Sandra Walmsley spent most of her career in social services and healthcare. She was a Social Services Inspector for four years. During her career she served on many national bodies in the field of social care. After taking early retirement from her post as Director of Social Services in Tower Hamlets, she became a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Public Policy at Birmingham University teaching MBA students and specialising in consultancy and publication in the field of change management. Sandra went on to serve as vice chair of an acute Hospital Trust, then Chair of Suffolk Mental Health Trust and then Chair of the National Standards Committee of DWP. In 2022 she became a Fellow of the RSA.

She studied for her B.Sc (Econ) at LSE, her postgraduate diploma in Social Work at Birmingham University and her MA in Business and Public Sector Strategy at Kingston University. She has subsequently gained a BA in Fine Art Printmaking, an MA in Drawing and an MA in Creative writing on the environment. She has focused her writing and artwork on environmental issues. She has undertaken several courses on the environment and ecology.

She has significant experience as a Trustee and founder of charities across housing, social care, employment and community regeneration and is currently Vice Chair of CPRE Norfolk.

Sandra was appointed as the founding Chair of the Foundation, steering through to novation. She resigned as Chair when her mother died in 2021 and is now a trustee Director on the MCS Company Board.