Jane's family is Welsh but she has lived in Bristol (except for three years at Aberystwyth University and three years working in London) since 1962.  Jane's mother and her cousins were all school or university teachers so Jane went down a completely different route and became a lawyer.  Prior to Jane's retirement in 2019 she was a solicitor for 40 years;  for over 30 of those years Jane worked specialising in property litigation for one of Bristol's major law firms.

Jane first became involved in school governance in November 2011 as an LA governor of Little Mead Primary School.  When the school became an academy in October 2012, changing its name in due course to Endeavour Academy Trust,  Jane assisted in setting up the Trust and became one of the first trustees and members.  From 2015 to 2020, Jane was chair of the trustees and then remained a member of the Trust throughout and was involved as chair of trustees in adding other primary schools into the trust and recruiting head teachers.  When Endeavour Academy Trust merged with Trust in Learning (Academies) in August 2023, Jane became a member of Trust in Learning.

Jane is currently trustee of a number of charitable trusts including North Bristol Advice Centre.  Jane is also the Safeguarding Officer for Redland Park United Reformed Church in Bristol.