Management
Diana Dewing
Managing Director
Kirsty Crowe
Head of Operations
Kirsty joined the Thrive team in Oct 2014 as our Training Operations Manager; she came on board to facilitate the smooth running of all our training courses. Kirsty has 6 years’ experience in a training and development background, and has had previous experience in the childcare sector.
Kirsty fully embraces the aims and objectives of Thrive and is keen to help in continuing to raise the profile of the organisation.
Fay Steer
Head of Marketing
Fay joined the Thrive team in October 2018 to oversee the marketing operation, helping Thrive to spread the news about the Thrive Approach and the positive impact it can have in supporting the emotional and social wellbeing of children and young people.
A strategic marketing professional, with over 30 years’ experience of marketing – predominantly in the education sector – Fay is passionate about customer service, reputation and brand management, and the use of plain English!
Julia (Jules) Flynn
Head of Finance
Jules joined Thrive in February 2019, as a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ experience within both small companies and larger international groups in a number of sectors.
Jules hopes to bring additional commercial focus to the organisation to ensure that Thrive continues to expand its reach to as many children as possible.
Outside of work, her loves include baking, the sea, dogs and donkeys.
Administration and Finance
Zena Cameron
Receptionist / Office Coordinator
Zena joined the team in November 2017. Having spent 17 years working for the Magistrates’ Court across administration and finance roles she felt like a change in direction.
With a degree in Psychology she was excited to learn about the Thrive Approach and pleased to have the opportunity to work in the organisation.
Utilising her administrative skills Zena is now the Receptionist / Office Coordinator and responsible for looking after the needs of all the teams.
In her spare time Zena enjoys painting and likes to take part in one off adrenalin sports which have included a parachute jump, paragliding, zip wiring, zorbing and flyboarding.
Camille Lovell
Accounts Coordinator
Camille started working for Thrive on a temporary basis then joined the team permanently in May 2019.
Having previously worked in finance, customer services and management, Camille hopes to bring her knowledge and experience into her new role as Accounts Coordinator.
Emma Dufty
Finance Co-ordinator
Emma joined Thrive in June 2018 as Finance Co-ordinator, having gained 14 years’ experience within the Accounts department for a housing developer. In this role Emma worked closely with the Sales and Construction teams obtaining in-depth knowledge of the construction industry. Emma has obtained her AAT Level 2 Accounting qualification and also has an NVQ level 2 in Business Administration. Feeling ready for a new challenge, Emma is excited about the opportunity of working with Thrive and hopes to be a great support to her colleagues in Finance.
When she’s not working, Emma runs several times a week and enjoys long walks with her Cocker Spaniel, Monty.
Nicki Courtney
Finance & Administration Manager
With a background in finance, accounting and business support in a career spanning over 20 years, Nicki oversees the Central Services functions at Thrive. She brings a wealth of commercial experience to the role, drawn from a range of sectors including logistics, architecture, retail and management consultancy.
Nicki joined the Thrive team in July 2011. She contributes to the effective management of people, resources and finance to ensure the rapid and sustainable growth of the company. Nicki is committed to supporting the continual growth of the Thrive in our schools, social and healthcare settings. She is the proud mother of William.
Julia (Jules) Flynn
Head of Finance
Jules joined Thrive in February 2019, as a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ experience within both small companies and larger international groups in a number of sectors.
Jules hopes to bring additional commercial focus to the organisation to ensure that Thrive continues to expand its reach to as many children as possible.
Outside of work, her loves include baking, the sea, dogs and donkeys.
Content Development
Lia Ponton
Content and Publications Editor
Lia joined Thrive in March 2019 as Content and Publications Editor. As a member of the Research and Development team, Lia is involved in developing resources and content for Thrive training courses and publications.
Prior to joining Thrive, Lia spent several years working as a creative psychotherapist for children, young people and adults in the south-west. She has an MA in Dramatherapy and a post-graduate certificate in Environmental Arts Therapy (working creatively outdoors).
Lia also spent several years in Brazil, where she taught English as a Foreign language and then worked as Content Development Manager for an online English language learning platform. Lia has contributed and edited English language training materials for international publishers. She also speaks fluent Brazilian Portuguese and worked for several years as a translator and proofreader.
Working in the Research and Development team at Thrive has enabled Lia to combine the skills and knowledge from her backgrounds in therapy and writing to support Thrive to deliver its message and help all children to develop socially and emotionally whatever their start in life – something she is passionate about.
Liz Charles
Senior Lead: Healthcare
Liz is a doctor who joined the Thrive team in September 2016 as the Healthcare Sector Lead. She uses her experience as a GP to inform and develop the way that the Thrive Approach can be used to greatest effect in the healthcare sector. In addition to training, Liz also assists the Research and Development team to integrate current advances in neuroscience in the Thrive material which informs the work of Thrive practitioners.
Working for Thrive gives Liz the opportunity to bring together her knowledge gained through being a doctor and her first-hand experience of the importance of a supportive school environment in the welfare of children being brought up in challenging home circumstances. She is fascinated by the latest advances in neuroscience which continue to support why and how the Thrive Approach is so effective in bringing positive change to children’s (and adults’!) lives in simple yet profound ways.
Aimee Coles
Publications & Content Editor
With this background, she joins us as Publications and Content Editor on the Content Development Team, where she will create and edit Thrive’s training resources, bringing the Thrive message to a wider world.
