Families at the heart:

Beverley Barnett-Jones MBE joined the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory as Associate Director for Practice and Impact in May 2020. She has spent many years in social work practice and management roles on the frontline, founding two Family Drug and Alcohol Courts and supporting the expansion of this innovative family justice model into Manchester.

In June 2018, Beverley received an MBE for her work with children and families. She is a Fellow of the RSA, Trustee of the combined what works in children’s social care and early intervention centre and has recently been appointed to the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood’s expert advisory group.

John, The Lord Bird MBE was born into poverty and brought up in care. His life journey has included spells as a prisoner, artist and printer. Now an activist, publisher and Crossbench member of the House of Lords, Lord Bird is the driving force behind The Big Issue Group, which includes the world’s most successful street magazine, The Big Issue and its social investment arm, Big Issue Invest. Lord Bird is a business leader with an outstanding record of using enterprise as a force for social change in dismantling the root causes of poverty; and in Parliament, he focuses on poverty and homelessness prevention. He is currently Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on ‘Business Response to Social Crises’ and has the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill.

Neil Leitch, CEO at the Early Years Alliance, will also be delivering a keynote speech, giving an update on the Alliance’s campaigning and our work to keep families at the heart of early years practice.