Our Team

StandOut team

Penny Parker, CEO & Founder

Penny started her career as a corporate lawyer at City firm Freshfields. On a career break she became involved as a volunteer in her local prison which led her to train as a tutor with Prison Fellowship and lead the restorative justice based Sycamore Tree programme in HMP Wandsworth for 12 years. She was involved in rolling out Sycamore Tree in HMP Bronzefield and HMP Pentonville and also has experience of tutoring the course with people in prison long term. Penny was a Trustee of Prison Fellowship for several years and acted as Interim CEO in 2015. Penny has also volunteered with the Prison Reform Trust, supporting work around mental health and criminal justice issues. She has a Masters degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from King’s College London and believes in second chances and releasing potential.

Jo Fellows, Programme Director & Co-Founder

Jo founded StandOut with Penny in the firm belief that the script for people leaving prison is not pre-written, and that with the right support, opportunities, and self-belief, anything is possible. Before StandOut, she worked on the award-winning Spear course at Resurgo; and was part of the team at City Gateway. She also designed a 1-1 service for those leaving custody or care. Jo has over 15 years’ experience coaching and leading programmes that empower people with additional barriers to employment. She is passionate about equipping people coming up for release with the tools, skills, and confidence to step into sustainable and fulfilling work. Jo has a Postgraduate Diploma in Voluntary Sector Management from CASS Business School.

Andy Bater, Operations Director

Andy joined the StandOut team in October 2022 from a community organisation based in Holborn. With a background in project and operations management working with various large corporate organisations, he brings his breadth of experience and knowledge to StandOut. Despite his career achievements, Andy would much rather talk about his time being a mature student in Canada, starting a wellbeing and employment social enterprise and especially about rugby, boxing and the Andrew Kaufman book 'All My Friends are Superheroes’.

Joe Tarbert, Head of Programmes

Joe joined the StandOut team in July 2023 and supports our coaching teams in prison and in the community. He also works with the Senior Leadership team to develop the StandOut programme further. Joe began his career as a criminal defence barrister, and went on to represent people accused of crime across the Youth, Magistrates’ and Crown Courts. Seeking an opportunity to make a more holistic, long-term impact, Joe joined Redemption Roasters as Impact and Partnerships Manager. It was through this partnership work that he first encountered StandOut - and was immediately impressed by the impact of the programme and the depth of care the coaching team provided to people. When the opportunity arose to join StandOut and surround himself with such an experienced and committed team, it was simply too good to pass up! Day-to-day Joe splits his time between our three partner prisons and HQ, supporting our coaches, connecting with our participants and pitching in with coaching our phase 1 programme!

Tref Davies, Finance Manager

Tref joined StandOut in June 2023, coming from a varied background in sales, business, finance, and the Arts. After a period volunteering, he moved into a finance role at Battersea Arts Centre. Post-covid, he was Head of Finance for a fast-growing music education charity as they opened their new concert hall in Nine Elms. Tref also spent several years as a magistrate, which sparked his passion for seeing real support for people leaving prison.

Rich McStraw, Fundraising & Development Manager

Rich joined us in April 2022 from Clinks, the infrastructure organisation for the voluntary sector working in criminal justice. He spent the last three years as Clinks’ Fundraising Officer, and prior to this worked as a freelance fundraiser and sales manager for renewable heating systems. He has previous experience of fundraising regulation and compliance, sales and marketing, and developing training programmes.

Charlotte Betts, Partnerships Lead

Charlotte joined the team in 2023, as our first Partnerships Lead. Before this, she was a Research Officer at His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, where she carried out prisoner surveys and data analysis to inform inspection reports. Charlotte’s time at HMIP made clear to her the lack of support that people leaving prison receive and motivated her to do more hands-on, individual-focused work. She decided she wanted a role more involved in supporting the release and rehabilitation process, which led her to StandOut. For Charlotte, a highlight of her role is being able to take volunteers into the prisons we work with, to support CV workshops, mock interviews, and graduation ceremonies. She enjoys witnessing the connections made between our participants and our external partners, and how mutually beneficial the experience can be.

