Our People
Parent Zone has a whole team of astonishingly talented people, each bringing their own skills and enthusiasms to helping families flourish in a digital age.
Vicki Shotbolt, CEO and founder
Vicki Shotbolt is the founder and CEO of Parent Zone, which she started in 2005 when mobile phones were things you used to make phone calls with. She often speaks publicly about parenting and digital issues and is on the executive board of the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS). Vicki likes sailing and is proud rescuer and owner of Teddy the dog.
Sophie Linington, deputy CEO
Sophie joined Parent Zone in 2007 and has utilised her extensive experience in supporting parents and families in the development and management of a range of programmes at PZ over the years, including our partnership with the Home Office - Resilient Families, and Parent Info as well as designing and delivering training both internally and externally. She currently leads on social impact, and is driven by understanding and increasing the difference Parent Zone makes for families. She lives in Watford with her husband, two teenage sons, and a high maintenance cat.
Joe Shotbolt, chief financial officer
Joe heads up finance and operations at Parent Zone. He served in the Royal Marines for 16 years before going on to be a physiotherapist for the NHS and two football clubs. He joined Team PZ in 2012 and has been keeping the business ship-shape ever since! When he’s not at work, he puts us all to shame with his dedication to keeping fit – triathlons, pentathlons, skiing and sailing – or daydreams about being an astronaut.
Cliff Manning, research and development director
Cliff has over twenty years' experience developing digital services that enable people to access help, connect with others and learn. He previously led on digital engagement for the Children's Commissioner for England. Cliff is an Associate for Carnegie UK Trust's youth digital inclusion programme #NotWithoutMe and he established 'More Than Robots’ - a platform for practitioners working with young people online. He still struggles to wire a plug...
Martha Young, research and development innovation manager
Martha works in the Research and Development team at Parent Zone as our Innovation Manager. Previously, Martha's work has focused on programme-design and grant-making to support charities using digital to improve the lives of young people. Martha is a school governor in Haringey, and likes pizza and reading.
Yasmin Brooks, director of operations
Yasmin manages all Parent Zone products and services. She has a keen interest in the impact of digital technology on families and is continually reassessing and improving resources to best support families in this tricky area. Studying languages at university gave her a taste for travel. Her favourite place in the world is Venice. Unfortunately, our office is in a decidedly less romantic location - Angel, North London.
Geraldine Bedell, executive editor
Geraldine is our Executive Editor, shaping content. Geraldine worked for 10 years as a writer at the Observer. Before that she was a columnist and writer for the Independent. She has written for most national newspapers and a wide range of magazines, and produced and presented documentaries for Radio 4. She was the founding editor of Gransnet and has published several books of fiction and non-fiction.
Megan Rose, head of partnerships
Megan is our head of partnerships, where her background in teaching comes in handy for ensuring all our projects run smoothly. She is passionate about Parent Zone's social impact and loves how it is achieved through the partnerships programme. Her latest interest is learning how policy can evolve in order to support children in their online world. When she isn’t working, you can find her at the gym, booking tickets to a West-End show or hunting for (yet another) pair of shoes…
Rebecca Lee, executive assistant
Rebecca is the EA to Parent Zone’s CEO. She is passionate about educating young people in the fast-paced world of technology, and has been inspired by volunteering in schools and at an art charity in London. Originally an interior design wiz, you can either find her searching for her next innovation from her travels and love of nature to paint her up-and-coming masterpiece – or putting her stored energy into training for her next marathon.
Colin Wright, logistics manager
Colin brings his experience in hotel management and building skills to help manage our logistics. He loves sailing and is an enthusiastic volunteer with Visually Impaired Sailing Association-GB, who empower, motivate and encourage both blind and visually impaired people to enjoy getting stuck in and involved in something that’s great fun.
