Dianne Whitfield

Background and experience

Dianne was appointed as a Non-Executive Director in April 2016 for a two-year term, which was extended for a further three years to March 2021 and she has subsequently been re-appointed to March 2024. Dianne was appointed as Vice Chair with effect from 1 September 2019.

Dianne’s background includes working as a Human Resource specialist in a variety of management/senior management roles. She has an MBA and has also worked for several years as a management consultant specialising in working with NHS organisations and its strategic partners.

In total, Dianne has over 30 years’ experience of delivering public services. Her last role was Chief Officer of Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (CRASAC), one of the biggest Rape Crisis centres in the country. She has significant experience working within a range of public sector organisations before training as a Gestalt therapist and joining the voluntary sector where she worked for approximately 15 years.

Her more recent experience has been focussed in the field of sexual violence in a variety of different roles. Diane has substantial experience working at a strategic level, having advised national organisations (such as the IPCC), and participated in national groups such as the National CPS/ACPO Scrutiny Groups as the Rape Crisis England and Wales (RCEW) representative. She also sits on a national advisory board in relation to childhood sexual abuse.

Dianne was a long-standing Board member of Rape Crisis England and Wales and served as the national chair for five years. She is a clinically qualified Gestalt therapist and her clinical work focused on providing individual therapy and group counselling to survivors and victims of sexual violence.

Qualifications

In addition to her clinical qualifications Dianne also holds an MBA and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.