Our people

I’ve been in youth work for over 15 years, ranging from education support teams, charity work and faith work. Specialising in mental health and wellbeing, I’ve helped build pastoral programmes within further education and led a small youth charity with a focus on loneliness and community. Outside of work, I’ve been involved in my church’s youth group, co-ordinating volunteers and delivering training, alongside planning organised chaos for the young people.

I’m a keen baker and love being in the outdoors, preferably by the sea.

Susann is the Academy Team Leader. She supports a team of tutors to deliver excellent youth work training. Susann is passionate about growing and developing people and ensuring that everyone can access the learning the Academy has to offer. Susann is a JNC qualified youth work manager and leader. She has worked in a range of different contexts; in local council estate youth work, international youth work, as well as Local Authority contexts.

Michael is a JNC qualified qualified Youth and Community Worker with over 10 years working in various roles across the industry locally, nationally and overseas.

He is passionate about issues that relate to young people and incorporating youth voice into his work. He has extensive experience in working across many different topics that are related to the health and wellbeing of young people such as substance misuse and poverty.

Michael’s interest is making youth work training and education attainable for all and developing the future generation of youth workers through supportive and accessible learning.

Leanne is the academy assessment and data administrator and has worked in the education and training sector for over 18 years, along with being employed within the local authority Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) team in recent years.

Leanne’s background ranges from supporting and teaching vulnerable young adults with SEND and Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties (SEMH), through to co-ordinating the training functions to ensure administrative processes are followed to the highest standards.

Leanne loves to be organised, has a keen eye for detail and very much thrives off a to-do list and being methodical in approach.

In her spare time Leanne enjoys the outdoors and running.

Aaron delivers training and support to youth workers within a wide range of settings as part of the NYA Academy team. 

He has worked in a range of settings in his 20 years of youth work practice including detached youth work and has extensive experience in church-based youth work. He also helps lead a summer youth festival. He also has experience of leading large teams of volunteers. His passion is to enable youth workers to deliver quality youth work. 

Ellie supports a team of Youth Work Specialists to deliver a high quality training offer.

Ellie is passionate about young people having the ability to truly participate and that youth workers come from all walks of life, starting her youth work journey volunteering in a youth café and has since worked in a variety of settings such as within a young persons drug and alcohol service and managing projects for young people whose parents are serving in the military. Ellie believes that those working with young people should have access to up to date, quality training.

A youth work specialist, Fran tutors and assesses in the NYA Academy and designs engaging courses for youth workers.

Her contributions to the NYA include projects for the Commonwealth, NatWest Thrive programme, CPD courses and service reviews.

Fran has extensive experience working in local authority youth provision, and in the voluntary sector with young people facing homelessness. Fran has been an advocate for youth work within Unite the Union and the national JNC.

Heather is an experienced administrator and joined the NYA in March 2021. She provides administration internally within the NYA and externally to support learners in the NYA Academy.

Heather’s background is in Early Years support for children with special educational needs. She is passionate about ensuring the academy is inclusive for all learners and supports the NYA to internally review our SEND standards and development. Heather is committed to the learners’ experience within the NYA, ensuring that their journey is personable, inclusive and meaningful.

Misia leads the NYA Academy team to deliver a range of training and support to develop those in the sector.

Misia has spent the last 22 years working within the education sector, leading schools in areas of high deprivation. She is driven by a desire to improve outcomes for all our young people and remove social and economic disadvantage. 

Misia loves working alongside other professionals, helping them to improve their own practice and develop their skills and talents so they can lead and inspire others.  

Rob is a JNC qualified youth worker with a Master’s Degree in Youth & Community Development and over 25 years’ experience in the field.

He’s been employed by local authorities and VCFS organisations across the North of England, from on the ground youth work delivery to strategic roles, he advocates for ‘face to face’ working.

Rob has a particular interest in supporting young people with learning difficulties and those who have been excluded from formal education. He has the skill, enthusiasm and qualifications to teach others to do the same. In his spare time he likes playing guitar, fell running and ‘reading, thinking and doing’.

Kayleigh supports the facilitation of learners across all training paths within the Academy. 

Kayleigh has experience in diverse youth work settings, including formal and informal education, social outreach, and looked-after young people. Kayleigh has developed and taught a Youth Work degree, supporting several new cohorts in their own journeys to becoming qualified. Kayleigh has a passion for developing youth workers’ knowledge base in supporting the holistic wellbeing of young people.

I have over 20 years’ experience in youth work, with an early career spanning detached work, centre-based provision, and mentoring. I later specialised in sexual health, advising and training a wide range of professionals who work with young people.

In recent years, I have delivered and assessed a variety of qualifications within the further education sector, including vocational youth work courses at multiple levels, as well as health-related programmes such as the T Level in Health.

I am passionate about staff development and believe that high-quality youth work begins with accessible, effective high-quality training.

I am an experienced Youth Work and Education practitioner with a background in teaching, assessing and safeguarding across a range of settings. I hold a BA (Hons) in Youth and Community Work, a PGCE (14+), and a Postgraduate Certificate in Safeguarding, alongside a qualification in assessing vocational achievement.

I bring lived experience as a looked after child, which continues to shape my values and approach to practice. My journey into youth work began as a youth arts practitioner apart of a traineeship, after a conversation with my own youth worker at a local night-stay hostel who encouraged me to visit the local university and pursue the role. Me? Engage in training? At University – Never! Fifteen years later, I have trained hundreds of practitioners across the sector in England and now internationally.

From working as a lecturer across the Further Education sector delivering Youth Work and Health and Social qualifications level 1s to apprenticeships, managing training providers and alternative education provision, to driving improvement and quality in residential childcare settings my passion for practice that is rooted in trauma-informed, person-centred approaches, and supporting those who work with young people to access high-quality, up-to-date training that makes a meaningful difference remains the same.

Alongside my education roles, I continue to work in practice within intensive supported accommodation settings, ensuring my teaching remains current, relevant and grounded in real-world experience.