Social Work Week 2026 - Speaker biographies

Alex is a qualified social worker with more than 20 years of experience. She began her career as a support worker and trained as a social worker while working with people who received care and support services.

She is a forward‑thinking and committed Head of Adult Services with deep knowledge of Adult Social Care, including social work, safeguarding, children’s services, and commissioned services.

Alex has managed services at both regional and local levels, including multi‑agency safeguarding, social work teams, and provider services.

She’s looking forward to sharing her experiences of being brave while working in a challenging and complex sector.

Kate Newman is the well-being manager at Social Care Wales and has over 25 years’ experience of working in health and well-being roles in and with public, private and third sector organisations.

She brings a genuine passion for working with people and organisations to navigate why and how to prioritise wellbeing, even when in the most emotionally challenging roles.

Kate champions self-appreciation and confidence by enabling people to actively challenge negative self-talk, celebrate personal strengths, and self-compassion. People and organisations are always encouraged to recognise and celebrate why they are great. This is driven by her sense of purpose that everyone should be able be their best regardless of circumstance.

Kate brings much experience, opinion and insight in the field of personal, community and workplace health and well-being.

Katherine provides care and support for her daughter and grandchildren and was the full time carer for her father until recently. As a nurse and health visitor, she had a career as a clinician and held strategic posts in public health before becoming a researcher and lecturer at Kings College London, Swansea University and The Open University.

Nick is a Registered Social Worker and Research and Practice Development Officer in Swansea University. He co-ordinates the Developing Evidence Enriched Practice programme. This work focuses on a co-production approach to using evidence in learning and development. Having spent many years in practice and planning in social care services, he can make connections between research, policy and practice with a network across Wales and the UK. He is passionate about supporting a shift from process-driven to relationship-centred practice.

Emma is a Senior Research Associate in Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Her work focuses on relationship-based practice and personal outcomes for people who use services and unpaid carers. Emma works closely with practitioners, organisations, and people with lived experience across Scotland and Wales to support meaningful, humane practice within real-world constraints. Emma is a registered social worker.

Diane is Director of Research for the School of Health Sciences, Bangor University. She is an established social care researcher, leading work that has supported change in national social care support (short breaks) for carers. Diane’s work represents a longstanding commitment to collaborative research to improve social care outcomes for older adults and their carers. Key to Diane’s work is the active involvement and engagement of people with living experience.

Cerian is a Social Work Manager at Social Care Wales. Her role is focused on supporting the professional development and working conditions of social workers in Wales.

Cerian has worked in social care for over 30 years. She qualified as a Social Worker in 2007 with a Masters degree from Cardiff University and has worked in the third sector and statutory adult social work services in Wales and England. She is a registered Social Worker.

Louise is a care-experienced individual with a passion for empowering others to be directors of their lives, by supporting professional development and improving understanding of how practice can influence and transform the lives of people accessing support.

Louise has been involved in challenging and improving services for over 10 years. Her journey began when she was elected Chair of Wrexham Young Persons Care Council in 2016. She became a strong advocate for children and young people in care in Wrexham and beyond, continuing to be a changemaker in various areas affecting young people.

Currently, Louise is part of Wrexham University's Social and Life Sciences participation group, Outside in, which bridges the gap between academic theory and lived experience in health and social care practices.

Anna is a staff tutor for the Open University in Wales. She makes sure that people who receive care and support, as well as carers, are fully involved in the social work education programme. She also coordinates the Carers Cymru group.

Anna has worked as a qualified social worker since 1992. Her experience includes youth justice, parenting, children and families teams, and training and development.

Lance Carver is the Director of Social Services for the Vale of Glamorgan Council. He leads adult and children's social care services across the county. With extensive experience in public sector leadership, Lance has played a key role in developing more joined-up approaches to care, with a focus on improving outcomes for individuals and communities.

