Birmingham Children's Trust's board (updated 11 September 2024)

James Thomas - Chief Executive

James Thomas was the Corporate Director for Children and Culture at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between 2020 and 2023, where he was also appointed to be Deputy Chief Executive.  Prior to that the substantive leadership roles that James held were as Interim Chief Executive of the Northamptonshire Children’s Trust; Director of Children’s Services for the London Borough of Richmond; Director of Children’s Services for the Greater Manchester Borough of Tameside; Director of Children’s Services for the London Borough of Newham; and Director of Family Services for Westminster City Council. James has for some years provided leadership for ADCS on multi-agency safeguarding.  He is a Non-Executive Director of the Innovation Unit. James has maintained his status as a registered Social Worker.

James’s core values are rooted in a commitment to public service, conviction of the need for social justice and to combat inequality and discrimination, and integrity in all he does. He is a Londoner with family roots that encompass Wales, India, Cheshire, Ireland and Russia. 

Lisa Harris - Director of Help and Protection

Lisa joined Birmingham Children’s Trust in December 2021 as the Assistant Director responsible for Safeguarding. Her social work career spans 29 years, having initially qualified with a Masters in Social Work at Warwick University in 1995. Lisa has worked in several local authorities within the Midlands occupying a range of leadership positions in front-line roles and the position of Principal Social Worker in both Solihull and Walsall.

Lisa would describe herself as a Restorative practitioner who adopts a strengths-based and solution-focused approach to achieving positive change for children and families.

Lisa Jamieson - Director of Corporate Parenting

Lisa began working at the Trust in 2018, taking up a permanent position as Assistant Director for Corporate Parenting and Commissioning in 2019, following 25 years working in the North West of England.

A graduate of Liverpool University, Lisa is committed to supporting the workforce across the Trust and has a keen interest in equality and diversity.  Lisa spent many years as a member of the Coram BAAF (British Association for Adoption and Fostering) equalities diversity policy development group.  Lisa has mentored a number of managers into leadership roles.

Lisa has a proven track record of transforming services particularly in fostering, adoption and the multi-agency safeguarding hub, leading the Trust fostering and adoption services to be judged Good with Outstanding features.

David Stringfellow - Director of Commissioning & Specialist Services

David started his career in Birmingham as a social work assistant and then as a qualified social worker in the East of the city. He has extensive experience of children’s social care having worked across a range of departments at all levels.

Notably he led the implementation of the first Multiagency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) in the country.

David has specialised in supporting the transformation of failing authorities and has a proven track record of improving Ofsted ratings.  

Prior to joining the Trust in April 2019 David was a Director of Children’s Social Care in the North of the country.  

Marshelene Williams - Director of Quality Assurance

Marshelene graduated from Plymouth University and has over 25 years of social work experience. She has been part of the Birmingham team for many years, starting as a team manager in the south of the city in 2001.

Marshelene has been part of the creation of services and implementation of new ways of working , leading her team or service through change and improvements.

Marshelene has extensive experience in frontline social work, leadership, change management, quality assurance, system reviews , policy, and practice, supporting services to improve and ensuring better outcomes for children and families through partnerships and collaboration.

Marshelene has worked across a range of services at differing levels, always championing improvements and successes. Throughout her career, Marshelene has been committed to the development of her teams and undertakes mentoring within and outside of the Trust.

A passionate social worker, Marshelene is committed to advocacy for our children and families, rooted in social justice and the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion.

Lee Yale-Helms - Director of Finances and Resources

Lee joined the Trust in September 2018.  He is a qualified public service accountant whose career spans 14 years in local government, including work in education and supporting children with special needs.

His career spans a further 18 years in public services financial advisory roles, including Director of Finance at Doncaster Children's Services Trust. 

Lee provides financial expertise and input to the Trust’s strategic and business planning processes and leads the delivery of a range of corporate and support services.  

He is an associate member of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADSC) and was President of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) in the Midlands 2021-2023, representing Birmingham at a national level with both CIPFA and ADCS and promoting better funding for children’s social care.