Executive team

Professor Eamon McCrory is a world-leading trauma expert and consultant clinical psychologist. Eamon joined Anna Freud in 2006 and has held several senior positions, including Co-Director of our Clinical, and Education and Training divisions. Eamon also co-founded and was Co-Director of the UK Trauma Council, a project of Anna Freud. 

As a Professor of Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology at University College London, Eamon's research is dedicated to advancing our understanding of the brain’s role in the development of mental health problems following trauma and adversity, and the significance of the social world. The long-term aim of his work is to understand how and why mental health problems can unfold following early adversity, and how we might intervene to promote more resilient outcomes for children and young people. 

Eamon is also Adjunct Professor at the Yale Child Study Center and advisor to the Royal Foundation’s Centre for Early Childhood.

Claire Evans joined Anna Freud in 2017 as Clinical lead for Child IAPT having been director of a third sector Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in south London. 

Claire is an experienced clinical leader in implementing change in organisations, delivering new children and young people’s national workforce programmes and ensuring mental health services deliver high quality, accessible and accountable interventions. 

A systemic psychotherapist, Claire leads training across Anna Freud. This includes workforce postgraduate training and short courses such as the National Autism Trainer Programme (NATP) and Autism Central. 

Claire is passionate about opening up access to education for people from socially deprived backgrounds and creating a more diverse mental health workforce to represent the children and families who access services.

In addition to her role at Anna Freud, Professor Jess Deighton is Director of the Evidence Based Practice Unit (EPBU) and Professor in Child Mental Health and Wellbeing at UCL. She is also Director of Growing up in the 2020s. Jess’ expertise focuses on: 

• factors that promote or undermine resilience in children and young people 

• the evaluation of interventions to support mental health and well-being, particularly in educational settings 

• the interplay between mental health and educational outcomes 

Jess has caried out some of the largest trials and research projects mental health and wellbeing of young people in the school context, including leading the Department for Education-funded Educational for Wellbeing programme and the National Lottery-funded HeadStart Learning Programme. Jess also co-leads the research programme for #BeeWell.  

Jess is a Co-Investigator for the Department of Health and Social Care’s Children and Families Policy Research Unit. 

Marjorie James has worked in the public and charity sector for more than 30 years. Her career spans many causes including arts and culture; children, young people and families; and safeguarding. Marjorie has experience across all areas of HR policy and practice, successfully creating high performing teams to deliver innovation and best practice. She is excited by the opportunity to enable organisations to adapt and change, particularly given the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment that we are experiencing. 

Marjorie is deeply passionate about improving people’s lives by enabling them to reach their full potential so that they can bring the best version of themselves to work. Diversity and inclusion have been a common thread throughout her career, which also includes roles as Chair for an international safeguarding charity and, more recently, a trustee for the National Children’s Bureau. 

Working for Anna Freud has been an opportunity for Marjorie to contribute to the work of transforming the lives of children and young people by closing the gaps in the provision of mental health care, and by providing support for those less privileged or under-represented within the healthcare system.

Louise Posocco has worked in the charity sector for more than 20 years across a number of finance, planning and governance roles.

Louise trained as a chartered accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, working in its public services department, from where she moved into the charity sector. Louise was the Director of Finance and Strategy at RNID and the Director of Finance at Ambitious about Autism. She has also held Board roles, including at Family Action, where she is Treasurer. Louise is also a governor at a local primary school. To complement her work in the sector, Louise completed a Master’s degree in Voluntary Sector Management at what was previously known as CASS Business School.

Louise believes that the most important thing for a charity is to deliver impact, and that its finance and support functions need to be set up and managed in a way that enables the charity to achieve its wider goals.

Louise is delighted to have joined Anna Freud and is committed to supporting our work and maximising our impact.

Jaime Smith has more than 20 years’ experience in the education sector, starting her career as a secondary school teacher in London. She has worked in local authorities and across the charity sector, with a focus on vulnerable children and young people. 

Since joining Anna Freud, Jaime has overseen the delivery of three national Department for Education-funded programmes, including the Link Programme, Education for Wellbeing and Peer Support for children and young people’s mental health. In 2020, she led the delivery of Wellbeing for Education Return, a programme of training to support schools as they returned after the first period of lockdown. 

Jaime leads the Schools in Mind network for educational professionals. The network aims to translate research into practice by providing evidence-based, accessible information and resources that can be used to embed good mental health practices across the whole school community. 

In June 2021, Jaime was awarded an MBE for services to education in the Queen’s birthday honours list.