Shabir Randeree CBE
Prince’s Trust Council Member
Shabir Randeree is Chairman of the DCD Group, an investment company with 30 years of experience in Real Estate, Venture Capital, Banking and Finance. He is also the Deputy Chairman of Al Baraka Bank South Africa and served as Chairman and founding director at EIIB, European Islamic Investment Bank plc (2006-12) and as founding director at IBB, Islamic Bank of Britain plc (2003-07). Shabir is an Advisor to the UK Government’s Asia Task Force and the IFTF, Islamic Finance Task Force (2013). He served on the Ethnic Minorities Business Task Force (2007-09) and co-founded Edutrust, a multi Academy sponsor. Recently he was elected Chair of Governors at the Westminster Academy and Deputy Chairman of the HRH charity MOSAIC. He is also a champion for 3FF, Three Faiths Forum. Shabir was awarded a CBE in HM The Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2013 in recognition of his services to both business and education, as well as for his philanthropic support of charitable causes.
Rt Hon Lord Simon Woolley Kt
Founder, Operation Black Vote
Simon Woolley is one of the founders of, and Director of Operation Black Vote (OBV). OBV is the first comprehensive campaign that addresses the Black political democratic deficit. Simon sits on the board for the National Coalition for Black Volunteering; is an Executive Member of String of Pearls; is a member of the London Commission for Sustainable Development; sits on the GLA Equality Commission, and is an ECHR Commissioner. Simon was one of the founders of the London Civic Forum and is a contributor to Equanomics UK, which has seen him participate in a UK tour with Reverend Jesse Jackson. He has a number of awards and accolades to his name, including being voted onto the Grassroots Powerlist 2002, which was published by the Big Issue; being awarded the Men of Merit Award in 2003; and being listed in the Telegraph’s Top 100 Left List in September 2007 and 2008. Simon has a broad range of expertise including political empowerment; Black civil rights; policy research and development; campaign strategy; fundraising; public speaking; and the implementation of citizenship programmes within the community. Many government departments such as the Home Office, the Electoral Commission, Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Justice call on Simon Woolley to advise on areas of race and politics.
Lord Woolley received a Knighthood in the 2019 Birthday Honours for his services to race equality. He was created Baron Woolley of Woodford by Prime Minister Theresa May on 14th October 2019.
Sereena Abbassi
Equity & Inclusion Consultant
Taking activism into the corporate space, Sereena Abbassi is committed to creating organisational transformation that is grounded in a deep-seated belief that all our liberations are tied to each other; her approach is both creative and strategic. Sereena is an Independent Equity, Inclusion & Diversity Consultant, Researcher, Facilitator, Coach Public Speaker and Writer, and was formerly the Worldwide Head of Culture & Inclusion at M&C Saatchi Group.
Some of the organisations Sereena has worked with are Sony Music, Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Facebook, Soho House Group, English National Ballet, LEGO, Hanover Comms and The Mill. She has spoken on CNBC and BBC Radio and has spoken at The Guardian, European Parliament, D&AD, Google, UCL, LSE, Clear Channel, Viacom and Monzo, to name but a few. She has written for Campaign Live, Communication Arts, The Drum and has been featured in The Observer and Stylist Magazine. Sereena has contributed to titles such as Biracial Britain by Remo Adekoya, F*ck Being Humble by Stefanie Sword-Williams and The Reset by Elizabeth Uviebinene. She currently sits on the Advisory Board for Hidden, Hudson Bec Group and OK Mentor and had previously been an Advisory Board Member for The Other Box and a Board of Trustee for the charity Sour Lemons.
Sereena is British, Persian-Iranian, Jamaican – and has lived and worked in the U.S., the Netherlands, Iran and Spain. Sereena has a B.A. in Visual Art, Performance and Music from The University of Brighton and an M.A. in Postcolonial Culture & Global Policy from Goldsmiths University, London. She lives in Bristol with her partner Pete.
