Meet the Change
EnablerS
SCN Team
Community & Impact
Esther Foreman (she/her)
CEO and Chair of the Board
Open bio
Name: Esther Foreman
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Founder & CEO
Top Skills: Leadership, innovation, strategy, social enterprise, and movement building
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Spot new opportunities, inspire innovation, and ensure everything we do stays true to our vision, mission, and values.
Work History: Esther has over 20 years’ experience across the not-for-profit, social enterprise and business sectors, leading award-winning campaigns, supporting enterprise, and building strong teams. In 2013, she founded The Social Change Agency to combine organising, technology, communications and social enterprise. She is a Clore Social Fellow (2011), Winston Churchill Fellow (2012), and SSE Fellow (2013), and was named among the Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise. Esther also founded The Social Change Nest, The Young Trustees Movement and the Graduate Journal of Social Science.
Interests Outside of Work: A devoted fan of Ethiopian food
Catherine Scott (she/her)
Head of Governance and Innovation
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Name: Catherine Scott
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Head of Governance and Innovation
Top Skills: Governance, systems thinking, innovation, sustainability, and network development
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Strengthen governance practices that support innovation and make sure SCN runs smoothly, compliantly, and with impact.
Work history: Catherine has over 8 years’ experience supporting and developing cross-sector networks and movements. She’s particularly passionate about creating governance and infrastructure that enable innovation and sustainability. As a School of System Change alum, she enjoys integrating systems thinking into her work and exploring new ways to manage complexity for long-term positive change.
Interests outside of work: Loves being in nature, dancing, and playing board games. Based in York, she’s often found enjoying coffee and cake in one of the city’s many independent cafés.
Rameez Madeppadi Sydeek(he/him)
Governance and Compliance Manager
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Name: Rameez Madeppadi Sydeek
Pronouns: He/Him
Role: Governance and Compliance Manager
Top Skills: Governance, policy development, community engagement, critical thinking, and social change
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Support community groups and organisations to strengthen their governance and turn it into a driver for positive social change.
Work History: Rameez has over 4 years’ experience across policy and community development settings, working with the local governments and NGOs in India. He holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Bristol and a Master’s in Social Work with Community Development from the University of Kerala. Combining academic insight with hands-on experience, he enjoys fostering curiosity and critical thinking in his everyday work.
Interests Outside of Work: Rameez is a trustee with a Charity that provides free English language support to children and young people from refugee, asylum-seeking, and migrant communities in Bristol and Oxford, and also volunteers with other local refugee organisations in Bristol. A self-confessed foodie, he loves coffee, pistachio-flavoured treats, cooking, and exploring new cuisines, even if it means his gym goals stay out of reach!
Aimee Dorsett Browne (she/her)
Head of Community and Impact
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Name: Aimee Dorsett Browne
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Head of Community and Impact
Top Skills: Community organising, social innovation, grant making, relationship building, and communications
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Connect with and support the inspiring organisations across SCN’s portfolio, helping them grow and make an impact.
Work History: Aimee has over 10 years of experience working at the intersection of community organising, social innovation, and grant-making. She began her career in France with a startup social enterprise specialising in solutions journalism. After returning to London following the Brexit vote, she spent two years supporting grassroots equality organisations to strengthen their communications and campaigning capacity. She later transitioned into grant-making, helping micro NGOs across England build social enterprise activities and providing wrap-around learning and mentoring support.
Interests Outside of Work: Aimee enjoys running, yoga, bike packing, and hiking — she admits she struggles to sit still for long!
Seema Kapoor
Head of Programmes and Service Delivery
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Name: Seema Kapoor
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Head of Programmes and Service Delivery
Top Skills: Community philanthropy, grantmaking, partnership building, program strategy and management, and communications, all with a focus on decoloniality, centring communities, and increasing equity.
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Supporting the Delivery Team and our wonderful groups strategically and operationally to achieve their goals and increase equity and impact.
Work History: With a background in global health focused on sustainable community-led responses to malnutrition, Seema holds a bachelor’s in international relations from Penn and a master’s in global health from the LSE. She brings 10+ years of experience in the international development and philanthropy sectors working in fund management and philanthropic responses to crises, with a strong focus on community philanthropy and centring communities in crisis response. She is an experienced advocate for anti-oppression systems change in aid and philanthropy and is passionate about fostering community-led change through transformative partnerships and innovative funding models.
