Our Senior Leadership Team
Irene Sobowale
Chief Executive
Irene was initially appointed as The Disabilities Trust’s Director of Finance in March 2013 and became the Chief Executive in March 2015. Prior to joining the Trust, Irene held a number of senior finance roles within the CLS Group and elsewhere, including Barclays Bank. Irene is also a qualified accountant and ACCA Fellow.
Keeley Mitchell
Director of Brain Injury Operations (Current interim position of all Operations)
Keeley Mitchell is a successful Operations Director with experience in healthcare and leadership of services for adults with acquired brain injuries. Keeley made a big decision to change direction with her career after working in financial services for over 11 years and in 2014 and joined the care sector, working for large care organisations. Keeley’s previous role was with National Care Group where she was Head of National Neurological Services and has a strong track record of delivering positive outcomes for people she has supported. Keeley is passionate about a leadership role in a value based, people led, outcome centric organisation, working with like-minded Senior Leaders with vision, energy, passion and ambition.
Dr Rudi Coetzer
Clincial Director
Dr Rudi Coetzer worked as a Consultant Neuropsychologist & Head of Service in the NHS for 23 years before taking up the role of Clinical Director with the Trust during 2021. His clinical interests are in neuropsychological assessment and rehabilitation of persons with acquired brain injury, and service development. Dr Coetzer is on the Specialist Register of the British Psychological Society Division of Neuropsychology.
Kimberley Shields
Director of Legal, Compliance and Risk Management
Kimberly is a solicitor with many years of legal and commercial experience advising clients on a variety of commercial matters. Kimberly has previously worked for Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest aerospace and defence company, advising on European procurement requirements and intellectual property rights. Kimberly was General Counsel for The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and Pharmaceutical Press Publishing House for seven years, advising on all matter of commercial, employment, and regulatory matters. Before joining the Trust, Kimberly was in-house counsel at The Berkeley Group, focusing on data protection, anti-bribery and corruption, and intellectual property matters.
Lynsey Robertson
Director of Business Development
Lynsey has many years of experience developing services for individuals with complex needs both in the private and third sector. Lynsey joined the sector as a support worker and has held a number of operational and strategic roles during her career, developing a sound understanding of the operational challenges of care and rehabilitation.
Naomi Carey
Director of People and Organisation Development
Since obtaining her MA in Strategic Human Resource Management Naomi is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). This has been within the private sector (as Worldwide HR Director for the Tetley Group) and the not for profit sector (as Strategic Head of HR for Action for Children) as well as running her own HR consultancy.
Rich Jane
Director of External Affairs
Rich has been working in not-for-profit and public sector marketing and communications for many years now. Starting in the education sector followed by a move to central government, he has been working in health charities since 2010. Re-branding and repositioning organisations is his specialism but he has led teams on large behaviour change campaigns as well as developing digital channels, creative production functions and PR teams.
Graham Fisher
Director of Digital
Graham has an extensive background in IT transformation, change and service delivery stretching over 20 years. He has been responsible for driving and delivering large, complex IT changes for both public and private sector organisations, notably Bupa, Capita, TransUnion, and the NHS. His forte lies in leading teams, transforming them from a traditional IT setup into a more digital enabled capability which supports current market dynamics.
