Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (Nuffield FJO) has welcomed a further member to its board.
Naomi Eisenstadt CB, a non-executive director on the Department for Education board and a non-executive member on the Department of Health and Social Care board, has a background in policy and practice related to supporting children and families. She has been appointed by Nuffield FJO as part of its efforts to ensure children and families in the family justice system are given equal footing in national conversations about children’s outcomes.
Following a long career in the NGO sector, in 1999 Naomi became the first director of Sure Start, a government programme designed to improve outcomes for young children and their families living in the poorest areas of England through integrated early education, health and family support services. Within a few years, she took on responsibility for the Government’s commitment to free nursery education, the national childcare strategy and family policy.
After leaving Sure Start, Naomi headed the Social Exclusion Task Force, a government body focused on reducing social exclusion among the most disadvantaged young people and adults in England. She also chaired the Camden Equalities Commission and served as an adviser on poverty for the First Minister of Scotland.
Naomi was chair of the NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board before joining the boards of the Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care in 2025. Her aim in these current roles is to help both departments improve how they work together for children. Naomi was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Open University in 2002 and in 2005 became a Companion of the Order of the Bath. She has published two books related to parenting, poverty and public policy.
Throughout her career, Naomi has led programmes and initiatives designed to improve children’s and families’ lives and that recognise the impact of poverty and disadvantage. She complements our other new board members in an important way. Recent appointments have provided us with deep knowledge and experience of family justice, whereas Naomi has an in-depth understanding of wider family services and the role they can play in supporting families and improving children’s outcomes. Widening our board’s expertise will help us support Nuffield FJO in its ambition to bring about positive change for children and families.Jenny Beck, chair of the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory board
For too long the family justice system has been overlooked in the wider ecosystem of services for children and families in our society. We are looking forward to drawing on Naomi’s extensive knowledge of policy and practice relating to all children and families to help us consider how we rectify this.Lisa Harker, director of Nuffield Family Justice Observatory
Board members bring a broad range of experience to Nuffield FJO, supporting the organisation in its work to turn research, collaboration and new ideas into better experiences for children and families in the family justice system in England and Wales.
