Professor Emerita Helen Codd LLB (Hons); MPhil. (Cantab.); MIoL; FRSA

Professor Emerita of Law & Social Justice/ Director, University of Central Lancashire/ Seahorse Criminak Justice, United Kingdom

Professor Helen Codd, is an experienced criminal justice consultant, researcher and trainer. Helen worked in UK Higher Education for over 30 years,  and for the last ten years was a full-time Professor.  In early 2024 she decided to leave the HE sector to focus on Seahorse Criminal Justice but continues to be an active researcher and maintains strong links with academic life as Professor Emerita of Law & Social Justice at the University of Central Lancashire. She is the author and co-author of several books, has a strong record of publications in peer-reviewed journals, and has contributed invited chapters to books including a recent handbook on prison health and wellbeing.
Helen has worked with, and been a Trustee, Director and also Chair of several charities, and sat on the Lancashire MAPPA SMB for seven years. She has taught in prisons and has led training for community groups, professionals  and  policy-makers. She has been a keynote speaker at a wide range of conferences and events around the world, and has been an invited expert speaker at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.  Helen is a current Trustee of RECOOP, the national charity for older people  involved with prisons and the criminal justice process. Her work has influenced law, policy and practice in the UK and several other countries and was cited with approval by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights.

Tamara Höfer MSc BSc (Hons)

CEO, Richtungswechsel, Austria

Tamara is an expert in social integration and vocational excellence using an evidence-based approach to navigating national and international policies and building a leadership network across the correctional ecosystem. Tamara previously worked as a prison officer in England & Wales as a participant of the Unlocked Graduates Programme, a leadership scheme for outstanding graduates. After her frontline role, Tamara informed national and international prison research and strategy for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and His Majesty's Prison Service in England & Wales. Since then, Tamara has founded her own NPO, Richtungswechsel, where she is currently applying her knowledge in penal reform and research to innovative solutions in supporting prisons tackling staff recruitment and retention, reducing reoffending through vocational skills and management, and improving working and living conditions for all members of the ecosystem. At Richtungswechsel, Tamara pioneers a unique approach to holistic change management and actively contributes to the RESCALED movement, the European Movement for Detention Houses, in Austria and beyond.

Kam Stevens

Senior Consultant, Grow Transform Belong CIC, United Kingdom

Kam Stevens is the Visionary Director of the Growth App and a Senior Consultant at Grow Transform Belong CIC. With a deep commitment to fostering personal and systemic growth, Kam leads innovative projects that empower individuals, communities, and organisations to achieve culture change.
As Director of the Growth App, Kam oversees a dynamic platform designed to connect users, guides, and families, fostering collaboration and measurable growth. Under Kam’s leadership, the App has become a pioneering tool for driving social impact through resource sharing, milestone tracking, and community support.
At Grow Transform Belong CIC, Kam plays a key role in preventative work within schools and communities, advocating for meaningful reform in the criminal justice space. Kam leads Justice 2.0 with GTB, a campaign raising awareness of the systemic issues within correctional systems and promoting compassionate solutions rooted in equity and collaboration.
Kam is a strong advocate for inclusive practices, focusing on harnessing the knowledge of lived experience to inform systemic change. His expertise in designing and implementing strategic initiatives has made him a trusted advisor to organisations seeking to create impactful cultural shifts.

Eoin Flood

Head of Education, Mountjoy West Education Centre, Educational Services to Prisons, City of Dublin ETB, Ireland

Eoin Flood works with the Educational Services to Prisons in Dublin, which is part of the City of Dublin Education and Training Board. He is currently the Head Teacher of the Mountjoy West Education Centre. His background includes classical music performance, pedagogy and academia. He has performed solo and ensemble classical guitar recitals and presented his research in conferences internationally (US, UK, Asia and Ireland). Before his current role, he has held lecturing positions in Maynooth University, The Royal Irish Academy of Music and in TU Dublin, where he completed his PhD in Musicology in 2020. 
In his role within prison education, he is interested in digital learning and digital transformation, including the design and validation of new programmes to cater for the growing need of adult learners in this area. He believes that learners in incarceration are increasingly vulnerable to the speed of digital advancement across society. Informed by his work in prison education, Eoin advocates a humanistic approach to learning which seeks transformative learning experiences.

Anna Boyle

Head of Education, Training Unit Education Centre, Educational Services to Prisons, City of Dublin ETB, Ireland

Anna Boyle graduated from National College Art and Design with a BA in Art and Design Education in 2001 and a Masters of Fine Art from the University of Ulster in Belfast 2003. She is an artist educator in City of Dublin prison education service to prisons since 2010 and currently Head Teacher of Training Unit Education for a prisoner cohort over the age of 55. She is interested in educational areas within prison education that address personal development through creativity and community.

