Sherry Malik- Non- Executive Director at Dimensions UK and The Staff College Associate

‘Sherry Malik is passionate about social care and social justice. Her signature strength is in enabling change & transformation, working with individuals, organisations, boards, and partnerships. She has over 30 years of experience of leading & managing a diverse portfolio in large complex, political settings in public (Local & Central Govt. and the NHS), voluntary & commercial settings, both in executive and non-executive roles.

You may know her as the former Director of children’s services at NSPCC, DCS and DASS at LB Hounslow and through her exec roles at Cafcass and GSCC. She is currently a non-executive Director at Dimensions UK and The Staff College Associate.

From the need to give every child a great start in life to promoting independence and community resilience, Sherry is committed to working creatively within professional and community systems to find solutions.

She is a qualified coach, and blogs at One Blog at a Time    ‘

‘Ian Thomas is CEO of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.

Ian was CEO of Lewisham, and prior to this, the Strategic Director of Rotherham Borough Council’s Children and Young People’s Services (DCS), responsible for transformation of the service from inadequate to good. Prior to this he was DCS and Deputy CEO Derbyshire County Council.

He has 33 years’ experience in the public, voluntary and private sectors, holds a MA in

‘Developing Professional Practice’ and is a Masters-level qualified Executive Coach and Mentor.

In the New Year’s Honours 2019 he was made a Commander of the British Empire. Click here to find out more about Ian Thomas   ‘

Irfan Alam – Deputy Director for Early Help and Children’s Social Care

‘Irfan has been in post as the Deputy Director within Bradford Children’s Services since November 2019.

Prior to this post, Irfan was the Assistant Director for Children’s Services at Cardiff Council and Birmingham City Council.

Irfan is a qualified and registered Social Worker with over 15 years’ experience in the area of Children’s Services. Irfan’s strong experience as a leader within Children’s Services and a Child Protection Practitioner within statutory social work, has placed him in a good position to have real and current operational experience which helps bring the reality of ‘working on the ground’ to the top. Irfan strives to create a culture where there is a high level of support but equally high level of challenge. Irfan firmly believes that social work practice should be based upon building good relationships and steeped in principles of family strengths, empowerment, and inclusiveness.

Besides working full time, Irfan is a keen sports enthusiast and enjoys spending time with his family and climbing. In his spare time, Irfan can be seen running around and getting lost on fells and mountains.’

Chris Murray- Chief Executive Officer, Young Brent Foundation

‘As a graduate of the The Staff College Network for future Black & Asian Leaders (BALI) and a keen advocate for Systemic Dialogue, to explore and improve service design, implementation and communication. Previously the Strategic Commissioner for Youth Services at the Royal borough of Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC) where he led on the redesign and restructuring of youth service. Both JNC qualified with a Degree in Youth & Community studies, with an MA in Childhood and Youth: Frameworks for Integrated Practice.  I am now the CEO of Young Brent Foundation, a place-based infrastructure charity in NW London.

With over 20 years’ experience as a Senior Manager in both local government and the voluntary sector, managing a wide range of services for children and young people, including a variety of senior Children’s Service roles across London and at County Council level, encompassing the portfolios for Early Help, Youth Participation, Play Services, Sports Development, health and arts provision.

Tutored on intercultural dialogue as a guest speaker for Anglia Ruskin University, London Metropolitan University and the University of East London and worked as an External Assessor for Pan–European Youth Programmes and Youth Exchanges, with the aim to tackle racial discrimination across Europe.’