About us Our people Our trustees Our trustees Our board of trustees have overall accountability for IPSEA's strategic direction, the stewardship of our resources and the activities we undertake in the pursuit of our charitable objectives. They are all volunteers, who contribute a huge amount of time and wide-ranging expertise to IPSEA. Uriah Smith, Chair of Trustees Uriah has over 40 years of experience in both the private and third sector with a strong background in governance and international commercial environments. He has held trustee, director and senior management roles in fundraising, sales and marketing. As a parent to a neurodiverse child, with a dual disability of Inattentive ADHD & Autism, he has continuing lived experience of what the journey is like for a parent/carer and is keen to ensure that people have access to the best possible legal advice. Dr Carol Long, Vice Chair of Trustees Carol is a registered Social Worker and has considerable experience of working in the social care sector with a career spanning 35 years in local government, the private sector and for nearly a decade with national charities, most recently working with children with special educational needs and their families. She is currently a researcher at Durham University, focusing on family experiences of disability. Carol has considerable experience as a Chief Executive and has well developed skills in business planning, risk assessment and management, and safeguarding of vulnerable children and adults. She has a background in service development. She has experience of serving on a number of boards and committees including for the YMCA, as an executive for the NSPCC and also as Vice Chair of Governors of a large secondary school. Amy Abbott Amy is a qualified lawyer with over 20 years’ experience in both private practice and industry. Her experience covers a wide range of sectors, including technology, financial services, advertising, publishing, consultancy and ecommerce. Amy is currently Assistant General Counsel, Europe at Dun & Bradstreet, leading a team of 20 lawyers across multiple European jurisdictions. Amy has extensive management and cross-border experience, with particular expertise in leading and managing through change and in designing and implementing strategic improvement programmes. Amy has a keen interest in advocating for and supporting neurodiverse children with specific educational needs, as well as mentoring within her team and wider professional network, to help people maximise their potential and achieve their objectives. David Arnold David is a retired Senior Bank Manager with the NatWest Group. He has over 30 years’ experience in Business and Finance. During his varied professional career, David has worked extensively in Business Development, Relationship and Sales Management, Finance and Business Management specialising in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. He has undertaken volunteering roles including support for a local charity specialising in social and educational activities for people of all ages with learning disabilities, Trustee and Treasurer of a village hall and assistant trainer for an under eighteen local football team. David is determined to invest his time, energy and use his commercial and credit risk experience to add value and support the team at IPSEA. Sharon Gillott Sharon Gillott is a recently retired Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience of working in professional practice and industry. Her work mainly involved advising owner-managed businesses and she has extensive experience of providing strategic business and financial advice as well as acting as a trusted adviser to management during periods of change. She has always undertaken volunteer roles alongside her professional life and these have included acting as a mentor to young people starting businesses and being a Governor of a special school for four years. She currently serves as a Board member for a West Yorkshire housing association and chairs the Human Resources and Governance committee. Sharon is the IPSEA Board member who liaises with the staff dealing with financial matters. Joanne Gubbay Joanne spent 15 years as a disputes lawyer, followed by 20 years in legal Learning and Development, culminating in the role of Head of Learning and Development at City law firm Slaughter and May. She is now a legal education and development consultant and Project Lead for City Century, which promotes solicitor apprenticeships in City of London-based law firms. Joanne is an experienced line manager, a qualified executive coach, a mentor for the 30% Club, emPower and INvolve, and a Mental Health First Aider. She is also a founder and trustee of the Women of the Year Foundation. Richard King Richard is an experienced law firm leader and professional manager, who has worked at board level within international legal practices. Starting as an English corporate lawyer in City of London law firms, before moving into learning and development and knowledge management, he has most recently led Corporate Services at Herbert Smith Freehills. His responsibilities here for legal operations, programme management, pro bono and corporate social responsibility involved him in many strategy and transformation projects, which was also a feature of earlier roles with Andersen Legal & EY Law. Now he consults with legal services businesses in the UK and Europe on their management challenges. In recent years at HSF he championed pro bono, community and diversity and inclusion initiatives, with a particular focus on helping those with dyslexia and autism to achieve their full potential in the workplace. As a parent with children who benefitted from learning support when at school, he has a particular interest in bringing his experience to support the IPSEA mission. Marcia Ore Marcia Ore began her professional life as a Police Officer serving in two UK police services from 1982 to 2012. Since retiring on completing thirty years of service, she now works as a freelance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consultant and Coach. She also has experience as a school governor, and has held voluntary and paid roles at Catch22 and the Prince’s Trust. As a grandmother to a child with SEND, Marcia understands the challenges carers face in accessing appropriate advice, guidance and support for children and young people with SEND. IPSEA’s vision, mission and values align very closely with her own. Judith Russell Judith has worked in procurement and commissioning in both the public and private sectors for over 25 years, most latterly working across the higher education sector managing procurement shared services and consulting assignments. She has also worked as a Specialist Parent Support Worker for a charity in North Hertfordshire providing support to parents/carers of children and young people with ASD and/or ADHD. She has been a trustee of a charity providing services to pre-school aged children with disabilities and a governor to a secondary school Academy Trust. She has four children, one of whom has ASD and severe learning difficulties and for whom she has sought advice in the past from IPSEA to ensure suitable educational provision. She is delighted to contribute to this charity that provides such essential advice, information and guidance to families often coping with very challenging circumstances. Sinthu Sivakumaran Sinthu is a qualified lawyer with over 15 years of experience in both private practice and the financial services industry. She specialises in tax law and is currently an Executive Director in the EMEA Tax team at J.P. Morgan as well as the Chair of the European Tax Group of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. Sinthu is the mother of two children, one of whom has special educational needs. She holds the mission statement of IPSEA close to her heart and is committed to contributing to the organisation and the SEND community. Sinthu recognises first hand the importance of the advice, advocacy and support provided to children and young people with SEND, their carers and their families against a backdrop of a challenging and evolving social, economic and political landscape. Manage Cookie Preferences