Interests Outside of Work: Wanderlusting and adventuring, puzzles, and lots of baking and cooking, all with her 2 little boys and partner!
Kristen Woolf(she/her)
Support to the Director of Operations
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Name: Kristen Woolf
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Support to the Director of Operations
Top Skills: Systems thinking, complex portfolio management, coalition building, strategic partnerships
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Nurture and grow SCN’s ecosystem “garden”; strengthen service delivery systems and build strong alliances, support the amazing team.
Work History: Kristen is a collaborative leader who thrives in spaces where impact, innovation and equity converge. Her background includes building and leading programmes and strategic partnerships focused on gender, youth, and climate. She brings extensive experience managing donor relationships and complex portfolios across social impact, philanthropy, and non-profit sectors – with a deep commitment to centering local wisdom and supporting community-led solutions.
Interests Outside of Work: Kristen loves hunting down the best Mexican food in the UK, lifting weights and strength training, walking her dogs, and dancing whenever she gets the chance.
Harkiran Bharij(She/Her)
Programmes Assistant
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Name: Harkiran Bharij
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Programmes Assistant
Top skills: Grant distribution, partnership support, international development, research, and writing
Favourite thing to do at work: Help channel funds to grassroots groups and collaborate with partners to make grantmaking more accessible and impactful.
Work history: Harkiran supports the Partnerships Manager in distributing grants across the UK and internationally, working closely with partners such as UMI and RAWA. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Westminster and a Master’s in Development Studies from the London School of Economics (LSE). Before joining SCN, she volunteered and later worked at We Make Change, a startup connecting impact-driven organisations with skilled volunteers to help them scale.
Interests outside of work: When she’s not working, Harkiran can be found at the gym, reading, or watching TV. She’s an avid Harry Potter fan and writer with her own newsletter where she explores topics like international development, gender, and inequality — and she’s always keen to write something new!
Aneesa Mahmood(She/Her)
Programme Lead
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Name: Aneesa Mahmood
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Programme Lead
Top Skills: Fiscal hosting, community support, communications, international relations, and advocacy
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Support groups through the fiscal hosting process on the Open Collective platform and champion minority voices working for social justice.
Work History: Aneesa helps community groups become fiscally hosted through The Social Change Nest’s Open Collective platform. Before joining SCN, she worked in PR and communications and has been active in her local Amnesty International contingent. She holds an MSc in International Relations and Global Issues, during which she spent a year studying in Malaysia and travelling across Southeast Asia.
Interests Outside of Work: Aneesa loves travelling, reading, learning new languages, and loves the outdoors. She’s currently learning Mandarin and always looking for her next great read.
Thabita Luzitu (she/her)
Relationship Manager
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Name: Thabita Luzitu
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Relationship Manager
Top Skills: Relationship management, community engagement, stakeholder collaboration, and programme delivery
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Help people and organisations to make meaningful changes in their communities and build partnerships that create positive impact.
Work History: Thabita has worked across several impact-driven organisations, including social enterprises, an education charity, and community interest companies. Her experience spans supporting Black early-stage entrepreneurs across the U.K and Africa, community leaders, emerging creatives, young people, and small community organisations, as well as collaborating with larger charities and corporate partners. She approaches her work with a growth mindset and a passion for collaboration.
Interests Outside of Work: Thabita loves football, her Congolese heritage, and expressing creativity through nail art. She’s also a proud self-proclaimed Spotify DJ with excellent taste in early 2000s music across all genres.
Martina Adu Gyamfi
Relationship Manager
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Name: Martina Adu Gyamfi
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Relationship Manager
Top Skills: Rapport building, stakeholder management, researching, public speaking.
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Having a chat over coffee in a cafe and deep dive collaboration with her team
Work History: Martina is a social impact professional with an educational background in Politics and International Relations and an MA in Diplomacy, Law and Global Change. She brings experience in partnership and stakeholder management, coordinating programmes and supporting organisations to navigate funding systems as a Volunteer Grants Writer. Martina also has a community group supporting eldest daughters from ethnic and African diasporan households navigate their experience.
