Our Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees are legal trustees of our charity. They are appointed through a Board Nominations Panel which is tasked with the recruitment of trustees to meet the needs of the Board in terms of relevant skills, experience and aptitude. All appointments are confirmed first by the Board itself and then ratified by a vote of members at the Annual General Meeting. Trustees are appointed for a term of four years, after which they may be re-appointed for one further term.
The trustees elect a Chair, who acts as the chairperson of the charity. Our Chair of Trustees is Dr Carol Homden CBE.
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My older adult son has a diagnosis of ASD and MLD and after many difficulties is now suitably placed in a National Autistic Society residential care home in East Anglia. Professionally, I started my career by setting up print media enterprises in East Anglia before moving to London as a freelance arts journalist and editor. I then became Director of Marketing and Development at the University of Westminster, later moving to the British Museum in 1999 as its first Director of Marketing and Public Affairs. In 2003 I joined the Prince's Trust as Commercial Director before becoming in 2007 Chief Executive of Coram, the oldest children's charity in the UK. When selected to chair the Board of Trustees in 2011, I relinquished (after five years) being Chair of the Avenues Trust, a provider of residential community and domiciliary services for adults with learning disabilities. We live in north London.
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I am an older female on the spectrum and I have a son who is autistic. As more research is being carried out, there is more evidence to show that women on the spectrum do not present the same way as men and this needs to be addressed so that females also feel that their needs are being met. I am in my sixties and am interested in autism and ageing studies and feel I could offer input to the charity in that field. I have a lot of experience with autistic adults of all ages, both male and female, as I run a forum for adults on the autism spectrum. Through the site I know the concerns that worry people such as unemployment and benefit changes. The site also holds several meet-ups during the year, giving me and others on the spectrum a chance to get to meet other Aspies and talk through the difficulties we all face, but also having a chance to feel comfortable while out in a group and improving our social skills.
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I joined the National Autistic Society’s Board in 2020 and currently chair the Planning & Resources Committee. During my commercial career, mainly in multinational corporations, I have held a number of board and CFO positions across a range of functions, industries and geographies. By profession, I am a qualified accountant (FCCA). Additionally, I hold an MBA from Cranfield and have professional qualifications in Marketing and Human Resources.
I have been a governor and vice chair for a large school and am currently a volunteer with the Cranfield Trust which provides pro-bono consultancy to smaller charities. My interest in autism began nearly 25 years ago following the diagnosis of my niece, and I have been able to witness the challenges and joys of having a family member who is autistic. I look forward to bringing my knowledge and commercial experience to serve and support the development of the charity.
I live in Hertfordshire with my wife Karen and have two adult sons.
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I am mum to Nicholas, my wonderful son who inspires me every day. After he was diagnosed, my family benefited enormously from the advice provided by the National Autistic Society and I co-founded the Enfield Branch in 2005 to improve the support for autistic people and their families locally. Subsequently, I became a councillor of the National Autistic Society in 2007 and was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2010, where I serve on the Plans and Resources Committee and the Brand and Commercial Development Committee. My professional background includes over 20 years in strategic planning, marketing and branding, working for major international companies (including Coca-Cola and Unilever) and later running my own marketing consultancy practice. I started my career as a research scientist, gaining a PhD in biochemistry. I recently re-joined Coca-Cola as Global Category Director for their water business and am also currently a governor of Durants School, the autism-specific secondary school in Enfield.
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Our older son, who is autistic and has moderate learning difficulties, attends Sybil Elgar School where he has thrived and developed beyond our hopes. I was elected Councillor in 2013 and I’ve been a member for over ten years of the Richmond-upon-Thames group, where we live. With 14 years' charity trustee experience, I am Trustee of NUS’ Charitable Services and Chair of Camphill Village Trust. I helped found a local charity for autistic children and I served for five years as Parent Governor/Vice-Chair of Governors for Marjory Kinnon SEN School in Hounslow. I was Director of Fundraising for three UK charities, and am now consulting for voluntary sector, private and public sectors in corporate governance, funding, change and risk management, corporate planning and communications. I am co-founder and director of two internet-based businesses and one management consultancy.
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I am the Mum of two sons, the eldest of whom has Asperger syndrome and learning disabilities, and as a parent feel I have an insight into what a child, and now an adult, on the autistic spectrum faces every day, and the impact of this upon their whole family. I am very proud of him, and every day we as a family learn more about how he experiences the world and how we can best support him.
Professionally, I am a qualified social worker, with a long and varied career working in both local authorities and in charities. I am currently the Chief Executive of Caritas Care, a medium sized charity based in Preston Lancashire, which provides a range of regulated care services for both adults and children, and a number of community projects. I care passionately about creating opportunities and innovative responses to meet the needs of children families and adults, and am also a Trustee of Children England and CVAA (Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies). I live in Southport, a seaside town in the North West of England.
