BIRMINGHAM & SOLIHULL WOMEN'S AID - Key Persons
Jana Zacheva is a qualified solicitor, with more than 15 years' experience of providing specialist legal and governance advice to various commercial companies and not-for-profit organisations. She brings extensive legal, governance and strategic commercial knowledge and experience to the board of BSWA.
In her career Jana lead a number of functions, including Governance, Legal, Data Protection and Policy for one of the largest Social Housing and Care providers in the West Midlands. She also worked in the governance and commercial team of a highly recognised specialised law firm in Birmingham where she supported major projects such as business growth, joint ventures and collaborations between housing providers, local authorities and developers.
Currently Jana is the principal consultant in Governance and Legal Ltd, a company she founded in 2020, which delivers practical and effective governance, compliance and legal advice to not-for-profit organisations mainly in the social housing, care and charity sectors. Jana is also a trustee on the Board of Nehemiah Housing Association. She continues to be a registered solicitor with the Law Society in England and Wales and a member of the Association of Corporate Governance Practitioners.
Jessica is an associate solicitor who specialises in family law, specifically child protection and domestic abuse. Jessica has worked in private practice and for a local authority, and is passionate about safeguarding both women and children.
Jessica has also completed the "Get on the Board" programme, and since graduating she has worked as an examiner and marker for all of Karl George's Governance Forum programmes, now being able to put into practice her knowledge and skills becoming a Board Trustee for BSWA.
Joanne is a qualified accountant, having qualified in 2003. Since 2009, she has worked in the charity sector for World Habitat. World Habitat works for a world where everyone has a safe and secure home in a successful community. Her current role is Head of Finances and Resources.
Her main responsibilities are to ensure the organisation has excellent Financial Management, manage the Human Resources, ensure the IT system is sufficient for the smooth running of the organisation and to manage the Land and Investment Portfolio.
Joanne is part of the senior management team that oversees the governance at World Habitat. She also attends meetings of the Board of Trustees and Finance Committee.
Joanne believes all women and children should have the right to live free from violence and is passionate about the work being carried out by the Birmingham and Solihull Women's Aid.
Maureen Connolly is a proud feminist, committed to women for women services as the safest, most appropriate and effective provision for women and children affected by abuse. She has been involved in the specialist, Violence against Women sector for more than 25 years and is currently Chief Executive of Birmingham and Solihull Women's Aid, Birmingham and Solihull's leading specialist domestic violence agency.
Maureen is committed to multi-agency and partnership working and as such is actively involved in a number of local and regional strategic partnerships. She has been instrumental in leading the development of integrated specialist services within BSWA, that address VAWG issues including domestic violence, sexual violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, child sexual exploitation and the first specialist domestic violence Think Family programme in the UK.
Natasha is a procurement professional working in the Healthcare System within both public and private medical services.
Currently aiming to qualify with MCIPs in 2023 and is a Governor for a local school in the West Midlands. Natasha did a Masters at the University of Birmingham, which focused on Business Management and Policy. She has since gained experience within the charitable sector working within various different clients on fundraising strategies, corporate sponsorships and grant writing.
Over the years, Natasha has developed a passion for supporting young women and children and helping them feel safe and supported.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Non - Executive Director
- Member of the EMHG Housing Group Board
Patricia is an experienced Non-Executive Director. She was previously Managing Director of Central Consultancy & Training Ltd, which provided consultancy services to housing, social care and the wider third sector. Her specialisms were Organisational Development and Governance.
Patricia is also a member of the EMHG Housing Group Board, where she chairs the Board's Remuneration and Governance Committee. She is also Board champion for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Her other roles include being a Director of Homecome Ltd, a not-for-profit housing company providing good quality affordable housing for people on low incomes in Leicester, and Independent Chair of Ageing Better in Birmingham.
Sabah Hussain has worked in various business development and strategic roles across the automotive and energy industries over the past 10 years. Sabah is passionate about supporting the Greater Birmingham region and is currently Vice President of Future Faces Chamber of Commerce.
Her interest in governance led her to be a part of Karl George's ‘Get On The Board' programme and she has since combined her passion for supporting young people, women and children by becoming both a Board Trustee for Birmingham & Solihull Women's Aid and a School Governor in her local community.
Shanice is a young legal professional working in a National Law Firm in the Corporate and Finance area.
Shanice did a Masters at University of Warwick which focused on human rights and gender issues. She has since developed a keen interest and passion in supporting young women and children and aims to continue to do this in her career and community to help young women feel safe and supported.
Sheon Hutchinson LLM is a governance, risk and compliance (GRC) professional with over 10 years' experience, and postgraduate qualifications in business and law, which includes a master's degree in Legal Practice Management. As a Governance Consultant in her former role, Sheon worked to support and improve the effectiveness of businesses across various industries in the public, private and third sector with respect to their governance arrangements and practices. In more recent years, Sheon has gone on to specialise in policy and assurance and is currently working in a regulatory environment. She is also a member of the International Compliance Association (ICA), the professional body for the global regulatory and financial crime community.
From a young age Sheon had a head for business and a heart for law, but also a passion for people and social justice, particularly for young people and women from underserved communities. Her aspiration to help others and to apply more than just substantive law led to her engaging in a number of social action and leadership initiatives with the hope to influence positive change in communities through the businesses she engaged with. Such initiatives have included the Birmingham UpRising Leadership Programme with the Young Foundation, and the Get-On-Board Leadership Programme with the Association of Corporate Governance Practitioners (ACGP). Sheon has also sat on the Advisory Board of the youth charity, vInspired, and was previously a Community Panel Member for Birmingham Youth Offending Service.
Throughout her life, Sheon has been actively involved in charity work and is privileged to be able to use her acquired knowledge and skills to support the great work of BSWA.
Theresa joined the NHS in 2003 following a long career with Marks and Spencer where she held roles in Commercial Management and Human Resources. She has extensive workforce development experience operating in senior board level roles and has led the people element of the merger of two NHS organisations. She held a national role as lead for Clinical Leadership at the Department of Health and continues to champion leadership and workforce development as the HR Director for Coventry and Warwickshire Health and Care partnership. Theresa is passionate about workforce development and getting the best out of people through staff engagement; inclusion; culture development and coaching. Theresa strives to champion the support to vulnerable women and children, as a board member for Birmingham and Solihull Women's Aid.