Who we are

Mike Storey

Patron

Mike Storey is the Patron of Career Connect. He is a member of the House of Lords and leads and speaks for his Party on Education. He is also Vice Chair of the all Parliamentary Group on Education. He is a member of the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications and Digital. Mike was the former Leader of Liverpool City from 1998 to 2005 and was proud of the role he played in regenerating the City and it was his successful idea to bid and achieve European Capital of Culture in 2008. He is a former Headteacher of two schools and is the Patron of the Royal Life Saving Society

Lorraine Dodd

Chair of the Board

Lorraine was as an investment director with over 30 years experience in the financial services sector, specialising in advising individuals and their families, together with trusts and charities. She has always had a special interest in socially responsible investment.

Alongside her day job, she has followed her interests in health and education, believing these to be key areas for the well being and sustainability of local communities and families. She has been a non-executive director in the NHS, latterly at Alder Hey. Lorraine is a governor at Birkenhead School and chair at the Neuro Therapy Centre, which provides therapeutic services to individuals living with neurological conditions such as MS and Parkinson’s. Life is busy but her home and garden in North Wales provide calm and respite, not least due to the efforts of her husband and under gardener!

Dr Lauren Ballaera

Trustee

Dr Lauren Bellaera is Director of Research and Impact at The Brilliant Club, a UK-wide charity whose aim is to support less advantaged students to access the most competitive universities and to succeed when they get there. Alongside this role, Lauren is a Lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London and the Institute of Education, UCL. She teaches applied research methods and supervises Master’s dissertations in Psychology and Education.

Lauren has a PhD in cognitive psychology from the University of Warwick and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Cambridge. In 2019, Lauren was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship. Her research examined the role of critical thinking in higher education.

Steven Leach

Trustee

Steven is a Level 6 qualified careers guidance professional with experience of delivering services in secondary, tertiary, mainstream and SEND settings. In addition to careers guidance, Steven supports school leaders seeking accreditation for their careers programmes, helping them to meet the Gatsby Benchmarks and achieve the Quality in Careers Standard.

Tom McBride

Trustee

Tom McBride is the Director of the Ending Youth Violence Lab, a new initiative dedicated to building the evidence on effective approaches to serious social problems that impact on the lives of children.

Tom has over 15 years of experience of public sector research and analysis roles. He is the former Director of Evidence at the Early Intervention Foundation and the Head of Strategic Analysis at the Department for Education.

Moriah Nell

Trustee

Moriah Nell is a global, entrepreneurial business professional and has worked with organisations around the world, from charities to Fortune 500 companies. She focuses on navigating growth and change through innovation, collaboration and the application of digital technologies.

Her work is primarily in the health and wellness sectors, including helping vulnerable communities address the social and economic conditions that influence health. After 10 years working as a management consultant in PwC’s health industries practice, she made her way to the charity sector, applying business expertise to address disparities in health, wellbeing, education, and employment.

Moriah is American and married to a member of the armed forces. She loves to travel, experience new cultures and meet new people.

Katie Pettifer

Trustee

Katie Pettifer is a senior civil servant. She has worked on criminal justice and social policy in a range of different roles over the past decade, most recently as Director for Offender Policy and Youth Justice in the Ministry of Justice. She recently spent three years at Ofcom, the UK’s independent communications regulator, and she is currently the Strategy Director at the Food Standards Agency.

Andy Rannard

Trustee

A teacher since 1996, senior leader since 2004 and Acting Head / Headteacher since 2015, Andy has worked in both inner-city and comprehensive secondary school settings. He believes strongly in the importance of ‘giving something back’, has served as a governor in primary and secondary schools for 10 years and is currently a governor of an inner city academy and an outstanding Sixth Form College.

Andy has a passion for careers education and the important role that effective careers education, combined with meaningful engagement and opportunities, can have on the life chances of young people. Beyond work, he likes to spend time with his family, going on long walks, playing tennis, football and also enjoys kayaking.

Sue Smith

Trustee

Sue Smith is Director of Finance and Assurance at Halton Housing, a leading housing association that owns and manages over 7,000 homes across Widnes and Runcorn. She leads on finance, performance, governance and assurance, keeping Halton Housing running financially on track. Sue is passionate about helping individuals realise their potential and bridging the gap between learning and employment.