Interests Outside of Work: She enjoys volunteering at her local church, walking, cooking, playing interior simulation games, reading, and hosting people over. A natural host at heart, she values creating welcoming spaces and bringing people together.
Ana Steiner (she/her)
Relationship Manager
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Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Relationship Manager
Top Skills: Grant management, project management, impact measurement, sustainable development, and community engagement
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Support groups in managing their grants and strengthening their development, while celebrating their social and environmental impact.
Work History: Originally from Colombia, Ana is an Anthropologist with Master’s degrees in Sustainable Development Management and Geography. She has over 8 years’ experience working with community-based rural organisations focused on environmental conservation and sustainability. Her background spans grant applications, funder management, project delivery, and impact measurement.
Interests Outside of Work: A self-proclaimed explorer, foodie, and future yogi, Ana loves discovering new places and flavours while keeping balance and mindfulness at the heart of her adventures.
Ynaiita Warjri (she/her)
Relationship Manager
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Name: Ynaiita Warjri
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Relationship Manager
Top Skills: Fundraising, business strategy, community engagement, programme delivery, and impact measurement
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Help groups access formal funding and manage their grants so they can focus on driving social change.
Work History: Ynaiita was born and raised in Shillong, a hill station in Meghalaya, Northeastern India, and proudly belongs to the Khasi tribe. She holds a Bachelor’s in Economics and two Master’s degrees — one in Development Studies and another in Sustainability and Business. With over five years of experience across the UK and South Asia, she has worked with charities, CICs, and grassroots groups, bringing expertise in fundraising, business planning, community engagement, and impact measurement. In India, she worked directly with social enterprises focusing on sustainable farming, affordable eye care, digital and financial inclusion, and access to education.
Interests Outside of Work: Ynaiita is an avid reader and runs a bookstagram page. She enjoys weightlifting, cooking food from her heritage, and binge-watching thriller series. Fun fact: she was part of an acapella group during university!
Nahima Akther (she/her)
Programme Assistant
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Name: Nahima Akther
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Programme Assistant
Top Skills: Operations, mentoring, administration, community engagement, and inclusive system design
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Support projects that bring people together, open up opportunities, and empower communities to create positive change.
Work History: Nahima holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy & Economics and brings experience across mentoring, administration, and operations. She has worked with NEET young people, managed large teams, and supported grassroots charities. Passionate about building inclusive systems, she’s dedicated to helping communities thrive and using her experience to make a meaningful difference.
Interests Outside of Work: Nahima enjoys connecting with people, learning new things, and finding ways to give back to her community. She loves exploring creativity through photography, keeping up with new films, and getting lost in a good book — all of which keep her inspired and curious.
Finance & Operations
Beth Matheson (she/her)
Finance Director
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Name: Beth Matheson
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Finance Director
Top Skills: Finance leadership, operations management, policy development, HR, and process improvement
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Streamline systems and processes while ensuring finance and operations run smoothly for both SCN and the groups we host.
Work History: Beth oversees all things operations while Sapna is on maternity leave, covering finance, process and systems improvement, policy, and HR. She has extensive experience leading finance across a range of not-for-profit organisations, including The Brooke, Global Witness, and Amnesty International. Most recently, she served as COO at Right to Succeed, a charity focused on improving outcomes for disadvantaged children through collective impact and systemic change, where she helped guide the organisation from start-up to scale-up. Beth is passionate about supporting social and climate impact organisations and driving big change in how grassroots and movement-building work is funded.
Interests Outside of Work: Beth is married to an Italian maths teacher, and together they have one very cool daughter. In her free time, she enjoys the theatre, puzzles, and gardening (even if she’s still figuring it out). She also keeps active through running and cycling to work.
Sapna Patel Pattni (she/her)
Director of Operations
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Name: Sapna Patel Pattni
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Director of Operations
Top Skills: Operations management, finance, systems improvement, policy development, and project leadership
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Strengthen operations across SCN and our hosted groups, ensuring everything runs smoothly while exploring new opportunities for innovation and growth.
Work History: Sapna provides leadership on all things operations, covering finance, process and systems improvement, policy, HR, and product and business development. She has over 9 years’ experience in operations and project management, having previously managed research projects, including one on advocating for freedom of religion or belief across the Commonwealth. She has also supported leadership programmes focused on advancing the careers and development of BAME staff and women in science.
