Our Board of Trustees

Patricia McCabe (MBA Open, Chartered MCIPD, MIoD Diploma in Company Direction (Institute of Directors) is Managing Director of Central Consultancy & Training, with over thirty years’ experience as a senior manager in Social Services, the NHS, charities and the private sector. Patricia is professionally qualified in company direction, general management and Human Resource Development, and works as a consultant specialising in governance and Board development.
Patricia is also a Group Board Member of emh group, a large housing association and care provider based in the East Midlands, and a voluntary board member of Homecome Ltd. based in Leicester. She is also independent Chair of the Birmingham Ageing Better Strategic Partnership.

Maureen Connolly is a proud feminist, committed to women for women services as the safest, most appropriate and effective provision for women and children affected by abuse. She has been involved in the specialist, Violence against Women sector for more than 25 years and is currently Chief Executive of Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid, Birmingham and Solihull’s leading specialist domestic violence agency.
Maureen is committed to multi agency and partnership working and as such is actively involved in a number of local and regional strategic partnerships. She has been instrumental in leading the development of integrated specialist services within BSWA, that address VAWG issues including domestic violence, sexual violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, child sexual exploitation and the first specialist domestic violence Think Family programme in the UK.

Caroline Bradbury-Jones is a registered nurse and midwife. She holds a position as Reader in Nursing at the University of Birmingham, UK where she leads the Risk, Abuse and Violence Research Programme. Her research focuses primarily on violence against women and girls, with a specific focus on improving healthcare professionals’ responses to domestic violence.

Jo Williams (BSc Hons, Geosciences) has been working for over 30 years in the corporate, public and charity sectors. Having spent 18 years working in the banking sector covering personal, business and corporate banking, Jo moved to work in public sector funding at the Big Lottery Fund. While there, Jo was one of the founding team members who set up the innovative ‘Women and girls initiative’, which ensured funding was directed to gender specific women’s organisations. Jo managed a funding portfolio totalling in excess of £20 million. Jo now enjoys a portfolio career including being a business manager in her family business, a freelance grant assessor for BBC Children in Need and as frontline support in various charities in the safeguarding sector.

Yvonne Palmer (Newman College of Higher Education/Leicester University FD Arts Voluntary & Community Organisation Development) is a Programme Executive at the Prince’s Trust and has responsibility for the Mosaic Mentoring programme across the Black Country. Yvonne has over 17 years’ experience of working in the Charity and Voluntary Sector and has a range of grant making and community development experience. Yvonne has strong experience and understanding of working in and across the Private, Statutory and Voluntary Sectors that includes people management and interagency working.
A hardworking, enthusiastic individual who is passionate about improving opportunities for young people. Skilled in programme/project management and delivery. Excellent in relationship management, collaborating and partnership working with a range of stakeholders.