Julia has worked in the voluntary sector since 1981, following 12 years in the private sector. After working in East London in the 1980s, developing community businesses as a response to high unemployment in an area of severe deprivation, Julia worked for eleven years as a Community Relations Officer in Hampshire. This work involved undertaking complainant aid, BAME community development, multi-agency policy development, training and public education. Since then, Julia has worked for charities managing contracts and projects dealing with ex-offenders, young people at-risk and children, as well as running several grants programmes and being a trustee of other charities. Julia was Chief Officer of Voluntary Action Worthing until 2016.