HomeOur Team

Our Team

Laurelle Brown

Chief Executive Officer

Learn more

Belinda Shelton

Chief Finance Officer

Learn more

Charli Davies

Business Manager

Learn more

Our Associates

Each of our associate trainers is professionally qualified and appointed based on experience, expertise and commitment in our area of work, as well as their ability to foster change and transformation based on their respective backgrounds and skills. 

Below are some, but not all, of the associates that work with us providing a wide range of expertise and experiences to achieve the best possible outcomes. 

 

 

 

Angela Brook

Learn more

Sherrelle Parke

Learn more

Asra Memon

Learn more

 

Joshua Karl

Learn more

Martin Pratt

Learn more

Sheila Akomiah

Learn more

Liz Jewer

Learn more

Jade Meakings Leahy

Learn more

Jackie Boylan

Learn more

Emense Tulloch

Learn more

Georgina Brown

Learn more

Aisha Graham-Sharif

Learn More

Hannah Mahoney

Learn more

Victoria Nzeribe 

Learn more

Nick White

Learn more

Janet Ayoola

Learn more

Laurelle is a JNC-qualified Youth and Community Worker with over 20 years’ experience in children’s services, including roles in social care, youth offending, and education. She has held key positions at organisations such as The Children’s Society, Coram Voice, the London Violence Reduction Unit, and various local authorities.

Laurelle excels in leading transformational change within child welfare systems, navigating complex political landscapes, and developing impactful strategies for organisations. Her special interest areas are anti-racism, systems thinking, and intersectionality.

She is also a Churchill Fellow, Director of KIJIJI, and serves as a Lay Member for a Safeguarding Children Partnership and a School Governor. Passionate about centering marginalised voices, Laurelle’s work is informed by her identity as a neurodivergent Black woman.

Belinda is a financial professional with 20 years of experience in a number of industries including entertainment, hospitality, manufacturing and retail.

Belinda is motivated by delivering innovation in business and enjoys using finance to add value to businesses and embrace the challenges of sustainability and working towards equity and inclusion.

Charli Davies is a seasoned business manager with over a decade of hands-on experience. Her leadership journey embodies efficiency, a relentless customer service focus, and a proven track record of exceeding expectations.

Charli’s unique skill set spans across diverse landscapes, ranging from small businesses to managing multi-million-pound departments within larger organisations. Her strategic mindset, coupled with a passion for innovative solutions, drives tangible success in every role she undertakes.

Charli’s dedication to efficient operations and unwavering customer-centric approach has consistently delivered results. With a BA Hons in Broadcast Journalism and a BSc in Business and Childhood Studies, Charli’s qualifications are as diverse as her experiences. Combined with her role in running her own community-focused business she is equipping with a unique blend of expertise and insights.

Angela has a passion for unlocking potential in organisations and people, building high performing teams and helping manage change.  She is known for her facilitation work with senior leadership teams on aligning their strategic goals and how best to achieve these.  Her strong diagnostic skills ensure the real issues are uncovered, help make complex issues simple and enable teams to bring creativity and solutions to the table.  Industries she has worked in include the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry, engineering, IT, medical devices, charity and public sector.

Clients enjoy working with Angela as her warm, informal style creates trust quickly and her pragmatism ensures real world application.  Her executive coaching expertise has enabled leaders across Europe with their career and country transitions, development and personal growth and development.

Angela has worked internationally with senior teams, coaching and facilitating towards high performance and supporting them in establishing effective governance and ways of working.  In her work on leadership and culture transformation, Angela brings expertise in agile working across ‘systems’ – partnering with key stakeholders outside the traditional organisational boundary,

Sherrelle has eight years professional research training and experience within the UK Civil Service followed by another eight years managerial research experience in local government, private and charity sectors. In her early career, as lead researcher for children and young people in custody in the UK, she delivered offender surveys and provided research support to prison inspection teams, and coordinated research projects on behalf of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. She went on to lead the development of a flagship evaluation framework for a London Council, including an ongoing programme of policy analysis across key Council transformation areas, including health and social care. Third sector experience includes a role at the Centre of Excellence for Child Sexual Abuse (Barnardo’s Children’s Charity), where she was responsible for managing several research projects and publications. International work includes pro bono research and evaluation work in Tanzania, East Africa, delivering an impact assessment for a women’s livelihoods charity, as well as her most recent role managing large scale international research projects, including research training in Zambia and Nigeria.

Asra is an independent research consultant who specialises in qualitative analysis. She has completed a Master’s in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics (LSE). She has had 4 years of experience in conducting quantitative and qualitative research and analysis in multiple projects related to public health, social inclusion, migration, and social innovation. Prior to working at Melian Dialogue, she worked on research and strategic foresight consultancy assignments for different organisations including UNICEF, International Office for Migration (IOM), World Health Organization (WHO), and Centres for Disease Control (CDC).

