Our ambassadors

Frank Cottrell Boyce is the UK Children’s Laureate.  He won the Carnegie medal for his debut - Millions and the Guardian Fiction Prize for The Unforgotten Coat.  As well as many children’s books he is a screenwriter known for films such as the Railway Man, 24 Hour Party People and most recently his prize-winning adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s Kensuke’s Kingdom.  He was part of the small creative team behind the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony.

David Challen is a domestic abuse advisor, survivor, author and speaker, known for successfully campaigning to free his mother in the landmark 2019 coercive control appeal. He is the author of The Unthinkable and sits on the Advisory Board to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales.

Ina is Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan, where she has held a range of senior leadership roles over a career spanning more than 30 years. Most recently, she led the firm’s Private Equity & Infrastructure Banking team until early 2024, following six years as Co-Head of J.P. Morgan Cazenove.

She serves as a Governor of the Royal Academy of Music and is a Trustee of the Samuel Courtauld Trust. Ina was High Sheriff of Greater London for 2023/24 and previously served as a Governor of Westminster School, where she chaired the Finance & General Purposes Committee.

Based in London, Ina lives with her husband, a professor of medicine at King’s College. They have two children. She is a committed supporter of charities in education, music, and the arts.

Margaret spent most of her professional career at Chase Manhattan Bank and the Chase Investment Bank in New York and in London, in commercial lending relationship management and project finance. She grew up in America and has lived in the UK for over 30 years.

Margaret first became interested in criminal justice and the prison system through her experience as a member of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at HMPs Grendon and Springhill, where she served on the board for nine years and as Chair of the Board in her final three years.

Margaret is an active member of her local Catholic parish, and as a trained catechist, she has led catechetical programs, including the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) and First Communion. She has regularly helped organise liturgies and special events aimed at supporting parishioners and parish life. She also served as a governor and finally as Chair of Governors of her local Catholic independent school.

Coky Giedroyc is a British, critically acclaimed film and television director whose most recent work includes A THOUSAND BLOWS for Disney, starring Stephen Graham and the film GREATEST DAYS written by Tim Firth and set to the songs of boyband Take That.

In 2021 Coky won best drama series BAFTA for SAVE ME TOO - a thriller made for Sky TV written by and starring Lennie James and Stephen Graham. In 2016, she was awarded a BAFTA for best director for THE SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE, starring Kara Tointon and Alexander Armstrong.

She directed HOW TO BUILD A GIRL - a film based on the semi-autobiographical book by Caitlin Moran and starring Beanie Feldstein which won the Fipresci International Critics Award at the Toronto Film Festival in 2019 and was released summer 2020.

With a background in documentaries, pop promos and arts programmes, Coky directed her first film STELLA DOES TRICKS which was produced by the BFI and starred Kelly Macdonald.

Coky set up the EMMY award-winning drama THE HOUR, written by Abi Morgan and starring Dominic West, Ben Wishaw and Romola Garai for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy. She was nominated for both an International Emmy and a BAFTA for the BBC Drama, THE VIRGIN QUEEN, starring Anne Marie Duff and Tom Hardy. She directed OLIVER TWIST and WUTHERING HEIGHTS, both of which also starred Hardy with Timothy Spall, Sophie Okonedo, Andrew Lincoln.

Other credits include the four-part BBC1 series WHAT REMAINS, written by Tony Basgallop, SPIES OF WARSAW, an adaptation of Alan Furst’s novel and NATIVITY, a co- production with Canadian CBC starring Tatiana Maslany.

Her work in the US has included: THE KILLING, PENNY DREADFUL, with Eva Green and Rory Kinnear, Veena Sud’s SEVEN SECONDS and GYPSY, starring Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup.

She was most recently celebrated for her work on HARLOTS, written by Moira Buffini for BBC 2 and Hulu, with Sam Morton and Lesley Manville in the leading roles.

Coky was on the board of Directors UK for four years, heavily involved in the Women’s Working group and is a mentor to young film makers who are trying to gain opportunities in the film and TV industries and is a mentor with the Longford Trust, supporting ex-prisoners starting out in higher education.

Millicent Grant is a Chartered Legal Executive and is a former President of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and former High Sheriff of Greater London.   She has decades of experience as a lawyer in the public, private, and corporate sectors. She has experience as a voluntary youth worker with a youth work charity in South London, in addition to over eight years as chair of that charity.  As High Sheriff of Greater London, she worked closely with Pact, visiting prisons within the county, meeting with Pact staff, prison staff, and chaplains, and speaking to prison residents to learn about the valuable work done by Pact to support those in prison and their families.

Margaret is a lawyer who advises the Ministry of Justice. She has advised every government since 1980 on a wide range of topics related to the administration of justice, including law on debt, housing, children, the enforcement of civil and criminal law (including sentencing law), and matters related to prisons and prisoners. She has been a supporter of Pact (and its predecessors) for her entire adult life: “I like its clear and simple determination to keep families in relationship”, says Margaret, “I like its understanding that hospitality, a warm welcome and a caring attitude are something that we must all practice.  We make the world a better, kinder and happier place by doing so.” She served as a Trustee of Pact from 1994 to 2020.

Sarah Mann served as a Trustee of Pact from 2014 to 2024, including several years as Vice-Chair. She was previously a Trustee of the Prisoners’ Families and Friends Service, which merged with Pact in 2014.

During her civil service career at the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, Sarah led key initiatives in the criminal justice system. She was responsible for developing and implementing the joint prison and probation Offender Assessment System (OASys), and for overseeing evidence-based interventions for individuals serving community sentences. Her wider work included roles focused on organised and international crime, European police cooperation, and serving as Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Race Relations and Immigration.

Sarah has also contributed extensively in voluntary roles, including as Churchwarden at St Mary-le-Bow and Volunteer Coordinator at Southwark Cathedral. Her commitment to justice is deeply personal—her grandfather was once a prisoner at Wormwood Scrubs.

Kevin McGrath OBE MRICS DL has been a passionate and active supporter of prison reform for over two decades

He co-founded and serves as Deputy Chair of The Clink Charity, which pioneered the first public restaurants built inside working British prisons—offering training and rehabilitation to reduce reoffending.

As High Sheriff of Greater London (2014/15), he focused on criminal justice and community cohesion. He has held trustee roles with the Howard League for Penal Reform and Pact, and served on Liberty’s Human Rights Policy Executive Board.

Kevin was a Commissioner on the Independent Commission on English Prisons Today (chaired by Cherie Booth KC), and a member of both the Criminal Justice Policy Working Group (chaired by Sadiq Khan MP) and the Independent Alcohol and Crime Commission (chaired by John Podmore).

He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s 2016 Birthday Honours for services to charity. Beyond criminal justice, Kevin is Deputy Lieutenant for Hammersmith & Fulham, a Chartered Surveyor, Principal of the McGrath Family Office, and Founder and Chair of the McGrath Charitable Trust, supporting work in justice, education, health, and the arts.

Phil Taylor OBE is a long-standing advocate for criminal justice and prison reform and served as Chair of the Board of Trustees at Pact.

Phil began his career in the Prison Service in 1978 as a Prison Officer and went on to serve in twelve establishments, including four as Governor: Swansea, Bullingdon, Latchmere House, and Wormwood Scrubs. During his time at Wormwood Scrubs, he partnered with Pact and Tudor Trust to establish a model family and visitors' centre, designed to meet the needs of visitors and children.

After retiring from the prison service in 2013, Phil joined Pact’s Board of Trustees, later serving as Chair before stepping down in May 2024 after a decade of dedicated service. He continues to take an active interest in the work of Pact and in wider criminal justice reform.