Sarah Shillito – Chair

Sarah Shillito is Head of The Vodafone UK Foundation (VUKF). She joined the Vodafone Group Human Resources department in 1992 and moved to head up the Foundation in 2002. Since then, Sarah has moved the Foundation from a philanthropic, donations-led charity towards a responsible social investor with a clear strategic focus on enabling access to information and opportunities, particularly for 16-25 year olds at risk of exclusion.

In 2004, the Foundation brought together specialist charities Shelter, Samaritans and YouthNet in a flagship partnership with funding of £6 million over three years to enhance the charities’ work with young people. In addition to the funding, Sarah is working closely with the charities to help them develop quantifiable key performance indicators, to measure the impact of their different projects and to ensure that funding is being used effectively. All parties are openly sharing learning, market research findings and experiences with each other, with the Foundation drawing on core competencies of Vodafone employees, to support the programmes and to ensure that the greatest benefit is derived by all.

During 2004 Sarah was Acting Head of The Vodafone Group Foundation, the global charity funded by Vodafone Group Plc. In this time she helped to shape up future strategy for the Group Foundation and develop the system of programme measurement.

Lindsay Boswell

Lindsay Boswell is the Chief Executive of the Institute of Fundraising, the only professional body in the UK representing fundraisers and fundraising.

The Institute's aim is to promote at every level and opportunity the highest standards of fundraising practice. Members are supported through training, networking, the dissemination of best practice and representation on issues that affect the fundraising environment. With 14 years experience in the voluntary sector, Lindsay has previously worked in the field of youth development with Raleigh International and The Princes Trust.

Tony Breslin

Tony Breslin is the Chief Executive of the Citizenship Foundation, he sits on a range of national policy bodies, forums and advisory groups with themes as diverse as: civic renewal; crime prevention; the built environment; educational provision for newcomers to Britain; adult literacy; and the role of creativity in educational planning and provision. He is a Board Member of the ARC Theatre in Education company and a former FE college governor.

Until September 2001 Tony was General Adviser (14-19 Education) in the London Borough of Enfield and prior to this Tony taught and held senior management positions at comprehensive schools and is also a qualified OFSTED inspector.

He has published papers and chapters on citizenship, social science education, the future of the teaching profession, curriculum innovation and lifelong learning in a range of journals and texts and is an occasional contributor to the educational press and to television and radio broadcasts. In 2004 he was granted the Freedom of the City of London.

Deborah Burton

Debbie Burton is the Policy Manager for Youth Volunteering and Giving at the Office of the Third Sector within the Cabinet Office.

She has worked in the Civil Service for over 20 years and has worked in several government departments including work with the homeless, prisoners and those on benefits.

Stephen Hammersley

Stephen Hammersley is the Chief Executive of the Community Foundation Network. Prior to that, Stephen worked with Tearfund as the Trading Director, responsible both for Tearfund's own craft import and retailing business, and for exploring ways in which business and enterprise could be used in as tools in Tearfund's development work. Before joining Tearfund, Stephen's career was in retail financial services, latterly as head of marketing for Barclays Offshore Services.

Darren Henley

After starting his career as a journalist at Invicta Radio in Kent, Darren became a senior broadcast journalist at ITN. He then joined Classic FM as a producer, becoming News Manager in 1997, News and Programme Manager in 1999 and Managing Editor in 2000. Darren is a member of the Broadcast Journalism Training Council and of Arts Council England's South East Regional Council. He sits on the board of the Canterbury Festival and is a member of the Board of Advisors to the New York International Radio Festival. He has been a Chairman of Judges at the Prix Italia and has regularly judged the Sony Radio Academy Awards. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, he studied politics at the University of Hull.

Peter Hugh-Smith

Peter joined Russell Investment Group’s partnerships and distribution alliances team in 1997 as a client service associate and was promoted to his current role in 2002. Based in London, Peter provides strategic advice to Russell’s existing fund partners on a daily basis and plays an active role in the establishment and roll-out of new partnership programmes, such as with Scottish Widows in the U.K. and Bank Hapoalim in Israel. This entails extensive training within the partner’s own network and supporting the external marketing effort. Peter has direct responsibility for Russell’s U.K. fund partners.

Prior to joining Russell, Peter worked in Hong Kong for three years as a senior manager with Seapower Asset Management, a large retail broker. He was responsible for managing the company’s investments in South Korea and researching other Asian markets. Peter established the company’s first authorised mutual fund, the Seapower Asian Smaller Companies Fund, and also developed a marketing strategy for institutional and retail product distribution in Hong Kong and Asia.