Interests Outside of Work: Sapna dreams of mastering pasta making and one day launching a side hustle serving Indian–Italian fusion dishes. She also enjoys stargazing and is a huge fan of Stargate SG1.
sally Tilling (she/her)
Head of Operations
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Name: Sally Tilling
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Head of Operations
Top Skills: HR, operations and project management, process development and marketing
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Problem-solving complex HR and operational challenges and ensuring processes and procedures are fit for purpose across SCN and our hosted groups.
Work History: Sally is responsible for overseeing and enhancing operational and HR functions across both our organisation and our Groups – embedding effective tools, systems and processes to support business needs. Prior to joining SCN, Sally spent 20 years working across both the public and private sectors within Marketing and Communications, Human Resources and Operations. Her recent roles have focused on diversity and inclusion impact spaces, especially within the social investment and VAWG sectors.
Interests Outside of Work: Sally loves pottering around the garden, reading a good book and enjoying time with her family and friends. She enjoys trying out new things from crochet and kintsugi to building book nooks – but admits her enjoyment for arts and crafts might not be matched by actual talent!
Priya Phakey (she/her)
Operations Manager
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Name: Priya Phakey
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Operations Manager
Top Skills: Operations management, sustainability, safeguarding, environmental science, and process improvement
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Keep SCN running smoothly, support staff with internal HR and Operations, and champion safeguarding for children and vulnerable adults.
Work History: Priya works closely with the Director of Operations and the Head of Operations to ensure everything at The Social Change Nest runs effectively. With a background and degree in Environmental Science, she has experience in operations, international trade and development, and carbon emission reporting systems. Her expertise and personal passions lie in sustainability and promoting environmental, racial, and social justice.
Interests Outside of Work: Priya’s superpower is spreadsheets — she firmly believes there’s no problem a well-crafted one can’t solve. She also enjoys sharing fun facts, testing her general knowledge, watching a gritty series, and baking/cooking up a storm in her free time.
Natalie Williams
HR Manager
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Name: Natalie Williams
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: HR Manager
Top Skills: Patience. She believes there’s nothing you can’t (eventually) do if you have enough patience!
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Help people to get the most out of their working life by supporting their needs and ensuring they are treated fairly and equitably. She loves seeing people’s confidence and skills grow over time.
Work History: Coming from an Operations background, Natalie trained in HR in 2016 while working at Help Musicians UK and has since worked at a collective of design companies and an EdTech company. Before that, she’s had a long and varied work history, mostly in music, but also retail, the service industry and the odd call centre. She knows some things about what employment shouldn’t look like as well as what it should! Interests Outside of Work: Natalie makes music and musical instruments and goes to a lot of very small gigs. Food and cooking are very important to her, and she loves a long and complicated new recipe to try out. She’s interested in languages and is (slowly) teaching herself Welsh.
Claire Barber (she/her)
Finance Business Partner
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Name: Claire Barber
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Finance Business Partner
Top Skills: Financial management, business improvement, process development, budgeting, and consultancy
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Manage SCN’s day-to-day finances and refine financial processes to support strong decision making for both the organisation and the groups we host.
Work History: Claire manages SCN’s daily finance operations, supporting internal teams and clients while helping to shape and improve our ever-evolving financial processes. She holds a degree in Business and Finance and brings 20 years of experience across the public, private, and charity sectors, both in the UK and overseas. Her background includes finance management and business improvement consultancy, giving her a strong foundation for strategic, practical, and people-centred financial leadership.
Interests Outside of Work: Claire is a Governor at a local school and has recently taken responsibility for providing a positive school experience for all pupils, which allows her to utilise her business improvement experience in an educational setting.
Jalal Baba Khail(he/him)
International Grants Finance Manager
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Name: Jalal Baba Khail
Pronouns: He/Him
Role: International Grants Finance Manager
Top Skills: International payments, compliance, donor and partner due diligence, grants–finance coordination, risk management
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Solving complex payment and compliance challenges so funding reaches partners smoothly, safely, and in line with donor and regulatory requirements.