Maria Ward

Organiser of Education, Educational Services to Prisons, Educational Services to Prisons, City of Dublin ETB, Ireland

Maria Ward is the Organiser of Educational Services to Prisons for City of Dublin ETB, where she leads the delivery of educational programmes across seven Dublin prisons and post-release facilities. In her previous roles, Maria served as Head of Education in various prisons, including: Mountjoy West Prison and Dochas Women’s Prison, both part of the Mountjoy Campus.
With over 20 years of experience in the education sector, Maria has worked across a range of programmes, including Youthreach and Further Education and Training (FET). Maria holds a Psychology degree from Queen's University, Belfast, and has earned a Master’s in Forensic Psychology from the University of Leicester. Additionally, she holds a Master’s in Education and Guidance Counselling from Trinity College Dublin and a variety of postgraduate qualifications from the University of Galway, Maynooth University, the Digital Learning Institute, and the Law Society of Ireland.

Caroline Jones

People Engagement Manager, SOLAS (Further Education and Training Authority), Ireland

Caroline Jones is a people specialist with twenty years management experience within the Public Sector. She is currently employed as People Engagement Manager at SOLAS.    A value led individual she believes that everyone has potential.  Caroline has been central to reshaping the culture of SOLAS over the past six years.  Her work has been instrumental in SOLAS being awarded the National Diversity and Inclusion 2025 ‘Public Sector Organisation of the Year’ Award. 
In relation to this conference an important part of her work has been developing an Inside-Outside Choir at Mountjoy Prison.    The choir is part of a research project being undertaken by Dr. Aine Mangaoang and University of Oslo with the Norwegian Research Council due to its change making ability on both sides of the wall.  The choir has also been determinant in SOLAS a public sector body recruiting men direction from incarceration.  SOLAS have also introduced, facilitated and supported the training of men in ‘LIFT’, a successful leadership programme.
Prior to working at SOLAS, Caroline was employed as Liaison Officer by the City of Dublin Youth Services Board, National Traveller Accommodation Officer, Irish Traveller Movement, and Community Worker and Advocate, Little Bray Family Resource Centre, Social Policy Lecturer, NUIM
Passionate about education and her own development, she holds an MA in Applied Social Science, an M.Sc. in Human Resource Management, a QQI level 9 qualification in Executive Coaching, and a post graduate diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Caroline is also a Chartered Member of CIPD.

Gay O’Connor

IT Specialist, SOLAS, Ireland

Gay O’Connor was awarded ‘Employee of the Year’ at the National Diversity & Inclusion Awards 2025 which recognises and celebrates excellence in Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) in workplaces across Ireland.  
Gay who works in ICT Operation Support in SOLAS, the Further Education and Training Authority, was one of 6 finalists in her category and took home the prestigious award which recognises outstanding individuals and organisations that are creating positive meaningful change through D&I initiatives in workplaces right across Ireland.  
The award win has put the spotlight on Gay’s tremendous contribution towards fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace culture in SOLAS. She has been instrumental in the development of a 'positive action in the recruitment of people from Prison’ programme and has helped to drive forward the InHouse Harmony choir - an inside/outside choir whose members include men serving sentences in Mountjoy and employees of SOLAS.

Anne Costelloe

Independent Consultant, Representing PC-CP, Council of Europe, Ireland

Dr Anne Costelloe has recently retired as Head Teacher from Mountjoy prison where she worked for almost 30 years. She is currently a Scientific Expert with the Council of Europle redrafting the Council’s 1990 Recommendation on Prison Education. Previously, she was the Editor of the Practitioner Section of the Journal of Prison Education and Re-entry (JPER); and a former Chairperson of the European Prison Education Association (EPEA.) She was lead contributor to the European Commission report “Prison education and training in Europe – a review and commentary of existing literature, analysis and evaluation” (2011), and the follow up “Survey on prison education and training in Europe – Final Report” (2012). The title of her doctoral research was “Third Level Education in Irish Prisons: Who participates and Why? Dr Costelloe has published widely on prisoner education.

