Championing Lived Experience. Empowering Wellbeing. Accrediting Excellence
Meet the Management Team
Marcia Fernandes
Marcia Fernandes
Marcia Fernandes
Managing Director, AAL
& Director, The Centre for People, Culture & Wellbeing
AAL was set up in 2017 to support those with lived experience access accredited training and qualifications, which they may not otherwise have had access to. We are proud that we have supported more than 1,500 learners achieve certification.
"I specialise in accre
Managing Director, AAL
& Director, The Centre for People, Culture & Wellbeing
AAL was set up in 2017 to support those with lived experience access accredited training and qualifications, which they may not otherwise have had access to. We are proud that we have supported more than 1,500 learners achieve certification.
"I specialise in accreditation and workplace culture, with an emphasis on lived experience. With 21 years working across the education sector, I am an advocate for ensuring workplace psychological safety and recognising diversity. I believe in encouraging people to use their ‘lived experience’ voices to make a difference in workplaces and communities.
I have a background in quality assurance and am an active consultant for awarding and professional bodies. My practice is supported by postgraduate mental health & wellbeing, coaching & mentoring, teaching and legal qualifications.
I take a hands-on approach within the business, connecting with new and existing members."
Sarah Greenway
Marcia Fernandes
Marcia Fernandes
Quality and Sustainability Director
Sarah joined AAL in 2018, after a number of roles in Quality Assurance for the public, private and charitable sectors, ensuring organisations met a range of regulatory and accreditation standards.
"I take great pride in supporting others to review their own practices – being able to fully recognise the a
Quality and Sustainability Director
Sarah joined AAL in 2018, after a number of roles in Quality Assurance for the public, private and charitable sectors, ensuring organisations met a range of regulatory and accreditation standards.
"I take great pride in supporting others to review their own practices – being able to fully recognise the amazing things they do but also supporting them to understand where improvements could be made, focusing on continuous improvements and developments for the future.
I am passionate about sustainability and how this is an integral part of the workplace. I enjoy encouraging others to see the benefits of sustainable practice to their business, culture, and employee wellbeing, as well as on a personal level. My practice is supported by sustainability, quality assurance and business qualifications."
Claire Donogue
Marcia Fernandes
Claire Donogue
Lived Experience Lead Trainer
Claire is a CBH Therapist and Recovery Coach from Ireland. Having spent nearly a decade of her life in the grips of gambling addiction, Claire now uses her lived experience to help others.
"When I first decided that I wanted to use my lived experience to help others, I enrolled in the AAL Lived Experience Accr
Lived Experience Lead Trainer
Claire is a CBH Therapist and Recovery Coach from Ireland. Having spent nearly a decade of her life in the grips of gambling addiction, Claire now uses her lived experience to help others.
"When I first decided that I wanted to use my lived experience to help others, I enrolled in the AAL Lived Experience Accredited Facilitator and Speaker Programme to learn how I could best use my voice to create a dialogue and deliver my story effectively. The skills I learned through the course have helped me to establish my career as a Lived Experience Advocate, and now I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to share that knowledge as an AAL Trainer."
Lauren Harris
Marcia Fernandes
Claire Donogue
CPD and Membership Manager, The Centre for People, Culture & Wellbeing
Lauren has worked in Further and Adult Education for over 16 years in various teaching and management roles, culture and wellbeing are crucial to her approach in how she supports others in the educational landscape.
"I reached out to AAL because their values resonated d
CPD and Membership Manager, The Centre for People, Culture & Wellbeing
Lauren has worked in Further and Adult Education for over 16 years in various teaching and management roles, culture and wellbeing are crucial to her approach in how she supports others in the educational landscape.
"I reached out to AAL because their values resonated deeply with mine, emphasizing that people’s health, happiness, and wellbeing should be central to every workplace.
I manage the People, Culture and Wellbeing programme, which not only showcases incredible experts with lived experience but also provides a platform to share their work and connect with businesses across the country."
The Centre for People Culture & Wellbeing: Specialists
Mark Brooks OBE DLitt
Mark Brooks OBE DLitt
Mark Brooks OBE DLitt
Sector leader in men’s health, inclusion and domestic abuse.
Mark is a national policy advisor and sector leader in men’s health, inclusion and domestic abuse.
