I have over 20 years of experience developing, implementing, evaluating, and scaling social interventions for children and families in over 40 countries around the world.  

I am a senior research and teaching fellow based at the University of Oxford Department of Social Policy and Intervention. My research is focused the implementation, effectiveness, and scale-up of programmes that improve child and family wellbeing and mental health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.  

I am the lead principal investigator of the Global Parenting Initiative which is a 5-year $22 million project aimed at expanding the evidence and impact of human-digital playful parenting interventions in the Global South. I am also a principal investigator on multiple research projects in Jamaica, Malaysia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, and Uganda.  

I am also the CEO and co-founder of Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH), a charitable social enterprise working closely with World Health Organisation and UNICEF to support the scale-up of parenting programmes in the Global South. 

I co-led an international, multi-agency response that has provided open-source and freely available evidence-based parenting resources to over 210 million people in more than 196 countries and territories to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on violence against children and poor child wellbeing. 

I am also the former executive director and founder of Clowns Without Borders South Africa (www.cwbsa.org), a humanitarian arts-based intervention that provides psychosocial support to vulnerable children and families through humour and play.  

I hold a DPhil in Social Intervention at the University of Oxford’s Department of Social Policy and Intervention. I also hold degrees from the University of Oxford (MSc with distinction), Yale University (BA with distinction), and the Dell’Arte International School for Physical Theatre.  

I am also a storyteller, banjo-player, singer-songwriter, clown, director, and facilitator. 

The Global Parenting Initiative

The Global Parenting Initiative (GPI) is a five-year collaboration of universities, foundations, and implementing partners, with the aim of providing access to free, evidence-based, playful parenting support to every parent, everywhere, so that they are equipped with the knowledge and tools to help their children realise their learning potential and to prevent child sexual abuse, exploitation, and family violence.

Parenting for Lifelong Health

Founded in 2012 and endorsed by the United Nations, Parenting for Lifelong Health is at the forefront of a global movement to accelerate the scale-up of evidence-based, freely-available, inclusive, and culturally-sensitive parenting solutions within existing systems of delivery. 

By improving positive parenting, learning through play, stress reduction, and equitable partner relationships, our innovative solutions help to reduce violence against children and women, improve parent and child mental and physical health, and support child learning and development outcomes. Ultimately, this breaks the intergenerational cycle of violence. 

Awards & Recognitions

Publications

All of my past and current publications can be found here, but below are 4 of my most recent publications