Currently, she is pursuing her second Master’s in International Development Management at the University of East Anglia. blend of expertise and insights.

Joshua is an experienced and passionate CIPD qualified HR/EDI professional with 15+ years both in house and consultant experience. Worked across multiple sectors including management and career development programs, covering BAU.

Joshua has extensive trade union experience across a number of roles negotiating policy changes, restructures, TUPE transfers and ER meetings including disciplinary, performance management, grievance and whistleblowing.

Martin was Executive Director Supporting People (inc DCS) & Deputy Chief Executive for the London Borough of Camden until he retired in July 2023.

Camden was judged to be outstanding for both children’s social care and youth justice while he was in post. He has 13 years’ experience as a DCS and over 40 years’ experience in Children’s Services and Education. He has worked in both local government and at the DfE and also chaired the Greater London Region of ADCS for 5 years. He is a former Chair of the Board of the Staff College.

Martin is a qualified social worker but also has extensive experience in education and youth justice, as well as adult social care and health. He is a regular contributor to the UPON aspirant programme and experienced mentor. He has a particular interest in whole system orientation toward prevention and earlier intervention and in anti-oppressive practice.

Sheila has an educational background in media relations, international development and religious studies. She has extensive professional experience researching ethnic minority and other religious communities on issues of religious diversity, inclusion, social justice, equality and current affairs.

Experienced in mixed methods research with particular expertise in qualitative methods and as a former secondary school teacher, she also has experience working with young people from all backgrounds, and other public institutions involved in their care.

An experience HR director with leadership and board experience who is a qualified workplace investigator, accredited workplace mediation, and conflict coach.

Jade is a consultant who is experienced in working with grass root and C suite customers. Through her work in service design and transformation and fundraising she is skilled at building relationships and securing buy-in. Jade has a proven track record of evaluation and SROI analysis to support empowerment.

Jade has also worked in Crime Prevention and with ‘at risk’ young people using appropriate facilitation techniques and proven project methodologies such as the Emmie Framework.

As an evaluator and trained systems thinker Jade is able to support organisational development and strategic growth, through evidence based practice and development of an impact culture.

As a consultant with lived experience of disability, Jade apples an equity lens to all work conducted and have delivered pan EDI training for consultancy clients.

Jackie is an experienced researcher and project manager with 17 years experience leading and managing complex multi-disciplinary collaborative projects in academic and charity settings. Jackie has a background in psychology (BSc. and PhD), with specific expertise in psychological and health research. She has extensive knowledge and skills in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and is an experienced Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) facilitator. Jackie has worked with many populations including young children, young people and parents/carers of children with rare diseases. Examples of collaborative projects include a trial (RCT) examining music therapy for children and young people with behavioural and emotional problems and a pilot RCT examining talking therapies for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Jackie is passionate about producing impactful research that will improve outcomes and recently founded a health research company, Connect Research, to offer a broad spectrum of observational research solutions. Going forward Jackie is excited to use her skills and experience to support the design and management of multi-disciplinary projects, reporting real-world evidence.

Emense is a reflective Social Worker with over 25 years of frontline practice experience with clients from across the life cycle.  Emense’s skills and experience are quite varied and includes work with children and families and adult services, mainly in London.  Since qualifying as a Systemic and Family Psychotherapist in 2014, Emense continued to practice within a social care context, and more recently, having returned to her home city of Nottingham, she has engaged in developing her knowledge and skills in systemic leadership and consulting, paying particular attention to training and coaching, sharing systemic ideas to develop the skills of others in multicultural, relational approach to trauma in the workplace.

Georgina is an experienced behavioural change expert with over 25 years in equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), working with leading UK and international organisations. She previously worked with Europe’s top change management company across sectors like higher education, uniformed services, and consumer business. Her expertise spans three core areas: auditing systems to craft evidence-based EDI strategies, creating and delivering tailored EDI training, and leading impactful social change campaigns.

Her portfolio includes high-profile clients such as the British Army, Department of Education, and NHS, with projects covering diverse recruitment, auditing detention facilities, and contributing to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry. Georgina focuses on the psychology of change, using innovative tools to foster vulnerability and transformation. Currently, she guides universities in the UK and abroad on creating inclusive environments and provides EDI-focused strategic coaching, frameworks, and training. She holds an MSc in Strategic Management from the University of Bristol, focusing on women’s leadership. Passionate about sustainability, she also advocates for eco-friendly living and serves on her Parish Council.

Georgina also supports young people in education, helping them navigate social challenges and reach their potential. She’s a trustee for a charity aiding marginalised children and conducts personal development workshops in schools.