Giles Milton, head of creative
Giles has worked in various writing and editing roles for consumer titles – writing about anything and everything, from sports, music and film, to whisky, dinosaurs and the respective merits of 10p shopping bags. He is dad to two children – through whom he is learning the various possibilities and pitfalls of Minecraft and Roblox – and is a parent governor and safeguarding lead at their primary school.
Sally Taylor-Goodwin, copywriter
Sally joined Parent Zone in 2021 following 10 years in PR and Communications, mostly in the third sector. She has previously worked for a number of national charities, including Comic Relief and Wallace & Gromit's Children's Charity. Outside of work she loves reading, running and anything to do with New Zealand.
Zain Mahmood, senior designer
Zain is a designer who likes to find ways to mash science and maths principles into the creative process. He is passionate about using design to solve problems and tell stories. When not at work, he loves to play football and cricket.
Jane Hunter, education writer
Jane was a primary school teacher for twenty years before joining Parent Zone in June 2021. She utilises her education background across a range of PZ projects and is interested in how PZ can shape the future for children living in an ever increasing digital landscape. When not working, she enjoys baking and loves exploring the Surrey countryside with her family and miniature schnauzer Eddie.
Florence Heap, content intern
Florence joined Parent Zone in July 2021 after returning from a year in Canada. She graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2020, where she studied English Literature and Philosophy but spent a lot of time thinking about mental health. When not working, she is either watching horror movies or swimming in the Irish sea.
Claire Dunn, director of external affairs
Claire heads up Parent Zone's external affairs directorate, which includes our creative, communications and policy teams with responsibility for our public face, reach and influence. She started her career working in publishing, before moving into external affairs roles with a focus on women's health, and joined Parent Zone in 2021. Claire has a young daughter whose exploration of the online - and offline - world is just beginning.
Alice Warren, social media and marketing associate
Tim Malster, production manager
Tim Joined the team in April 2018, having taught Music Technology for 17 years. Tim works across our studios on the Be Internet Legends online program, as well as a number of other projects. When not working he enjoys spending time in his music studio and building Lego!
Lottie Gimlette, partnerships manager
Lottie joined the partnerships team in October 2019. She studied History at Edinburgh and after graduating she spent two years out in Australia – at one point looking after 4 little boys in the outback! When she's not working, she is busy making embroideries or getting creative with all things arts and crafts.
Lucy Herbert
Lucy joined Parent Zone in September 2020 after completing her masters in Early Childhood Development at UCL (where our CEO, Vicki, gave a guest lecture!). Lucy brings this expertise to our partnerships programme and is passionate about Parent Zone's social impact. When not working, Lucy is busy with friends or working on her next sewing creation! She also has a deep love of tortoises...
Alex Seltsin, web developer
Alex is our go-to-guy for all things technical. Although this is his first job in the UK, he's already made huge improvements to our website and is currently developing new, exciting areas for our members. In his spare time he enjoys playing a variety of sports - particularly swimming, basketball and volleyball - and is a major lover of all things Peter Jackson.
Kriss Wiltshire, full stack engineer
Kriss worked in IT support for many years before changing paths to focus on software engineering. He works a lot on Be Internet Legends programme with Google – usually causing chaos in the backend while simultaneously making the front end look pretty. When he's not working you can find him playing guitar or making noise in his home studio.
Hayley Johnson, schools outreach coordinator
Following a background in Finance, Hayley Joined Parent Zone April 2019 as a schools outreach coordinator for Be Internet Legends. She has two young children and loves to travel when she has spare time! After living in Australia for a few years Hayley moved back to Yorkshire as she missed gravy on chips.
Samuel Stuart, policy associate
Sam started at PZ as a research intern before beginning his role of policy associate. Working across social impact, policy and digital; Sam got his masters in philosophy and public policy at LSE before bringing his skills to us. Fascinated by the human and social consequences of emerging technology, Sam hopes to improve the social impact of digital progression on young people. When he isn’t working, you’ll find Sam brewing the best cup of tea in town. He hopes to one day own a greyhound called Earl (extra brownie points for those who get the pun).
