Kelly is a registered social worker with experience as a practitioner, manager and project lead. She has practiced in highly pressured, crisis filled, politicised and emotive contexts, across the core, statutory domains including Child Protection, Public Law, Children in Care and Adoption and Fostering. Kelly is committed to anti-oppressive, compassionate, critical, reflective, relational, systemic thinking and practice. Having worked extensively with infants, children, young people and adults affected by experiences of neglect, violence, abuse, discrimination and inequality, Kelly is focused on prevention, protection, support and recovery with a human rights and social change agenda.
Kelly is a qualified Higher Education teacher, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Aurora Leader and a member of School and University wide pedagogical networks. Using both social work and educational knowledge, she contributes to various departmental, school and university wide initiatives centred on well-being, equality, diversity and inclusion themes. She teaches, assesses and tutors across all undergraduate and post graduate qualifying social work programmes, evaluating, enhancing and leading several modules. In addition, Kelly contributes to specialist, post qualifying modules, including Practice Education. Kelly is committed to raising the standards of social work education by ensuring that social work graduates understand more about themselves in context and in conversation, are able to work in ethical, anti-oppressive, theory and research informed, compassionate, curious and critical ways and are reflexive enough to hold on to their values and the profession’s core function, social justice.