Our Staff
Amira Asantewa
Amira is Grit’s Director of Communities and was first involved with Grit in 1998 as a volunteer life coach on one of our community programmes. Her talent and potential were quickly spotted and she joined the staff team as a Project Co-ordinator. Since then, Amira has managed a wide range of programmes in various settings and is our ‘community specialist’. Amira brings passion, determination and commitment to the delivery of our most intensive and highest impact programmes.
Anna Barradell
Our Head of Operations hails from an Arts background, Anna’s career has focused on supporting young people and their communities to fulfil their potential. Anna started with us as an Operations Manager in 2017 and was promoted to Head of Operations in 2019. She is particularly passionate about evaluation and is always looking for how we can continue to improve our work. When not at work she is likely to be found in her garden or out on her bike!
Ellie Garraway
Ellie is our Chief Executive and started out in the theatrical world before arriving at Grit in 2000. Originally a practitioner, she quickly turned her hand to creating our work in schools, and has been designing and developing projects ever since. Made Head of Operations in 2008, Chief Operating Officer in 2013 and CEO in 2020. Ellie has recently gained an MSc in Positive Psychology and an MBA from Warwick University. She runs long distances for fun
Emma Plenty
Emma joined Grit as our Office Co-ordinator in December 2019 having graduated from Bristol University ………….
Hubert D’Ussel
Hubert joined Grit as our Finance and Accounts Officer in April 2019 having previously…………………..
Jon Down
Jon - Grit’s Director of Development - brings a wealth of funding and development expertise and experience gathered from a bewildering array of charities, government and NGOs over the last 25 years. He first joined Grit in 2010 and returned at the beginning of 2019. Jon is surprisingly knowledgeable about 70s music.
Neil Wragg
Our Executive Director, Neil was a senior manager in Enfield Council when he first met Grit. He was so impressed that he joined as Chief Executive in 1994. Neil was a member of the government’s Crime Reduction Task Force from 2000-01 and Social Work Taskforce from 2006-8. He was the Non-Executive Director of the Camelot Foundation 2004-2008, was a member of the National Enquiry into Self Harm 2008-2010 and an ambassador for Make Justice Work. Neil was awarded an MBE for his services to young people in 2008 and likes fast cars.
Mark Charley
Mark is Grit’s Director of Curriculum and started out as a Youth Advocate for the Roxbury Court Services in Boston, Massachusetts. Mark recognised the value of transformational work as opposed to incarceration and deterrence (methods typically employed by the justice system). With 29 years of experience, Mark is now the driving force behind the continuous improvement of our curricula and training team. He is an internationally recognised consultant in personal development.