Our team

12 mins read

Meet the senior management team and trustees of Contact, the UK charity that supports families of disabled children.

Our executive leadership team

Anna Bird
Chief Executive Officer

Anna joined Contact as CEO in June 2023. She is an experienced leader in the not-for-profit sector, where she has been influential in campaigning on behalf of disabled people.

Before joining Contact, Anna was CEO of the European Movement. There, she grew support for the organisation and was responsible for designing and implementing their new strategy.

Previously, Anna has led political influencing campaigns at Scope, the Fawcett Society and Mind. At Scope, she led the development of the organisation’s strategy, impact framework, and a roadmap for the rollout of new research and policy work. At the Fawcett Society she was Acting Chief Executive.

Mark Davies
Director of Income Generation 

Mark was appointed Director of Income Generation at Contact in November 2019. 

Mark has over 20 years’ fundraising experience in the charity sector. He was Director of Development at the London’s Air Ambulance Charity for six years before joining Contact, leading on income growth. Previous roles include Assistant Director at Centre of Cell, a science education centre based at Queen Mary, University of London, and Development Manager at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. 

Mark is a Trustee of Box Clever Theatre Company. 

Meagan Leggett
Director of Information, Advice & Family Support

Meagan joined Contact in 2014  as a parent adviser, and since then has led several family support teams and services. She was appointed as a director in January 2025.

Meagan is the senior lead for Contact’s  information, advice and support services to families across the UK. Prior to joining Contact, Meagan had roles in finance, project and operations management.

Meagan is a parent carer of a disabled young person and a trustee of the charity Disability Sports Coach.

Rachel Millington
Director of Communications & Engagement

Rachel joined Contact as a Director in March 2020. 

Rachel has worked in communications for nearly 20 years, primarily within communications and creative agencies. During this time she has worked across global brands, charities, and NGOs, leading on comms and digital projects. 

Rachel has a postgraduate diploma in Marketing and is a volunteer for a local environmental charity. 

Suzy Russell
Director of Finance & Resources

Suzy joined Contact in August 2023 as interim Director of Finance and Resources and from January 2024 has joined Contact in this role on a permanent basis. Suzy is the senior management team lead for Finance, IT, Facilities, HR and Inclusion, and Organisational Development.

Before joining Contact, Suzy was Director of Finance, Performance & Impact with the Ramblers Association – a charity and national membership organisation. Before that, she held financial and executive leadership roles in the commercial and retail sectors.

Suzy is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) 

Our Trustees

Vanessa Longley, Chair

Vanessa became our Chair of Trustees in September 2024. She is currently the Chief Executive of BEAT, the UK’s leading eating disorder charity, driving forward the organisation’s mission to ensure that every person affected by an eating disorder gets the support they need, when they need it.

Vanessa brings a wealth of senior leadership experience across children’s and healthcare charities, including her role as CEO at Chance UK, providing vital early intervention for children aged five to 14, as well as previous senior positions at YoungMinds, Mencap and Havens Hospices.

Vanessa is passionate about amplifying the voices of families with children with disabilities and additional needs and putting their experiences at the heart of everything from advocacy and services to fundraising and communications. She is also a qualified bereavement counsellor and a Trustee for SignHealth.

Sarah Church, Deputy Chair

Sarah joined Contact in 2022. She works as the Chief Executive of Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care, a charity that provides support to people approaching the end of their lives. She is particularly interested in making sure that each person has an experience that is tailored to them, and that services are organised in a way that makes sense to the person on the receiving end.

Sarah worked as a Civil Servant for most of her career, mainly in the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). She has worked on food and farming issues for many years. 

Sarah has twin boys, one of whom has a serious disability.  She is passionate about making sure that the needs of the whole family are catered for: siblings in particular.

Ben Clarkson, Treasurer

Ben is Chief Operating Officer at Asthma + Lung UK, the UK’s leading lung health charity.

