Debbie Kerslake has been Chief Executive of Cruse Bereavement Care, the UK’s leading bereavement support organisation, since 2008. Since that time, Debbie has particularly focussed on the significant development of services for children and young people, including the families of services personnel killed in action. She was a leading member of the Cruse Team which gave support to the families of British victims in New York after 9/11 and managed the Cruse response following the Tsunami in 2004 and London bombings in July 2005.

Before joining Cruse in 1999, Debbie had worked as a Social Worker for Social Services in the West Midlands specialising in child protection. Debbie is an experienced speaker at international and national conferences. She has been invited to co-present a seminar at the International Grief and Bereavement Conference in Miami later this year and regularly presents at conferences to the Statutory and Voluntary sectors in the UK.