Our Board of Trustees is ultimately responsible for the good governance of the charity and ensuring that NDNA works to fulfill its mission of promoting quality in early years.
The Board is comprised of 8 Trustees and a number of co-opted Trustees with specific expertise.
Trustees chair member forums, represent on NDNA policy committees and inform and advise our policy work. Here, we introduce you to the NDNA Strategic Board.
Jane Haywood MBE – Chair of Trustees
Jane has significant leadership experience in the public and voluntary sector. She has substantial expertise in workforce development, including in the early years and social care, safeguarding and governance. Jane is an active volunteer and has a particular interest in youth work, play and learning disability. She is proud of the role NDNA plays in being the voice of the early year’s sector and her role on the NDNA board allows her to continue her commitment to ensuring that the early years workforce receives the recognition, reward and support it deserves.
Trustees
Dave Poulsom – Treasurer
Dave is a Chartered Accountant who has held a number of senior financial leadership roles in both the private and public sector. Dave is an active trustee and governor for three local disadvantaged children and young people focused charities and special schools. In 2006 Dave was Director of Finance Children’s Workforce Development Council and in 2012 joined the Department for Education acting as senior Finance Business Partner for the Department’s delivery agencies and the Education Funding Agency schools Capital Programme. Dave now works as finance director for Re-Form Heritage a charity specialising in the restoration and rejuvenation of heritage buildings at risk of decay or demolition, transforming these historic buildings into local assets, creating job opportunities and catalysing wider social and economic benefit.
Elaine Sagar
Elaine Sagar is the founder and director of The Sunflower Childcare Group, bringing extensive experience in early years education, childcare provision, and sector leadership. She has successfully grown her organisation into a well-respected provider, known for delivering high-quality, nurturing environments that support children’s development and family needs.
Elaine is a passionate advocate for the wider community and early years sector, regularly speaking out on key issues affecting providers, workforce sustainability and quality provision. She has experience in leading networks, contributing at board level and engaging with stakeholders to influence positive change. Her leadership style is collaborative and forward-thinking, with a strong focus on supporting others and driving community and sector-wide improvement.
Susan Hill
Susan has been running her nursery for the past 30 years and works on a daily basis with children, staff and families. She has a good understanding of the childcare sector at both a local and national level and works tirelessly to keep up-to-date with issues, trends, initiatives, national guidance and financial challenges that the sector faces.
She was previously on the Board of Directors of the Scottish Independent Nursery Association until it merged with NDNA and since then, has been actively involved as a network chair. Susan has a strong commitment to NDNA and is proud to be part of an organisation that supports the needs of members and has a strong agenda for raising quality across the sector.
Nikola Masters
Nikola Masters firmly believes that together we are a stronger voice within the childcare sector and has acted in the role of NDNA South East Wales Network Chair for many years. Nikola opened Osbourne Lodge Nursery in Pontypool, Torfaen in 1998 and she has continued to lead the nursery with her team of local staff whilst bringing up her now adult daughter. Nikola is an advocate for Pontypool and currently sits as Chair for Friends of Pontypool Town, a group aimed at regeneration and incubation of small local businesses.
Hazel Moody
Hazel believes strongly that all members share common problems and issues as they work to deliver the best care for young children, and she is keen to share her knowledge and experience in this area.
Philip Siddell BEM
Passionate about defending the right of private day nurseries to run their own businesses in a sustainable and profitable way, Philip is keen to share successful pricing policies operating within Government Guidelines, yet using the possibilities of the legislation to the full, including what is left unsaid! He is co-owner of Humpty Dumpty Day Nurseries Ltd, founded by his wife Carol in 1987 and comprising 4 Nurseries and 7 Before and After School Clubs in the West Midlands.
Sarah Sanger
Sarah is a trustee for NDNA and the founder and CEO of The Woodentops Nurseries. Sarah strongly believes that supporting colleagues to deliver their individual missions is a crucial part of driving excellence in early years education. She is a champion for independent and family-run nurseries and schools and speaks regularly on the value of a strong curriculum in early years. She advocates for the importance of the work done by the NDNA to strengthen the sector and raise the profile and status of early years teachers.
Mattie Dawson
I’m Mattie Dawson, Managing Director of Children’s Corner Childcare, based in Leeds, and I’m thrilled to be joining the NDNA Board of Trustees. With over a decade of experience in the early years sector, alongside a background in accounting, I know the realities of running a nursery business from the financial pressures to the day-to-day dedication it takes to deliver outstanding care.
I’m passionate about championing the needs of childcare settings and the incredible people who work within them, because I firmly believe that every child deserves the very best start in life from the nursery they attend. That belief is something I carry into everything I do including my work as a Trustee for Changing Stars Malawi.
I can’t wait to get started and work alongside the NDNA to help build a stronger, more supported sector for settings, families, and children across the country.
Co-opted trustees
Courteney Donaldson
As Managing Director of Childcare & Education Sectors at Christie & Co, Courteney has a vast range of expertise in the childcare and education sectors. Courteney has specialised in the nursery sector since 1999, providing valuation, transactional and consultative advice to operators, banks and investors. Working with owners of single settings, regional and national nursery groups across the UK and internationally, Courteney has a unique insight into current trends across the global childcare markets, including levels of demand and sustainability. While Courteney is regarded as the ‘go-to’ authority for business property-related matters in the nursery sector, Courteney also advises on other child-centric businesses including independent schools, SEN residential and day schools, children’s homes and foster care businesses.
