As a qualified teacher, Toni has taught in prisons, further and adult education, as well as schools.  Before joining IfL in 2008, Toni was a senior civil servant with policy responsibilities for further education, was national director in quality and standards in the Learning and Skills Council, and for seven years was an inspector in the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) specialising in literacy, numeracy, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and humanities across further and adult education.   Toni also was an adult education adviser and officer in Leicestershire local education authority and a development officer with NIACE. Toni writes in the educational press and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Wolverhampton.

Brian Wilson joined the Board of L4A in 2014. He is a qualified accountant and company secretary with extensive experience in industry and commerce as a Finance director.

Brian has had experience in the Charity and Not for Profit sectors as a Board member of the NHS Primary Care Trust for Leicester and Leicestershire; a division of the Riverside Housing Association specialising in sheltered housing for older tenants; Leicester’s Clockwise Credit Union providing financial services for those excluded from mainstream banking and the Monday Club, a social club allowing people on the Autistic Spectrum to meet in a safe environment.

Brian recently spent a year studying ageing and older people as part of his Graduate Certificate in Gerontology at the University of Georgia in the USA and hopes to be able to use this experience to contribute to the continuing success of L4A.

Rob Hunter joined L4A as a volunteer learning mentor in 2008 and as a board member in 2010. He has had a career in community education: management, training and organisational development consultancy.

What attracts him to L4A in addition to its lively, intergenerational culture of social enterprise and is the focus on ‘ageing well’, which British society and local communities are only gradually starting to address, and which complements his experience of youth work, adult learning, informal education and emotional literacy.

Melissa co-founded L4A in 2008 and has worked for the organisation as our Chief Executive ever since. She has been successful in attracting funding to deliver a wide range of projects and partnerships, including to pilot IT and technologies work with older people in care homes and to deliver innovative work for older people with dementia. She also delivered projects from inception to completion and she has worked directly with older people throughout her time with L4A. She has a degree in history and a PGCE in Adult Education. She passionate about older people’s well being, the huge impact we can create and improving quality of life through learning.

Formerly marketing manager of a retail bakery company, after taking a childcare break Fiona was leading a voluntary organisation for physically disabled adults in Market Harborough before she joined L4A in 2013.

Fiona is our Community Links Manager and has managed various grant funded projects in her time with L4A, most recently the Power of Stories and Tactile Textiles.

She has a deep appreciation for the value of community connections and the immense benefits they can bring to all concerned, particularly the wide variety of opportunities they provide for enhancing quality of life for all older people in care settings.

Inspired by her work, in her spare moments Fiona is also learning – about what she could do (if only she had the time) with her ever-growing stash of haberdashery and craft materials!