Aisha Graham-Sharif has worked to end Violence Against Women and Girls for two decades and is passionate about amplifying the voices of minoritised women and girls; and promoting anti-racist and intersectional approaches. She has extensive experience in human-centred outcomes commissioning. She led the first multi million pound statutory funded grants programme for grassroots organisations, specialising in tackling VAWG, with a focus on support for Black women, to acknowledge the specific barriers and challenges they face due to institutional and systemic racism. This approach has been adopted by central Government and recognised nationally as best practice.

Aisha is an award-winning campaigner and trainer who has supported organisations to transform their responses to domestic abuse and EDI from the frontline up including achieving the UKs first self-accreditation in this area for one of the country’s largest housing providers.

She has extensive senior level experience in developing policy and strategy at regional and national levels across housing, government and criminal justice sectors. Providing scrutiny, oversight and practical support on implementing inclusive plans to improve culture to achieve better outcomes.

Aisha holds MSc. in social research methodology, is a doctoral candidate exploring domestic abuse related deaths through a social justice lens and is a qualified Domestic Homicide Review Chair.

Hannah has over twenty years of experience working with marginalised communities, spanning areas such as homelessness, mental health, social care, criminal justice, and complex needs.  For the last fifteen years, her focus has been on addressing the systemic issues which contribute to marginalisation through leading partnership-driven systems change projects and providing consultancy services to individual organisations.

 

An experienced programme manager and charity executive, Hannah specialises in co-production, partnership development, managing complexity, and systems changes.  Hannah is currently the CEO at CVS.South Gloucestershire, is vice chair of the Safer Stronger Communities Strategic Partnership and the Resilience Forum, is an Associate Consultant in systems change and EDI, and is a co-founder of the Bristol branch of the Systems Innovation Network, a global community of change-makers.  Hannah has also previously been an award winner of the Howard League for Penal Reform and has co-authored an academic article on co-production.

Victoria Nzeribe is an experienced project management consultant with over 20 years’ experience in designing programs that empower children, young people, and underserved communities. Specialising in equity, inclusion, safeguarding, and trauma-informed practices, she ensures services meet diverse needs. Victoria’s expertise spans complex multi-year projects, performance and risk management, and large-scale program funding, often involving cross-sector collaborations in education, health, and social care.

 

With a rights-based approach aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, she translates policy into actionable strategies. As a facilitator, Victoria fosters inclusive spaces for dialogue on race, equity, and social justice. Her use of participatory action research amplifies community voices, ensuring sustainable program impact. Skilled in trauma-informed methods, she emphasizes the safety and well-being of vulnerable populations.

 

Victoria’s competencies include strategic program design, policy development, and training in children’s rights, anti-racist practices, and trauma-sensitive approaches. Proficient in grants and contract management, she helps organisations maximize impact while ensuring accountability. Currently studying child and adolescent psychotherapy, she integrates academic insights with practical expertise to support holistic well-being in her work.

Nick is a semi-retired headteacher with over 20 years experience of school and college leadership, in the SEND, AP and FE sectors. He is a SEND and Inclusion Expert and has worked with a variety of organisations during the last 6 years, including: Best Practice Network, Ambition Institute, Bedford Borough Council, Leigh Academies Trust, Clerks Associates, Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing and T4 Trust.

 

Nick is Independent Chair of Croydon Education Partnership (CEP) and, in addition to chairing all board meetings, plays an active role in the 4 CEP working groups: Inclusion, Well-Being, Literacy, and Recruitment & Retention. He also acts as SEND Expert for Independent Review Panels on school exclusions and represents parents at First Tier (SEND) Tribunals.

 

Nick’s skills, knowledge and experience are substantial and wide-ranging. Areas of expertise include: governance, leadership, coaching, teams, HR, learning and teaching, SEND legislation, and advocacy. Nick’s passions are SEND, Inclusion, Equity and Diversity. His training and facilitation have been described as “the best training I have ever had”.

 

Nick is married and has 3 children of Black Mixed African heritage. He is a fluent French speaker and enjoys connecting with people.

Janet brings over 15 years of comprehensive experience in social work, specialising in supporting children, families, and adults at risk, with a particular focus on Deaf and Deafblind adults.

Janet delivers safeguarding training and consultancy to charities and faith-based organisations, working with staff, volunteers, and trustees. Janet also contributes to social work qualifying programmes at the University of Kent as an ad-hoc practitioner teacher.

Currently, Janet serves as the Independent Member for Safeguarding on the Audit and Risk Committee at Guide Dogs UK. In this role, she supports the charity by reviewing its risk register to effectively identify and address safeguarding risks. She also provides independent oversight of safeguarding investigations, ensuring they align with best practices and meet regulatory standards.