Natasha is the founder and CEO of Unlocked Graduates, one of the UK’s largest prison reform charities. Unlocked develops leaders who work in prisons to break cycles of reoffending. Since 2017, our flagship graduate programme has placed nearly 900 top graduates in 38 prisons across England and Wales, reaching more than 125,000 prisoners.

Prior to Unlocked, Natasha was a teacher and leader in inner city schools, co-founding King Solomon Academy and leading their frontier cohort to groundbreaking GCSE results in 2014. Between 2014 and 2016 Natasha was deputy head of education at Policy Exchange, and an adviser at the Department for Education and Ministry of Justice.

Natasha is an adviser to the Children’s Commissioner and a member of The Times Crime and Justice Commission. She is also a charity trustee at Impetus PEF and Get Further. She sits on the Grants and Evaluation committee at the Youth Endowment Fund and the Building Future’s Advisory Board at Prison Reform Trust. In 2025, Natasha was named Young Australian of the Year in the UK. She was also awarded an OBE for services to HM Prison and Probation Service in the 2023 New Year Honours List.

Ellie Reeves was appointed as Solicitor General on 6 September 2025.

She was previously Minister without Portfolio at the Cabinet Office from 6 July 2024 to 6 September 2025. She was elected as the MP for Lewisham West and East Dulwich in 2024 and was previously the MP for Lewisham West and Penge from 2017.

Paula Harriott is the Chief Executive Officer of Unlock, a national independent advocacy charity challenging the stigma, discrimination and structural barriers faced by people with criminal records. A leading lived-experience leader, writer, researcher and activist, she draws on her own journey through the criminal justice system to drive knowledge-equity, human rights and transformative justice across the UK.

She is an Associate at the University of Chester on the Imagining Possible Futures: Lived-Experience-Led Criminal Justice in the UK & Ireland programme and co-hosts the multi-award-nominated podcast The Secret Life of Prisons. Paula is also a member of the steering group of the Experience for Justice Collective CIC, a national movement of lived-experience leaders and allies.

Paula founded the Prisoner Policy Network at the Prison Reform Trust and has co-authored influential publications amplifying the voices of people in prison. Her academic work includes co-editing Prisoner Leaders: Leadership as Experience and Institution (with Dr Marion Vannier), contributing the chapter No Justice Without Us: Respecting Lived Experience of the Criminal Justice System, and co-editing the landmark special edition of the Prison Service Journal (Issue 272, 2024) with Professor Shadd Maruna and Dr Helen Nichols, focused on knowledge equity and lived experience in criminal justice.

A 2023 Perrie Award winner for outstanding contribution to criminal justice reform, Paula is a movement-builder and strategist, championing solidarity, dignity and healing systems as foundations for meaningful social change and safer futures for all.

Kat joined Unlocked Graduates as part of the 2020 cohort, beginning her journey at HMP/YOI Swinfen Hall. After completing the two-year leadership programme, she stepped into the role of Mentoring Prison Officer, supporting new Unlocked participants across multiple prisons, including HMP Wormwood Scrubs, HMP/YOI Isis, HMP Downview, and HMP Send.
Driven by a deep commitment to Unlocked’s mission, Kat now leads as the Ambassador Network Manager. She empowers Unlocked Ambassadors to continue to work towards the mission breaking cycles of reoffending, no matter where their careers take them by fostering connection, purpose, and long-term impact.

Emily Thomas is a Prison Governor currently working at HMP/YOI Isis in South East London. Joining the Prison Service in 1999 as a graduate on the Accelerated Promotion Scheme, Emily became a Governor in 2009. She governed HMP/YOI Cookham Wood until 2013 and was the last Governor of HMP Holloway, leading the closure of the prison in 2016. She has spent most of her career working with young adult men in prison.

In 2012 Emily won the Civil Service Award for Leadership for her work at HMP Cookham Wood. Emily also worked within the Ministry of Justice on the Transforming Rehabilitation programme. Emily is a trustee of the Shannon Trust and the Prisoners Education Trust.

Ailsa joined Unlocked Graduates as Head of Curriculum in 2024, where she leads the design and delivery of Unlocked’s two-year programme. With a strong foundation in evidence-informed pedagogy and extensive experience in secondary education, Ailsa has held senior leadership roles, including Senior Vice Principal, where she focused on enhancing educational quality and advancing teacher development.
Ailsa also brings deep expertise in graduate leadership programmes. At Teach First, she oversaw high-quality instructional coaching for trainee teachers, while at Frontline, she developed curricula for both trainee social workers and their mentors. She later expanded her impact by designing and implementing the Pathways curriculum, tailored for managers and leaders in children’s social work.

