Meet the Team

Our Senior Leadership team are responsible to our Board of Trustees. They lead the various departments and services within the organisation with a strategic overview of their areas.

We’re currently under the Governance of the WLM Circuit.

Robin Smith, CEO

Lisa Kamiende, Head of Justice

Lisa joins us from the National Probation Service where she trained and qualified as a Senior Probation Officer. Heading up our Justice Services, including our approved premise for men leaving prison, Lisa will help us develop our services supporting people who’ve been through the justice system.

Jamie Hickling, Head of Community

Jamie Hickling is Head of Community for Strides and joined the organisation in 2016. He has over 15 years’ experience of leading services designed to move people through tough times. His experience covers equality, diversity and inclusion; complex trauma, coaching and engaging communities through arts and sports.

Laura Deakin, Head of Fundraising and Communications

Laura has worked in fundraising for national and local charities since 2009, raising millions of pounds and supporting hundreds of individual fundraisers as well as managing large scale fundraising events. In 2017 – 2020 she led the fundraising and communications strategy and team at homelessness charity Evolve, and now heads up all of our communication and fundraising work.

Stamatia Lorentzou , Head of Counselling

Stamatia has recently joined Strides, as a lead for the Highbury Counselling Centre (HCC). Stamatia is a psychodynamic therapist. She has practiced in the NHS and not-for-profit counselling agencies. For seventeen years, she has worked for a homelessness charity. In her role as the Clinical Lead, she managed counselling and other clinical programmes in the community.