Our people

Amma heads up the youth services at an Ofsted Outstanding apprenticeship provider, and also sits as a trustee for two charitable foundations.

Throughout her career within the field of youth work and as a school and college governor, Amma has been massively passionate about mentoring and wellbeing, education and training, international engagement, and SEND support.

Carol is Chair of our NYA Board of Trustees. She started out as a Youth Worker in Sheffield and has since worked in youth and community work, and community/adult education in a number of local authorities, gaining many years’ experience in partnership working and management, as well as being a contributor to the national agenda in terms of young people’s issues

Carol has always demonstrated huge passion for early intervention work in the youth sector, and for young people’s voice and participation.

Daniel is the Children’s Services Manager at Barnardo’s and has over 28 years of experience in youth work and management.  

Daniel has worked in almost every facet of youth work but is particularly passionate about supporting young people with Special Education Needs and Disabilities, and those with emerging mental health needs.

Gabriel (Gabby) sits both on the NYA board of Trustees, and on the NYA Finance and resources Committee. In his day-to-day life he is a qualified banker with more than 35 years international banking experience. 

Gabby is passionate about ensuring that youth organisations are sustainable and able to continue delivering their vital work with young people for as long as possible.

Ken is a representative on our NYA Board of Trustees from the Local Government Association. He is currently the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and also Chairs its multi-agency Health and Wellbeing Board. Ken is also the chair of the NYA Audit Committee. 

Ken has a special interest in emotional wellbeing and mental health issues for children and young people.  

Mark is a qualified solicitor and a partner in the law firm Sullivan & Worcester. Along with his role on our Board, Mark also supports us as Chair of our NYA People Development Committee

Mark is passionate about providing young people with equal opportunities and supports the Widening Participation Programme to encourage access to students from non-traditional backgrounds to his alma mater the London School of Economics.

Mervyn has over 20 years’ experience in the children and young people’s sector and is currently Youth First CIO’s founding CEO

Mervyn believes in ensuring young people get equality of outcomes regardless of their backgrounds and that youth work and play, especially the relationships with youth and play workers can support young people and communities to increase the chance of this being the case.

Sally  Carr  MBE has worked in Manchester’s LGBT+ Communities for over 30 years. Sally was awarded a MBE in 2012 for services supporting vulnerable and isolated LGBT+ young people across the U.K. She is currently a trustee on our NYA Board and an advisor to the LGBT Consortium.   

Sally has dedicated her life to bettering the lives of young people, particularly marginalised LGBT+ people and women in the City. 

Please note, Tony is not an NYA Trustee, but is Chair of the National Advisory Board for Youth Services

Tony is a former Her Majesty’s Inspector and currently carries out occasional inspection work for Ofsted and HM Probation.

In 2024 Tony received an OBE in recognition of his lifelong service to young people.

Nick Caplin, former Director of Communications at Amazon, is an experienced PR and communications professional, with a specialism in the gaming, sports, retail and entertainment sectors. 

Nick has over 20 year’s experience working in communications for global brands, including Sony PlayStation. He also worked in the not-for-profit sector, as Chief Development Officer for Swim England. Growing up, youth groups played a very important role in Nick’s life, both as a member of a youth club and then later, as a youth leader. Nick is passionate about providing young people with opportunities to be part of communities that support and encourage them to be themselves. 

Laura Bates, Client Director at award-winning communications consultancy Kallaway, brings over 15 years’ experience in shaping impactful communications for prominent organisations across the charity, culture, and nonprofit sectors, including the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Museum of London. Laura has also served as a Governor at a London secondary school, where she led the Safeguarding and Inclusion Committee and supported the school’s senior team throughout the pandemic. 

A consistent advocate for young people, Laura is especially dedicated to supporting those from marginalised backgrounds and championing initiatives that promote wellbeing and mental health.  

Nick Frost, Senior Partner, Head of Audit, Consumer Goods & Retail Sector at KPMG, is a chartered accountant with 30 years financial services experience operating at the ‘coalface’ with large teams and supporting global PLCs at Board level. Nick specialises in audit and related services, primarily to the fast-moving consumer goods sector, with experience supporting large multi-listed global groups. Nick pioneered KPMG’s collaboration with Auticon (an organisation which works with individuals with Autism to place them within the technology sector and optimise their supreme data analysis skills). He is also a Trustee of a Regional Scout Association. 

Owen Purcell, former Managing Partner at Ernst & Young (EY) LLP is a recognised leader in governance risk and business strategy working with FTSE 100 and Fortune 1000 clients and internally at Ernst & Young working at government, regulator and board level, globally. Owen has extensive experience managing change programmes and advising governments, international organisations and major companies on governance issues. Currently, he is Chair of the Board at Uniac, Chair of the Audit Committee and Non-executive Director at Innovate UK Loans Ltd and Independent Member of the Finance Committee at Audit Wales.

As County Lead Volunteer he leads a team of volunteers providing scouting experiences to young people across five boroughs in London. Owen is also board trustee and chair of the audit and risk committee at AbilityNet, a charity that supports people with disabilities to use technology.

Lisa has worked in the higher education sector for over 20 years with experience in quality, assessment policy, curriculum development, online education, and academic registry. Lisa is currently Head of Strategic Planning at the Open University, which includes risk management, unit planning, institutional performance, and strategy implementation.

Lisa is passionate about open education and the transformative power of accessible learning opportunities for all. Lisa champions equality, diversity, and inclusion, and the positive impact of diverse environments and understanding the lived experiences of others.

Leigh represents Bridgwater North and Central in Somerset as a Councillor and brings more than 14 years of experience in local government. He currently serves as Chair of Somerset Council’s Children and Families Scrutiny Committee and is a member of the Local Government Association’s Children, Young People and Families Committee.