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Meet the team

Partnership for Children is based in the United Kingdom, but has a global perspective. Its small office in Kingston upon Thames, south west of London, is the hub of a large international network of partners, all concerned with promoting the emotional wellbeing of children and young people.

Staff

Wendy Tabuteau
Co-CEO

Wendy has worked in the international charitable sector for over 30 years, most recently as Director of an NGO working with disabled children in Russia. She is a Vice Chair of a grant making trust which supports educational projects and livelihoods across the world.

Hannah Baker
Co-CEO

Hannah manages our UK and international programmes. Before joining Partnership for Children in 2017, she worked in quality improvement of Mental Health Services and has experience as an Assistant Psychologist whilst studying for her degree. Hannah is also a School Governor where she is responsible for special educational needs.

Liz Bowles
Project Manager

Liz leads on some of our key UK projects and supports our work with UK schools and international partners. She also manages PfC’s social media channels. Liz has 9 years of experience of secondary school teaching and health coaching.

Helen Danby
Design and Web Manager

Helen manages the design and print of all our printed materials, from teachers' booklets to fund raising leaflets, and also designs and maintains this website and our Online Learning Platform. Helen has many years of experience in graphic design and worked in magazine publishing for over 15 years.

Jayne Carter
Project Manager

Jayne is a qualified primary school teacher and early years specialist. She works as an independent educational consultant, supporting early years settings and schools in improving teaching and learning. She has managed a range of action research projects, which have explored the most effective conditions in narrowing the gap between children within a disadvantaged group and their peers. Jayne’s role at PfC is to manage our research and evaluation projects in schools

Board of Trustees

If you are interested in becoming a Trustee of Partnership for Children, please take a look at the role description.

Jeppe Kristen-Toft
Chair

Since 2001 Jeppe has been the director of Livslinien – the Danish national suicide prevention helpline. He was part of the team that set up the Livslinien in 1995. Jeppe is a qualified teacher working as a primary school teacher for a number of years. His main interests and expertise are in child development in an educational setting, training, coaching and organisational management and development. Jeppe was a founder Board member of PfC from 2001 – 2009 and re-joined the Board in 2022.

Jo Derrick
Vice Chair

Jo has held leadership roles in the fostering and children’s services sector for more than 20 years. She is a Non-Executive Director on the boards of various International and Scottish child-focused charities/organisations, enabling cross-fertilisation of best practice in strategic performance and good board governance. Jo has dedicated her career to championing the voices of care-experienced children and young people and the importance of supporting foster care families in their life journeys. In recent years, this has been underpinned by an understanding of the importance of trauma informed and responsive approaches to caring for our children.

Miranda Novak
Vice Chair

Miranda is an assistant professor at the Department of Behavior Problems at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb. Her expertise involves mental health promotion, socio-emotional learning, prevention of internalized disorders and implementation science.

Davide Antognazza
Trustee

Davide is a senior lecturer and researcher at the Department of education and learning at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of southern Switzerland, Locarno. His research and academic interests focus on socio-emotional learning, teacher education, personal development, and life skills.

Verity Linnell
Trustee

Verity is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Commercial Finance Director at Farfetch Group, a company with a significant international footprint. Verity brings a wealth of experience working with teams across the globe to bring to life the vision of a business. She believes that the more support and education we can give children in their early and formative years, the better equipped they are for the challenges of ‘real life’. In addition to her Trustee role at PfC, Verity is a Trustee of a local Age Concern.

Hein Marais
Trustee

Hein is a Partner at PWC based in London and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. Hein understands the importance of good mental health, having lost his mother to depression and seeing the impact of poor mental health on friends and colleagues.

 

Prina Patel
Trustee

Prina is pursuing a PhD in Developmental Psychology and Evaluation at Claremont Graduate University (CGU) in California. At CGU her research interests are in Positive Youth Development and the effective implementation of psychosocial learning programs in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa. She currently divides her time between Los Angeles and Kenya, where she works within the family businesses. Prina is also a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and formerly worked at Credit Suisse in London. In addition to her Trustee role at PfC, Prina serves as a board member for Premier Academy in Kenya.

 

Nicola Woolf
Trustee

Nicola is a senior educational psychologist, advising schools and families on a range of SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) issues and has worked both internationally and in London. She holds degrees in both Education and Psychology and started her career as a primary school teacher. She has a special interest in school improvement and effectiveness, inclusion for learners with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) and emotional literacy and resilience. Nicola believes in the central importance that good mental health and well-being bring to our learning across all stages of our lives.

 

Zoe Whitfeld
Trustee

Zoe is a Wellbeing Youth Worker, working as part of the Mental Health Support Team in secondary schools in South Oxfordshire. Zoe’s academic interests focus on the stigma around mental health and mental health across an individual’s lifespan. She has worked in the mental health department of the Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital and, as a Widening Participation and Outreach Ambassador at the University of Surrey, she has encouraged young people of diverse backgrounds to pursue higher education. She hopes to continue to work with young people to encourage good mental health in early years to set the foundation for emotionally intelligent adults. Zoe joins the Board as our first Early Career Trustee.

Advisors

Partnership for Children is very fortunate to have a dedicated group of advisors who are experienced leaders in their fields and voluntarily provide Partnership for Children with invaluable expert advice.

Sandra Mak
Advisor

Sandra is a leading communications and strategy consultant in Hong Kong. A former Trustee of Partnership for Children, she takes a special interest in our programmes, in particular the China programme where she has taken part in teacher training.

 

Doro Marden
Advisor

Doro has many years of experience as a trainer in parenting education. She co-authored ‘Raise Happy Children’ which has been translated into Polish, Chinese and Arabic. She is a former Chair of Partnership for Children and advised on the development of our Zippy at Home programme for parents.

Brian Mishara
Advisor

Brian Mishara is Professor of Psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), in Montreal, Canada, and Director of the Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices (CRISE). He works internationally in the development of suicide prevention programs and establishing crisis helplines. A past PFC board member, he was involved in the development of Zippy’s Friends and led the team that created Passport: Skills for Life, and has published evaluations of the effectiveness of these programmes.

 

Ilona Boniwell

Ilona Boniwell is a professor of positive psychology at the University of East London and the original founder of the UEL’s MSc in Applied Positive Psychology. She is one of the world leaders in positive psychology, founding the European Network of Positive Psychology, organising the first European Congress of Positive Psychology and was the first vice-chair of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). As CEO of Positran, she is a passionate practitioner of positive psychology. In 2009 she co-created and piloted the first edition of SPARK Resilience in East London and has was instrumental in supporting PfC to adapt and launch the new version in 2020.

Neil Humphrey
Advisor

Neil Humphrey is Professor of Psychology of Education at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK. His research interests include children’s mental health, social and emotional learning, and special educational needs. Neil has written extensively on SEL, including the book, 'Social and Emotional Learning: A Critical Appraisal' (published by Sage). When he is not working at the University, Neil moonlights as an unpaid taxi driver for his three daughters.

In Memoriam

Marion Panis

Marion Panis, member of the Partnership for Children Board and Director of our partner organisation in the Netherlands, passed away in January 2020, aged 55.