Meet the team

Mark is our Chief Executive Officer and joined Learning Space in 2025.

Mark is an experienced charity Chief Executive with over 25 years’ successful track record in leadership covering social care, housing, community development, health, social/criminal justice, as well as international rights and development.

More recent roles have included Interim CEO at two London community charities – Boiler House Spaces and Westway Trust – and CEO of the national advocacy charity POhWER which supported over 50,000 people living with mental ill-health, a physical or learning disability or dementia.

He is a qualified fundraising and marketing professional.

Sarah is our Head of children and young people’s services.

She has worked at Learning Space since 2021 and brings over 20 years’ experience across children’s services, mental health and education, including nine years in senior leadership.

With experience in residential children’s homes, local authority services and therapeutic settings, Sarah’s particular areas of expertise are neurodiversity, including autism and learning disabilities, and supporting children and young people with multiple needs.

At Learning Space, Sarah leads the development and delivery of children and young people’s services. She has specialist training in CYP IAPT, autism and learning disabilities and is currently completing a Level 7 Senior Leadership apprenticeship. Her approach is systemic, inclusive and whole-family, with a strong focus on listening to children and families.

Stephanie is the Safeguarding Lead at Learning Space.

She brings extensive knowledge of emotional wellbeing, safeguarding and child development to her work.  Stephanie has over 25 years’ experience supporting children, young people and families across education, child protection, fostering and early help.

Ellie is an early-career project delivery professional in the Ministry of Justice. For 3 years, she was a member of Amplify, the Youth Shadow Leadership Board for Mindworks Surrey, contributing to initiatives across the county.

Passionate about improving children and young people’s mental health, she is committed to creating and advocating for positive change.

Jenna brings a wealth of leadership experience to the board. The first decade of her career focused on people management, talent development, and operational delivery. She holds a CIPD Diploma in Learning and Development and has led a variety of front-line departments in highly regulated environments.

Over the last five years, her work has centred on customer experience excellence and service transformation. A certified Change Management Practitioner and Product Owner, Jenna has led large digital transformation programmes and brings strong technology expertise and strategic decision-making skills to the board.

Lesley worked with Learning Space for over 15 years as a Practitioner and a Team Leader before retiring in 2022. Shortly after, she joined the Trustee Board of which she is now the Safeguarding Lead.

Lesley’s background is in Social Work having trained in Aberdeen she went on to specialise with working with children and families. She then returned home to London and worked in various social work settings including as a paediatric social worker in Kingston Hospital. Lesley previously managed a busy charity offering social activities including playschemes/after school clubs/transition focused groups for young people with a learning disability.

Lesley is also a trustee of a local fundraising charity and Chair for a community project group.

Michael is an experienced business consultant with a diverse career spanning several decades. He has held various leadership roles, including Finance and Operations Director at LOVEFiLM, Director of Finance at Touch Local, and Non-Executive Director at Plumen.

His expertise spans finance, operations, and strategic planning, having worked with companies such as LOVEFiLM and Woolworths. Michael’s educational background includes a BA in Business Studies, and he is a qualified accountant, FCCA.

He has over 15 years of experience in volunteering, serving as Youth Vice Chair and Junior Director of Rugby at Teddington RFC, as well as a Director of Strawberry Hill Golf Club Ltd.

Siân is a Chief People Officer with experience in the perfume and digital marketing sectors.  She brings over 15 years of expertise in People Management, HR, DEIB, and wellbeing.

As a mum to two children – one of whom is neurodivergent and has been supported by Learning Space – Siân is passionate about helping the charity reach more families in need.

Stefan is chair of the board at Learning Space.

Stefan’s 25-year career in management and IT consultancy included roles across strategy, innovation, business development, commercial management as well as working with clients as an executive consultant.

Stefan was the founder and CEO of a Surrey-based youth charity and has nearly 20 years’ experience in young people’s emotional wellbeing and transformation of child and adolescent mental services.

He is a non-executive director at Surrey Choices and part of the team at a boutique English sparkling wine maker.

Sue has over 20 years board experience in NHS in operational, strategy and improvement roles. Having originally trained as an accountant she is certified in the Kaizen lean improvement approach. She is trustee of two youth and children-based charities.

Sue is experienced in business planning, organisational governance, leadership development, financial management, recruitment, service development, strategic and annual planning, operational delivery of complex services, service redesign, performance management and media response, so brings a huge range of skills to the board.