IMPACT Staff

Central Staff Team

Our Central Staff Team is largely based in Birmingham and manages the strategic and operational aspects of the project.

Prof Jon
Glasby

Director of IMPACT
(Birmingham, England)

The University of Birmingham’s School of Social Policy strapline is ‘to understand the world – and change it’ – and this is exactly what IMPACT seeks to do. I’m a qualified social worker by background, former Director of the University’s Health Services Management centre and former Head of the School of Social Policy. My other roles include being a Non-Executive Director of a local authority children’s service and of an NHS Foundation Trust.

Sheena Robertson

Head of Operations
(Birmingham, England)

IMPACT is making a tangible and significant difference, working with individuals with lived experience of care, practitioners, social workers, regulators and policy makers to drive evidence informed transformation of adult care experience locally, regionally and nationally across the four nations. I am priveleged to have the opportunity to support the operational delivery of this crucially important and timely centre.

With 30 years of senior experience in teaching, administration, and professional services in higher education, plus financial audit training and work in the charity sector, I am looking forward to using my experience, knowledge and skills to strengthen operational delivery for the IMPACT centre.

Javiera Elsa
Squadritto

Centre Administration Manager
(Birmingham, England)

I joined IMPACT because supporting this project gives me a sense of pride. I am motivated to contribute to making a real difference for adult social care provision. My experience has focused on operations and executive support within further education establishments, such as museums and universities.

Rawinder Nottra

Senior Project Administrator
(Birmingham, England)
[email protected]

I joined IMPACT because I believe no one understands the adult care system and support services more than the people, families and carers who use them and using the ‘co-production’ holistic approach is crucial to improving it. My background lies in administration for various research projects and this has definitely been the most rewarding!

Izzy
Kennedy

Communications and Engagement Manager
(Birmingham, England)

The chance to make a real difference to the lives of people across the four nations is really special. IMPACT’s focus on lived experience is what attracted me to the team and being able to share those experiences and stories is exciting. I joined IMPACT after six years working in government comms. I started as a PR apprentice in Whitehall, and moved into digital communications and external affairs.

Abi Villarroel

Digital Communications Officer
(Birmingham, England)

I wanted to align my communications career with meaningful, community-focused social work. I feel that community is paramount, and it’s where I see my career evolving in the future.

I’m a communications creative with experience across corporate PR, publishing, and agency work, often working in campaigns, copywriting, and social media. My background also includes creative writing, visual arts, radio broadcasting and teaching.

Alys Clarke

Communications and
Activity Coordinator
(Birmingham, England)

Joining IMPACT is an exciting opportunity! I was inspired by the mission to drive positive change through research evidence and being a part of empowering individuals who rely on and provide support to make real-life changes within adult social care. I have worked at UoB, within the College of Medical & Dental Sciences for the last 5 years. I supported the Research Office administration, assisting with Research Projects (post-award) and promoting training and development of the Researcher Community and PhD students.

Suzie Crowter

Lived Experience Engagement Lead
(Coventry, England)

IMPACT’s work stood out to me as it shines a light on social care, a topic close to my heart that often goes unnoticed. I’m inspired by the fact that lived experience is at the heart of their approach, and I joined to continue growing their excellent co-production work.

Evidence and Evaluation Team

Louise McCabe

Deputy Head of Evidence and Evaluation
(Stirling, Scotland)

IMPACT offers me an exciting chance to be part of something that will lead to real change in the delivery and impact of social care. I started my career as a care worker in residential homes for older people before becoming an academic conducting research and education about the lives of people with dementia and I am now a Professor in Dementia Studies at the University of Stirling. Much of my work has been about understanding and valuing people’s lived experience and I have led large-scale national evaluations of local projects.

Dr Aisha Macgregor

Evidence and Evaluation Research Fellow
(Stirling, Scotland)

I joined IMPACT because of its potential to improve care processes and outcomes across the UK. My research to date has focused on exploring experiences of health and social care provision, including how an ethics of care can be applied to improve practice. I also have experience in implementation science, to help increase the chance of successful uptake in practice.

Laura Reid

Evidence and Evaluation Research Fellow
(Stirling, Scotland)

IMPACT offers me a unique and exciting opportunity to be part of a centre which has a real impact on social care practice. I am a social worker and feel passionately about policy and practice changes being driven by people with lived experience. My research to date has focused on learning from lived experiences and practice knowledge in health and social care. Most recently I have been conducting research with children and families affected by domestic abuse.

Embedding Team

Laura Griffith

Deputy Head of National Embedding
(Birmingham, England)

Laura has previously worked at the Universities of Oxford, Aston and Birmingham, often focusing on understanding people’s lived experiences of public services. This includes time spent with NICE on people’s experiences of adult mental health services. More recently, she was a Senior Knowledge Transfer Facilitator with Public Health England, and has been co-ordinating Birmingham’s ‘Creating a Mentally Healthy City’ initiative.

Nathan Stephens

Policy Officer
(Birmingham, England)

My motivation for joining IMPACT was to support more accountable practice change through the combination of implementing evidence and empowering the voices of those who draw on care and support. Nathan is a PhD student researching a countywide approach to scaling the provision of the Meeting Centre intervention for people affected by dementia. He has committed many of his professional years to care work including dementia care, mental health, and child protection. Most recently, Nathan was an unpaid carer for his Nan who was living with dementia.

National Project Officers

Dr Obert
Tawodzera

Project Officer
(Birmingham, England)

I have always believed that to make a positive change in adult social care we need to understand the lived experiences of and work with people who draw on care and support. IMPACT’s desire to use practical evidence and wisdom was the main thing that attracted me to join IMPACT. Formerly, I’m a care support worker, and recently I completed my PhD at the University of Sheffield, focussing on transnational aged care arrangements between UK-based Zimbabwean migrant care workers and their overseas family members.

Dr Janet Heaton

Project Officer
(Stirling, Scotland)

I joined IMPACT to use my research skills to try and improve lives and make a difference in adult social care. I am a social scientist and have been an applied health and social care researcher throughout my career, working in the NHS and at universities in England and Scotland

Dr Victoria
Rivera-Ugarte

Project Officer
(Cardiff, Wales)

I joined IMPACT because I am interested in participatory processes, working side by side with users and practitioners, to create meaningful knowledge for people’s lives. I’m a PhD in Social Policy (University of Bristol) and a social worker, with academic and practical experience in community development, social participation, and decolonial perspectives.

Dr Jennifer Betts

Project Officer
(Coleraine, Northern Ireland)

I joined IMPACT because I believe that it will make a real difference to how social care is delivered, thus making a difference to the lives of those most vulnerable in our society. I have worked as a researcher over the last 30+ years in the voluntary sector, the Northern Ireland Assembly, and in academia. My experience in the voluntary sector and in government policy making has given me an insight into the implementation of policies in communities.