Barbara Gelb

Barbara Gelb is the Chief Executive of Together for Short Lives, the new charity following the recent merger in October 2011 of ACT (The Association for Children's Palliative Care) and Children's Hospices UK. Together for Short Lives is the UK voice of children and young people who are not expected to reach adulthood, and their families.

Barbara’s background is in social work and her career has been dedicated to the development and delivery of high quality services for children and families. She started her career as a social worker with Scope, the UK disability charity, based in London.

Prior to her present role Barbara had been Chief Executive of Children’s Hospices UK since 2001. She had previously been a group manager in Social Services in Bath and North East Somerset Council, where she led the development and delivery of a range of strategies to modernise services for children and families.

Barbara studied social work and psychology at the University of Cape Town and holds an MSc in Leadership and Organisation of the Public Services (distinction) from Bristol Business School, University of the West of England.