Our trustees and staff

Trustees

Emma Colverd: is an IPSEA volunteer and she has an autistic daughter. Emma has a degree in English from Oxford University and she worked at Nomura, the Investment Bank for eight years, in the Syndicate Department. She was a governor at her daughter’s Special School for five years, and since last year she has been Chair of Governors. Emma has agreed to assist with IPSEA’s fundraising efforts.

Roger de Ste Croix: is an IPSEA volunteer. He qualified as a Social Worker and subsequently managed social work teams in a variety of settings, including Disability teams. In 1993 he was appointed Quality Assurance Manager for Hertfordshire Social Services Department and then, in 2001, he was appointed Head of Quality in the new Children, Schools and Families service for Hertfordshire. Roger took early retirement in 2007, and he is currently Chair of the Local Authorities and Communities Group of the British Quality Foundation.

David Gibbons MBE DL: is an IPSEA Volunteer. He was for fifteen years, Chief Executive of Abbott Laboratories, one of the UK’s large pharmaceutical companies. He was subsequently non-executive Chairman of General Healthcare plc, Priory Hospitals Group, MedNova Limited and several other start-up companies. David is a qualified accountant and is a member of the Supervisory Board of the Schroder Common Investment Funds. He is a volunteer and on the Trustee Advisory Board of Community Service Volunteers, and member of the audit committee of the University of Reading.

Denise Wilkinson OBE: is married with three adult children and worked for 35 years in the statutory and voluntary sectors. She started her career as a community worker in Cardiff, worked as an adult placement manager in Camden and for some years was a senior manager in Hackney Adult Services. Denise has worked as a manager for both Anchor Trust and Age Concern England. Prior to her retirement in December 2008 Denise was UK Director of Community Service Volunteers' Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme for nine years. Denise has an adult daughter with cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Neil Anderson: was one of the first IPSEA tribunal volunteers, and has volunteered for IPSEA in a variety of roles over many years. He is currently on the NEAP Steering group. NEAP is an umbrella group for the provision of education advocacy by charities in the Visually Impaired (VI) field. Neil left a further education Principal’s post to work for the Royal National Institute for the Blind’s Education Department. He had particular responsibility for fostering integration nationally. He developed advocacy services for parents and, when the Tribunal was set up, a Tribunal service. He was on the Special Educational Needs and Parent Partnership policy groups for the Council of Disabled Children, and the National Autistic Society steering group for setting up their advocacy service. He has been Chair of Governors at an all-age special school, and a Trustee for Look National (parents with VI children) and Look London.

Roger Hadaway: was Head of an Independent Junior School, following which he held a number of senior appointments in Government Service. More recently, he has been responsible for a Sue Ryder Hospice, and he has, for many years, been a school governor. Roger has been an IPSEA volunteer for the last four years and currently volunteers on the Tribunal Helpline.

Management Team

Jane McConnell - Chief Executive

is a long serving IPSEA member of staff and she has a son with complex SEN. Jane graduated in Economics and Public Administration from London University and later in life took a postgraduate Diploma in Law from Nottingham Law School. She was subsequently called to the Bar. Jane has worked as a tax Planning Advisor, an Executive Recruiter and as part of the Public Affairs/ fundraising team for the Leonard Cheshire Foundation. Jane became an IPSEA volunteer nine years ago and has worked for the organisation for the last six years. Four years ago she took over responsibility for the Telephone Advice Line, and more recently Legal Support for the Tribunal Advice Service. In 2008 Jane became IPSEA’s Chief Executive.

After completing a Law Degree at Buckingham University, Julia worked for Waterstone’s Booksellers for over ten years. She was part of the Senior Management team responsible for opening and running Europe’s largest Book store (Waterstone’s Piccadilly), where she was responsible for recruiting, training and developing over 100 staff. Julia left Waterstone’s to use her management experience in the charity sector. Julia has worked in 5 very different charities, most recently with IPSEA where she raises funds and manages the finances.