Our Board and Governors

Prior to chairing Second Step and Elim Housing, Graham spent 10 years as an expert advisor to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), four years as executive director at the Commission for Rural Communities and a decade in a number of senior roles at Business in the Community, one of The Prince’s Charities.

Prior to his time in the NHS, he was a civil servant, having being accepted into the Civil Service Fast Stream in 1998.  His government roles included homelessness policy, rural policy, the Scottish Cabinet secretariat and the reform and transformation of the prosecution service in Scotland.  His first career was as a sound engineer, working for EMI at Abbey Road Studios.

Sandra was previously Executive Director of Resources at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, where she led on a wide portfolio of corporate services including finance, estates, ICT and business development. A qualified accountant, Sandra began her accountancy career with the Bradford and Northern Housing Association. She joined the NHS in 1993 and has held high profile roles in finance and procurement within health authorities, mental health trusts, and the NHS Information Authority.

Sarah worked as Deputy COO at Avon and Wiltshire NHS Partnership Mental Health (AWP) Trust from November 2018 until 2024.  She has led her organisation through multiple complex situations as the gold commander for Covid, industrial action and critical incidents. Before this she held the roles of Divisional Director of Operations, AWP, November 2017 to November 2018 and Managing Director AWP, November 2014 to November 2017.

Prior to this she worked in a number of management and social worker roles including Service Manager/ Senior Service Manager, Deputy Manager and then Crisis Service Manager, Lecturer / Practitioner, Senior social work practitioner, Approved Social Worker and Social Worker/ Care Manager. She has completed the NHS Leadership Academy Award in Executive Healthcare Leadership (Nye Bevan), holds a MSc in Mental Health, and a BSc (Hons) Social Work and Diploma in Social Work

The programme is working in partnership with health and social care organisations and the VCSE sector, to redesign acute and community models of care, with an aim of improving system flow and maximising the opportunity for older people to retain their independence, through Homefirst integrated options. Prior to that, Rosanna was Deputy Chief Operating Officer at North Bristol Trust for eight years, across elective and emergency portfolios, having originally joined the NHS as a Graduate Management Trainee. Outside her NHS roles, Rosanna is passionate about engaging and harnessing the power of communities to support families and young people in need; and is chair of Baby Bank Network in Bristol, as well as a board member of the National Baby Bank Alliance.

She has previously been a Bank Mental Health Inspector for the Care Quality Commission and a Lay Advisory Panel Member (voluntary) with the College of Optometrists. Prior to this she was Clinical Director, BANES Swindon & Wiltshire Division, within Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Before this Nicola worked in a range of nursing, senior nursing and management roles in mental health and community organisations across the NHS.

Our Non Executive Directors

As well as experience in the commercial sector, Sumita has a breadth of experience in the public sector and has worked across the system; in the Local Authority as a Social Care Commissioner, in the Police leading the equalities and participation agenda and in the NHS as a senior leader in mental, community and acute health.

She is also an active volunteer, as founding Chair of the Bristol Mayoral Race Equality Commission and Bristol Women’s commission. Also in her capacity as a wellbeing practitioner, she offers free accessible wellbeing classes and gives regular broadcasts on BBC radio on health and wellbeing.

Sumita is passionate about being part of the solution to the two major issues of our time: social inequality and environmental destruction. She is the Board Champion for both these issues and she believes that a well-equipped and empowered workforce is the key to any transformation.

Sumita is Chair of the Charitable Funds Committee and Vice-Chair of the Resources Committee. She is also on the Quality Committee.

He chaired the Stroud and Berkeley Vale Primary Care Group, and has served as Treasurer on the Gloucestershire Local Medical Committee, working in liaison with the clinical commissioning group on specific projects.

A former graduate of Bristol University, Stephen had junior doctor roles in Cheltenham, Exeter, Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury, before his GP training in Buckingham.

He retired from general practice in October 2019. Outside of work he is an active member of Cotswold Edge Golf Club. Stephen has two dogs and enjoys walking them in the wooded Cotswold countryside.

