Meet the Senior Management Team
Laura Thomas – Chief Executive
Prior to coming to Citizens Advice as a CEO in 2015, my career had been in adult social care, working in the charity sector in senior management, providing services to adults with learning disabilities, acquired brain injury and Autism Spectrum Conditions.
In 2013, I lived in Transylvania, Romania, for 2.5 years as Development Director for a UK based charity, working in institutions for people with mental health issues, dealing with human rights abuses and liaising with NGO’s across Europe and Amnesty International.
I love being part of our Citizens Advice team as we help support thousands of people a year across Dudley Borough and the City of Wolverhampton to deal with complex and challenging situations affecting their day to day quality of life that some of us can take for granted, often affecting some of the most vulnerable in our communities.
To unwind and relax I love being outdoors, having meals out with friends and visiting my family who still live in my homeland of South Wales.
Liz Jones – Operations Director
My early career was spent working for Barclays Bank, but after 18 years I knew the time had come to do something different. I started volunteering at Citizens Advice in 2004 when my children were young, as I wanted to give something back to the community.
My first paid role was in 2006 as a Money Advice Caseworker. Straight away I knew that I had found my perfect job. Over the last 15 years I have worked my way up through supervisor and manager roles to my current role as Operations Director, with responsibility for all Money Advice Services across our organisation.
I am so proud of what I do, our organisation does such amazing work and makes a real, tangible difference to people’s lives.
When I am not at work I am a complete history buff, so give me a battlefield or a castle and I am in my element!
Nikki Saunders – Operations Director
I started volunteering at Citizens Advice as a volunteer in 2006 and soon became a paid employee in 2007. I fell in love with the organisation and what it stands for, supporting individuals and giving them a voice to improve the legislation and practices impacting them through our campaigning work.
I have over 14 years’ experience in the voluntary sector, developing the capabilities of our organisation to engage the workforce, clients and our partners to co-produce inclusive transformation. Inclusion and fairness have been an important part of my upbringing and I strongly believe that solving many of societies complex problems can only happen by involving the people and communities that experience them!
Outside of work my other commitments include caring for my mother who has Dementia and my father who is an amputee and partially blind.
Nicky Wooldridge – Finance Director
I started my career in finance in the private sector, working my way from trainee to qualified accountant, spending a total of 18 years in the manufacturing industry.
Having taken a career break with my young family I realised I no longer wanted to count ‘nuts and bolts’ but move into the voluntary sector where I could use my skills to indirectly help other people.
Having worked for a Mind charity for 3 years, I joined Citizens Advice in 2016 as Finance Manager progressing to Finance Director. I feel that our organisation provides an undervalued service, that has the scope to reach so many people and improve lives.
In my personal life apart from spending time with family, I love reading, gardening and keeping fit.