Founder & Director

Jill Thorburn

With over 25 years of experience in social work leadership, Jill understands the power of revolutionary technology to improve practice. Jill oversees partnerships, revenue and sustainability.

Founder & Director

Yvonne Anderson

Co-founder of Mind Of My Own, Yvonne worked in education, social care and health, in public, private and voluntary sectors. She’s very keen on equality.

Non-Executive Director

Mary McKenna

Mary is a well known technology entrepreneur and angel investor.  She co-founded the very successful public sector focused e-learning company Learning Pool.

Non-Executive Director

Chand Chudasama

Chand is a strategy and corporate finance advisor. He is also a Partner at an accountancy and advisory firm and supports a portfolio of high–growth businesses.

Chief Executive

Hunter Jones

Hunter joined to help drive the company mission of advancing universal children’s rights. His passion lies in developing technology and services that are accessible and make positive change for all.

Sales Director

Natalie Ward

Natalie brings over 15 years of sales and sales leadership experience from leading tech firms. Joining Mind Of My Own to advance the tech4good mission, she directs and guides the sales team.

Product Director

Tom Cella

Tom leads on all aspects of producing our apps, from user research through to managing the development sprints. He has worked at the intersection of technology and social purpose for the past 7 years.

Finance Manager and Business Support Co-ordinator

Amanda Mieras

Amanda‘s work covers two main areas Finance Manager handling the day-to-day of the business. Quality Management Administrator spearheading the ISO 9001 certification achieving the highest level of conformity.

Community and Engagement Lead

Ashleigh Farquhar

Ashleigh takes the lead on engaging with and growing our community of users in the UK. Having worked in children’s services previously, her passion lies in amplifying the voice of every young person.

Account Manager

Charlotte Brannigan

Charlotte manages all the customer accounts in the North of England. She takes a lead in implementing Xchange, our youth justice app.

Lead Developer

Ed Perkins

Originally from an arts and education background, Ed brings a diverse range of experience and skills to our product team with a focus on people-first processes and emotional intelligence.

Content & Design Manager

Elspeth Coutts

Elspeth manages all marketing materials and resources. With expertise in visual content and graphic design, she brings diverse experience from various startups, ranging from textiles to tech.

Account Executive

Oliver Mellor

Olly specialises in growing our community. Originally from a tech sales background, he made the move to Mind Of My Own to support our mission of advancing universal children’s rights.

Account Manager

Melissa Hull

Melissa joined Mind Of My Own to manage our Scottish, Welsh, and Channel Island partners. She has a wealth of voluntary experience working with young people for national charities and advice services.

Lead developer

Rob Preus-MacLaren

Rob is an experienced lead developer with an emphasis on code-for-humans. Passionate about tech and systems design, he brings innovation and continuous learning to our product team.

Information Security Administrator & Business support

Roz Allan

Roz’s manages our information security management system, ensuring continued certification with ISO27001 and how it links to ISO9001. Roz also supports all implementations of new customers.

Financial Director

Peter Wallace

Financial Director

Peter is an experienced CFO, having qualified with Ernst and Young. He brings a wealth of financial direction, commercial management, and fundraising experience, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Design Lead – Service Design

Vinishree Solanki

She is a multi-disciplinary designer and leads Service Design, User Research through co-production, and UX of  Mind of My Own products. She enhances the product ecosystems for social impact, by intersecting technology, business needs and design.

Expert Consultant and Trainer

Natalie Trentham

Natalie has worked in Children’s Social Care for over 35 years, working across sectors as a practitioner, senior manager and Ofsted Inspector.

Trainer

Jane Wheeler

Jane worked for 18 years within Children’s Services within both Early Help and Children’s Social Care leading on involving children and young people in decision making about their own lives and also on the services they receive.

Trainer

Megan Geddes

Megan is a trainer for Mind Of My Own and has 12 years of experience in residential childcare and loves being involved in anything participation. Megan continues to be an operational lead in her organisation giving dual learning to those she is training in her sessions.

Trainer

Nicola Higham

Nicola has over 20 years experience working with children and families as a social worker manager and as a strategic lead in residential care

Trainer

Arlene Kyle

Before becoming a trainer for Mind Of My Own, Arlene was managing director for a residential childcare company that supported children and young people affected by trauma, abuse and neglect.

Photographer

Zobia Ahmed

Zobia has a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Activism and Documentary Photography from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. A woman of Kashmiri descent and a care leaver with extensive experience, she is passionate about documenting the vibrant lives we lead and recounting stories. Her work spans internationally, as she aspires to use her lens to provide a voice to the voiceless and to contribute to the ever-evolving planet we call home. If you are in search of a photographer, check out her website or @zobishoots on Instagram.