Nicola is also Chair of Council at the University of Gloucestershire. There she is an advocate for education as a means of transforming people’s lives so that they can make the world a better place, and for the civic role the University plays in our community.

She also serves as a Trustee of the Gloucestershire Counselling Service, a charity dedicated to improving mental health in the county. She is also Senior Independent Director of Connexus Housing, a social landlord based in Shropshire and Herefordshire.

In the private sector, Nicola chairs the Reference Committee for the Premier Miton UK Responsible Investment Fund, with a remit to advise on the fund’s investment policy and scrutinise investment decisions from the perspective of sustainability and ethics.

Previously, Nicola worked in the financial services sector as a global change lead. She also spent several years working as a freelance management consultant majoring in complex, strategic change across different sectors, both in the UK and internationally.

Nicola has lived in Gloucestershire for 20 years with her husband, two sons, two cats and a dog.

Bilal started his working life in high street banking, before graduating as a mature student, thereafter, professionally qualifying whilst working for Chubb Electronic Security during the 1990s.  Subsequently, the majority of Bilal’s career has been spent in senior finance roles working for large national and multi-national outsourcing companies, spanning amongst others rail, highways, waste, energy (including renewables), EV charging and property technology offerings, servicing both the public and private sectors, and culminated in his last role, prior to retirement in June 2023, as Divisional Finance Director with Equans UK & Ireland.

Bilal’s personal interest in the NHS stems, in part, from his children, three of whom have pursued careers in healthcare, two being doctors, the third being an optometrist; with all three now working for the NHS.

Jason has strong interests in ensuring public services are designed around the needs of people and communities, in improving equity of access to health and care, and in helping Government put emerging technology to use in tackling the greatest challenges of our age.

Rosi Shepherd is Chief Nursing Officer for Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board and combines that role with her new Non Executive position with our Trust.

She grew up in Gloucestershire and having moved away to do nurse training in London and work in South Wales for some years, she moved back to Gloucestershire for family reasons. She has worked within Gloucestershire in acute, community and social care roles as well as for NHS England and then in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

Rosi has been involved in educational governance for ten years first as a governor, then Chair of Governors at Balcarras School and now as Chair of Members of Balcarras Multi-Academy Trust focussing on high quality education for all children in non-selective schools.

Vicci Livingstone-Thompson is the Chief Executive Officer of Inclusion Gloucestershire, a user-led organisation working to further inclusion and champion the voice of people facing disabling barriers across Gloucestershire and beyond. Vicci’s career background is in senior leadership within the charity disability sector in Gloucestershire and beyond.

She is passionate about empowering people to play the leading role in managing their health and wellbeing and advocating for community-based preventative care and support.

Vicci, who was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to mental health and people with disabilities in Gloucestershire in the King’s New Year Honours List in 2024, was also named one of the 100 most influential disabled people in the UK on the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 list in 2002.

She is also a trustee of the National Disabled People’s Organisation, Disability Rights UK, and local charity Active Impact, which champions inclusion for disabled children and young people.”

Vicci said: “As a lifelong Gloucestershire resident and disabled person, I am committed to supporting the Trust as we coproduce with Gloucestershire communities, work in partnership with the voluntary and community sector and address health inequalities and inequity.”

Prior to her appointment at UoG, Cathia was the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the Lebanese American University (2019-2023) and worked across the US and the Middle East.

She established programmes in Liberal Education and oversaw a large number of programmes ranging from Nutrition, Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics to Performing Arts, Political Sciences, History and Sociology.

From 2003-2019 Cathia was at the University of Warwick where she occupied various roles, culminating in the Foundation of the School for Cross-Faculty studies in 2015 where she was appointed as Founding Head of School. Cathia founded the Global Sustainable Development unit at UoW and oversaw the establishment of the Research Institute for GSD. She also founded the Liberal Arts program which is predicated on the pillars of Social Justice, Gender Equity and Sustainability.

During her career, she has set up education programmes in Australia, the USA, Europe and the Middle East. Cathia holds a BSc Biology, BA Literature, MA Comparative Literature and PhD Comparative Literature and a PGCE. She is a certified coach who is committed to supporting individuals from under-represented communities during their leadership journey.