Who we are Meet the team Meet the team Our team One of Refocus’ key differentiators is the people who deliver our services. In addition to maintaining relevant certifications and qualifications, our team has significant personal and professional experience that they use to relate with young people in a way that drives positive outcomes. Refocus also has a team of volunteers and sessional workers who are ex-offenders and from other difficult backgrounds who have turned their lives around Lennox Rodgers Co-founder and CEO of Refocus Project and the author of the biography Breaking better. He is a qualified training manager and is registered with the CIPD. He has training in youth work, mentoring, neuro-linguistic re-programming, social and health and fitness. Lennox received training whilst volunteering in a substance misuse service for a year and has the ability to engage with any age group, train and his expertise and specialism focuses on motivational speaking, mentoring and coaching. He empowers and trains others to help people to change by challenging their behaviour and attitudes. He can relate to individuals through his personal experience in a way that helps build an environment that fosters trust, disclosure and engagement. Bali Rodgers Co-founder Bali Rodgers is Co-founder of Refocus Project and CEO of Safer Communities Alliance. She undertook fundraising, procurement and partnership development, alongside training and supervision over 15 years. As a trained life coach, Bali specialises in behaviour management, development and breaking negative cycles, particularly in work supporting families. Her extensive experience has helped her to understand communities and gross root issues. Bali is a qualified coach, group therapist and counsellor, who has worked in the substance misuse field for 20 years, with the NHS, Turning Point, Bromley Community Safety and the Kenward Trust. She developed a women’s therapeutic residential community, that she ran for 6 years and also helped develop a detoxification centre, as both a counsellor and group facilitator. She has acted as a youth worker, managed a community development project with community groups and developed a family and carer’s service. She was responsible for small grants, taken part in several documentaries with the BBC, Five Live and has lobbied several issues for BAME communities through the Guardian newspaper and the Big issue, by running awareness conferences and events. As a UK wide level 4 diversity trainer she lectured at Canterbury university lecturing, public health and Bromley Metropolitan police. She is tenacious and always looking for opportunities to improve and provide better services and to against injustice. She is excited to see how she can help the SCA and explore ways to inspire members to work together and most of all help young people and communities to reach their full potential. Garnet Johnson Head of Operations Garnet Johnson is an accomplished senior manager, who has over 20 years as a senior manager delivered, youth work, childcare, housing, alternative education, youth employability training and community engagement. Garnet is a Non-executive neighbourhood plan director supporting his local parish in developing a plan that gives local people additional funds to support local initiatives. Garnet has worked for YMCA, KCFN (a children’s charity) and Groundwork Trust in senior operational and development roles. Garnet is married with four children and lives in Kent. Natasha Oti Accounts/Administration Tasha has recently come on board as a Trustee for Refocus and is assisting part time in the main office with the accounts and administration. She is currently completing a Level 2 qualification in bookkeeping. Tasha has experience working with young people through her local church where she worked as the head youth leader for 3 years and an assistant leader for many years prior. Tasha also runs her own business called YGM Dance Academy, where she enjoys teaching street dance to children and adults. YGM Dance Academy has been involved in outreach projects throughout the Covid pandemic to encourage young people to get active through dance Directors Joanna Oliver: Chair Joanna Oliver has a diverse professional and educational background, with a degree in Advertising, Media and Marketing, a Masters degree in Therapeutic Child Care and a Masters degree in Education. Much of Joanna’s work has involved empowerment and enablement, working in the social care system, within therapeutic communities with young people, as a qualified youth worker, as a NVQ assessor and for the last twenty years, in Higher Education. With a postgrad qualification in professional supervision and a level 4 qualification in FE teaching, Joanna has lectured on a range of topics related to equality and diversity, social justice, education and currently a degree programme in counselling, coaching and mentoring. She also trains foster carers in a range of subjects, including diversity, attachment and child development. Alongside this, Joanna works in strategic development for a range of organisations, working with families and young people and also as a bid and tender writer and mentor for a range of statutory and voluntary agencies. Following extensive study into personal and professional identity (developing the chameleonism concept), Joanna undertook a doctoral research study in 2011, related to collaborative working between statutory and voluntary sector services for children and young people. Other areas of interest include the challenges for black young adults with additional learning needs and their vulnerability within the criminal justice system, for which she has just started a professional doctoral study. To fill any possible gaps in her time (!), Joanna proofreads and edits book manuscripts and reports, including Masters and Doctoral thesis and occasionally ghost writes books, blogs and social media copy for others. Joanna is a mum to three and lives in Kent. Genevieve Jones: Treasurer Genny Jones has been working in the charity sector for 15 years in charity accounting. She teaches finance packages and bookkeeping and is a social entrepreneur with a passion for helping especially children, young people and women to maximise their potential so that they can be able to live a confident and happy life. She is also an expert in governance and developing small charities. Tara Keen: Secretary Tara is a successful Bookkeeper and deals with the management of accounts and office manager for 3 companies including a charity. She is a charity administrator for the trustee meetings. Co-founder & chair (2 years) for ‘FOSS’ friends of the stone school. Developing her own community cafe project to engage young people in healthy minds. Karen Walker: Safeguarding Lead Karen is a qualified Social Worker, having worked in Residential Care with young adolescents and 10 years’ experience as a Local Authority Social Worker in Safeguarding. For the past 9 years she has worked in various roles in Fostering - Supervising Social Worker, Fostering Recruitment Assessment Manager and currently Head of Referrals for a Group of Independent Fostering Agencies (IFA’s) across the UK. Karen and her husband are a fostering family, being approved foster parents since 2008 her husband, teenage daughter and son have opened their home and hearts to many children / young people from diverse backgrounds from various Local Authorities. Karen is a strong believer in thinking and parenting therapeutically to see the best possible outcomes for children and young people.