Our Corporate Management Team

Jacky Tiotto joined Cafcass from the London Borough of Bexley where she held the position of Director of Children’s Services for four and a half years. With statutory responsibility for all services to children, young people, schools, families and carers, she oversaw the directorate in its implementation of family and child-focused help, protection and care, which was judged ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in July 2018.
Jacky has previously held senior positions with Ofsted, the Department for Education, where she was the Senior Deputy Director for safeguarding and child protection, and as the Director for Children and Learners at Government Office London before its abolition in 2011. Jacky was the lead professional adviser for both the Laming and Munro reviews of child protection in England in 2007 and 2011 respectively.
Starting her career as a social worker in 1989, Jacky worked for London local authorities before becoming national adviser for children and adult services for the local government association and senior specialist for social care, education and health at the Audit Commission.

Julie Brown joined Cafcass in 2008 having worked in both Adult and Children’s Social Care for a number of years. Prior to that, she worked in the Probation Service before its national reorganisation. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in the early 1990s, she worked for several years in both practice and industry until 2001 when she switched to, and then stayed, working within the public sector.

Gemma Hewison has worked in both the Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) for eight years. During that time, she was Strategy and Change Director for HMCTS, Policy Director for Civil, Family, Tribunals and Administration of Justice and Interim Director General for Courts, Access to Justice, International Justice and Legal.  Prior to that, Gemma worked in the Home Office and at London Underground in operational, strategic and change delivery roles.

Theresa Leavy joined Cafcass in 2025, having worked previously in a children’s-focused consultancy role.  She is an experienced Executive Director with a demonstrable history of working in Children's Services as a strategic transformational leader. Her career has spanned a wide variety of senior positions in consultancy and local government leadership roles, equipping her with the knowledge to drive forward improvements and change programmes in her current position. As a seasoned business development professional with a social work focus, she possesses a range of transferable skills in training delivery, management, community engagement, and organisational development. Theresa is also a committed advocate for social mobility and social justice, and has always been determined to improve children’s lives through her professional work. Her experience in private law social work has also given her the expertise and acumen to lead the delivery of the private law reform programme at Cafcass, where she enjoys working with a dedicated team to place children at the heart of family court proceedings.

Jen Skila joined Cafcass in 2024 after working for several years in local government in senior roles focused on human resources and organisational development. Before this, she worked in the private sector, bringing 18 years of professional human resources experience to the organisation. Jen is also a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.