Work History: Jalal is a grants, finance, and compliance professional working at the intersection of international payments and grant management. He has extensive experience supporting international NGOs, institutional donors, and foundations, ensuring funds are transferred responsibly in complex and high-risk operating environments. His work spans payment oversight, compliance checks, due diligence, risk assessments, and close collaboration with both finance and grants teams to align donor requirements with operational realities. Jalal is known for his practical, solutions-focused approach and his ability to translate compliance frameworks into clear, workable processes for colleagues and partners.
Interests Outside of Work: Jalal enjoys staying active, following global affairs and humanitarian policy, travelling when possible, and spending quality time with family and friends.
Khiera Odle (she/her)
Finance Assistant
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Name: Khiera Odle
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Finance Assistant
Top Skills: Financial administration, payment processing, reconciliation, creative design, and 3D visualisation
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Support the finance team to ensure smooth and timely payments for SCN and the groups we host.
Work History: Khiera works closely with the finance team to manage internal and client payments. Before joining SCN, she worked in the retail industry, reconciling funds in the cash office for a major supermarket. Alongside her finance work, she also freelances in the creative sector, taking on 3D visualisation, interior design, and illustration projects. She has a degree in Architecture and still enjoys designing in her spare time.
Interests Outside of Work: Khiera loves anime and cosplay, and you’ll often find her at comic cons — whether dressed in cosplay or selling her artwork in the artist alley.
Niall Cullum (he/him)
Finance Assistant
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Name: Niall Cullum
Pronouns: He/Him
Role: Finance Assistant
Top Skills: Financial administration, organisation, problem-solving, and process support
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Help keep SCN’s financial processes running smoothly and support the team behind the scenes.
Work History: Niall supports the finance team with daily processes and administration, ensuring operations run efficiently. His interest in finance and community work began through his experience as a trustee, which inspired him to move into the charity sector. Before joining SCN, he worked in online retail and distribution, where he developed strong organisational skills and a knack for solving practical challenges.
Interests Outside of Work: Niall is passionate about community engagement and enjoys exploring new interests that help him grow both personally and professionally.
Dara Akinpelu (she/her)
Operations Assistant
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Name: Dara Akinpelu
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Operations Assistant
Top Skills: Operations support, onboarding, coordination, media production, and organisation
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Keep things running smoothly across the organisation, supporting the team, our groups, and new joiners through seamless operations.
Work History: Dara works closely with Beth and Richard to ensure SCN’s operational processes run effectively. Before joining SCN, she worked in the media industry, starting her career at Channel 4 as a Video On Demand Junior Operator, before moving into a production and operations role at a marketing agency. Her background gives her a strong blend of technical, creative, and organisational skills.
Interests Outside of Work: Dara enjoys reading, photography, and video editing. She often collaborates on independent film productions with other creatives and has a growing interest in comedy.
Development & Comms
Aroa Fernandez Alvarez (she/her)
Head of Development
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Name: Aroa Fernandez Alvarez
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Head of Business Development
Top Skills: Business development, partnerships, social innovation, strategy, and impact scaling
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Build long-lasting relationships, solve complex problems, and shape impact-focused programmes and services that challenge the status quo.
Work History: Aroa oversees business development and communications at The Social Change Nest, ensuring the organisation grows strategically and in alignment with its mission and impact goals. She has over a decade of experience in the social innovation sector, including six years at Ashoka leading partnerships for the Spanish, UK, and Global teams. She later co-founded Trace, a coalition working at the intersection of regenerative agriculture and the fashion industry. Recognised as one of the Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise and featured in the Nova 111 List as a leader shaping the future of Spain, Aroa also brings several years of experience as an independent consultant supporting mission-driven organisations to scale their impact.
Interests Outside of Work: Aroa loves being in nature and is passionate about adventure sports. She’s a keen rock climber and a terrible — but very enthusiastic — surfer.
Rufaro Mudavanhu(She/Her)
Development Lead
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Name: Rufaro Mudavanhu
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Business Development Lead
Top Skills: Business development, client relationship management, onboarding, project management, sales strategy, and data/process management
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Build strong relationships with clients, manage seamless onboarding, and ensure smooth, accurate business development processes across all service lines.
Work History: Rufaro is a results-driven business development professional with over a decade of experience across multiple sectors. At The Social Change Nest, she leads the full business development workflow — from client management and onboarding to maintaining strong relationships and ensuring consistent, accurate process and data management. Her work strengthens SCN’s outreach and engagement for social impact.