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I joined the National Autistic Society in December 2020, having recently retired from a long career in education. My experience included being an experienced senior leader in several schools, including a residential special school for students with distressed behaviours. I set up and led a special facility in a mainstream secondary school, providing for students with a range of special educational needs, including autism. Most recently, I was an executive leader of a large and successful multi-academy trust that included special units for autistic pupils in several of its schools.
As a lead Ofsted inspector, I inspected both mainstream and special schools, including residential settings, across the entire age range. My career has given me a lifelong interest in championing change for disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils. I hope to bring to the Board not only my experience in education but also a commitment to continue to work to change lives and attitudes.
I have a Bachelor of Education degree, an Advanced Diploma in teaching pupils with special education needs and the National Professional Qualification for Headteachers.
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I am a recently retired academic having previously worked at Sheffield Hallam University and in secondary schools. I am also a mother to an adult with Asperger syndrome who shares my love of mathematics and has a fantastic sense of humour. I became a National Autistic Society trustee in 2013 and have been invited to join the Board of the Academies Trust and the Service Quality and Development Committee of the charity's Board. At Sheffield Hallam University I facilitated the development of the Autism Centre, helping to secure funding at various stages for specific projects and supporting staff appointed from practitioner backgrounds to develop their research. I live in Sheffield and as well as supporting other organisations, I am also a member of the Board of Autism Plus and help run a snooker club for adults with Asperger syndrome there.
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I joined the National Autistic Society's Board in September 2016 as a non-councillor trustee and I am also a member of the Brand and Commercial Development Committee. I have a longstanding intellectual interest in neurodiversity and hope that by serving on the Board I might help to bring about a situation where autistic individuals, whatever their cognitive ability, and their families and friends are valued and appropriately supported to live the lives they want to live.
Professionally, I work in public affairs and policy for an investment bank and focus on financial services regulation. Previously I advised on financial services regulatory matters and ran the regulatory change advisory function in a number of investment banks. Before that I worked in the General Counsel’s Division of the UK Financial Services Authority, the European Commission and Herbert Smith Freehills, where I qualified as a solicitor. I currently chair a a specialised policy committee in a European financial services trade association and in the past I also served as a trustee, board member and chair of a voluntary charitable organisation (the alumni association of my university) in the UK and Italy.
I am Italian, fluent in English, French and German and also have reasonable Spanish. I hold a MSc (Laurea) in Economics and management of public and international organisations from Università Bocconi (Milan), as well as professional qualifications in law from the College of Law (Guildford).
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I live in Manchester with my wife, Bronwen. I have two adult children - both of whom have now left home. I am an independent Project Manager working on contracts with large organisations who are going through major programmes of change.
My link with all things autistic started after my youngest son (then 13) was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome following some difficulties at school. I was subsequently also diagnosed. My search for support information led me to the National Autistic Society. Given my background in helping organisations, it was suggested I seek election to the Council - where I have served for about three years. I was elected as a trustee from the Council in 2015 and hope to use my experience in helping large organisations in change to support the National Autistic Society as it goes through the next challenging years.
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I am a technology and marketing specialist with almost 40 years’ experience in the UK and internationally. My experience includes 15 years in senior management positions with Sony following a series of successful roles in the marketing sector. I was President and CEO of Sony PlayStation in London for six years, overseeing a turnover of over £3 billion. I currently run my own company, David Reeves Consulting and am also a Trustee for Autistica (UK), Sense (UK) and St John Ambulance as well as Senior Independent Director of Keywords International, PLC, RED Entertainment (Dubai), Consultant at the Quantic Group and an accredited Growth Accelerator Coach for UK companies. I am fluent in German, Japanese and French and hold an MBA in Marketing as well as a BSc in Chemical Sciences and PhD in Chemical Physics and Astrophysics.
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l worked for nearly 30 years as a senior civil servant, initially in the Department of Education but mainly in HM Treasury, where I worked on public policy including education reform and on improving health service delivery and waiting times.
I’m a qualified accountant and have a degree in PPE from Oxford as well as an MBA. Previously I ran a charitable trust and I have been a governor of an inner city school.I have three sons. My experience of autism derives mainly from the children of close friends, but I also have extensive experience of mental health services in relation to my wider family. I completed the Blenheim triathlon (slowly) last year on behalf of Bloodwise for a friend's child with leukaemia.
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My son, now in his thirties, has a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome. I am a founder member of the Furness branch of the National Autistic Society. I also support a local group run by autistic adults, Autism Unite, and am a member of the Cumbria Autism Partnership Board. I have joined the National Autistic Society's Board after serving for 13 years on the charity's Council, latterly as Senior Councillor, and now chair the new National Forum which replaces Council in line with the decision at the 2015 AGM. As well as my experience as a family member, I also have a professional connection to autism. I have just retired after a career as a teacher in special education and I write and lecture on autism.