He received an OBE in 2019 and an Honorary Doctorate (University of West London) in 2023 for his work in these fields.
He currently is the national ambassador for International Men’s
Sector leader in men’s health, inclusion and domestic abuse.
Mark is a national policy advisor and sector leader in men’s health, inclusion and domestic abuse.
He received an OBE in 2019 and an Honorary Doctorate (University of West London) in 2023 for his work in these fields.
He currently is the national ambassador for International Men’s Day, chair of the ManKind Initiative domestic abuse charity and the Policy Advisor for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Men and Boys Issues. He is a member of the Department of Health and Social Care’s Expert Reference Group on men’s health and recently spoke at a House of Commons’ Select Committee on men’s health and accessibility. He was also the lead author on well-received reports on men’s health and male suicide.
He can support employers on a range of issues:
- The health challenges men face including those at work
- How to embed men’s health and wellbeing support in the workplace
- How to embed male diversity/inclusion/equality in the workplace
Andrea Middleton
Mark Brooks OBE DLitt
Mark Brooks OBE DLitt
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)
Andrea has an innate curiosity to understand how children develop socially, intellectually, physically, and spiritually, and believes passionately in supporting young people holistically to thrive in every aspect of their lives. Andrea worked for several years in primary school settings where she pilo
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)
Andrea has an innate curiosity to understand how children develop socially, intellectually, physically, and spiritually, and believes passionately in supporting young people holistically to thrive in every aspect of their lives. Andrea worked for several years in primary school settings where she piloted and led nurture groups and whole-school pastoral support offerings. She supported cognitive learning in schools as a Speech, Language and Communication Specialist Assistant and offered social and emotional support as an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. Andrea also works privately as a Therapeutic Wellbeing Practitioner utilising Homeopathic treatment alongside creative therapeutic support modalities, such as Sandplay Therapy, Clay Field Therapy, and Drawing and Talking therapy to support children, young people, and adults alike.
Andrea holds a BSc(hons) in Homeopathy, a University Certificate in Psychology and a MA Education from Edge Hill University, and as published several research papers on various aspects of nurture practice, including the necessity for wellbeing support for nurture practitioners and the importance of nurturing learning in natural spaces. Andrea most recently worked as a Lead Consultant supporting schools engaged in nurtureuk’s pilot partnership programme with Violence Reduction Units in London and Kent and published a research paper based on this work in October 2022.
Andrea is passionate about relational practice and is dedicated to supporting educational professionals to adopt more nurturing and trauma-informed approaches toward creating a more connected and peaceful world.
Lydia Warren
Mark Brooks OBE DLitt
Annabelle Chester
Disability Awareness
Lydia is a Disability Awareness Specialist and Project Inclusion Officer at Barts NHS Trust, one of the largest hospital trusts in the UK. With 19 years of service at Barts Health, Lydia draws on her lived experience as a person with a disability to influence and advocate for inclusion and equity within the healthcare
Disability Awareness
Lydia is a Disability Awareness Specialist and Project Inclusion Officer at Barts NHS Trust, one of the largest hospital trusts in the UK. With 19 years of service at Barts Health, Lydia draws on her lived experience as a person with a disability to influence and advocate for inclusion and equity within the healthcare sector.
Lydia’s journey began in 2005 as a volunteer Medical Recruitment Officer, a role that led to her securing a permanent position. Over the years, she has held various roles, continually using her insights and dedication to drive meaningful change. In 2016, Lydia became Co-Chair of the Disability Network, BartsAbility, where she discovered her passion for inclusion and made significant contributions to advancing disability inclusion and equity where she spear headed the disability passport within the trust and now is used widely amongst different NHS Trust. She recently stepped down from this role to focus on her current position as Inclusion Officer for Disability.
Lydia is now embarking on an exciting new chapter under the name The Chronicles of Chilled Wisdom. Through this platform, she aims to share her lived experience of disability and advocate for workplace inclusion. Her mission is to inspire and influence organisations to better support colleagues with disabilities, long-term conditions, or neurodivergent, people helping them embrace their unique abilities and thrive professionally.
With her passion and commitment, Lydia continues to champion a more inclusive and supportive environment for all.
