Meet The Team
While We Are ATR is new, our expertise is not.
Since 2020, we have led the West Yorkshire Adversity, Trauma and Resilience (ATR) Programme, a nationally recognised, cross-sector movement that has reshaped how organisations and systems understand and respond to adversity.
What began as a regional collaboration has become a proven model of change, influencing strategy, building workforce capability, and embedding trauma-informed and responsive, prevention-led approaches across business, public services and communities.
Emmerline Irving
Co-founder & Director
Senior Public Health Specialist | System Leader | Trauma-informed Change Lead
Email: emmerline@weare-atr.com
Areas Of Expertise
• Public health, prevention, health inequalities.
• Trauma-informed, trauma-responsive system change.
• Strategic commissioning, pathways, service design.
• Serious violence, inclusion health, community safety.
• Obesity, complex health, stigma, trauma.
• Lived experience, co-production, community voice.
• System leadership, partnership working, implementation.
• Policy, advocacy, national influence.
About Emmerline Irving
Emmerline Irving is a senior public health specialist, system leader and co-founder of We Are ATR. Her career spans housing, youth and community work, local authority public health, NHS commissioning, regional quality improvement, Integrated Care System leadership and trauma-informed system change.
Her work is shaped by a deep commitment to prevention, equity, social justice and the belief that people’s health is created not only in clinics, but in families, communities, schools, workplaces, services, relationships and the wider conditions of people’s lives.
Emmerline began her career in housing before spending ten years as a professional youth and community worker. This early work shaped her practical, relational approach and her belief that services must be designed with people, not simply delivered to them. She went on to lead young people’s health programmes, sexual health commissioning, 0–19 services, maternity public health, screening, early years and family support.
She later moved into regional NHS quality improvement and system leadership, working across children and young people’s services, maternity, long-term conditions, prevention and population health. As Head of Improving Population Health at NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, Emmerline provided senior leadership across prevention, health inequalities, Core20PLUS5, serious violence, inclusion health, obesity and healthy weight, maternity, population health management and the wider determinants of health.
One of Emmerline’s most significant contributions has been her leadership of the West Yorkshire Adversity, Trauma and Resilience Programme. Under her leadership, the programme grew into a major cross-sector movement, supporting organisations across health, local authority, education, policing, justice, housing, VCSE, community and commercial settings to become more trauma-informed and trauma-responsive.
Emmerline also leads work on obesity, complex health and stigma, championing compassionate, whole-person approaches that recognise the impact of biology, psychology, trauma, poverty, stigma, environment and access to care. She contributes to regional, national and parliamentary conversations on trauma, prevention, obesity, health inequalities and system reform.
As Co-founder and Director of We Are ATR, Emmerline brings together her full career experience to support organisations with strategy, implementation, workforce development, co-production, commissioning, system change and trauma-responsive practice.
About Sally Lee
Sally Lee is a passionate and values-led leader with over 16 years’ experience across the NHS and wider public sector. Her career brings together frontline services, staff wellbeing, occupational health, public health, programme delivery and partnership working.
Sally began her NHS career at Mid Yorkshire Teaching Hospitals, working across Outpatients, Cancer Services and Occupational Health. As an Occupational Health Practitioner, she developed a strong passion for staff health and wellbeing, seeing first-hand how important it is that the people caring for others are also cared for themselves.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sally established and led a PPE response team to support the protection of more than 9,000 staff. In just six months, she built and mobilised a team to deliver FFP3 mask fitting for frontline colleagues, helping to keep staff and patients safe during one of the most challenging periods in NHS history.
Sally later joined NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board as a Senior Project Manager, leading on Tobacco Control. She supported the implementation of Tobacco Dependency Treatment Services across all acute trusts in West Yorkshire and led pioneering work to establish the first Swap to Stop pilot within an Emergency Department in the country.
She was later promoted to Programme Manager, leading the West Yorkshire Suicide Prevention Programme. In this role, Sally worked with partners across health, local authorities, VCSE organisations, education, police, private sector partners and community networks to support suicide prevention, reduce harm and strengthen compassionate approaches to prevention, postvention and support.
Sally brings a rare mix of frontline experience, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence and practical delivery. She is known for being compassionate, driven and able to bring people together around a shared purpose.
As Co-founder and Director of We Are ATR, Sally is passionate about helping organisations across all sectors understand adversity, trauma and resilience in a way that leads to meaningful change. She is committed to supporting cultures where people feel valued, heard and empowered, and where compassion, humanity and hope sit at the heart of how organisations work.
Sally Lee
Co-founder & Director
Occupational Health Specialist | Workforce Wellbeing Lead | Programme Leader
Email: sally@weare-atr.com
Areas Of Expertise
• Occupational health, workplace wellbeing.
• Workforce support, staff safety, psychological wellbeing.
• Suicide prevention, prevention, postvention.
• Tobacco control, public health programme delivery.
• Programme management, implementation.
• Partnership working across complex systems.
• Compassionate leadership, organisational culture.
• Trauma-responsive workforce development.