Hannah Stevens, Communications Lead

Hannah joined the team in November 2023, from the Prisoners’ Education Trust. Here she coordinated the Prisoner Learning Alliance – a network of people with expertise and experience in prison education – and supported the organisation’s wider policy work. Prior to this, she worked on communications and membership engagement for a network of European human rights and social change grant-makers. Hannah is also an advisory board member for the Carceral Geography Working Group of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers. She is excited to be part of an organisation that supports people in prison, and onwards into the community for as long as they need.

Tihani Yusuf, Office Administrator

Tihani joined the team in October 2023, bringing her diverse background and passion for helping others to her role as Office Administrator. She has witnessed the long-term impact charities can have, and has for a long time felt drawn to the sector - leading her to StandOut. Tihani completed her undergraduate studies in Bioscience and postgraduate studies in Pharmacology. Her professional background ranges from mental health support worker to disability commission member, and her varied experiences allow her to approach challenges with empathy and resourcefulness. Tihani is especially driven to empower and uplift vulnerable individuals.

Amrit Hunjan, Senior Lead Coach, HMP Wandsworth

Amrit joined the StandOut team in September 2019 having previously worked as part of a council multi-disciplinary team working collectively to improve the well-being, participation and attainment of young people in mainstream education. Amrit connected with StandOut whilst volunteering with the youth mentoring service Trailblazers at HMP Wandsworth and she is passionate about using a relational approach to build confidence and unlock potential.

Amy Young, Lead Coach, HMP Pentonville

Amy joined StandOut in 2022 after completing an English Literature degree at KCL. During and following her degree she voluntarily set up Shakespeare and poetry workshops in HMP Brixton, believing in the transformational effect of arts interventions in Criminal Justice. She has travelled to San Quentin Prison in California to partake in their ‘Shakespeare for social justice’ programme in which she witnessed the power of self-expression and long-term support. After being a StandOut Coach in HMP Wandsworth for a year she transitioned to Lead in HMP Pentonville where she looks forward to continuing to deliver the programme and holistically support the men; building foundations inside and continuing the journey through the gate.

Molly Jones, Coach, HMP Pentonville

Molly came to StandOut in February 2024, after undertaking a congressional internship in Washington DC. It was there - where she witnessed the process of legislating issues related to criminal justice - that Molly resolved to work for a charity in the criminal justice sector. She has a masters degree in US History and Politics, with a focus on criminal justice in urban centres. Her dissertation examined policing and criminal justice in New York in the late 20th century. Molly comes to StandOut excited to put her academic experience and passion for supporting those caught in the criminal justice system into practise through her work as a StandOut Coach at HMP Pentonville.

Nancy Anderson, Lead Coach

Nancy joined StandOut in May 2024, having previously worked as the Facilitator and Programme Lead for an organisation delivering courses across prisons and the community. During this time, she focused on community building in prison, aiming to create spaces where people could be curious, creative, encourage one another and think about things differently. She is interested in listening to the thoughts and experiences of the people we work with and is hopeful that we can use these to change systems and wider perspectives of criminal justice. She has lived and worked abroad in a range of environments and outside of work enjoys improv, theatre and is also a trained wedding celebrant.

Iona Savile, Lead Community Coach

Iona joined the StandOut team in September 2022 after spending two years as a prison officer on the Unlocked Graduates programme. Whilst working in a women's prison, she completed a Masters in Applied Custodial Leadership, writing a dissertation on the women's experience of trauma informed practice in their establishment. At StandOut, she particularly enjoys getting to know the participants, and is motivated to see them thrive.

Ben Isgrove, Community Coach

Tony O’Driscoll, Community Coach

Sophie Wilkinson, Lead Coach, HMP Wormwood Scrubs

Sophie started as a Lead Coach with StandOut in March 2024, having worked for two and a half years as a prison officer on the Unlocked Graduates Programme. She completed a Masters in Applied Custodial Leadership, focusing her dissertation on identifying the barriers to building trusting relationships in prison and exploring how Relational Practice could be used to reduce these. As an officer, Sophie was inspired by seeing the impact that StandOut had on the confidence of those on her wing. Now as Lead Coach, she continues to be passionate about helping StandOut participants grow in confidence, supporting and empowering them in prison and the community.