Annabelle Chester
Mark Brooks OBE DLitt
Annabelle Chester
Neurodiversity
I am a Business Psychologist Consultant, that has specialised in neurodiversity and inclusive leadership. I founded Neurobelle Consulting in January 2023, with the mission to change business strategy to show how employing neurodiverse individuals (or individuals with hidden disabilities) is a huge competitive advantage. Neu
Neurodiversity
I am a Business Psychologist Consultant, that has specialised in neurodiversity and inclusive leadership. I founded Neurobelle Consulting in January 2023, with the mission to change business strategy to show how employing neurodiverse individuals (or individuals with hidden disabilities) is a huge competitive advantage. Neurobelle is also on a mission to show and train how, once hired, you can get the absolute best out of neurodiverse individuals. Thus, creating a positive, engaged and happy culture and environment, for the staff to thrive. Having dyslexia, endometriosis and suspected ADHD myself, I have had a great deal of first hand lived experience of what ‘good’ looks like, and what ‘not so good’ looks like!
I have had amazing support all the way through to discrimination and adversity. I developed Neurobelle to educate and support companies around neurodiversity and inclusive leadership. I believe strongly in authenticity, inclusive leadership, an ‘I Can’ mindset, and creating spaces where happiness isn’t just a goal, it’s the everyday reality.
When your workforce invests the majority of their week working with you, why not invest in them too?
Haley White
Haley White
Haley White
Menopause
Haley White is a trainer, facilitator and public speaker, with a focus on workplace wellbeing training.
With a degree in Business Psychology and an MSc in Organisational Psychology, lived experience of mental health issues and having run a wellbeing centre in Greece, Haley is well placed to support organisations to become happier
Menopause
Haley White is a trainer, facilitator and public speaker, with a focus on workplace wellbeing training.
With a degree in Business Psychology and an MSc in Organisational Psychology, lived experience of mental health issues and having run a wellbeing centre in Greece, Haley is well placed to support organisations to become happier and more productive places to be.
She has multi-sector experience having worked across the following areas during her career:
• private
• not-for-profit
• education
• local authority
• central government
• international development
This has led to a deep understanding of organisations and the importance of mental health at work. For example, Haley has worked with the construction industry to help tackle the stigma around men’s mental health.
In 2021, Haley discovered she was perimenopausal and like a lot of women, didn’t really know what this meant. Through her exploration, she discovered there are over 6.5 million menopausal women in the UK workforce, and a staggering 900,000 of them have left their jobs due to inadequate support.
Haley realised that something needed to be done and so she created Menospace, a menopause training and consultancy organisation.
Haley is on a mission to normalise the conversations around menopause at work.
Some of the organisations Haley has worked with include NHS, Colt Technology, Wates Construction, Queen Mary University, Thames Water, BBC, Dentons Solicitors, and Mind.
Emma Waller
Haley White
Haley White
Financial Wellbeing
Emma is the founder of MoneyMinded, a highly successful financial wellbeing organisation delivering content, training and workshop delivery. She is an award-winning financial wellbeing consultant with extensive experience of supporting people to improve their financial knowledge, skills and behaviours. Emma works across
Financial Wellbeing
Emma is the founder of MoneyMinded, a highly successful financial wellbeing organisation delivering content, training and workshop delivery. She is an award-winning financial wellbeing consultant with extensive experience of supporting people to improve their financial knowledge, skills and behaviours. Emma works across private, public and voluntary sectors, designing and delivering financial wellbeing programmes for commercial clients, charities and community groups.
Most notably Emma co-authored Martin Lewis’s “Your Money Matters” book. She provides content and training for a number of national organisations including the NHS and other government departments, high street retailers and national charities.
Emma regularly delivers financial wellbeing workshops in the workplace and in community settings, she also provides support to schools and colleges, helping them embed financial education across the curriculum. Emma also has over 20 years’ experience in education, firstly as a Teacher of Economics and Business, followed by roles in Senior Leadership as Director of Learning and Assistant Principal responsible for performance and standards..
