Meet the Board

Steven Whalley has been on the Board of Equal Futures since May 2021.

Steven worked in Financial Services for over 40 years, mainly for large life, pensions and investments companies like AEGON, Prudential and Standards Life. In these companies he has worked in Marketing and Risk roles.

Steven is a volunteer Board member of another charity, Garvald West Linton, and is the the Vice Chairperson of the Scottish Police Pension Board, which is part of the Scottish Public Pension Agency. He is also a volunteer adviser of the early resolutions team of the Pension Ombudsman Service.

Steven lives in West Linton, in the Scottish Borders. He is married to Kate and has three children. Steven is involved with his local Church being an Elder and leading services. His interests include watching football (he is an Oldham Athletic fan being originally from Oldham, learning to play bridge, playing backgammon and reading.

Frankee joined the Equal Futures board in September 2022. Frankee has been working in social care for ten years and wanted to bring her experiences of working on the front line to the board.

Frankee has gained experience working alongside people who have a learning disability or autism. Not only does Frankee have her own experience of having a family member supported by social care workers, she is also autistic and is keen to learn and to raise awareness of the strengths of neurodivergency. Alongside the challenges within a society that still has a lot of progress and adaption to do to become more inclusive.

Frankee enjoyed meeting the people within Equal Futures and saw the incredible job that we do. If you see me, please feel free to say hello and have a chat!

Katie is passionate about making sure people with a learning disability live good lives, believing we should all strive to get the very best outcomes for people by thinking outside the box and challenging the norm.

Katie’s professional experience includes HR, company operations, and development projects, including 6 years as Thera’s Head of Development, an equal leadership role which combines the skills and knowledge of a business development professional with the lived experience of someone with a learning disability.

Now Group Executive Director – Development and Innovation at Thera, Katie’s day to day role oversees the development of innovative support solutions for people with a learning disability, ensuring people have choice and control over their own lives.

Matthew brings both his personal and professional experience of a learning disability to the role of Non Executive Director. He started his career setting up, and monitoring the performance of, advocacy groups for people with a learning disability, and has worked for Thera Trust for over 18 years.

In his day to day role as Group Executive Director – Equal Leadership and Innovation, Matthew oversees company membership, and has responsibility for monitoring the quality of Thera’s support. He also ensures that people are fully involved in the planning and delivery of their support.