As Co-Chair of the Cardiff and Vale Regional Safeguarding Board, Lance helps oversee multi-agency safeguarding arrangements and makes sure that effective partnerships are in place to protect and support vulnerable populations. His leadership has been central to the development of strategic initiatives that strengthen service delivery and promote collaborative working across health and social care sectors.

Lance also led the development and delivery of the Wales Safeguarding Procedures. This wide role delivered the procedures in an easily accessible and mobile format for anyone to use in Wales and ensures that they remain up to date. In 2024 to 2025 Lance was also the Chairman of ADSSC, the national leadership organisation for social care in Wales.

Nick joined Gwent Police in 2004 and soon moved into Detective roles including roles in CID, Child Protection Investigation and Serious Violent Crime. After transferring to South Wales Police in 2017, he progressed though promotion opportunities and has worked in Investigations, Corporate Services and Safeguarding up to the ranks of Chief Inspector. He has significant experience at practitioner, supervisory and strategic level, working with partners to safeguard children and adults that either need help or protecting. Nick previously had strategic responsibility for Child Protection and missing people in South Wales Police. This included writing force policies and improving procedures and practice, as well as making sure these changes were understood and used by frontline teams.

Nick has also worked across three different Regional Safeguarding Board areas within safeguarding over the years and is an advocate of ‘in person’ partnership arrangements whenever possible.

Annette is a Registered Nurse with 38 years of experience working with adults and children. She trained as a Health Visitor in Nottingham City in 2007 and went on to support families and children affected by deprivation, abuse, and neglect. She has worked in Flying Start in Abergavenny and the Integrated Family Support Service in Gwent.

Annette holds an MSc in Professional Practice (Vulnerable Person) and, since 2023, has trained as a Professional Nurse Advocate for Public Health Wales.

From 2016 to 2022, she worked as the Designated Nurse and Safeguarding Adult Lead for the Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (Integrated Care Board). This senior leadership role required wide and detailed safeguarding expertise and close collaboration with NHS England, health providers, and other partners. Through her experience of carrying out statutory reviews, Annette believes that learning from serious harm cases must influence priorities and shape policy and practice.

Annette has lived in Wales since 2010 and joined the National Safeguarding Service as a Designated Nurse in 2022. She became Assistant Director in 2024. She is strongly committed to the NSS vision of improving safeguarding across NHS Wales through leadership, collaboration, improvement tools, workforce development, and embedding policy and research into practice.

Annette keeps the needs of children, young people, and adults at risk at the centre of her work. She focuses on strengthening safeguarding practice across NHS Wales through quality improvement, partnership working, and multi‑agency collaboration.

Katie is the Children’s Social Care Manager and the designated safeguarding lead for Social Care Wales. She supports the children’s social care workforce and has worked in children’s services and safeguarding for 20 years. She’s a registered social worker and has experience in child protection, corporate safeguarding, youth offending, and leads work on exploitation, modern slavery, and trafficking within various local authorities.

Strong multi‑agency working has been central to every role she’s held, and by working together, it can improve outcomes and help keep people safe.

Rhoda has worked in both the voluntary and statutory sectors since the 1970s, developing adult and children’s services across health and social care. She was named Welsh Woman of the Year in 2007 for her innovative contributions to effective practice, and she received an OBE in 2008 for her work with disadvantaged families.

She now works independently across the UK, supporting strategic workforce development and relational, strengths-based approaches. She has played a leading role in embedding strengths-based practice in Wales for more than 15 years.

Laurel manages a team delivering integrated family support and edge of care interventions. A practising social worker for 18 years across children’s and mental health services, she has contributed to the implementation of strengths-based and collaborative communication approaches in children and adults’ services. Her practice is rooted in creativity, relationships, and keeping families’ voices central to decision-making.