Elaine Sweeney

Trustee

A Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience in the Finance Departments of global Financial Services and Logistics companies across UK and Europe, Elaine is a member of a national prizewinning finance team.  She possesses extensive leadership, financial control, financial reporting and financial systems skills.

Sheila Clark

CEO

CEO, responsible for the full range of operations across the Charity.

Sheila has been an intrinsic part of Career Connect’s strategic leadership team since its inception. A successful company Director with significant experience in developing and leading services with Local Authorities, schools and businesses she also heads up HR, workforce development, quality improvement, commercial services and international business development. She is committed to developing career management services for young people and adults at an international, national and regional level and brings extensive experience in creating, developing and sustaining strategic partnerships and good relationships at all levels.

Karen Parry

Chief Operations Officer

Karen is responsible for operations across the whole charity including all geographic locations in which we operate. She is on the Management Information Team and is a representative on the Career Connect Performance and Operations, Safeguarding, Health and Safety and Workforce and Quality Development Committees.

Since joining the organisation as a clerical apprentice in 1989, Karen has enjoyed several operational delivery and management roles, including an eighteen-month secondment opportunity with Raleigh International.

Married with one son – Ethan, who is 15, Karen is a qualified careers adviser and has associate qualifications in youth and community work and basic counselling. In 2017 Karen achieved a CMI level 7 Diploma in Strategic Leadership and Management.

Simon Bean

Director of Business Development & Fundraising

Leading Business Development across the charity.

Simon has worked in regeneration for the past 25 years on both capital and revenue projects. He is passionate about creating opportunities for everyone to fulfil their potential, particularly those who face the greatest obstacles. He is experienced in developing partnerships, leading bid teams and securing new funding streams for the charity. He was instrumental in securing two of the largest social impact bonds yet commissioned. He is a non-executive director of Achieve North West Connect and has held non-executive positions across a range of charities.

Chris Bennett

Managing Director, Achieve

Managing Director of Achieve NW Connect, providing strategic leadership for justice services.

Chris Bennett is Managing Director of Achieve NW Connect, a subsidiary company of Career Connect, focusing on offender employment, training and education services. Prior to this Chris had a career in the Probation Service, working as a Probation Officer and Senior Probation Officer. Chris is committed to offender rehabilitation. She became Operational Manager for these services across Cheshire Probation, before moving to Merseyside Probation to become the Senior Manager leading the Achieve NW initiative. This was an ESF programme, “Services to Increase the Employability of Offenders”.

Chris believes that as part of Career Connect, Achieve NW Connect can continue to offer services which have a positive impact on individuals and support them on their journey towards employment.

Dan Birtles

Director of IT & Digital

Our Director of I.T. & Digital, Dan Birtles joins us from Co-operatives UK and has vast experience in Digital & IT transformation, strategic planning and delivery of technology solutions.

Dan has worked in the management and operations of Digital and IT across a range of sectors, with key roles at Liverpool Hope University, RNID, BT, ACC Liverpool and Health Shield.

Gemma Grady

Commercial Director

Gemma joined Career Connect in 2023, having previously worked in the Consultancy arm of the National Trust for over 12 years. She has more than 25 years’ experience working for large companies in the private and third sectors, advising on visitor infrastructure projects and implementing strategies for successful growth delivery. 

Gemma is a Non-Exec Board Director for Lancashire Wildlife Trust and of the The Atkinson. She is passionate about people and places and believes in the value of supporting individuals to succeed in reaching their potential.

Gill Holywell

Director of Finance

Gill has over 30 years finance experience mainly in the third sector. She joined Career Connect in 2002 and is responsible for Finance, Compliance, Premises, Facilities and ICT as well as being our Company Secretary. In addition to managing Career Connect finances, Gill and her team also provide financial services to Adviza, a similar charity to Career Connect, based in Thames Valley. In providing Financial Services, Gill and her team were the proud winners of both a Charity Times Award and also a Third Sector Award for Financial Management and Leadership.

Danielle Kneale

Director of People & Culture

Leading Human Resources, Professional Training Services and Quality Management.

