Board members
Learn more about our board members
Last updated: 17 May 2023
All board members have been appointed through the public appointments process. Together, our board brings a breadth of skills and knowledge, enabling us to develop as a modern and effective specialist regulator.
Dr Andrew McCulloch
Dr Andrew McCulloch is interim chair of Social Work England. He is chair of GMC Services International, a national committee member for Healthwatch England and a freelance consultant in health and social care and international development. Until 2017 he was chief executive of the Picker Institute Europe – a world leader in evaluating and reporting on patient/staff experiences in health and social care. Prior to joining Picker, Andrew was chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation. He was previously a civil servant at the former Department of Health.
Colum Conway
Colum is our chief executive. He is a registered social worker and previously led the Northern Ireland Social Care Council. He spent six years as chief executive of a not-for-profit providing care services across Ireland. Colum has worked in statutory family and child care services, early years policy, funding and service provision, and family systems support services.
Dr Adi Cooper
Dr Adi Cooper OBE is the independent chair of 2 safeguarding adults boards and the care and health improvement adviser for London (for the Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adults Social Services). She is a visiting professor at the University of Bedfordshire and a safeguarding adults' consultant. Working in adult social care for nearly 30 years, she was director of adult social services, housing and health for Sutton Council for 9 years.
Jonathan Gorvin
Jonathan Gorvin is currently Director of Professional Policy at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a trustee of the Science Council. Previously, Jonathan worked internationally in a variety of policy and strategy roles, across several professional and regulatory bodies. In 2015, as Head of Regulatory Affairs at the Press Recognition Panel, he developed the regulatory framework for recognising press self-regulators following the Leveson Inquiry.
Ann Harris OBE CPFA
Ann is a chartered public sector financial accountant and has held senior civil service roles in finance and programme management. She was awarded an OBE in 2009 for her services to the Department of Work and Pensions. Ann was chair of The Pensions Advisory Service and was subsequently co-opted to be a non-executive director at the Money and Pensions Service. She is also a non-executive Director with Defence Business Services.
Mark Lam
Mark Lam is Chair of the Royal Free London and North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trusts. He is a business executive and digital technologist with extensive experience operating at senior board level for multinational business and public organisations. He currently serves as a non-executive director on a number of business boards, including Games Workshop Group, a FTSE 250 business, and JT Group in the Channel Islands.
Dr Sue Ross
Dr Sue Ross is a graduate of St Andrews and Oxford Universities and holds a Ph.d from Keele University in ‘Systems Approaches in Child Care’. She also has a diploma in coaching and mentoring from the Institute of Leadership and Management. She is a social worker and has worked in the North East of England, the East Midlands, Wales and Scotland. Her first director post was in East Renfrewshire in Scotland and since then she has acted as director of children’s and adults services in organisations across England and Wales and Scotland. She was also the chief executive of a large primary care trust in England.