A CIPFA qualified accountant, Ben started his career in the public sector with the Audit Commission, where he led audits across a range of local government and NHS clients. From there, he moved into the not-for-profit sector with Macmillan Cancer Support, where he was Head of Financial Operations, and then the London Community Foundation as Director of Finance and Resources.

Ben also sits on the CIPFA Charities and Public Benefit Entities Forum and was previously a trustee of Lewisham Speaking Up, a charity that supports adults with learning disabilities. 

Ben spends his spare time running, whether that’s along the streets of Bromley borough or running around after his three children. He’s also a part-time cyclist and music lover.

Elizabeth (Ed) Archer

Ed has worked with families of disabled children for nearly 25 years. In her day job she is the CEO of PDA Society and has held strategic level roles at Mencap, the SEND Consortium and Ambitious about Autism.

Ed started her career as a specialist play worker, has helped set up parent carer forums and run advice services for disabled people. She values her own family life and is passionate about families of disabled children having an equal chance to enjoy theirs.

Ed wanted to be a trustee at Contact so she can help tackle the structural problems that make life harder than it needs to be for disabled children and their families.

Debbie Ball

Debbie is a senior fundraising and income strategy consultant with over 20 years’ experience supporting UK and international charities to strengthen and diversify their income. She has worked closely with senior leadership teams to develop sustainable strategies across public, corporate, trust and philanthropic funding.

Debbie has lived and worked in Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, France and the Netherlands, collaborating with humanitarian and development organisations. Since returning to the UK in 2012, she has focused on fundraising, and has worked as an independent consultant since 2019, advising Boards, CEOs and senior teams through periods of strategic change.

Debbie is deeply committed to social justice and to a rights-based, community-led approach. She believes families are experts in their own lives and should be supported with clear information, dignity and practical help. Her work with child- and youth-focused initiatives has reinforced the importance of early support in shaping positive, fulfilling lives.

Debbie’s experience includes securing multi-million-pound funding, developing new income streams, and serving as a Trustee of United World Schools. She is inspired by the clear mission of Contact to ensure no child is held back by circumstances beyond their control.

Gyll Curtis-Machin – Scottish Trustee

Being autistic herself, Gyll is a passionate believer in speaking out for equality and diversity and changing public perception of what it means to be autistic. She wishes to be part of the creation of innovative opportunities for a more neurodiverse culture.

Gyll graduated with an Honours degree from the University of Stirling. Her eclectic career has taken her across all corners of the UK and abroad. She has worked as a university lecturer, publisher, editor, entrepreneur, and adviser in various charities and schools supporting and mentoring children and adults for over thirty years.

She has worked with autistic entrepreneurs to identify business ideas and launch micro-enterprises. She has co-designed/facilitated post-diagnostic courses for autistic adults and parent carers with ARGH (Autism Rights Group Highland).

Gyll sat on an Autism Advisory Forum led by Inspiring Scotland for the Scottish Government and completed a Lived-Experience Leadership programme with Inclusion Scotland.

Laura Godwin

Laura joined Contact in 2024. She works as a Head of Strategy for the Wealth Business of BlackRock in EMEA, and brings more than 15 years of experience in strategy across different sectors, including professional services, and the public and private sector.

Laura has been closely involved as a volunteer across different initiatives involving families with caring responsibilities of ill or disabled children, across different countries. She lives in London with her husband and two young children.

Ramandeep Kaur

As a campaigner and parent activist, Ramandeep is committed to ensuring that disabled people are supported in living a good life. This commitment comes from being a parent to a young person with learning disabilities. She has two other children, one at university and the other still at secondary school.

Ramandeep recently completed an MA in Social Policy at the University of Birmingham and has used the knowledge and skills acquired to support a number of charities with their policy work and to carry out freelance research. Alongside sitting on Contact’s board, she is Chair of trustees of a small charity which supports families of disabled children with after school holiday clubs.

