Sue Matthews qualified as a Probation officer in 1984, and has worked directly with young people and their families known to the Youth Justice System for over 30 years. She was a case manager and practice manager, workforce development officer and the gender lead and facilitated many girls’ groups during her time at Nottingham City Youth Offending team. She is passionate about improving outcomes for girls and young women who are at risk of sexual violence, sexual exploitation, gang affiliation and risky and offending behaviour, and to this end set up the Pink Project, a training partnership,12 years ago.

She chaired both the Girls against Nottingham Gangs Network for 3 years, and the YJB forum on working with girls who offend for 10 years. 

Sue was also an associate lecturer with the Open University for 10 years, as well as lecturing at Derby University and Nottingham University. Sue is a Griffins Society alumni, having completed a year’s research on the sustainability of gender specific provision in the Youth Justice system in 2009.

She currently works as an independent social worker, delivering training about the importance of gender responsive interventions; in addition, she is a children’s home inspector, ensuring that children are appropriately safeguarded.