Peter began his investment career in London in 1991 as an analyst and fund manager with Capel-Cure Myers Capital Management.

Salvatore LaSpada

Dr. Salvatore LaSpada joined the Institute for Philanthropy as Chief Executive in April 2006. Formerly, he was Director of The Philanthropy Workshop at the Rockefeller Foundation, a strategic philanthropy training and networking programme for high net worth individuals and new foundation trustees which is housed at the Institute for Philanthropy. From 1993-1999, he was a philanthropic advisor to the Rockefeller family at Rockefeller Financial Services. His previous affiliations include: the Brazil Office of the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation. He was an Eisenhower Fellow in Argentina where he promoted strategic philanthropy to corporations and individuals of wealth. Previous to his work in philanthropy, he was founder and director of the Urban Video Project, a media education programme for at-risk minority youth in New York City.

Dr. LaSpada is a Trustee of two grant making trusts, the Skarlinec Engagement (London) and the Raymond and Gloria Naftali Foundation (New York). He serves on the advisory committee of Philanthropy UK and the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard University. He is a visiting lecturer at the University of Bolognas Masters in International Studies in Philanthropy.

Russell Le Page

Russell Le Page is the Head of Fundraising and Marketing at Toynbee Hall. He previously worked at the Royal Academy of Arts. He has ten years experience in marketing and fundraising in the voluntary sector and is a Trustee of Hoxton Hall, a youth arts organisation in Hackney.

Alongside his professional experience he has been involved in local politics, and was Leader of a local authority from 2002-2005.

Susan Mackenzie

Susan Mackenzie is Director of Philanthropy UK, the leading resource for free and impartial advice to aspiring UK donors who want to give effectively.

Susan is a member of Beacon’s Strategic Partners Board and one of the leading experts in the field of UK philanthropy today.

Lorraine O’Brian

Lorraine is Chief Executive of Charities Trust and simultaneously has worked with Chelsea Football Club/Chelsea Village plc, The Connexus Group, Everton Football Club, ROC Recruitment and Sabien Technology.

After an HCIMA in Business and Hotel Management, Lorraine joined one of the Countries most exclusive Event Management Companies to become first Director of Operations and then Managing Director.   She then joined the Worlds Largest Hair and Beauty Company as Commercial Director for International Operations. After two years in South Africa, where she was Sales and Marketing Director for a Textile and Clothing manufacturer, she returned to the UK to take the position of Sales & Marketing Director for Trinity Mirror Newspapers.  From there, Lorraine moved onto the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation where she spent two years as the Fundraising & Marketing Director before joining the Charities Trust.

Mark Soundy

Mark Soundy is a partner in the international law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. With over 1,100 lawyers across 17 jurisdictions, Weil Gotshal is one of the largest and most highly regarded law firms in the world.

Mark has been a lawyer for nearly 20 years. He specialises in private equity and venture capital transactions, advising institutional investors and entrepreneurs. He is qualified in England and New York.

Mark is also a member of the Foundation Board of Radley College and the Planning Committee for Cambridge University’s 800th Anniversary Campaign.
Born in 1964, Mark was educated at Radley College, Oxford and Trinity College, Cambridge. He lives in North London and is married with two children.

Glenn Sykes

Glenn Sykes is the London-based Managing Director for Europe of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (GSB).

Upon assuming his current position in 2002, Sykes focused on increasing the marketing activities of the school in Europe, and strengthening the school’s corporate relationships.

Prior to being named Managing Director of the Europe Campus, Sykes was Associate Dean of the school’s MBA Career Services office. Before joining the GSB, Sykes was with the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania). Earlier in his professional career, Sykes held marketing positions with Citibank for 9 years and Coopers & Lybrand for 4 years. He received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University).

Mark Soundy

Mark Soundy is a partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, one of the world’s most prestigious law firms. Mark has been a lawyer for over twenty years and is dual-qualified (in England and New York). His practice is based around UK and international M&A work. He specialises in private equity, acting for a number of the world’s leading institutional investors and occasionally for entrepreneurs.

Mark is involved in a number of charitable and non-profit activities. He is a member (and was the founder Chairman) of the Trinity College (Cambridge) Alumni Advisory Board, founder Chairman of the Old Summerfieldian Advisory Committee and a member of the Strategic Partners’ Board of The Beacon Fellowship and of the Foundation Board of Radley College. He also provides pro bono legal advice to several clients including Bridges Community Ventures and The Venture Partnership Foundation.