Jack was a participant in the first cohort of Unlocked Graduates starting in 2017, where he worked as a Prison Officer at HMP Brixton. After completing the two-year programme, Jack worked as a Project Coordinator for the charity User Voice; helping them mobilise two new service user council projects in the South West of England.

Following this role, Jack returned to Unlocked Graduates as a Programme Officer (Curriculum Focus). As part of this role Jack helps to design and develop the curriculum content that participants receive at Summer Institute and throughout their time on the programme.

Sam brings a combination of frontline, policy and start-up expertise. A Year Here Fellow In Social Innovation, Sam has worked in youth homelessness, in Parliament, and founded a street food social enterprise backed by the Mayor of London. As Director of Impact at Switchback, Sam spurred the charity’s growth into influencing, helping win the Longford Prize for originality in criminal justice and Best Arts & Culture Podcast at the British Podcast Awards.

Jacob is an award-winning author, campaigner, presenter, and educator. At 19, Jacob’s life changed forever when a single act of violence resulted in the death of James Hodgkinson. After serving time for manslaughter he embarked on a journey of personal transformation and restorative justice with his victims’ parents, with whom he now campaigns for change. Jacob’s BBC Radio 4 series The Punch won the ARIA Award for Best Factual Series. His memoir Right From Wrong inspired the sell-out play Punch by James Graham.

Richard Taylor joined the prison service in 1988 and has a wealth of operational experience ranging from Prison Officer through to Governor in Charge. He was previously Governor in Charge of the Prison Service College, with responsibility for the introduction of the new Custody Prison Officer role, as well as the design, delivery and evaluation of a comprehensive induction learning programme for new recruits. Richard is currently the Governor in Charge of Hydebank Wood College and Women’s Prison having returned to the role in 2021 following his term as Governor in Charge at Magilligan Prison.

In 2007, Richard’s work was recognised with the presentation of a Senior Butler Trust Award & Bursary for an outstanding contribution to the effective care of offenders.
Richard was awarded an OBE in 2025 for Public Services as Governor in Charge of Hydebank Wood and was deeply honoured and incredibly humbled to accept this honour.

Chan M. Hellman is a professor at the University of Oklahoma and Director of The Hope Research Center and has published over 100 research studies. Chan joined the University of Oklahoma in 2002 teaching graduate courses in research methods, statistics, and more recently Hope Theory to Practice. Chan was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2025.

Chan’s research is focused on hope as a psychological strength helping children and adults overcome trauma and adversity—he presented on this work with TEDx. His on-going research informs the development of the “Hope Centered and Trauma Informed” training program used to promote Hope Centered Organizations across the US. Chan has Co-Founded Hope Rising Oklahoma along with First Lady Sarah Stitt in their effort to make Oklahoma a hope-centered state.

Chan is the co-author of the award-winning book “Hope Rising: How the Science of Hope Can Change Your Life” published by Morgan James. Chan was one of five invited workshops for Jane Goodall’s Activating Hope Summit (2021).

In 2023, Chan was invited to a main stage presentation at the American Psychological Association convention. Chan’s work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, American Psychological Association Monitor, CNN, and TIME Magazine. The OU Hope Research Center received the 2024 “Building Knowledge Through Research” award by the US Department of Justice – Office for Victims of Crime based on the effect the science of hope has on helping organizations serve victims of crime.

Jacob is an award-winning author, campaigner, presenter, and educator. At 19, Jacob’s life changed forever when a single act of violence resulted in the death of James Hodgkinson. After serving time for manslaughter he embarked on a journey of personal transformation and restorative justice with his victims’ parents, with whom he now campaigns for change. Jacob’s BBC Radio 4 series The Punch won the ARIA Award for Best Factual Series. His memoir Right From Wrong inspired the sell-out play Punch by James Graham.

Mahlon joined Unlocked in June 2022 as a Mentoring Prison Officer. He was attracted to the role as he is passionate about contributing to positive changes within the custodial environment, based on his experience of working on the frontline. Mahlon first started working in the prison service at HMP Leicester, where he played a fundamental part with TRIM Practitioners and changing cultures within the prison environment. He is now working as a New Colleague Mentor supporting those joining the prison service.