Our Team
We are a diverse group of experienced and caring individuals dedicated to transforming the life chances of marginalised children and young people with social, emotional and mental health needs.
We are supported and governed by a highly skilled and committed group of trustees who have significant experience in the charity sector.
Trustee
Trustee
As well as being a trustee of Unlocking Potential Carrie is the Chair & Lead for Education Standards of the Corner School Education Committee
Harassment and bullying consultant – Carrie Herbert Consultancy
Carrie trained as a teacher before emigrating to Australia, returned to the UK in the eighties to complete a master’s Degree at UEA and a PhD at Cambridge.
Carrie worked as a consultant in equal opportunities before founding Red Balloon in 1996. She has written a number of books on the subject of bullying and harassment in schools and in the workplace.
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Andy is the Chief Executive of the Centre of Social Justice (CSJ). Before this, Andy founded and led an award-winning charity to work with disadvantaged and excluded young people all across the Midlands. Andy’s experience in and passion for the voluntary sector has led him to be a Trustee of Dallaglio Rugby Works, The Christopher Nieper Foundation, Unlocking Potential and an advisor to several senior philanthropists.
Andy’s leadership in supporting some of the most marginalised people in the UK has given him a unique voice in Westminster. He has continued the CSJ’s unparalleled impact on welfare reform, modern slavery and the UKs addiction strategy, and led the debate on school exclusion, debt policy and youth centre infrastructure. The CSJ has been awarded social policy think tank of the year for the last 2 years running. Andy has also built the CSJ Foundation, with offices sited nationwide in areas of high deprivation, to support front line leaders, provide a bridge to national policymakers, and redirect millions of pounds of philanthropy into where it’s needed most .”
Trustee
Clinical Trustee
Clinical Trustee
Derek is a family systemic psychotherapist with over a decade of experience working in Children’s Services. He has held the roles of clinical manager and clinical lead as well as working in private practice.
Clinical Trustee
Treasurer
Treasurer
William de Winton is a retired member of Lansdowne Partners and a former Managing Director of Morgan Stanley. He spent much of his career following the financial sector. He sits on a number of charity boards and is a founding Trustee of Unlocking Potential. He is also a founding Trustee of the SpringBoard Bursary Foundation which is the UK’s largest boarding school bursary charity.
Treasurer
Trustee
Trustee
My name is Jonty Clark and I have worked in special schools throughout my career with a wide range of children. I am currently CEO of The Beckmead Trust which is responsible for leading and opening schools in Croydon, East Sussex, Essex, Brent and Richmond. I have been a Governor at the Corner School since it opened and have had the pleasure of seeing many of our vulnerable pupils accessing care and education that has enabled them to progress and flourish.
When I’m not at work I’m walking our three springer spaniels – Dolly, Jonesy and Wilson – and trying to catch up with our four daughters…three of whom are teachers working in SEN the other being a Doctor’.
Trustee
Chair of Trustees
Chair of Trustees
Until January 2019, Stuart was Chairman of Lansdowne Partners and Chairman of the Management Committee having previously co-managed the developed Markets Fund at Lansdowne since its inception in 2001. Stuart started his career in the City in 1984, joining SG Warburg & Co, he worked at McKinsey and prior to joining Lansdowne in 2001, was a Managing Director of Merill Lynch Investment Managers.
Stuart is Chairman of Unlocking Potential as well as the Non-Executive Chairman of the Investment Committee of Marylebone Partners LLP, the Non-Executive Chairman of Hetz Ventures, the Non-Executive Chairman of Tresidor Investment Management and a member of The Jewish Care and Oxford Centre of Jewish and Hebrew Studies investment committees. Stuart also serves as a trustee for various other third sector organisations such as the National Gallery, The Centre for Social Justice and The Rabbi Sacks Foundation.
Stuart received a first-class honours degree in Economics (BSc) from the London School of Economics. He is married with four children and lives in London.
Chair of Trustees
Vice Chair of Trustees
Vice Chair of Trustees
Brian was a founder partner of Cinven where he worked for 30 years and the founder of 2nd Chance a charity helping young people from disadvantaged backgrounds improve their education and sustain employment. Following the merger of 2nd Chance with Unlocking Potential in November 2016, Brian became Vice Chair of Unlocking Potential. Brian is also a trustee of Resources For Autism.
