Aidan oversees WAVE’s Self-healing Trauma-informed Communities (STiC) work, supporting community-led and statutory projects across the UK. He was the principal researcher in our 3-year study of severe disadvantage which identified the key role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the pathway to homelessness, unemployment, school exclusion, mental health problems and the criminal justice system; and in a recent project which involved interviewing more than 70 practitioners across education, health, housing and policing UK-wide about trauma-informed practice.

Anthoulla was a solicitor in private legal practice for 27 years until 2009, specialising in commercial property transactions and non-contentious legal work. During the years leading up to 2009, she provided pro-bono and financial support to WAVE. WAVE’s ever-growing sphere of influence and achievements led to an expansion of opportunities for the organisation to achieve social transformation. The possibilities excited Anthoulla such that she could no longer remain in the law. She left the legal profession in 2010 to join the management team, enabling her to present WAVE's preventive message and strategic solutions to audiences throughout the UK. Anthoulla fulfills two key roles within WAVE: Company Secretary and in-house lawyer, including handling all internal and third party contracts, governance, dealing with Companies House & Charity Commission requirements, and liaising with and supporting the Board of Trustees. Director of External Relations and major donor fundraiser, including engaging with major supporters and ambassadors.

The WAVE team

Q: Alex Williamson, Public Affairs Officer and Ambassador Coordinator

Alex Williamson is WAVE's Campaign Officer and Ambassador Coordinator. Alex manages WAVE's ambassador network of over 200 volunteers and oversees WAVE's advocacy work with governments and local authorities across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Alex's goal is to empower our ambassadors to create change within their local communities and to create a world that is free of child maltreatment.

Q: George Hosking OBE, Chief Executive Officer and Research Director

George is an economist, accountant, psychologist and clinical criminologist. He is also a traumatic stress counsellor. Before focusing on social issues, George had a successful career in business, first as a senior line manager working in the field of international strategy, then as a strategy consultant and corporate turnaround specialist. At 26, he became one of the youngest ever senior managers in Unilever. After a 17-year career there, where he became responsible for helping create and produce the strategic plans for 30 countries, he left to open his own consultancy. His major lines of work were international strategy and turning around loss-making businesses. He has carried out around 30 successful corporate turnarounds in a range of countries and industries, adding more than £10 million per annum to the profitability of such companies as the Mothers Pride Bread company and Booker Cash & Carry. In the mid-1990s he founded (and for many years funded!) WAVE Trust, to adapt his corporate turnaround technique to transform the lives of children. Since then he has advised the Met Police, Scottish Government, Cabinet Office, Home Office, Departments for Education and Health and No 10 Downing Street on policies for children or to tackle violence. As a clinical criminologist he has worked with victims and perpetrators of violence, in prisons and in the community delivering WAVE’s very successful ‘An End to Violence’ programme.

WAVE's team includes staff in WAVE's offices in London, Scotland and Italy. We also have nearly 200 70/30 ambassadors across the UK and hundreds of elected representatives committed to the 70/30 Campaign to reduce child maltreatment by 70% by the year 2030.