Lizzie Nelson worked in the House of Commons, the European Parliament, and as Government Relations Officer in the voluntary sector, before joining the Home Office in 1998. Her civil service career covered a wide range of policy areas - European Union Englargement, Violent Crime, Family Policy, Anti-Social Behaviour, and development of the Government’s first Strategy on Women Offenders. From 2003-5 Lizzie was Head of the Home Office Restorative Justice Policy Team, responsible for The Government’s Strategy on Restorative Justice (2003) and Best Practice Guidance for Restorative Practitioners (2004), as well as policy oversight of the Government's research programme on restorative justice. In 2006 she joined the Board of Trustees of the Restorative Justice Consortium, and became Director in January 2010. The Restorative Justice Consortium is the independent third sector membership body for restorative justice. Later this year it is becoming the Restorative Justice Council, in recognition of it’s role in relation to standards, accreditation, and quality assurance for the field.