Building Stronger Foundations for Children

Joel Sherrill, Ph.D. is the Deputy Director of the Division of Services and Intervention Research at NIMH.  The Division supports research focused on optimising and personalising preventive and therapeutic interventions to ensure they are maximally effective and matched to individual needs; and services/clinical epidemiology research focused on access, continuity, equity, efficiency and quality of mental health care across the lifespan, and across service settings. 

During his tenure at NIMH, Sherrill has overseen research portfolios focused on psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic approaches to treating mental disorders among youth and adults. He has led and collaborated on various clinical research initiatives and has been integrally involved in establishing and implementing NIMH’s approach to supporting clinical trials research. 

Following his doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Stony Brook University, Sherrill completed his clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship and then pursued research on the long-term course and treatment of early-onset affective disorders at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine/ Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. 

Amanda Fixsen, Ph.D.
Senior Implementation Specialist, Children and Youth Cabinet of Rhode Island & The National Race Equity Implementation Center
 
Amanda Fixsen has a background in Applied Behavior Analysis, Social Work and Social Research, and Implementation Practice. For more than 15 years Amanda has worked to understand how human and health services can be effectively implemented and scaled-up in real world contexts. 
 
Amanda most recently served as Vice President of Programs and Implementation at Invest in Kids in Denver, Colorado working to ensure the high quality delivery of evidence-based programs in early childhood throughout Colorado. Invest in Kids was the first organization in the United States to film video vignettes with local Colorado families, and pilot the invest in play parenting program. Previously, Amanda worked at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress serving mental health sites nationally through consultation on methods of effective clinical training, and of the implementation of trauma-focused evidence-based programs. 
 
Leading with her values of community, compassion and joy she currently focuses her efforts integrating equity and implementation practice with The Children and Youth Cabinet of Rhode Island and the National Race Equity Implementation Center in the USA.

Education

BA in Organisational Learning and Communication from the University of Copenhagen and HD(O) from Aarhus School of Business.

Bio

Michael has been working as a management consultant and senior advisor for more than 10 years, supporting both public and private organisations in developing and realising strategies and improving operational management. In addition, Michael has sat on a number of boards and committees within the educational sector and the NGO sector.

Shirley lives in the UK. She was the first woman in her family to go to University and the only person in her family with a PhD. She was twice nominated for the ITV National Diversity Awards in 2023 in the categories of Positive Role Model Award for Age and Positive Role Model Award for Disability. She helped to write the devolution deal for Greater Manchester on early years and presented evidence of what works for children to both the Education and Science and Technology Select Committees of the UK Parliament.

She is a Member of the Advisory Panel for Children’s Viewing for the British Board of Film Classification. She is also a Trustee for the charity Respect For All who provide counselling to people who are either autistic and/or have a learning disability in Greater Manchester.

During the pandemic she was in the clinical extremely vulnerable covid category and lost her father to covid. He was admitted to a covid ward the morning after Shirley received her autism diagnosis letter. He would never know of her late diagnosis. In the absence of being able to tell him, she ended up telling the world instead. 

Education

B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.

A trained mediator, Susan has over 25 years of experience resolving complex public policy issues. She specialises in environmental policy, facilitation and project management. She has fostered consensus building within numerous diverse groups through creative facilitation.

CEO at Respect for All

For the past five years, Sam Palmer has served as the Chair of the Greater Manchester Youth Network (GMYN) board, a position he assumed after becoming a trustee in 2017. With a 23-year history in the third sector, Sam's commitment to fostering new opportunities for young people in the region led him to join the GMYN board. His extensive experience encompasses various roles, notably managing projects dedicated to young people, such as young carers services and overseeing children's centres.

Drawing from personal lived experiences as a young carer from a disadvantaged background, Sam has encountered and overcome challenges, including bullying and discrimination as a gay young man.

Sam is currently the CEO at Respect for All (RfA), an organisation providing specialised counselling and peer groups for autistic and/or learning-disabled individuals of all ages. RfA has witnessed a significant surge in referrals for young people over the past year and acknowledges the broader impact on families by working with the entire family unit.

In his pursuit of further advocacy and support for neurodiverse individuals, Sam aspires to advocate and be an ally for neurodiverse people accessing services at Respect for All. He aims to ensure that neurodiversity remains a prominent agenda item within all the collaborations that he attends. Additionally, Sam seeks to cultivate networks and partnerships to raise awareness about the crucial need for specialised mental health support tailored to neurodiverse people.

Sam sits on the Alternative Providers Collaborative, GM Autism Consortium Mental Health Group, Salford & Manchester Vocal Leaders, GM NHS ICB Neurodivergent Children & Young People Steering Group, GM Equality Panel and is board member for Langworthy Cornerstones and 11:11 Prison Support CIC. 

Chief Executive - HENRY

A parent of three, Bec is passionate about children having the best start in life. With a degree and PhD in nutrition, Bec has focused on prevention and early intervention at a public health level with the aim of reducing health inequalities. Her experience and skills come from academic research, service development and delivery, science communication and charity leadership.  Her knowledge comes from the amazing network and community she has met along the way!  The last decade or so has focused specifically on pregnancy and early childhood.  
Bec has held various governance and advisory roles across her career and she currently sits on the Blackpool Better Start Advisory Board and is a trustee with Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis. Bec also volunteers weekly at her local soup kitchen. Bec is based in Warwickshire, UK.