Her career began in the Middle East, where she earned an MSc in International Marketing Management with Digital Marketing. Over 12 years, she gained extensive experience in business development and event coordination, specialising in client relationship management, revenue-driving sales strategies, and contract negotiations. She coordinated major B2B food and beverage events, boosted brand visibility, and built strategic partnerships — all while honing strong skills in client administration and project management within a fast-paced market.
Interests Outside of Work: Rufaro loves getting absorbed in a good book and spends her free time burning as many calories as she can at the gym.
Andy King (he/him)
Marketing Manager
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Name: Andy King
Pronouns: He/Him
Role: Marketing Manager
Top skills: Inbound marketing, SEO, user experience optimisation, CRM & automation, AI tools.
Favourite thing to do at work: Helping progressive funders and grassroots groups get that ‘aha!’ moment when they search for a solution and find us.
Work history: Andy is SCN’s in-house digital marketing specialist and AI enthusiast. Before joining the team, he spent seven years working with changemakers globally to amplify their impact. During this time, he helped transform a small charity into a national social business accelerator, promoted a global festival for progressive economics, and rebranded a business centre into a thriving community hub.
Interests outside of work: When he’s not marketing, Andy is usually running, cycling, or chasing after his two-year-old.
Stacey Ruggles (she/her)
Communications Manager
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Name: Stacey Ruggles
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Communications Manager
Top Skills: Communications, marketing, brand and social media (with a side of corporate comms, policy and contractual changes)
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Chat with groups and grantees about their amazing change making activities and create new content and resources to help everyone on their journey.
Background: Stacey has worked in communications for over 7 years, and within payments/finance for 10. After developing her communications career in FinTech, her desire and passion to drive positive social change led her to switch industries. With a degree in Journalism and qualifications in sustainability communications, leadership, social media marketing and environmental management, Stacey is happy to help with anything in the realm of storytelling.
Interests Outside of Work: Passionate about sustainability and wildlife conservation. Gigs, festivals, theatre shows, reading, trips in her campervan and travelling further afield also keep Stacey busy.
Mathea Martin(she/her)
Communications Officer
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Name: Mathea Martin
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Communications Officer
Top Skills: Content creation, visual communication, social media, project management, and storytelling
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Create engaging content and keep SCN’s groups and funders updated across blogs, podcasts, and social media.
Work History: Originally from the island of Malta, Mathea holds a First-Class BA in Theatre Studies and Communication Studies, followed by a Distinction in an MA in Visual Communications after moving to the UK. Before joining SCN, she spent two years as a Project Manager and another two as a PR and Communications Officer for a youth NGO. She has also spent six years as a Scout Leader, promoting the personal development of children aged between 10 and 16. Passionate about using art and communication for social change, she has self-published a children’s illustrated story and activity book on environmental preservation and directed two independent documentaries exploring social justice issues.
Interests Outside of Work: Mathea enjoys diplomacy simulations, youth policy discussions, debating, cooking, binge-watching series and crime documentaries, and travelling. As a theatre kid, she’s attracted to live shows like a magnet, both as an actress and a spectator. A devoted book lover, she’s also often found reading — or writing — her own stories.
SCN Board Members
Fancy Sinantha (she/her)
Non-Executive Director
Open bio
Fancy is the Founder/Director of a social impact consultancy, The Dot & The Line, where she maintains a portfolio of work focused on positive social impact, mainly for trusts, foundations, and pooled / flow-through funds. Her clients include a range of philanthropic foundations, grant-making intermediaries, and social sector organisations, including: Funders for Racial Equality Alliance (FREA), The Tudor Trust, This Day (previously Gary Lubner’s Jubilee Foundation), Faith & VAWG Coalition for Oak Foundation and Swiss Family Philanthropy Foundation, City Bridge Foundation Funder Plus with Cornish & Grey, Migration Exchange Funder Collaborative at Global Dialogue, Mayor of London Civil Society Roots Fund, Pilotlight, and Ubele Initiative.
She has also taken on a number of governance roles, including inaugural Non-Executive Director / Chair for BUD Leaders, and Governor, Deputy Chair of Grants, and EDI Lead at the education foundation, The Portal Trust. She is currently supporting Impact100 London, a collaborative philanthropy initiative for women and girls’ charities.