Danielle has a background in working with young people, before joining Career Connect in 2002. CIPD qualified to lead the HR team, Danielle also champions many of the charity’s digital developments to improve working practices for people, as well as enhancing quality of services to clients. Danielle combines her knowledge and understanding of operational delivery, with strategic HR expertise to ensure the charity employs and retains the best people, to achieve the best possible outcomes for clients.

Gary Mundy

Director of Research & Evaluation

Gary joined Career Connect in 2022 with more than 20 years’ international experience leading evaluation and research for organisations in the not-for-profit sector. His last 14 years have been spent in Asia, supporting the generation and use of evidence to maximise the impact of public health and education programmes, working with the Population Services International, Helen Keller International and the British Council.

Before this, Gary worked for BBC Media Action, supporting programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa, after beginning his career in the UK Government Social Research service. He is committed to the use of high-quality evidence in the design and delivery of programmes that maximise social impact.

Diane Sproson

Director of Operations

Leading the charity’s Education and Business services in addition to in Salford and Manchester services to young people.

Diane Sproson, Assistant Director leads the commissioned services for young people in Salford and Manchester and the charity’s Education and Business services across the north west, providing a range of services to over 120 schools. Diane has worked in the information, advice and guidance field for over 35 years and for Career Connect since 2001. Diane has a Diploma in Careers Guidance and started her career in Salford as a Careers Adviser, she has also worked in Tameside, Cheshire and Merseyside.

Ruben

Manchester

I am currently accessing support from the Connect To Your Future Career Connect team in Manchester. I’m interested in politics, architecture/interior design, games and history particularly fashion, pop culture and queer history. I also like to watch TV shows and do extra research around them and analyse them. I applied to be a Youth Ambassador because I didn’t really have much going on in my life and felt like I was lacking purpose, but I am really passionate about social issues and making life better for people, so I feel like this was the perfect opportunity for me.

Tate

Prescot

At the moment, I am studying a Level 2 Public and Uniform Services at St Helens College. Some of my passions and interest including advocating against knife crime, free running, sports, fitness and public services. I wanted to become a Youth Ambassador to help young people who don’t have a voice. I also want to meet new people from different backgrounds to mine and gain some new experiences and challenges.

Shihab

Manchester

As a recruit, I'm passionate about serving my country and making a difference. In my free time, I choose to be a youth ambassador because I believe in investing in the future generation. Being a youth ambassador allows me to use my leadership skills and passion for community engagement to empower young people, amplify their voices, and contribute to positive change. It's an opportunity to inspire and mentor the next generation while honing my own communication, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities. By serving as a youth ambassador, I am not only representing the RAF but also making a meaningful impact on the lives of young people, fostering a brighter future for our society.

Olga

Manchester

Hello! My name is Olga El Khayat. Currently, I am taking an online course on HTML-CSS, which is helping me expand my knowledge of programming and computer science. I have also recently started learning how to play the guitar, and I find it quite enjoyable. I am a strong believer in the power of youth and their ability to make a positive impact on society. This is why I aspire to become a youth ambassador as I am passionate about ensuring that young people's voices are heard, irrespective of their age, background, or any other unique characteristics.

Yasmina

Manchester

I am currently studying Applied Science, Maths and English at College. My passions are reading, learning a new language and volunteering at my local mosque. I wanted to become a Youth Ambassador because I hope to gain valuable teamwork and leadership skills while making a positive impact to the young generation.

Rorey

Wigan

Angelina

Manchester

I wanted to become a young youth ambassador I would want to have more opportunity to young people or people who are struggling and don’t know what they want in life to make Manchester a better place to be able to hear young people opinions to be heard. I also feel like it would be great if more people know about the young youth ambassadors it would be good if more people knew about what we do and what we are and what can we offer. Learning new Skills. I think it would good if we learn new skills and it would really help people to become confident and more independent. Things that I am interested in:
Dancing
Singing
Learning about history
Learning about new languages around the world
Learning about different beliefs and traditions.
Making the world a better place for everyone.

Amelie

Liverpool

I am hoping to become a veterinarian and start college this year to begin working towards this after being home educated most of my life. I’m interested in music and animals and love going to concerts and festivals. I wanted to become a youth ambassador to give young home educated people a voice and gain new experiences and knowledge.