Senior Management Team

Tracie Coultas-Pitman – Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

BSc. Hons; Dip. Conductive Ed; QTS; NPQH; MBA

Tracie has a wealth of leadership and management experience within the field of special educational needs and disability; she worked for Scope for over 20 years, where she held two headships and ultimately rose to the position of Regional Director for the South of England. More recently Tracie was Executive Head of the Autism Schools Trust where she led on setting up a Free School. Tracie has experience of developing early year’s provision, establishing outreach and training services, providing strategic leadership to schools and developing Post 19 and adult services.

Chris Pain – Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Chris joined BeyondAutism at the start of 2024 having spent 22 years serving with the Military. He comes to us having honed his skills in devising, leading and implementing comprehensive strategic plans to drive operational excellence and sustainable growth. He also delivers cross-organisation operational activities, across multi-disciplinary departments, and is excited to implement the cohesive, organisational vision. Chris has a proven track record of building and managing successful teams whilst fostering cultures of trust, respect and inclusivity. He wanted to bring his knowledge, skills and experience to an organisation that focusses on making positive impacts and credible change for and with autistic children and young adults.

David Anthony – Director of Research, Learning and New Business

BA Hons, MSc, PGCE, QTS, NASENCo, FRSA

David has worked within the field of special educational needs since 2005 and joined BeyondAutism in 2015. Since then, he has worked in leadership roles in our Schools, Sixth Form and Post-19 service. He has studied at a range of institutions including the Institute of Education; The Central School of Speech & Drama; University of the Arts London; and is continuing his postgraduate studies at Queen’s University Belfast. David has experience of working within a range of schools and services, including primary, secondary, and adult provision. David is passionate about all learners having access to an education that ensures they develop the skills and knowledge to become active citizens in their communities whilst having choice and control over their own lives. With the right support and opportunity, David believes all learners can reach their individual aspirations and outcomes.

Seth Bolderow – Director of Education

BA MSt FRSA

Seth joined BeyondAutism at the start of 2023 having gained over 20 years’ experience in education. He held senior leadership positions in three schools, including being the first Deputy Head of Harrow International School, Hong Kong and establishing Wetherby Senior School in central London, a school that focussed on giving its pupils the skills, knowledge and character to achieve their ambitions and contribute positively to society. Outside education, he has used his experience setting up schools to support growth stage businesses at a corporate finance house. Most recently he was Head of Education at Wild Search advising schools and education organisations on leadership appointments.

He is a governor of his local school and a member of the fundraising board for the charity Missing People. A Fellow of the RSA, he is also a Pathway Fellowship Councillor on their Design for Life project.

Laurence McKell – Interim Assistant Director of Education

Laurence joins BeyondAutism with a strong educational background as a senior school leader, former inspector, school governor and educational consultant. He has previously led a SEND school and has SEND responsibilities for the schools that he currently advises. Most recently, Laurence has been instrumental in strategic planning and delivery with senior leadership teams and governing bodies. In other capacities, this has developed Laurence’s skills as a coach, mentor and problem solver.

Candice O’Sullivan – Head of HR

MA, MBA, Associate Member of Chartered Institute of Personal and Development

Candice joined BeyondAutism as the Head of HR in March 2024, bringing with her nearly two decades of multifunctional leadership experience in the Education and Special Education sectors. Her expertise spans strategic leadership, organisational development, training, and transformative HR practices. Candice’s proficiency in driving strategic HR initiatives, steering high-performing teams, combined with her adeptness in managing multi-location operations positions her as an ideal leader for the HR department. Candice looks forward to leveraging her comprehensive experience to enrich the organisational dynamics and harness the full potential of human resources at BeyondAutism.

Lucy Christie – Head of Marketing and Engagement

Lucy joined BeyondAutism in 2011 and has seen the organisation grow into the multi-service charity it is today. Having been involved from the beginning in developing and establishing the BeyondAutism brand and identity, Lucy has since used her expertise and in-depth knowledge of the organisation to grow the reach and profile of the charity, inform its strategic direction, and increase our digital service offer. Lucy works with teams across BeyondAutism to ensure effective internal and external stakeholder engagement. She is passionate about communicating the impact of our services, raising awareness about autism, and ensuring families and learners have access to the resources, information and support they need.

Leanna Maggs – Head of External Relationships (on maternity leave)

Leanna has worked in marketing and communications across a number of different areas since graduating from university in 2004. She spent 7 years working at advertising agencies including Saatchi and Saatchi Health. Here she gained knowledge in how to approach marketing in a heavily regulated industry. This has subsequently supported the work she does within the charity and education sectors.

After a short-term contract at Save the Children within their events team, Leanna spent the next 5 years in marketing and business development for an advertising, publishing and events company within the pharmaceutical industry before joining the team at BeyondAutism. She wanted to bring the skills and expertise gained in other areas to an organisation that is focused on making a real difference to the lives of autistic children and young adults.