Alongside this, Fancy continues her social/impact investment work backing ventures like Propelle – an EdTech and investment platform helping women build wealth.
For 15+ years, Fancy has worked to enhance the resources and impact of organisations such as The Social Innovation Partnership, The Young Foundation, CityYear UK, and the Institute for Public Policy Research. Along the way, she’s worked with ambitious funders including the Wellcome Trust, Impact on Urban Health, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, and the philanthropy arms of companies such as Lego, JP Morgan, Bank of America, Macquarie, Société Générale, Landsec, Hammerson, and Canary Wharf Group.
Fancy is deeply focused on social justice and effectively moving resources (people and money) to facilitate positive change for people and the planet, for generations. Fancy has also written, contributed to or presented on a bit on these and other issues, including:
- A new era for collaboration: London Funders – talk and panel on collective philanthropy, forthcoming 9 February 2026 at Bloomberg.
- Impact Investing in a Nutshell: Alliance for Feminist Movements, Impact Hub – Online talk, June 2025
- Fueling our Feminist Future: Women’s Learning Partnership, Casablanca, Morocco, July 2025
- Governance reform and strategic review for leading anti-racist and social justice foundation, Staying Brave: Towards a total asset approach (Tudor Trust)
- A Perspective: Rapid review of emergency funding to the UK refugee and migration sector during COVID-19 (Migration Exchange at Global Dialogue, 2020) Influenced numerous UK-wide foundation strategy and operations.
Lilian Latinwo-Olajide (she/her)
Non-Executive Director
Open bio
Name: Lilian Latinwo-Olajide
Pronouns: She/Her
Role: Programme Director / Strategic Innovation Lead
Top Skills: Strategic leadership, systems change, relational practice, programme design, partnership development, and anti-racist innovation
Favourite Thing To Do At Work: Designing bold, people-centred approaches that shift systems, building meaningful partnerships, and ensuring everything we do is grounded in community voice, impact, and long-term change.
Work History: Lilian has extensive experience across the charity, public, and community sectors, leading complex programmes focused on mental health, racial equity, and systems transformation. She has overseen multi-million-pound portfolios and played a key role in shaping and delivering place-based initiatives across South London and nationally.
Her work spans programme design, research, and delivery, with a strong focus on embedding anti-racist practice within systems and developing innovative, relational approaches that centre lived experience. Lilian has worked closely with NHS partners, local authorities, and community organisations to drive sustainable, community-led change.
She has held senior leadership roles within Black Thrive, including Director-level responsibilities, and continues to lead on strategic innovation, partnership development, and programme delivery across multiple high-impact initiatives.
Interests Outside of Work: Creative expression, travel, self-reflection, and my dog
BRENT GIVING
Elijah Williams (He/Him)
Director of Brent Giving
Open bio
Elijah Williams is the founding Director of Brent Giving, driving investment and community-led change.
With a background in youth empowerment, grantmaking, and justice reform, he has worked across prisons, grassroots organisations, and funding bodies to put decision-making power in the hands of communities.
Now, he’s building Brent Giving into a platform for collaboration and impact while still reminiscing about his college days when Wembley Market sold “real” Stone Island jackets for £40 – Sigh.
Hinda Mohamed(she/her)
Programme Manager for Brent Giving
Open bio
Hinda’s activism began in her early teens in Brent, rooted in a fierce belief that communities hold the wisdom to shape their own futures.
Over the years, she has led, co-created, and nurtured countless projects supporting people from refugee and migrant communities, especially those navigating racial, economic, and structural injustice.
Her work spans community development, creative arts, policy advocacy, and participatory research, always grounded in non-hierarchical, people-powered approaches. From suicide prevention and crisis services to maternal health programmes in fragile states, Hinda centres culturally responsive care and lived experience in everything she does.
Guided by the principles of Participatory Action Research, she co-edited “People’s
Knowledge and Participatory Action Research: Escaping the White-Walled Labyrinth“ and
founded INTISAAR, a grassroots organisation that raises awareness of mental health.
Hinda believes in the power of collective action, deep listening, and storytelling to heal, transform, and plant seeds for a more just world.