coaching work with clients from the corporate, public and charitable sectors with sitting as a Ned/​Trustee on several commercial and charitable Boards.

Josephine is a Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) qualified accountant with significant experience in the public sector. With a background working in central, local government and in the charity sector this provides her with a rounded perspective: understanding services across the public sector, how policy is made and funded, and how strategy is formulated. She has a deep understanding of operational finance, confident to work with stakeholders of all levels, and comfortable driving change with people, systems and processes. Josephine holds a Master of Chemical Engineering (MEng) degree from the University of Edinburgh. In her spare time, Josephine enjoys theatre/​film, boxing and her family.

Hamish is an an advisor to a range of companies. He was formerly a senior executive in investment banking. Hamish graduated from Cardiff with BSc (Hons) and recently completed a MSc at London Business School. In his spare time Hamish enjoys his bike, gigs and his family.

Jazz Singh’s story is one of incredible resilience, transformation and leadership with purpose.

Born into a childhood shadowed by trauma in London’s east end, Jazz faced challenges that could have defined his life. Instead, he chose to rewrite his story. Battling addiction with sheer grit and determination, he emerged stronger, turning pain into purpose and obstacles into opportunities.

For 17 years, Jazz thrived in wealth management, building a career marked by success, but his true passion lay beyond the corporate world. He stepped into roles in charity and social impact, using his lived experience to uplift those who are often unseen and unheard.

Today, as the Founder of EmpowerAbility, a Board Trustee at Spark Inside and a steward of meaningful change, Jazz is a guiding light for others. His commitment to creating opportunities for marginalised communities stems from a deeply personal understanding of struggle and triumph. Drawing on sage principles Jazz helps individuals and organisations grow, thrive and rediscover their potential. His story reminds us all that no matter how dark the beginning, the future can be bright. Jazz’s life is not just inspiring. It is a call to action for anyone ready to rise above their challenges and lead with purpose, compassion and courage.

Time to look at what is on the way, rather than in the way with love over fear.

Heather Whitehead initially trained as a forensic psychologist and has over two decades experience in prison leadership. She has governed both private and public sector prisons and had operational responsibility for the Youth Custody Service for a number of years as the Deputy Director of Operations and Prison Group Director . Heather is now a freelance justice consultant, trainer and executive leadership coach, working across a number of sectors developing people, teams and justice solutions.

Heather is particularly passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people in custody through embedding a child first evidence-based approach to service delivery. She spearheaded trauma informed practice in her prisons and across the youth estate.

Heather brings her passion for coaching young people, prison leadership experience and commercial and financial acumen to the board, having been the Senior Business Owner for a number of MOJ contracts.