James (Jim) King

Independent Consultant, Representing PC-CP, Council of Europe, Scotland

Jim obtained Batchelor of Arts (BA Hons) in Social Science from (Glasgow Caledonian University -1996); Master of Science (MSc) in Adult Education (Glasgow-2000); Master of Arts (MA) Literacy & Language (Lancaster-2008); and Master of Studies (MSt) in Criminology (Cambridge - 2017). Jim also obtained Post Graduate Certificate (PG Cert) in Neuro-diversity from the (University of South Wales – 2012) to better understand the presenting educational and associated needs of many prison-based learners. 
Having a background in community based adult education, Jim led a Scottish Government investigation into the extent of literacy/numeracy issues within Scotland's prisons (2002) and was subsequently appointed as Head of Education, Arts and Libraries in 2010. Throughout his tenure of teaching and managing a national education service, Jim was able to explore and implement a wide-range of educational innovations to promote and engage disaffected prison populations. These mainly involved developing the arts and educational innovation through Readers & Writers in Residence, Drama, Scots Language, Creative Writing for Recovery, Film & Photography and an award-winning ‘Astrobiology' initiative in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh.
In 2017, Jim led an international group of prison educators on behalf of Europris between 2017-19 and presented workshops in several European countries. He is currently working with Dr Anne Costelloe to revise and update the Council of Europe’s Recommendations of Prison Education (1989). 
Jim continues to be involved as a Trustee for the Hardman Trust helping long-term prisoners to resettle in their communities’ post release.

Patricia Cathcart

Service Manager, Start360, United Kingdom

Patricia has worked in the field of substance use within the Community & Voluntary Sector for the past 25 years with the last 13 of these within custodial establishments in NI with Start360, the largest substance use service within Northern Ireland prisons. Patricia is a CBT Therapist and has a PG Dip in Dual Diagnosis and Substance Use and Substance Use Disorders; Patricia lectures in Queens University Belfast on this within the Criminal Justice System. Patricia is a SMART Facilitator (Self-Management and Recovery Training) with individuals who have addiction problems in custody and also facilitates SMART friends and family support in the community. Patricia is Naloxone Train the Trainer qualified and ensures every person leaving custody is trained in this vital life saving intervention.
She has recently implemented the Compassion Prison Project, Trauma Talks Programme in Magilligan Prison, the first prison in Europe to run out this trauma-informed program to prisoners. The first cohort of this programme were all life sentences and extended custodial sentences prisoners. This is now also run in Hydebank Wood College with female offenders.
Patricia is a NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) Auricular Acupuncture Trainer and Practitioner and introduced and implemented this treatment and protocol across all prison sites in Northern Ireland in 2013.  Patricia has also taught acupressure to the prisoners themselves, so they can treat each other and assist in acupuncture clinics within the prison.  Patricia has spoken at conferences around the world on substance use and the NADA protocol and more recently Trauma Talks.

Clare Heggie

PhD Candidate, University of New Brunswick, Canada

Clare Heggie is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of New Brunswick (Canada) and a Vanier Scholar. She is also the Research Coordinator for Wellness Within, the only organization in Canada focusing on the reproductive health of people involved in the criminal-legal system. Her community-engaged research program focuses on the health outcomes and healthcare access experiences of women who are currently or recently incarcerated in Canada. She is visiting Ulster University with the support of a Michael Smith Foreign Study Award to examine distance-related barriers to accessing reproductive health care while incarcerated.

Isla Donaldson

Research Assistant, Psychology Service, Irish Prison Service, Ireland

Ms Isla Donaldson is a Research Assistant who is currently working with the Irish Prison Service Psychology Service in relation to the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of a new model of treatment for people in custody who have been convicted of sexual offences in the Irish Prison Service. Ms Isla Donaldson previously completed both her MSc in Foundations of Clinical Psychology and her MA in Psychology at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, UK.

Dr Ken Murphy

Acting Principal Specialist Psychologist, Psychology Service, Irish Prison Service, Ireland

Dr Ken Murphy is the Acting Principal Specialist Psychologist in the Irish Prison Service Psychology Service who has oversight of the treatment model for people in custody who have been convicted of sexual offences in the Irish Prison Service. Dr Ken Murphy spent 10 years working in forensic mental health services in the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and he trained as a Forensic Psychodynamic Psychotherapist at the Portman Clinic in London, UK.

Dr Bernie McEvoy

Senior Counselling Psychologist, Psychology Service, Irish Prison Service, Ireland

Dr Bernie McEvoy is a Senior Counselling Psychologist who is currently working with the Irish Prison Service Psychology Service. Her current work includes delivering and developing treatment programmes for people in custody who have been convicted of sexual offences in the Irish Prison Service. Dr Bernie McEvoy previously completed her Doctorate in Counselling Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, and has worked with the Irish Prison Service Psychology Service since graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 2019.