Advisory Council
Yasmin Waljee OBE
International Pro Bono Director, Hogan Lovells
Yasmin Waljee is a solicitor and full-time Pro Bono Manager at international law firm Hogan Lovells LLP. Yasmin’s appointment in 1997 was the first of its kind by a City law firm. Since then she has worked with partners in the firm to develop an international pro bono programme providing free 15,000 hours of legal advice to over 200 charities and individuals a year unable to afford legal advice. She is an immigration lawyer but now regularly works on human rights cases including compensation for the July 7 victims, Article 2 issues and compensation for British victims of crime and terrorism abroad. In May 2005 Yasmin was shortlisted for the Asian Women of Achievement Awards and in April 2000 Yasmin was awarded The Times Woman Solicitor of the Year. Yasmin was awarded an OBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2010 for her services to the Muslim community.
Zishan Nurmohammed
Associate Patner, Ernst & Young
Zishan is an Associate Partner at EY. He chairs the EY Muslim Network and is the Diversity & Inclusiveness Leader for the UK & Ireland audit practice. Zishan is an auditor by profession and primarily works with fast-growth entrepreneurial businesses; he is a strong believer in the power of mentoring and a product of EY’s focus on social mobility. Zishan has spent most of his working career based out of EY London and three years based out of EY Dubai. Zishan is a keen supporter of mentoring, working with the London leadership team of Mosaic, a Princes Trust charity where he has spent time mentoring and helping shape the direction of the London region.
Rachel Hopcroft
Head of Corporate Affairs, KPMG
Rachel leads the teams that promote and protect KPMGs reputation, brand and voice. That includes corporate responsibility, public affairs and public policy. She has been active in the firm’s response to Brexit, leading our public engagement and is also responsible for social mobility. Rachel sits on the firm’s Inclusive Leadership Board and the Apprenticeships Steering Committee. Prior to joining KPMG, Rachel was Principal Private Secretary to the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, at the Cabinet Office (a Director-level post) for 4 years (2012-2016). In addition she has over a decade of experience in the Civil Service in critical policy and delivery roles – largely in the justice and home affairs space.
Rachel is on the Board of Enactus UK, an international non-profit organisation dedicated to inspiring students to improve the world through entrepreneurial action. She is also on the Living Wage Advisory Council, an issue on which KPMG has a long and proud association. She is a trustee on the KPMG Foundation Board, an independent charitable foundation that focuses on education and social projects for the disadvantaged and under-privileged.
David Glass
Partner, M&C Saatchi
David Glass is a partner at international creative agency M&C Saatchi. For almost twenty years he has helped to run its export division, with global clients such as Siemens, Airbus and Etihad Airways. David has particular expertise researching and managing behaviour change and internal communication campaigns, across complex organisations working with senior management and stakeholders.
Matthew Hanney OBE
Partner, Flint Global
Matthew Hanney is a Partner at Flint Global, a business advisory firm. He advises companies in the tech, digital and sharing economy sectors, and on providing Brexit analysis. Prior to joining Flint Global he was a Special Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister in the Coalition Government between 2010 to 2015, covering policy areas including the Home Office, European relations and Constitutional Affairs. Prior to that he worked in the UK Parliament. He has also written for The Economist on European political issues.
Matt Hyde OBE
Chief Executive, The Scouts Association
Matt Hyde joined The Scout Association as Chief Executive in April 2013. He is also Vice-Chair of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and a trustee of youth social action charity Step Up to Serve. The Scouts are the largest youth organisation in the UK, with nearly 620,000 members, including 154,000 adult volunteers. The organisation has recently celebrated its twelfth consecutive year of membership growth. Before joining The Scouts, Matt was Chief Executive of the National Union of Students (NUS) for seven years, leading the organisation through a significant change programme. Matt is a Patron of UNLOCK (the charity for people with convictions) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from Queen Mary University of London in 2012.
Leah Kreitzman
Mayoral Director for External and International Affairs, GLA
Leah Kreitzman is Mayoral Director for External and International Affairs, having previously been a Senior Adviser to Sadiq Khan’s campaign to be Mayor of London. Before this, Leah was Director of Public Affairs for UNICEF UK. She has led advocacy campaigns for international NGOs such as Save the Children and ONE, as well as working for the UK’s leading international development think tank, the Overseas Development Institute. Leah has also been a strategic communications advisor to the Shadow Cabinet on criminal justice, human rights, and constitutional reform. She has an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a BSc in Philosophy and Politics from the University of Bristol.
