Nicola Lowit

Nicola is an experienced Senior Civil Servant, trainer, facilitator, and mindfulness teacher. With a background in learning and development, she worked in the voluntary sector and for the Open University before joining Central Government as an Education Advisor to prisons in England and Wales. Since then, Nicola has worked in a number of high profile roles within the Prison Service and the Ministry of Justice, including leading negotiations with the Youth Justice Board for the provision of custodial places for young people; setting up and leading the first Cross-Departmental Strategy Unit for Women in the Criminal Justice system; and latterly acting as Programme Director for a major prison transformation programme. Nicola is experienced in leading major business change and transformation programmes and is an accredited High Risk Programme Reviewer.

As well as facilitating the Crossing Thresholds development programme for women across the Civil Service, Nicola also regularly facilitates short workshops on leading change, wellbeing, and developing personal resilience, including for the Cabinet Office Women’s Network and staff at Number 10. She is a mindfulness teacher and runs mindfulness taster sessions, drop-in meditation sessions, and eight-week mindfulness for health and mindfulness for stress courses.

With a focus on inclusion, diversity and wellbeing, Nicola has an engaging and inclusive facilitation style and loves working with people and helping them fulfill their potential.

Nicola holds a degree in Social Science, a Masters degree in Education (adult learning), a Postgraduate diploma in Criminology, and is a graduate of the Oxford University Major Projects Leadership Academy. She is the co-Chair of Unitas, a charity which designs, manages and funds innovative national programmes for young people at risk of social exclusion and provides accredited training for the practitioners who work with them. Unitas has recently won the contract to provide the first Foundation Degree in Youth Justice.