Our executive directors

Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive

Clare became Chief Executive of Citizens Advice in April 2021 and leads our executive leadership team, working closely with the trustee board to deliver our charitable objectives. 

Clare was Permanent Secretary of Defra from 2015 to 2019, and of the Department for Exiting the EU until its closure in early 2020. Before that she worked in the Department of Health and the NHS, as well as in senior roles in the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Transport. After leaving the Civil Service, Clare pursued a number of projects related to her interests in public policy, organisational change and leadership, working with a range of organisations including Transport for London and the Bank of England. She chairs the Health Foundation Covid-19 impact inquiry and is a member of numerous advisory and governance boards. Clare was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 2020 Birthday Honours.

Alex Butler, Executive Director for Digital Technology and Advice

Alex is a champion for digital and data technologies, innovation and culture. 

She was one of the original architects of data and digital transformation in UK government where she was Executive Director, Strategy and Product at Directgov, the UK Government’s original citizen website. She laid the foundations of the government’s digital profession, a forerunner of the UK’s Government Digital Service.

Alex has led significant public and private sector digital transformation programmes at the BBC, Chelmsford City Council and the Royal Institute of British Architects.  Her most recent role was at the University of Bath where she was the Chief Digital and Information Officer.

Outside of work, she is the Vice Chair of SafeLives, the domestic abuse charity.

Angela Buxton, Executive Director of People

Angela was born in a mining town in Nottinghamshire and studied American and English literature at the University of East Anglia. After graduating, she spent time teaching English as a foreign language and in sales, after which she moved to the field of HR, initially in the retail sector and then at Ofsted. At Ofsted, she led on union relationships, EDI, policy, employee relations and reward.

In 2007, Angela moved to Mencap, one of the UK’s largest charities, to take up a Head of HR role. She has several family members who have a learning disability and autism, and Mencap provided both a great role and the chance to make a positive impact for the 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK. After completing her maternity leave at Mencap, Angela was successful in getting the Executive People Director role there. Eight years on, career highlights have included significant cultural, digital and agile transformation at Mencap, a modern, agile People Team at the forefront of positive change and a leading role in preventing the ‘Sleep In’ crisis and influencing for social care funding reform.

Angela joined Citizens Advice in November 2021 and says: ‘it's a real privilege to have joined Citizens Advice which has a footprint like no other organisation in supporting some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the UK.‘

More about working with us.

Jameela Khan, FCCA, Interim Executive Director of Finance

Jameela is a qualified accountant with over 25 years’ experience of working in organisations with a social cause. She joined Citizens Advice in 2022. Jameela brings extensive financial insight and experience in the fields of finance, corporate law, governance, income generation, business planning and change management. She has worked as a senior consultant for the NHS and as an executive director in several national and international charities, including GambleAware, Livability, Refuge, HelpAge International, Coeliac UK and many others.

Outside of work, Jameela is an Independent Governor at University of Westminster.

Our annual report and accounts.

Michele Shambrook, Executive Director of Operations

As our Executive Director of Operations, Michele leads teams responsible for supporting and managing the delivery of services to clients across England and Wales, ensuring that our clients receive the help they need when they need it. As part of her role, Michele oversees the delivery of the Citizens Advice Witness Service.

Michele joined Citizens Advice in 2012 from the civil service where she led the Office of Fair Trading’s Consumer Direct service, now our Citizens Advice consumer service. Before that she worked for Kent County Council and Essex County Council, developing and leading multi-channel advice services.

Find out more about how we provide advice.

Tracey Waltho, Executive Director of Strategy and Transformation

Tracey has over 25 years experience in the Civil Service, having joined the Department of Social Security as a new graduate. 

She was Director of Economic Policy co-ordination running the Prime Minister’s National Economic Council from 2008-2009 and has also served as the Chief Economist and Director of Strategy at the Department for Transport. She initiated and led a joint Work and Health unit between the Department of Work and Pensions and the Department of Health, to better support disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.

Most recently she has served as Director General Civil Service at Cabinet Office responsible for strengthening Civil Service capabilities and collaboration, and leading CO's EU exit preparations; and as Director General Housing and Planning – leading government’s COVID-19 response across Housing and Planning, including the response for Rough Sleepers known as ‘Everyone In’. 

She has a strong interest, and background, in transformation and strategy work in rapidly changing contexts; and in joining up services to better meet citizens' needs.