Our leadership team

Our Executive team and Board of Trustees are responsible for the overall strategic direction of the charity.

Use the links below to learn more about our leadership team:

Professor Eamon McCrory, Chief Executive

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, Deputy CEO, Director of Education and Training, and Clinical Director

Claire is a systemic psychotherapist who joined Anna Freud in 2017 and has held a number of senior leadership roles across the organisation including Clinical Director and Director of Education and Training. She has extensive experience in working in children and young people's mental health, workforce development and organisational leadership with a particular interest in early intervention.

During her time at Anna Freud, she has led the development and delivery of major national workforce and training programmes such as Autism Central, NATP and Child IAPT.

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.

Professor Jess Deighton, Director of Research

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.

Dr Lesley French, Director of Schools and Clinical Practice

Lesley French is a clinical psychologist with extensive leadership experience across the NHS, including roles as Clinical Director and Head of Psychological Therapies at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.

During her time at Anna Freud, Lesley has been Programme Director for our Leadership and Transformation postgraduate programme and established a remote therapy service for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. She now leads safeguarding, oversees several community teams commissioned by local authorities, and heads up our specialist clinical services.

Lesley initially trained at University College London (UCL), where she also held a teaching position and later led child and adolescent forensic outpatient provision. She is also a School Governor at Latymer School, in north London.

Marjorie James, Chief People Officer

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.

Jason Jaspal, Commercial Director

Jason Jaspal is an income generation, external affairs and marketing specialist who has worked in leadership roles across a number of causes, including human rights, health and suicide prevention.

Before joining Anna Freud in January 2026, Jason spent more than seven years at Samaritans, where he was responsible for all high-value contract and fundraised income, public behaviour change and awareness campaigns, and developing and delivering service partnerships.

Jason joined the board at the MS Society after completing an executive MBA at Cranfield University. He is also a trustee and executive committee member at his local cricket club.

Louise Posocco, Finance Director at Anna Freud, facing forward, smiling.

Louise Posocco, Executive Director (Finance)

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.

Our Trustees

Michael Samuel MBE, Chair

Michael is also Co-Founder and Chair of Full Fact (a charity which aims to check and correct facts reported in the news) and Civic (which aims to support a major change in the approach of communities and organisations). He is a Trustee of Helpforce and manages five family Charitable Trusts. In business, over three decades he built up Mayborn Group and was Chair of AGL communications agency.

Today, he is Chair of Muddy Puddles and Chair of Murex Energy. In the New Year’s Honours list 2020, Michael was awarded an MBE in recognition for his services to young people and to mental health. He is married with four adult children and lives between London and Somerset.

Linda Mayes, Deputy Chair

Linda is the Chair of the Yale Child Study Center in the Yale School of Medicine and Chief of Child Psychiatry in the Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. She is the Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the Child Study Center, and Deputy Dean of Professionalism and Leadership at the Yale School of Medicine.

Linda is also Director of Anna Freud - Yale Child Study Center Bridge Program. She oversees a collaborative master’s programme in developmental psychopathology and neuroscience, offered collaboratively between Yale and University College London (UCL). She is also a child and adult psychoanalyst, and a member of the faculty of the Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis.

Andrew Evans, Treasurer

Andrew is the co-founder and CEO of Smart Pension, a Fintech with over a million people in the UK saving for their retirement, and presence around the globe. There is a focus on digital innovation, transparency and technology. Andrew has been on the trustee board of a large multi-academy trust in South London, looking to serve local communities by providing children and young people with the best education possible, as well as being a Governor for Hatcham College in Lewisham.

Andrew is an advisor and supports a number of smaller social enterprises with focus on children, such as Advocacy Academy and MyPocketSkill.

Catherine Bedford

Catherine is a solicitor specialising in complex financial and private law children’s matters. She joined Lee & Thompson as a Partner in 2007 and founded the firm’s family law group. She is now a member of the Board at Harbottle & Lewis, a leading law firm in the UK.

Catherine also sits on the Board at the National Gallery Foundation. Originally from Canada, she studied English Literature at McGill University and then moved to the UK to read Law at Oxford University. She is married with two children.

Tori Cadogan

Tori is the Education Editor for Tatler, where she produces the annual Tatler Schools Guide which reviews the UK’s top 250 Independent schools and features key issues and voices in education. Tori hosts the annual Tatler School Awards and has produced a series of podcasts called Tatler Talks: Education, focusing on wellbeing and mental health within the education system.

Tori recently presented and produced a series for Schroders Asset Management, and regularly chairs talks on education and teenage mental health for the Birley Group. Previously, Tori was a Senior Broadcast Journalist and Producer for BBC News. She has written and contributed to articles for The Telegraph, The Sunday Times & The Economist. Tori is an Ambassador for Made By Dyslexia.