Dennis Marcus
Founder, Ubuntu London
As a founder of Ubuntu London, Dennis helps individuals and organisations across a range of sectors identify and define their mission and best possible strategy for the future. He approaches this from the perspective of storytelling, because stories that are compelling and resonate with their audience make for effective strategies. As Samuel Johnson said – ‘words are but the signs of ideas’. Always having a lot of both to offer, he helps you find your most powerful stories, be they in the form of strategy (as he has done for global businesses, charities and major international political campaigns), speeches (for former Heads of Government and leading business executives), copywriting (for businesses and thought leaders) or scripts (for production companies and a former Prime Minister). He also organised ‘life is wonderful!’ – a week-long celebration of the three surviving men who were on trial alongside Nelson Mandela – Denis Goldberg, Ahmed Kathrada and Andrew Mlangeni – during which they were hosted by the Prime Minister, celebrated at a large-scale gala by over 700 people and awarded the Freedom of the City of London.
Jessica Taplin
Chief Executive Officer, British Gas Energy Trust
Jessica has over 25 years of senior leadership experience across the corporate, grant-funding and charity sectors. She is currently the British Gas Energy Trust’s first full-time CEO, overseeing the charitable Trust’s £6m grant giving activity, whose mission it is to help people in – or at risk of – financial hardship meet their energy needs and manage their energy costs.
Jessica brings her insight from significant sector leadership positions, together with an innovative approach to developing services and a track record of developing and supporting effective partnership collaborations. Previous positions include Chief Executive Designate for the Treloar Trust, Chief Executive at the social youth action charity v-inspired, CEO of the youth mental health and support charity Get Connected, and heading up Partnerships and Public Engagement at the Big Lottery Fund. In 2014, she won an ACEVO Judge’s Recognition Award for her people-centred leadership. Jessica was one of the founding Trustees of the new CIO for Neighbourhood Watch UK and is currently a Trustee of the CareTech Foundation, an independent Trust that supports and champions the Social Care sector.
Jonathan Manns
Head of Planning & Development, Rockwell Property
Widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent British Planner of his generation, Jonathan Manns leads on regeneration and place-making projects as Board Director and Head of Planning and Development at Rockwell Property. A tireless promoter of planning, he is a writer, speaker, lecturer, campaigner and founder of the APPG for London’s Planning and Built Environment.
As a thought-leader, his opinion pieces have featured in the Guardian, Evening Standard and in international titles, while he has also authored and edited for academic journals including the Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal. In 2014, he edited Kaleidoscope City, an acclaimed collection of essays tackling big built environment questions through a London lens. He has advised on, and contributed to, research by the European Union, UK Government, RICS, London School of Economics and UCL.
Ruth Shaw
General Manager, Premier League Charitable Fund
Ruth is the General Manager of the Premier League Charitable Fund, one of the biggest sports charities in the world, with an annual budget in excess of £35m. Its goal is to help people achieve their potential and impact positively on their communities through the power of football, and it funds the charitable arms of professional football clubs to work in their local areas to achieve this. Previously she carried out a number of senior roles for Government including Head of Campaigns and Engagement at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Deputy Director for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Chief Executive of the Sports Grounds Safety Authority. She has served as a board of Women in Football, and an independent member of the Premier League’s Equality Standard Panel. She is founder of TEDxWhitehallWomen and in 2018 she was announced as one of 50 Leading Lights in the Lloyds Bank Kindness & Leadership Award. She is interested in culture, creativity, equality and leadership.
Jonathan Freeman
Managing Director, Earlsbrook Consulting Limited and Chief Executive Officer, CareTech Foundation
Jonathan is Managing Director of Earlsbrook Consulting Limited, providing strategic advisory service to charities, businesses and philanthropists. Jonathan acts as CEO (interim) to the COSARAF Charitable Foundation and other clients include NCS Trust, Careers and Enterprise Company, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and Triangle Investments. Jonathan also acted as Chief Strategy Officer at the Patchwork Foundation. Jonathan is also CEO of the CareTech Charitable Foundation, the leading corporate foundation in the social care sector which supports and champions the social care sector, care workers and those living in care. Jonathan was previously Managing Director of Mosaic, HRH The Prince of Wales’s mentoring charitable initiative, and before that a member of the Senior Civil Service. Jonathan is a Trustee of the Legal Education Foundation and Field Lane Foundation.