Amber Woodward-Brown – Head of Fundraising

Amber joined BeyondAutism in 2023 after nearly a decade spent as a senior leader in Fundraising; she brings with her a wealth of experience from volunteer management to income generation strategies, having worked with organisations such as Make A Wish UK, Alzheimer’s Society and St John Ambulance. Amber has been privileged to work closely with the Institute of Fundraising and the Charity Commission around EDI in the charity workplace and community fundraising, she has led industry forums on supporting youth into fundraising and sits as a Trustee for a local women’s refuge charity. Amber is mother to 3 children, including her youngest who has autism, and is passionate about supporting the work of BeyondAutism to empower communities, support families and be there for every child who needs us.

Hannah Smith – Head of Fast Responder

BCBA, UKBA (cert)

Hannah is a Board-Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) and UK-BA, and has worked with and supported autistic children and young people and their families for over 10 years. She has worked across a variety of settings including, an autistic school, on early intervention home programmes, SEN & mainstream schools, and most recently worked for a specialist NHS CAMHS team (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service).

Hannah joined BeyondAutism in January 2022 as the Fast Responder before becoming Head of Fast Responder in July 2023. Hannah is passionate about preventing placement breakdown, whether that may be at home or within education, and doing so by working collaboratively with the interdisciplinary team around the child or young person, whilst keeping the views and needs of the individual and their families at the forefront.

Matthew Wicks – Head of Outreach and Training

BCBA, UKBA (cert)

Matt has worked with children and young people since 2007, in a variety of settings including mainstream schools, special needs schools and ABA specific special schools. After completing his degree he began work as an ABA Tutor at Ambitious About Autism. 4 years later he left to pursue his career in ABA, studying for a masters in ABA part time while working as a self-employed Behaviour Analyst on ABA home programmes. In 2014 he graduated and began working towards becoming board certified. Matt passed the BCBA exam in February 2017 and started working for BeyondAutism as an Outreach Consultant in June 2017. In July 2023, Matt became Head of Outreach and Training. He is passionate about disseminating knowledge and understanding of behaviour analysis.

Sarah Larner – Head of Early Years

BCBA

Sarah joined BeyondAutism in September 2011 having worked in various capacities with autistic children prior to this. She joined as a Trainee ABA Tutor and worked her way through various roles across the schools, post-19 and outreach. In 2018 she joined the Early Years Team as the Behaviour Analyst before becoming Head of Early Years in June 2023.

Sarah completed a Masters in Applied Behaviour Analysis through Bangor University in September 2016 and became a BCBA in February 2018.

She is passionate about helping autistic children succeed through learning communication strategies and gaining access and understanding within their local communities. She loves seeing the progress that the children make and celebrating these successes with parents and staff. Whilst Sarah has extensive experience working with individuals from 15 months up to 25 years of age, she is particularly motivated working with young children and their parents, focusing on early intervention and consistency across all settings from a young age to empower children to grow and succeed.

Matthew Le Blanc – Head of Park House School

BSc QTS

Matt first began working at BeyondAutism in 2013 shortly after graduating with a degree in Psychology with Neuroscience. He started working as a Trainee ABA Tutor and immediately became passionate about the role from witnessing first-hand how much of a positive impact Behaviour Analysis was having in the lives of the pupils he was working with. Matt progressed with the organisation to be ABA Tutor, Senior Tutor and Class Instructor before deciding to train to be a Qualified Teacher.

Matt undertook his training at the Institute of Education, and has stayed with BeyondAutism in his new role as a Qualified Teacher, predominantly working with KS2 and KS3 pupils. He is also currently taking a masters in ABA with the aim of becoming a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst. In September 2022 Matt took up his role as Head of Park House School.

Matt holds a real passion for promoting pupil independence and generalising functional skills learnt in the classroom to daily lives.

Emma Price – Head of Tram House School

BA (Hons), PGCE, NASENCO, PG Dip Inclusive Education: SEN and Disability

Emma has over 15 years’ experience working in educational settings, with pupils from wide-ranging backgrounds. Emma started her career as a qualified English Teacher and worked for a number of years as both a Teacher and as a Head of Year in a mainstream secondary school. Emma trained and qualified as a SENCO in 2018 and is currently undertaking an MA in Inclusive Education.

Emma started her journey at BeyondAutism as the Head of Pastoral Care in 2016 before taking on her current position and role as Head of Tram House School in January 2020.

Emma believes all pupils should have access to the best education available and wants to see all pupils achieve their utmost potential within their educational setting. Emma strongly believes that with a supportive team around them, every pupil can make outstanding progress.

Chloe Watkins – Head of Therapy Services

MSc

Chloe has a strong history with BeyondAutism, having first joined the charity in 2000, as an ABA Tutor. She completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Education before qualifying as a Speech and Language Therapist in 2004. Chloe has worked with children and young people, in a range of clinical, mainstream and specialist settings, specialising in Social Communication. 

Chloe is excited to be Head of Therapy Services, working with an exceptional team. She is passionate about supporting individuals to develop the functional communication and independence skills, that enable them to confidently access and enjoy everyday activities.