Amelia Inglis, Coach, HMP Wormwood Scrubs

Amelia joined the StandOut team in July 2024 after completing a PhD in Criminology at the University of Oxford. Her experience as an intern in New Orleans, where she worked on death penalty cases, sparked her ongoing efforts to champion justice and humanity within the criminal justice system. Amelia is particularly passionate about creating space for creativity in prisons, specifically through access to the arts as a form of rehabilitation and self-expression. While at Oxford, she co-curated an art exhibition showcasing the works of people on death row around the world. Having previously volunteered with ‘Sing Inside’, she is excited to continue supporting and empowering people in prisons and as they transition back into the community.

StandOut Trustees

Joe Froud, Chair

Joe is the co-founder of Paloma Capital LLP, a London based real estate private equity business that was established in 2015. Paloma raises equity from foundations and endowments, pensions funds and family offices and invests in UK commercial real estate projects. Prior to this he was the founder and Managing Partner of Columbus Capital Management LLP, a real estate private equity joint venture that he established with Schroders plc in 2008. Joe is married with four children and lives in West London.

Liz Delacave, Trustee

Liz Delacave is a leadership consultant, experienced in training leaders, developing teams and coaching individuals to excel. She studied Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, worked in Citibank’s global commercial and investment banks, becoming chief of staff for Citibank’s European Private Bank. While Divisional Finance Director of a multinational engineering company, she was responsible for managing a global change programme. As a Non-Executive Director, she has helped turn around an underperforming NHS Foundation Trust hospital in East Anglia.  Liz has advised a number of charities, including the International Federation of the Red Cross in Geneva and Prison Fellowship.

Claire Burnell, Trustee

Joseph Ewing, Trustee

Joseph studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University, has worked in a range of research, campaigning and public affairs roles - including three and a half years in public affairs at Cancer Research UK - and now works in policy at the Academy of Medical Sciences. His work includes policy development, advocacy and strategy. He became a trustee in April 2019 and is still inspired by StandOut’s belief in people.

Jamie Giles, Trustee

Having found recovery over ten years ago, Jamie has become a leader and advocate for addiction treatment and prison reform. After leaving his career in media, Jamie retrained as a psychotherapist and has held roles focused on mental health and imprisonment, including running London services for Forward Trust and serving as CEO of Steps2Recovery. Currently, he is the Director of Outpatient Services at Castle Health, driving the development of outpatient and continuing care services. Jamie is passionate about StandOut's mission to help people become their best.

Brendan Ross, Board Advisor

Brendan is the London Skills and Employment Manager for St Giles Trust, where he supports people who are vulnerable, homeless, have had mental health difficulties, have been in prison, or who are marginalised. He brings with him the knowledge and skills to equip those he supports to move their lives forward into employment, and his own life experience to do so with empathy and with recognition of the humanity in each case that he sees. Brendan has 5 years’ direct lived experience in the criminal justice system in the UK and Ireland, and more than 15 years’ experience working in the charity sector. He is a firm believer that those who have been through the system are the key to reducing re-offending, reducing victims, and breaking the cycle. Brendan has won a number of awards for his work, including the St Giles Trust Kamal Award in 2014, the CJA Outstanding Individual Award in 2020, and the Longford Prize in 2022. In 2023, he was awarded a Fellowship with the Institute of Employability Professionals.

Jack Whyte, Trustee

Jack is a chartered accountant turned finance and strategy consultant. Having trained in Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance team, he has since worked with clients reporting under the Charities SORP (financial reporting standard for UK charities), and delivered a range of scaling, fundraising and operational resilience projects. His experience spans the private, public, and third sectors. A firm believer in the importance of diversity of thought and experience in the workplace, Jack is passionate about unlocking our society’s potential by driving access to education and opportunity. He first encountered StandOut when volunteering at a mock interview session!

StandOut Consultants

Jo Wheeler, Coaching Development Consultant

Jo is a PCC accredited International Coaching Federation (ICF) coach and C-Me facilitator with over thirteen years’ coaching experience. She began her career with Resurgo, where she ran the Spear programme, moving to StandOut in 2019 as a coach, and later partnerships lead. Jo went on to develop her own consultancy delivering leadership and coaching development programmes with frontline charities and, more recently, the education sector. Jo is rejoining StandOut as a Coaching Development Consultant and will be working closely with the programmes team.