Meet our team of experts on missing

As Director of Policy and Development at Missing People, Susannah led the setup of the Business Development team and now oversees it. She has several years’ experience of developing and leading successful services and projects, with a strong focus on ensuring our work is high quality, grounded in the needs of missing people and families, and responsive to the changing needs of our commissioners and partners. Susannah also leads the Policy and Partnerships and the Research and Impact teams at the charity. Her wide-ranging role and membership of national stakeholder groups on missing persons means she has unique insights into what works in providing an effective response to missing people and their families, as well as in-depth knowledge of national and local policies, guidance and good practice. Susannah regularly represents the charity at national conferences, Government meetings and as a media spokesperson.

Becca is Missing People’s Head of Business Development. Becca has led on several new initiatives whilst at the charity including the development of Missing People’s Return Home Interview services, which provide vital support to missing children and their families in partnership with local authority and police partners. Becca also led the service set-up and pilot of Missing People’s SafeCall helpline funded by the Home Office, which provides emotional and practical support to victims of child criminal exploitation and their families. Becca also led Missing People’s partnership and training services, working directly with partners across the UK. Through this channel, she drove initiatives to provide training and consultancy services across health, social care and policing. This included programmes of work on a range of issues related to missing, including mental health, exploitation and homelessness to improve statutory responses to missing persons.

Jane began working at Missing People as a Return Home Interview Worker in May 2016 and developed her skillset with a particular focus on safeguarding, operational management, and strategic planning to become a Local Services Manager in March 2018. Since then, Jane has managed various Missing People services including SafeCall, training and conferences, and police partnerships. Jane moved into a project management role in August 2018, and has since managed Search Dog Heroes, a project helping to find the most high-risk missing people in the UK through the use of trained, ground-scenting dogs. In addition, Jane manages Is This Ok?, a project supporting children and young people who are currently experiencing or are at risk of exploitation, through a digital chat-bot and one-to-one chat system. Jane is also part of the Business Development Team, helping to win and secure statutory income for existing and new Missing People projects and services.

Nikki is currently a Policy, Projects and Development Manager at Missing People, as part of our Policy and Partnerships, and Business Development Teams. She joined Missing People in 2017 as a Return Home Interview Worker after teaching and completing her PhD in public policy at The University of Queensland. Nikki has a passion for working with young people, recently completing a Post-Graduate Diploma in Child, Adolescent & Family Psychotherapy at the Tavistock & Portman, NHS Foundation. Nikki was the first non-police person to deliver a Safe & Well check in the UK when managing Missing People’s Safe & Well Check pilot project with Sussex Police from 2018-2019. She currently manages Missing People’s partnership project with Scottish Government, ensuring the implementation of The Scottish National Missing Persons Framework within local areas across Scotland, working with Police Scotland, local authorities, the NHS, and Education. Nikki’s extensive experience of front-line service delivery with both missing adults and children informs her knowledge of exploitation, safeguarding, policy analysis and good practice.

As a Services Development Manager Holly is passionate about creating innovative solutions to solve the ‘headaches’ that local areas face in relation to missing. Holly has experience of successfully securing Police Crime Commissioner funding to deliver high quality projects and conferences with local partners. Holly has recently written and launched a bespoke e-learning package to upskill professionals who work with missing children or missing adults. Holly is passionate about putting people with lived experience at the heart of service delivery, a recent example was co-delivering a series of parents' events, alongside a parent whose son was criminally exploited. One of Holly’s proudest work achievements was receiving the following feedback from a Police Partner:

“Co-hosting with Missing People brought a new dimension to the training and stance of the lived experience emphasised to all the need to make sure we place the child at the heart of all the decisions we make. I have received many positive comments and emails from colleagues and partners who found the event interesting and insightful and I am confident that safeguarding of the young people within the county will improve as a result”.