Lisa Hopkins, Chief Executive Expand Lisa Hopkins became the Chief Executive of SeeAbility in September 2016. Having initially worked in Canada as a clinician for charities which support people with disabilities, she emigrated to England in 2007 and was Executive Director of Autism and Challenging Behaviour at Adepta. Lisa later became the Managing Director of Dimensions, a service provider for people with learning disabilities and autism. Lisa sees a main component of her role as one of listening, particularly to the people we support and their families, as well as employees. She is determined to ensure that everyone has a say in what we do and how we do it, so that SeeAbility can provide effective support and be a great place to work. Lisa is passionate about inclusion and fostering ambition for everyone in order that we can all live our best life and contribute to the communities in which we live. Outside of SeeAbility, Lisa is known as being (slightly!) competitive, particularly during her weekly pub quiz!
Brian Robinson, Operations Director Expand Brian Robinson joined SeeAbility having worked in social care for over 25 years. He started off as a support worker and has gained experience by working in a variety of different organisations at various levels, including Registered Manager, Area Manager and Regional Managing Director. Brian has overseen services for people with learning and physical disabilities, and autism. This has included supporting people to move away from traditional service styles such as registered care homes and ATUs to more community based support and individual service designs. Seeing people being in control of their lives and being truly part of their community is what Brian is truly passionate about. As SeeAbility’s Operations Director, Brian’s position is incredibly varied. He is responsible for the operations team and ensuring they deliver great services for the people SeeAbility support. He is keen to look into how we can work more effectively together as an organisation to create real outcomes for the people we support and employ. When Brian’s not in the office, he enjoys spending time in the great outdoors. He particularly loves mountaineering and has even climbed to Everest Base Camp!
Martin Boyce, Director of People Expand Martin Boyce joined SeeAbility in 2017 as our Director of People. Before joining Martin was the People Director at a preventative healthcare organisation. Previous to that, Martin has held various senior HR and change management positions in both public and private sector. As SeeAbility’s Director of People, Martin’s passionate about ensuring we get the best from every employee by recognising the contribution of everyone. A particular focus for Martin will be to ensure we are recruiting and retaining the best people, developing all employees and managers so that they can do their job to the best of their ability and most importantly looking at how we reward employees for their contribution to the success of our organisation. Outside of SeeAbility, Martin loves to be active by going to the gym, spinning and running as well as spending quality time with friends and family. He also loves to travel.
Alun Shopland, Finance Director Expand Alun has a wide breadth of experience in the commercial, not for profit and charitable sectors. Most recently he has worked at a senior level in community health services, and before that a housing association and a relief and development charity. Alun is responsible for all Seeability’s financial affairs and oversees its Finance, Property and Information Technology teams. In his role he liaises with a wide range of external stakeholders and works closely with the Treasurer. Alun was drawn to the high quality social care and pioneering vision work that Seeability does and its commitment to delivering extraordinary care to the people we support. When not at work Alun enjoys swimming and outdoor pursuits and following the varying fortunes of the Welsh rugby team.
Desiree D'Souza, Executive Director of Innovation and Social Impact Expand As SeeAbility’s Executive Director of Innovation and Social Impact, Desiree D’Souza leads SeeAbility’s fundraising, marketing and communications and engagement teams which together seek to deepen the impact of the charity’s work so that many more people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss have the opportunity to participate as equal citizens. Desiree is an experienced leader with a specialism in building long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships with organisations and individuals. Over 15 years, many of these have been transformational in delivering education, employment and a stronger voice for people with disabilities in the UK and around the world. This has sparked a passion for championing inclusion in everything she does. Outside of work, and since recently moving out of London, Desiree enjoys exploring the Sussex countryside (and getting to grips with country life!) with her young daughter and husband.