Meet our Trustees

Alex is a prolific volunteer who is deeply committed to ensuring that all young people have the greatest opportunity to succeed, is passionate about the benefit of parental involvement within that journey and dedicates a large part of her life to furthering this cause. 

She has extensive experience of governance as a Chair and Trustee within large and small charities, including as a Trustee of Youth United Foundation, a Trustee of the Inspire and Achieve Foundation and as Chair of The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. Prior to becoming Chair of Parentkind, Alex also volunteered as Chief Commissioner of England for The Scouts.

Alex is a successful entrepreneur with extensive experience of implementing and driving forward UK and international business strategies and change management with a hands-on and team-orientated attitude to leadership. She holds a BA (Hons) in Business Information Systems, an MA in Strategic Management and professional marketing qualifications.

Alex has previously been a member of the PTA in her children’s junior school and is currently a school governor in a school for young people with a broad range of special educational needs, from moderate/​severe to profound and multiple.

Alex joined the Board in July 2021.

With over 20 years’ recruitment experience, including 13 years running and growing a small business, Rob is now a freelance Career Coach and Talent professional currently managing search campaigns at Heathrow Airport. He is focussed on supporting people to make positive changes in their careers and lives.

With many years in management and leadership positions in a metric-led sales industry, Rob brings a strong focus on value and impact. He has a long history of trusteeship including six years on the board of the National Childbirth Trust, six years on the board of Mind in Enfield & Barnet, and four years as founding Director of the Ealing Fields Academy Trust which opened a high school in west London in 2016.

A father of two school-aged children, Rob also co-chairs Acts of Hope CIO, which provides school places for children from slum communities in India. He has brought this demonstrative passion for improving education and supporting parents to Parentkind since joining the board in January 2019.

Mark — An inspirational individual working at executive level with a unique set of skills and experience spanning 30 years across the rail industry. Starting as a finance graduate, before qualifying as a chartered accountant (fellow). Mark then embarked on an exciting career path leaving the finance profession behind moving around the rail industry to acquire experience of leadership across sponsorship, operations & maintenance, customer service and supply chain and logistics.

Having recently retired from rail, Mark is now building a strong non-executive portfolio with a particular focus and strength in the role of chair of audit and risk committees across multiple sectors including, transport, health, education, and skills. Mark has a unique skill set of being a financial professional along with a successful record of leading large business operations.

Consola is an external relations and membership expert. She is experienced in building long-term and high profile corporate and government partnerships for membership organisations as well as creating new commercial opportunities in the private and public sector.

Consola is currently Director of Global Engagement at the English-Speaking Union, an international charitable membership organisation which supports young people to build the speaking and listening skills they need to thrive. Consola is responsible for the organisation’s international partnerships strategy in addition to stewarding a global community that values the power of shared language and global friendship.

Consola has a background in external relations. Before joining the ESU, she was Head of External Relations and Development at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, with responsibility for the end-to-end management of the IISS’s corporate members and sponsors. Prior to this she ran the external relations functions in a global association of universities as well as professional associations of management consultants and Michelin-starred chefs. Consola is also a governor at her local primary school.

Consola joined the Board in June 2022.

Elizabeth is a lawyer from California, a law professor in Paris, France, and an expert on child online protection. She is also the founder of DigitalParentingCoach.com, and an author and international speaker on digital parenting who researches solutions to empower parents to guide their children in the digital age. A mother of two teen boys raised in France, she and her family are thrilled to start a new adventure in the United Kingdom.

Currently, she holds the role of Senior Corporate Counsel at the LEGO Group, where she promotes responsible digital child rights, safety and wellbeing in parallel with responsible digital gaming and metaverse experiences. She is a Trustee at the Diana Award focusing on anti-bullying and child online protection. She is a member of the NSPCC Child Online Safety Taskforce and is regularly engaged in digital empowerment for families.

Prior to joining the LEGO Group, Elizabeth was an independent consultant for the Council of Europe (Children’s Rights and Education departments), Family Online Safety Institute (Digital Parenting), Microsoft (Digital Safety) and e‑Enfance (Child online protection). Elizabeth has a PhD in International Relations, a joint Law and Master’s degree from the University of California, Davis and an undergraduate degree from UCLA.

She is passionate about ensuring that children have safe and responsible online experiences that provide meaningful engagement, and she brings over 20 years’ experience in law, children’s rights and technology, digital citizenship education and outreach to Parentkind.

Elizabeth joined the Board in June 2022.

Jo is an energetic people professional with over 20 years’ experience. She is currently Group People Director at Sanderson Design Group, a UK based luxury interiors and manufacturing company.

She is passionate about building strategies and initiatives focused on maximising people’s potential and solving business challenges. She is a commercial People leader, with a focus on talent management, organisational development and culture change. 

Prior to Sanderson, Jo held People Director roles in FMCG business JDE Peets and aviation start-up Vertical Aerospace having developed her career in the John Lewis Partnership, most recently as People Director for Waitrose.

Outside of work, Jo is married to Brian and a mum of two beautiful boys, James and Isaac. Rufus the cocker spaniel completes the family. She enjoys singing, cooking, travelling and going for long walks in the country with friends. She is known for taking in a country pub on the way round to keep energy levels high!

David Hatchett is National Director of Standards and Inclusion at Lift Schools; a large, national multi-academy trust (MAT). He works across primary, secondary and special schools.

Prior to this he held a number of senior and executive level roles at this and another national MAT, including National Director of Secondary Schools and Regional Director of Education. David is a qualified and experienced teacher, school inspector, project and programme manager and holds Masters degrees in Education (MA) and Executive Management (MBA).

Prior to working in the MAT sector, David led a number of high-profile national and international assessment programmes at Pearson, including tests taken by 1.3m pupils each year. David’s experience also includes co-authoring a series of textbooks and leadership roles in schools.

David is a passionate volunteer and has been involved in volunteering in some form continuously since he was at university. In addition to Parentkind, David is also a trustee at the English-Speaking Union. He has previously been a governor on a number of boards including a successful sixth form college, an NHS health trust and as Chair of trustees of a rapidly improving school trust in Middlesbrough. David also played a key role during the London 2012 Olympic Games

Pat brings 30 years of experience as a leader in both the commercial and education sector to her role as a trustee. A former primary headteacher, she is passionate about humanising the experience of education for students and teachers including the effective involvement of parents. She is currently working as a pastoral consultant and well-being leadership coach across the education sector. A best-selling author, she is a regular speaker at national conferences. 

Pat spent 16 years specialising in brand strategy and innovation before retraining as a primary teacher, taking her school to outstanding. After losing her son to suicide, she supports education leaders, teams and families to learn vital skills in supporting mental health, well-being and suicide prevention. She is also a member of the North Yorkshire Suicide Prevention Strategy Group and a co-founder of the Yorkshire Speak Their Name CIC.

Pat is a Mental Health First Aid and is ASIST qualified (Applied Suicide Prevention Skills). She believes in maximising the conditions for joy and fulfilment in life and enjoys music, good food, great wine and even better, time with friends and family. 

Pat joined the Board in January 2019.

Steven has worked for more than two decades as a communications and external affairs professional and broadcaster, reporting on major news stories and advising senior leaders on media relations, crisis communications, reputation management and policy change. Steven spent 16 years at the BBC before moving into external relations.

Most recently he was head of external affairs for the Independent Schools Inspectorate. He’s also been head of media and public affairs at the royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce (RSA), and before that he led the external affairs work at the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), the largest professional body for school leaders in the UK.

Before joining the Parentkind board in June 2022, Steven was chair of governors at a single academy trust primary school in Kent.