Our Team
Carianne Burr
"Growth begins when we recognise that being human means being flawed. Compassion allows us to learn from our mistakes, rather than be defined by them."
Carianne brings over 25 years of experience in the criminal justice sector, supporting teams and services with a strong focus on quality assurance, staff development, and wellbeing. She is deeply committed to supporting growth and championing strengths-based approaches. Her work is guided by a passion for fostering positive change, resilience, and sustainable practice.
Dr Sarah Lewis
"Never underestimate the power of a group of passionate people."
Dr Sarah Lewis, DCrimJ, MSc, BSc (Hons), FHEA, is the Founder and Director of Grow Transform Belong CIC, Director of Penal Reform Solutions, and a globally recognised leader in cultural transformation across criminal justice systems. She has worked and researched in frontline probation and prison environments since 2004, specialising in therapeutic correctional relationships, staff wellbeing, and organisational culture change.
Dan Reynolds
"Perfectionism is procrastination in disguise, continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection."
Dan brings over 10 years of frontline and strategic experience in the criminal justice sector, with a strong focus on leadership, culture, and people development. A former prison officer, Dan is deeply committed to supporting middle leaders who hold complex systems together, helping them lead with clarity, confidence, and courage. His work is rooted in lived experience and guided by a belief that justice systems can be more human, inclusive, and effective through values-led leadership and cultural change.
Gabi Göbl
" If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
Gabi has over 20 years of project management experience across the NGO sector, academia, and international settings. Alongside her work at Richtungswechsel, she is involved in community-engaged research as a project manager at Central European University in Vienna and serves as a long-time evaluator of the Hungarian projects of SozialMarie, the Austrian Prize for Social Innovation. She firmly believes in solidarity, cooperation, and bold grassroot initiatives. She is coordinating the evaluation process of the Champions Community project.
Tamara Höfer
"Justice starts where humanity is needed the most."
Tamara is an expert in prison reform and founder of NPO Richtungswechsel. She focuses on evidence-based integration approaches and innovations that help prisons address staff culture, reduce recidivism, and improve conditions that directly affect outcomes for incarcerated individuals. Tamara loves interdisciplinary and cross-national work and is proud of the collaboration between GTB, Smart Corrections, and RW and the incredible support of the European Community around it. For Tamara, the Champions Community is more than just a programme. It is the sign that community and drive make true change possible.
Justine MSc
"We may not have it all together, but together we have it all."
Justine is a Senior Growth and Research Consultant at Grow Transform Belong, specialising in qualitative research, co-production, and culture change across the criminal justice system. She focuses on evidence-informed, relational approaches that support organisations to build trust, strengthen practice, and create meaningful, sustainable change. Justine is passionate about collaborative working and values the power of bringing together diverse voices and lived experience to shape better outcomes across justice settings. For Justine, the Champions Community represents an opportunity to connect people, ideas, and practice in ways that make lasting transformation possible.
Tabea Schleising
"Justice is about creating the conditions for people to grow."
Tabea is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Criminology and has already successfully completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Her studies have given her valuable insights into the foundations of human behavior and have strengthened her understanding of the dynamics between individuals and society. Early on, she realized that she wanted to move toward criminology over the course of her academic career in order to apply her knowledge in the fields of prevention and reintegration.
At Richtungswechsel, Tabea puts her theoretical knowledge into practice to contribute to vocational training in correctional facilities and, more broadly, to support incarcerated individuals. She actively works on our mentoring projects and assists with administrative tasks. At the same time, she is committed to positively influencing society’s perception of the prison system and conditions of incarceration.
Steven Van De Steene
"Technology is a neutral force that merely scales human nature. It holds up a mirror to humanity, with the power to make our good things better and our bad things worse."
Steven is an international consultant and researcher specializing in digital transformation for prisons and probation. A board member of the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA), he advises governments, organisations, and companies worldwide on innovation, offender management systems, and rehabilitation-focused technologies.
Formerly IT Director of the Belgian Prison Service, Steven now supports jurisdictions in building secure, ethical, and future-ready correctional systems. He is also a leading researcher on digital rehabilitation, working with universities and practitioners globally to explore how digitalization can strengthen security, efficiency, and reintegration outcomes in corrections.