Rachel is a Consultant Social Worker in the Cardiff Hospital Social Work Team. She works in fast paced and often complex hospital settings, making sure the experiences of people and carers guide planning and decision making. Rachel is an experienced Collaborative Communication mentor and Practice Educator, supporting reflective, strengths-based practice across her teams, especially when pressures are high. She is passionate about supporting social work students and newly qualified social workers as they begin their practice in hospital settings.

Becky Evans is the Chief Enabling Officer at Credu. She is a long‑time advocate for strengths‑based practice. She has worked across social care, education, youth work and community development, always guided by the belief that everyone has value and strengths that should be recognised and nurtured.

Becky’s leadership is shaped by deep listening, curiosity and a commitment to meaningful human connection. She has seen how these principles can help people grow, and empower carers, young people, teams and communities to find their own solutions.

Becky is committed to making sure the voices that matter most are heard, and creating spaces where stories lead to change. She promotes a culture of kindness, reflection and action, and continues to guide Credu to build communities where people feel seen, heard and supported.

Imogen Blood is a social worker who became a researcher, trainer and podcaster. She runs Imogen Blood & Associates, a research consultancy that focuses on the links between housing, care and support. Her research interests include positive risk management, multiple‑exclusion homelessness and dementia. She has also co‑written a book on supporting older people using strengths‑based and attachment‑informed approaches.

Eve is a Partner at Blake Morgan LLP and leads the firm's Wales office. She regularly advises social workers on many legal issues, from getting the right support for vulnerable individuals to dealing with statutory duties and safeguarding responsibilities. She also advises health and care professional regulators on fitness to practice processes to include drafting social media and freedom of expression guidance for registrants.

Eve is Assistant Editor of the Encyclopaedia of Social Services and Child Care Law and the Mental Capacity Act Manual. She also teaches as a regular guest lecturer at Aberystwyth University.

Louise is a neurology nurse who cared for people with brain injuries and neurological conditions. She says she came alive when she met the People Speak Up team. Louise has devoted her life to sharing her story.

Liz is the social care workforce development lead at Social Care Wales. Liz has also worked on the Welsh language remit within the organisation for the last seven years. She has an interest in culture and how this reflects in practice.

Sanmi is a trainee social worker with Carmarthenshire County Council’s adult services. He previously worked as a care worker in a residential care home before joining the council’s Care Academi. He is especially interested in the role of digital assistive technology in adult social care.

Rhian is on her final placement in a long-term childcare team and expects to complete her Master’s degree in social work this year. She trained as a classical musician and decided to pursue a career in social work after spending time working with children who had additional learning needs when she became passionate about the need to advocate for both children and adults with disabilities.

She hopes to work within a team supporting young people with disabilities, to pursue this passion and contribute to improving outcomes for young people with disabilities and their families.

Eleanor Shaw is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of People Speak Up, an arts and health charity that gives people time and space to find their voice.

Mair supports social workers in their first three years in practice as a learning and development advisor. She also runs the evidence enriched practice group in Carmarthenshire. Mair is interested in how creativity supports well-being in practice and how social workers from various disciplines can work together to develop their practice by listening to experienced voices.

Siobhan has been a social worker for 35 years and became a practice educator in 1995. Siobhan has worked independently for many years, taking on a wide range of work, including training, creating practice learning resources and consultancy work.

In 2004, Siobhan became Secretary of the International Federation of Social Workers, holding this position for eight years.

Siobhan has written extensively, mainly on social work theory and critical reflection and is committed to making knowledge clear and accessible to busy practitioners.

Siobhan recently moved to Northern Ireland where she has enjoyed taking on the practice teacher role.

Siobhan is a Fellow of The RSA.

Bex Steen is the Leadership Development Manager at Social Care Wales.

She has more than 22 years of frontline social care leadership experience.

She’s passionate about helping leaders grow and is inspired by the voices of people with lived experience to make real, meaningful change.

Bex loves creating practical, engaging programmes that boost confidence and curiosity. She believes great leadership isn’t just about decisions, it’s about people. Her mission is to make leadership feel human, approachable, and impactful.