Sam Flynn
Haley White
Sally Beyer
Digital Wellbeing
Having achieved a Psychology Degree and Masters in Organisational Psychology, Sam’s first business focused on designing, delivering and analysing employee engagement surveys for organisations. This soon transitioned in to a social media training business, when Sam identified a gap of effective training in the market 13 ye
Digital Wellbeing
Having achieved a Psychology Degree and Masters in Organisational Psychology, Sam’s first business focused on designing, delivering and analysing employee engagement surveys for organisations. This soon transitioned in to a social media training business, when Sam identified a gap of effective training in the market 13 years ago. After noticing her own smartphone use dramatically increase during the pandemic, seeing the effects this had on her own wellbeing and her subsequent actions to reduce her smartphone use, Sam became passionate about digital wellbeing and the impact this can have on individual and workplace wellbeing, as well as productivity and output.
Sam works with organisations to improve their digital culture and individuals to help them maintain a positive relationship with the digital world.
Sally Beyer
Haley White
Sally Beyer
Neuro Linguistic and Imposter Syndrome
Sally’s whole career is focused on helping professionals to thrive in their chosen fields. As a coach, trainer, facilitator, coach supervisor and careers consultant, she has a proven track record of designing and delivering coaching & training solutions for clients. With over twenty-eight years’ e
Neuro Linguistic and Imposter Syndrome
Sally’s whole career is focused on helping professionals to thrive in their chosen fields. As a coach, trainer, facilitator, coach supervisor and careers consultant, she has a proven track record of designing and delivering coaching & training solutions for clients. With over twenty-eight years’ experience of supporting professionals from a wide variety of sectors (public & private) she is passionate about enabling people to thrive in all aspects of life.
Approach
Sally is an intuitive and empathic person, who will work in partnership with you as explore your next steps. A keen listener with good observational skills, her aim is to support you as you bring your very best to each training and coaching conversation, passionate about enabling you to be all you can be. She seeks to make learning fun and to brings warmth and curiosity to conversations.
Using a variety of questioning techniques, coaching tools and models, Sally will encourage you to dig deeper to shine a light on the areas you do well in and also explore aspects of your work/life you would like to keep enhancing. She is able to work at psychological depth and utilises coaching tools and research from neuroscience, emotional intelligence and training in Neuro Linguistic Programming to support you in all that you do.
Mehvish Shaffi-Ajibola
Mehvish Shaffi-Ajibola
Mehvish Shaffi-Ajibola
Senior HR and OD
Mehvish is a distinguished and nationally recognised senior Human Resources (HR) & Organisational Development (OD) professional with a wealth of experience. As a mentor, she has been instrumental in supporting businesses to foster organisational values, enhance behaviours, and optimise both people and business performance
Senior HR and OD
Mehvish is a distinguished and nationally recognised senior Human Resources (HR) & Organisational Development (OD) professional with a wealth of experience. As a mentor, she has been instrumental in supporting businesses to foster organisational values, enhance behaviours, and optimise both people and business performance. Mehvish is the recipient of a prestigious national award for Inspiring Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead, recognised at the Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic Health and Social Care Awards in 2021.
As the Founder and CEO of Socially Inspired Ltd, a boutique consultancy, Mehvish offers a unique approach to supporting organisational change and transformation. Her mission is to positively impact and empower the workforce and leaders, driving forward the cause for social change.
Mehvish has led transformative initiatives such as the Workforce Race Equality Standards national culture pilot program and reciprocal mentoring efforts. She has been instrumental in spearheading various organisational culture strategies, including embedding a just and learning culture, ensuring that all staff feel a deep sense of belonging and inclusivity.
As a dedicated mentor and leader, Mehvish is passionate about partnering with organisations to implement effective change management and transformation. Her strategic acumen and creativity have led to the development of strategies that enhance business, people, and resource productivity, including programs that have significantly improved staff experience and heightened engagement.
Mehvish has developed and conducted training programs that elevate the competency and capabilities of the workforce, including educating leaders and organisations about critical concepts such as power, privilege, trust, and connection. Proficient in managing complex and challenging behaviours, Mehvish excels in identifying common purpose and employing conflict resolution practices to foster harmonious work environments. She is dedicated to integrating an inclusive and diverse approach across all OD interventions and offerings within organisations.
Additionally, Mehvish serves as an external advisor for the Royal College of Nursing’s Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee, further demonstrating her commitment to fostering inclusive environments.