Ramandeep works as a lived experience trainer, delivering training to NHS staff on trauma-informed working. She understands the trauma that many families experience as a result of trying to get the right support for their children. Ramandeep is keen to bring her knowledge and experience to the Board and support Contact as we continue to support disabled children and their families. 

Calister (Carly) Munjeri

Carly is a Fellow of the ACCA and brings senior-level financial leadership across complex UK charities, coupled with lived experience as a parent of a disabled adult, directly aligning with Contact’s mission. She offers both professional expertise and personal commitment to supporting families navigating disability, health, education, and social care systems. She is also qualified in Charity Accounting and Financial Management.
Carly has over 15 years’ experience as a Finance Director and senior finance leader at organisations including AllChild  LTd (West London Zone), Bootstrap Charity, The Makaton Charity, and Prospects for People With Learning Disabilities. Her expertise spans financial strategy, reserves modelling, forecasting, audit and compliance, risk management, and systems modernisation. She has successfully led charities through restructuring, stabilisation, and transformation while strengthening governance and Board reporting.  

Carly’s values-led approach balances financial discipline with mission delivery, informed by both her professional experience and personal insight.

Debbie Morrow – Northern Ireland Trustee

Debbie brings over 25 years of senior HR and organisational development experience across the private, public, and VCSE sectors, with deep knowledge of Northern Ireland’s systems and communities. 

A Chartered MCIPD and ICF-accredited coach, Debbie partners with Boards, CEOs, and Executive Teams, providing strategic insight and constructive challenge during periods of change and growth. Her expertise includes HR governance, workforce risk, leadership development, succession, wellbeing, and organisational design, as well as leading senior-level investigations to ensure fairness and protect organisational reputation.

Based in Northern Ireland, Debbie understands the challenges facing families, including pressures across education, health, and social care, and the importance of trusted local partnerships. She brings a coaching-led approach, combining curiosity, challenge, and warmth.

Charles Sladdin

Charles is the Creative Director at Purple Banana, a sustainability-driven design and communications agency specialising in helping brands that do good effectively communicate their purpose. He founded the agency after five years of working in the design and marketing industry, including spending two years as the design lead at a national UK charity.

Using his experience within the third sector, Charles regularly advises purpose-driven businesses on digital strategy and brand engagement. He is a keen advocate of the Young Trustees movement, empowering young people to share their lived experiences and expertise on the trustee boards of charities.

Charles currently lives in London, but is moving north in September with his partner to be closer to family.

Ian Sutherland – Northern Ireland Trustee

Biography coming soon.

Jamileh Tufail -Welsh Trustee

Jamileh is Head of Brand & Customer Communications at Principality Building Society, the UK’s 6^th largest Building Society.

After graduating University in Bristol, she has spent over 20 years working in communications roles across the UK and Australia. The bulk of her career was spent in agencies, where she worked with brands across a range of sectors from FMCG to not-for-profit. Jamileh has held a number of voluntary roles over the years, including a number of years spent working as a Telephone Counsellor to young people for Childline in London. 

Jamileh returned to her hometown of Cardiff a few years ago, which allows her to be near to her nieces and nephews, and her godchildren, one of whom has complex learning difficulties.

Georgia Wilson

Georgia is the founder of The Value Creation CFO and acts as a Group CFO and COO to a portfolio of organisations, supporting growth, operations, and strategic transactions at board level.

Georgia brings over 18 years’ experience in financial governance, audit, risk, and board-level decision-making across FTSE-listed companies, global scale-ups, investment-backed, and founder-led businesses. Her work has included supporting rapid growth, acquisitions, fundraising, and complex transformation, for which she has received industry recognition and awards.

Deloitte-trained and ACA-qualified, Georgia has deep expertise in financial oversight, internal controls, investment appraisal, M&A, and governance across multi-jurisdictional organisations. She is passionate about ensuring charities are financially resilient, well-governed, and able to deliver long-term impact.

Georgia also brings personal insight as a parent of a child with additional needs, which informs her commitment to empathy, inclusion, and supporting families navigating complex challenges.

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