Pauline Crowe, OBE - Chief Executive Expand Pauline has almost thirty years’ experience of working in the voluntary sector, including leadership positions with the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies, the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) and the London Community Foundation. Pauline is responsible for the governance of Prisoners Abroad and achieving its strategic goals, leading a team of twenty-five staff and many volunteers. She has been Chief Executive of Prisoners Abroad since 2003 and was awarded an OBE in 2007 in recognition of the organisation’s vital work.
Theresa Gilson - Head of Service Delivery Expand Theresa started her career doing voluntary work with the Probation Service and for Release, the drugs and legal helpline. This led on to studying for the Diploma in Social Work which she gained in 1995, having specialised in criminal justice and completed placements in a probation office and in Belmarsh Prison. She then worked for the Bethlehem Hospital in their drug rehabilitation unit before joining Prisoners Abroad in January 1998. I was Resettlement Manager and spent some years developing this service and am now Head of Service Delivery with responsibility for all the services we provide.
Nancy Wright - Head of Finance Expand Nancy has 30 years of experience working as an accountant. She received her Qualification in 1984 as a Certified Public Accountant in the state of California. Nancy spent several years working in the US in public accounting and in 1988 took a position with the internal audit department of Warner Bros. International. The job included international travel to Europe and the Far East. She then transferred to England in 1990 by Warner Bros. to take over as Financial Controller of Warner Bros. Cinemas. UK Ltd. Her experience in England also includes working as the Accounting Manager for DaimlerChrysler Services UK Ltd. At both multi-nationals, she was responsible for all accounting and finance functions including managing the accounts departments, preparing all financial reporting to both local management and to head office, preparing the budgets, and liaising as liaison with external auditors. She spent 3 years working as the accountant for a small charity and during that time became familiar with the accounting requirements for charities (SORP) as prescribed by the Charity Commission. She acted as Treasurer for the charity for 8 years and became Head of Finance at Prisoners Abroad in April 2003.
Zeta MacDonald - HR and Operations Manager Expand Zeta became interested in criminal justice issues whilst studying criminology as part of her Social Policy degree at University and through this became a pen pal to a prisoner in Malta. She has worked for a variety of organisations since graduating including The National Trust and the NHS. Zeta joined Prisoners Abroad in January 2001 where she began her career in human resources and whilst working here completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management and later became the Company Secretary for the organisation. She's now a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel & Development. After leaving Prisoners Abroad in July 2009 she became Head of Human Resources for a large charity supporting girls and young women from disadvantaged backgrounds across the UK. Zeta returned to Prisoners Abroad in 2012 and recently completed the CASS business school ‘Outstanding Leadership Programme’.
Ken Walker - Interim Director of Fundraising and Communications Expand Ken came to this interim role at Prisoners Abroad after some 25 years’ experience of working in senior positions in the voluntary sector, mainly in fundraising and communication roles (Marie Curie Cancer Care, the MS Society and Demelza Hospice for Children.) More recently, Ken was Chief Executive of the Brain and Spine Foundation for six years and now mainly focus on interim voluntary sector roles and occasional consultancy projects. After leaving Queens University Belfast, he moved to London and worked in the consumer marketing division of the Royal Mail before moving to Marie Curie, where he was responsible for direct marketing, legacies and community fundraising for ten years. Ken is actively involved with some local environmental charities in East Sussex and is on the panel of the Sussex Charity Mentors Project which offers mentoring for voluntary sector leaders in the county.