Lucy Latchmore
Content Development Manager
Lucy joined the Thrive team in January 2016 and oversees the Research and Development Team to develop the resources and content for all Thrive training courses.
Prior to working at Thrive, Lucy worked in editorial and publishing in London for six years, and then as a secondary school English and Drama teacher in South Devon for six years.
Lucy is passionate about the social and emotional development of children and young people, and is excited to be contributing her experience to the development of Thrive.
IT
Chad Cookney
Project Manager
Chad joined the Thrive team in October 2018, bringing with him more than 20 years of commercial experience at management level across multiple industries including finance, banking and retail. Chad joined the team to facilitate the delivery and management of both non-technical and IT related projects supporting Thrives overall’s future plans.
Chad is passionate about supporting children and young people to develop their emotional and social availability, to overcome life’s challenges and experience life’s rewards
Luke Johnson
Software Development Co-ordinator
Luke joined Thrive in July 2017 with an experienced business intelligence and software background and a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry.
After gaining an honours degree in computing from Sheffield Hallam University Luke has gained extensive experience from a variety of roles in service delivery, requirements analysis, technical support, data analysis, enterprise software, and databases.
Luke looks forward to contributing his technical experience to the team.
Bertie Bowser
IT Support Co-ordinator
Bertie joined Thrive in September 2019 with 14 years’ experience in the IT Sector.
Since leaving Bournemouth University in 2005 Bertie has had various roles in many areas of the IT industry including business management, technical support, sales and development.
Bertie looks forward to contributing his technical experience to the team.
Marketing
Fay Steer
Head of Marketing
Fay joined the Thrive team in October 2018 to oversee the marketing operation, helping Thrive to spread the news about the Thrive Approach and the positive impact it can have in supporting the emotional and social wellbeing of children and young people.
A strategic marketing professional, with over 30 years’ experience of marketing – predominantly in the education sector – Fay is passionate about customer service, reputation and brand management, and the use of plain English!
Leonie Heath
Marketing Coordinator
Leonie joined the Thrive marketing team in June 2019 and helps to promote Thrive to a wider audience.
After studying English Literature and Language at university, Leonie went on to work in marketing for an international school, where she also trained to teach English as a foreign language. Leonie later moved to an academic publishing company where she helped to promote digital resources to universities across the UK and Europe.
In her role at Thrive, Leonie enjoys utilising her creativity and writing skills through our social media channels and blog posts.
Laura Joy
Graphic Designer
Laura joined the Thrive team in February 2016, and helps to promote Thrive to a wider audience.
After studying Graphic Communication at University, Laura went on to work at creative agencies, as well as in-house for companies in the food and healthcare industries. Her career has continued to build her knowledge of marketing and design, and she enjoys utilising her creative skills in her role at Thrive.
Liz Parks
PR Officer
Liz joined Thrive in September 2019 as PR Officer.
As a member of the Marketing and Communications team Liz is responsible for promoting Thrive’s work to the media using traditional and digital channels. She also produces case studies to illustrate how the Thrive Approach works and the positive changes that it produces in behaviour and educational attainment.
Prior to joining Thrive, Liz held PR roles in higher education and the B2B utilities sector as well as working as a regional newspaper journalist for many years.
Liz enjoys using her content creation skills to highlight the benefits of the Thrive Approach and how it helps to create happy, healthy children who are open to learning.
Member Services
Kate Middleton
Member Services Manager
Kate joined the Team in May 2015 and assists members with their continuing professional development and licensing. Kate works alongside Grace Willams, Jeannette Allen and Charlotte Cole to develop member resources.
With a background in Member Services Kate was delighted to join the team to continue to improve the member experience.
Relationship Development
Tracy Murphy
Relationship Development Co-ordinator
Tracy joined the Thrive team in February 2020. She has worked in various sectors throughout her career, including retail, funeral care and welfare-to-work, where she supported the unemployed and people with disabilities to find sustainable employment.
As a member of the Relationship Development team, Tracy works closely with the Thrive regional team and supports clients with their enquiries. Tracy fully embraces the ethos and values of Thrive and is excited to use her varied experience to help raise awareness across the country.
Training
James Sheppard
Training Operations Team Leader
He is looking forward to contributing his experience to the team.
Trainers
Viv Trask-Hall
Head of Innovation in Education & Principal Trainer
Viv has been teaching in schools, often in challenging circumstances, for 22 years as a teacher, SENCo and senior leader. For the last 12 years she has been leading schools as both headteacher and executive headteacher in mainstream schools, a Co-operative Trust school and an academy. Most recently this has included Doncaster Road Primary School where she led the school successfully out of a special measures category by embedding Thrive as a core approach and using this as one of the tools to improve every area of practice.
Alongside these roles she has also been consultant headteacher for the Local Authority leading, amongst other things, the induction programme for new head teachers for several years. As an LLE it was her privilege to work alongside heads of other schools to support them in improving outcomes for children.
After successfully introducing Thrive into two of the schools where she had been headteacher she was thrilled to join the team as Regional Development Manager for the North of England in September 2015 and has more recently taken on the role of Principal Trainer.
Viv is passionate about supporting other professionals to embed the practice and reach as many children and families as possible.
Case studies
While it is important to understand the model behind The Thrive Approach, what really matters is the impact that it can have in practice for the development of an individual child or young person.
View case studiesNext steps
If you would like to discuss more about Thrive and what opportunities are currently available in your area, please click the link below or call the Thrive team direct on +64 (0) 21450985.
Get in touch