Vice Chair of Trustees
Trustee
Trustee
Tatty Amory has a decade of experience at a senior level within children’s charities in the UK. She has worked in corporate fundraising, volunteering and directly managing therapeutic programmes. Prior to Unlocking Potential, Tatty worked in the finance sector and spent 3 years working in Romania with orphans and children living with HIV.
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Tom Bible co-manages the Bondi Foundation, a US-based foundation supporting grass-roots initiatives that seek to empower communities in Sub Saharan Africa and inner city areas of US/UK to find solutions from within and then partner with them in capacity building measures.
With a background in journalism, Tom specialises in producing human interest stories which he then syndicates into European and Australasian publications.
Earlier Tom studied Classics at University of Bristol, UK (1985-88). He also recently completed a Masters program in Ecological Economics at Schumacher College.
Tom is a trustee of the Barrow Foundation UK (a UK based charity) that acts as the international fund-raising and education arm of the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) in Phoenix, Arizona.
Trustee
We are supported by a highly skilled and committed senior management team who have significant experience in the charity sector.
CEO & Clinical Director
CEO & Clinical Director
The CEO/Clinical Director, Cassie Oakeshott, began training as an Integrative Arts Child Psychotherapist at IATE in 2004, and qualified with a diploma, and then MA with distinction in 2010. During and since this time she has worked with children, young people and their families in charities, schools, children’s homes and private practice. She joined Unlocking Potential in 2015 as part of the initial inception team, beginning as Schools Programme Manager, before becoming Clinical Director in 2020, and latterly CEO in May 2022.
CEO & Clinical Director
Head of Fundraising
Head of Fundraising
Amelia has worked as a fundraiser across arts, education and social care over the last 20 years and has extensive experience growing broad-based and individual giving programmes, major gifts and trust and foundations.
Head of Fundraising
Headteacher - The Corner School
Headteacher - The Corner School
Headteacher - The Corner School
Deputy UPLifting Children Director & Head of partnerships and Community Engagement
Deputy UPLifting Children Director & Head of partnerships and Community Engagement
Zoē Hibbert has over 19 years’ experience of working in schools. She qualified as a teacher in 1999 and taught in London for five years before moving to the Middle East to work with Iraqi women and children who were refugees and study Arabic. This time abroad served as a catalyst and Zoē researched ways of supporting children who had experienced trauma and returned to the UK to train, and later work, as a Play Therapist. Alongside this, Zoē continued to work in London schools and qualified as a SENCO in 2015 and has taken on roles of leadership in Safeguarding, Special Educational Needs, Inclusion and Mental Health in schools. Her experience of 6 years as a member of the Senior Leadership Team in a busy London Primary School, coupled with her previous therapeutic work, means she is uniquely qualified to lead Unlocking Potential’s School’s Programme.
Deputy UPLifting Children Director & Head of partnerships and Community Engagement
Head of HR
Head of HR
Sasha joined Unlocking Potential in 2019 as our Head of HR. She is a CIPD qualified HR Professional and has had a passion for working in the Charity Sector since 2009.
Sasha has worked for a number of charities that support children and young people over the years, and is excited to be part of an organisation that works in a collaborative way with local communities and has ambitious plans for supporting children and young people with SEMH needs.
Head of HR
Director of Safeguarding & Business Development
Director of Safeguarding & Business Development
Director of Safeguarding & Business Development
Director of UPLifting Children
Director of UPLifting Children
Director of UPLifting Children
Finance & Operations Director
Finance & Operations Director
Tracy qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Grant Thornton in 1988 and has worked in the charity sector since 2005. Tracy joined Unlocking Potential in April 2016, leading an integrated finance and operations function, comprising HR, facilities and IT. Tracy works closely with the CEO and Board of Trustees to lead the implementation our strategic plans. Tracy enjoys working in an organisation striving to grow and improve in order to provide better opportunities to transform the lives of children and young people.
Tracy.True@up.org.uk
Finance & Operations Director