Who we are

Founders

Switchback founders, Alice Dawnay and Slaney Wright, had been wrestling for some time with their vision of how to address the issue of high reoffending rates in young adults when they started Switchback from a kitchen table in July 2007. With 18 years combined experience working with young people, they designed Switchback having seen the success of projects with one person acting as a single point of contact for offenders as they move through the prison gate.

Alice Dawnay has worked face-to-face with young people on preventative schemes, inside Young Offender Institutions and post-release. This experience includes the Youth Advocate Programme with prolific and priority offenders on community sentences and Rathbone on their "Through the Gate" programme. As a Winston Churchill fellow, her research "Alternatives to Custody for Young People in San Francisco and New York" (available here) has served to place her understanding of the British youth justice system in a wider context.

Slaney Wright's areas of expertise include project design and implementation of new initiatives. Experienced in fundraising, financial management and strategy she has run successful inner-city projects for young people in the UK and South America. She worked for the national youth charity, Fairbridge, for five years as Project Coordinator, Centre Manager and Head of Philanthropy Development.

Trustees

Lady Bell JP. is a Family Panel Magistrate and has served on the Independent Monitoring Board in HMP Holloway. With over 20 years experience as a charity trustee, she and her husband have been strong supporters of Switchback since its inception.

Jim Narey joined the Prison Service as a policy advisor and has since worked as Assistant Information Manager and as Bill Manager on the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. In 2008 he finished a one-year secondment to Business in the Community, with the aim of working with businesses to increase the number of employment opportunities for people with convictions. He is now at the Home Office having completed projects at the Identity and Passport Service and the Ministry of Justice's 'Community Justice Project.

Katie Beck studied at the London School of Economics and went on to join the corporate finance department of Lazard, focusing on mergers and acquisitions. She then spent three years in the private equity team at Doughty Hanson & Co and was involved with a number of transactions across Europe. She has recently joined Darwin Private Equity, a UK based firm focusing on lower mid-market buyouts, as an Investment Director.

Julian Wiseman CMG was educated at Australian National University and SOAS. After 12 years as a Royal Marines Officer, he joined the Diplomatic Service where he served in the Far East, Europe, South Asia and the UK Mission to UN. Julian is currently Director of Penumbra Partners Ltd and sits on the committee for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in London and West Sussex.

Katharine Danton started her career as an academic researcher and then headed up the Research and Evaluation department at The Prince's Trust. After three years as an independent consultant for charities and government agencies (working on monitoring, feasibility studies and organisational change) she is now Director of Research and Policy for UnLtd, Foundation of Social Entrepreneurs.

Edward Mackaness joined our Board of Trustees in September 2011. A qualified surveyor, Edward first came into contact with Switchback in 2010 when volunteering to help us negotiate our office move. Having served with the Brigade of Gurkhas in the Middle East, Edward moved on to hold senior management roles at Credit Suisse, BT and Prudential. After three years as a management consultant at Ernst & Young, he is currently General Manager for Business Services at the law firm, Allen & Overy LLP.

Advisors

• Sir David Bell
• Annabel Briggs
• Annie Dare
• Simon Davies
• Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
• Andrew Fleming-Williams
• Sara Fox
• Edward Glass
• Gilbert Holbourn
• Roma Hooper
• Martha Lane-Fox
• Trevor Philpott OBE
• Lord Ramsbotham
• Sophie Taitt
• Georgie Weedon
• Judge Daniel Worsley