STAYING IN THE COMPLEXITY

Navigating boundaries and risk

How does practice hold multiple stories and ideas about what might be happening, staying curious and uncertain, taking both/and positions? How does practice refuse the invitation to reduce people’s lives to single stories that don’t reflect reality, including by omitting strengths, or becoming too sure of ideas and single stories that can dominate and mislead? How do we hold both the safety and welfare of the child and the safety of welfare of others at the same time?

Stephanie Roberts-Bibby is Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Justice Board. An experienced senior leader with a strong track record across government and criminal justice, she is passionate about people, cultural change, and making a difference. She specialises in leadership, strategy, change management, and building high-performing teams.
With 21 years’ experience as a Prison Governor, including at Winchester Prison, Stephanie began her career as a Prison Officer at Feltham YOI, where her work with teenagers sparked a lifelong commitment to justice reform. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in PE and Sports Science from Loughborough University.

Ali is an Assistant Professor in Criminology in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Nottingham.
Before this, she was a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow and Affiliated Lecturer at the Institute for Criminology at the University of Cambridge (2020-24). This research focused on the emotional and ethical dimensions of youth justice intervention, with a particular interest in the place, nature and effects of 'care' and 'professional love' in such contexts.
Ali completed her PhD at the Institute of Criminology in 2020, examining children's and practitioners' perspectives and experiences of everyday youth justice supervision in England (supervised by Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe). Prior to and alongside her PhD, Ali worked as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research at Birkbeck University.
Ali's research interests include youth justice, desistance, and the emotional and moral dimensions of criminology and criminal justice.
Ali currently co-chairs the National Association for Youth Justice and is a book review editor for Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Natasha is the founder and CEO of Unlocked Graduates, one of the UK’s largest prison reform charities, developing leaders who work in prisons to break cycles of reoffending. Since 2017, Unlocked has placed nearly 900 graduates in 38 prisons, reaching over 125,000 prisoners. Previously a teacher and school leader, Natasha co-founded King Solomon Academy and later worked at Policy Exchange and as an adviser at the Department for Education and Ministry of Justice. She advises the Children’s Commissioner and The Times Crime and Justice Commission, and sits on several charity boards and committees, including Impetus PEF and the Youth Endowment Fund. Natasha was named Young Australian of the Year in the UK (2025) and awarded an OBE for services to HM Prison and Probation Service in 2023.

Nadia is a Co-Founder and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Consultant at Social Matters. Nadia is a Systemic Family Therapist and has a background in youth justice, education welfare and child protection social work. Nadia has also occupied various leadership roles in both her professional career and in her local community. Nadia is a mixed heritage woman in a heterosexual marriage and a mother. She is a born and raised East Londoner and has a strong relationship with faith and spirituality. Nadia brings her holistic experience to her work in the DEI world.

Jessica is Senior Safeguarding Manager at the Youth Custody Service and a youth justice leader with extensive experience managing multi-agency partnerships in local authority settings. With over 15 years as a Youth Offending Team manager, she has led on recruitment, restructures, and service improvement — always prioritising a child-first approach.
Jessica currently sits on the Ministry of Justice Quality of Youth Advocacy Working Group and the Executive Board of the Association of YOT Managers. She is deeply committed to embedding anti-racist practice throughout her work and in partnership with others.

Headteacher, London East Alternative Provision
Biography TBC