Antonia Cowdry

Antonia has been the HR Director for Barclays UK since 2020. Prior to that she spent twenty-one years at Deutsche Bank, where her roles included Head of HR for Asia Pacific and the Global Head of HR for the Corporate and Investment Bank.

Antonia is passionate about helping organisations to improve their performance whilst making them great places to work. She draws on her background in management consulting and internal communications to lead and embed sustainable change in dynamic environments. She lives in London with her husband and two sons.

Pamela Hutchinson OBE

Pamela is a Non-Executive Director and global strategist specialising in leadership, organisational culture and inclusion to drive sustainable performance and social impact. With three decades of senior experience across global organisations, she brings deep strategic insight and operational credibility to board and executive discussions. Pamela is known for her direct, commercially grounded approach, challenging conventional thinking while helping organisations translate ambition into measurable and equitable outcomes.

Her work spans finance, engineering, technology and media, advising senior leaders on leadership, culture and organisational effectiveness. As a Trustee, she contributes to governance and strategic oversight to strengthen leadership, inclusion and long-term impact. Pamela was awarded an OBE in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to Diversity and Inclusion.

Anne-Marie Huby

Anne-Marie was co-founder and managing director of the charitable giving platform JustGiving until its acquisition by Blackbaud Inc in 2017. Anne-Marie then joined another purpose-led business, online learning platform MyTutor, which she chairs.

Initially trained as a journalist in her native Belgium, she began her career on national radio, before joining the humanitarian group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the early nineties. Having launched MSF’s international communications and fundraising team in Brussels, Anne-Marie served as executive director of MSF UK for seven years. In her spare time, she runs a local campaign for renewable energy in north London.

Namrata Kamdar

Namrata Kamdar is an entrepreneur with deep expertise in developing and growing personal care/beauty brands and businesses globally. Since 2002, Namrata has worked internationally for various consumer goods companies including Coke, Pepsico and Unilever; on several billion euro brands, specialising in marketing to those identifying as female and to multicultural audiences.

In 2020, Namrata founded boutique British beauty brand Plenaire. Plenaire is an award-winning, ethical skincare brand whose mission is to connect beauty to emotional & mental well-being, for a natively digital Gen Z audience. Namrata holds a bachelor's degree in Business from the University of Delhi and an MBA from the McCombs school of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in Consumer Psychology and Global Business Management. She lives in Fulham, London with her husband and two children.

Peter Oppenheimer

Peter is Chief Global Equity Strategist and Head of Macro Research in Europe. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2002, was named Managing Director in 2003 and Partner in 2006. Peter previously worked as Managing Director and Chief Investment Strategist at HSBC, was Head of European Strategy at James Capel, Chief Economic Strategist at Hambros Bank, and began his career as an economist at Greenwells in 1985.

Peter is also a Trustee of Mitzvah Day, a charity bringing people together from all backgrounds through Jewish-led social action, and a member of the Motability Endowment Trust Investment Committee.

Daniel Peltz OBE

Daniel is CEO of London Freeholds Ltd, following a career in real estate and asset management with GUS Property Management Ltd and British Land. He is a Governor of Birkbeck College and chairs the Estates Strategy Committee, and an Honorary Fellow of both King’s College and Birkbeck College.

Daniel is a Trustee of the National Gallery Foundation, MCC Foundation, Warburg Institute, Music in Secondary Schools Trust, Institute of Jewish Studies at UCL, and City of London School Bursary Trust. He is a Governor of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Oxford University, and panellist on the Education Panel of the Wolfson Foundation. In 2015, he was awarded the OBE for philanthropic and charitable services. In his spare time, he is a novelist.

Professor Steve Pilling

Steve is Head of the Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology and Director of the Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness at UCL. He is also Director of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH), which is concerned with the implementation of evidence-based practice, development of the mental health workforce, and the future development and delivery of mental health services.

For 15 years, Steve has had a central role in the development of NICE mental health guidelines. His research interests include trials of complex interventions, psychological treatment (particularly treatments for depression and the competences required to deliver effective interventions), systematic reviews in mental health and their use in clinical guidelines, and the use of routinely collected data to inform treatment selection.

President

Professor Peter Fonagy CBE, Honorary President

Professor Peter Fonagy CBE FMedSci FBA FAcSS PhD DipPsych is a former CEO of Anna Freud. Peter led our charity for 21 years, building us into a leading source of mental health training, research and support. His many achievements include developing a rigorous focus on evidence-based practice that has had national impact, and overseeing the development of our £40m purpose-built mental health campus and Pears Family School in central London.

Peter is Head of the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences at UCL, Clinical Advisor to the UCL Partners Integrated Mental Health Programme, National Clinical Advisor of the NHS England Children and Young People’s Mental Health programme and a Senior Investigator Emeritus for the National Institute of Health Research. His honorary role at Anna Freud will see Peter offer independent strategic advice and foster relationships that further our work.