Meet the board

Michelle McDermott is Co-Chairperson of the Thera Trust board, alongside Sally Warren. 

Steve brings 38 years of Financial Sector experience to the Thera Trust Board and as a member of the Audit and Risk Committee. He is also currently Chief Risk and Compliance Officer of the Jensten Group. Prior to this he was at BGL Group, a Director at PwC, and has held Chairperson roles on Committees for the Association of British Insurers and the Government Working Group on Occupational Pensions Schemes.

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.

Marc is a Fellow Chartered Accountant, Business Financial Professional and Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. He has over 20 years of experience with interests in prudential regulation, corporate governance, inclusivity and leadership. He has held a number of executive and non-executive board roles in the financial services and charity sectors and is currently Director of Investment Operations for a UK wealth manager and board member and chair of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee of a global think tank.

Sally Warren is Co-Chairperson of the Thera Trust board, alongside Michelle McDermott.

Matthew is the Group Executive Director for Equal Leadership and Innovation, and has been working for Thera for 18 years. Matthew brings both his personal and professional experience of a learning disability to the role.

Nicola is founder and Deputy CEO of PHSC plc which specialises in safety, management systems and security. She has a background in occupational safety and risk, environmental management, and is a Registered Expert Witness.

In her role as Group Executive Director - People and Culture at Thera, Ceri’s focus remains in supporting our leaders to continue to empower staff and people supported, whilst ensuring we have the right structures in place to thrive for the years to come.

In her new role as Group Executive Director – Operations, Quality and Practice, Lorna believes in empowering and investing in people to be highly skilled, competent and happy in the work they do.

Elizabeth is founder of Pink Mingo marketing.

In her new role as Group Executive Director – Development and Innovation, in which she will be working closely with Matthew Smith, Group Director – Equal Leadership and Innovation, Katie is excited to continue developing innovative support solutions for people with a learning disability, ensuring people have choice and control over their own lives.

In her role as Group Executive Director – Strategic Finance and Partnerships, Kate works with colleagues to ensure that Thera Group continues to provide excellent care, support and opportunities to people with a learning disability in a financially sustainable way.

John has worked in the U.K. Financial Services Industry for 35 years and is formally the Managing Director of the U.K. General Insurance business within the Ecclesiastical Group.

Chris’s career spans marketing, advertising and communications acting as client service director on UK and Europe wide campaigns. While running his own marketing consultancy, he joined the board of Thera East Anglia in 2014 and became Chair two years later.