Advisory Board and Patrons

Ken has spent 40 years leading in the fields of business and social impact. Ken founded two tech banks, and was the first British born Black FTSE100 Director at Reuters. He is acting President of homelessness charity Thames Reach, and Chair of The Shaw Trust, a charity helping create accessible employment. Social inclusion is at the heart of his varied career. He was appointed HM Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London in 2015, and awarded an OBE in 2018.

Sir Tom (Deputy Lieutenant) spent 25 years in investment banking before joining the charity sector. He was CEO of Marie Curie Cancer Care from 2000 to 2012, and in 2013 was knighted by the Queen for his services. He’s called for more bankers to get involved in charitable giving throughout his career, earning him a Beacon Fellowship for Philanthropy advocacy. Tom is now Chair of the Marshall Institute at LSE, and a trustee of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Mike has lead household name businesses for over 30 years. He’s also spent ten years as Vice-Chair and Chair of Fundraising for Prostate Cancer UK. Mike was previously CEO of Spirit PLC, Costa Coffee, Premier Inn, and David Lloyd Leisure Clubs. He’s currently Chair of The Big Table Group – one of the UK’s leading restaurant companies. He specialises in mentoring CEOs across the private and not-for-profit sectors. He is particularly skilled at helping organisations with growth, culture and strategy.

Jerome started his career as a solicitor and then Partner at two City law firms. He went on to spend 20 years at one of Europe’s leading tech venture capital companies. Though he’s since stepped back from Operating Partner at Balderton Capital, he remains a senior advisor. In addition to his roles, there and with The Fore, he is a Trustee of tech focused charity Mental Health Innovations, and is a Governor of The Southbank Centre.

Mary is a financial lawyer, capital markets and investment expert. For the past fourteen years she’s been Founder and CEO of Oriol Associates – a company advising on responsible investments in sub–Saharan Africa. She trained as a legal professional in both London and New York, before spending twenty years at Dentons – the world’s largest global law firm. She was Head of the Africa Financial Markets Group, before becoming Partner. She is internationally renowned as a leader in her field.

Dido is a Member of the House of Lords and has over ten years’ experience leading large companies. She’s chaired or lead organisations including Sainsburys, Tesco, TalkTalk and the Bank of England. Starting out as a Business Analyst at McKinsey, she became Marketing Director of Thomas Cook, Manpower, Kingfisher and Woolworths. She was chairwoman of NHS Improvement, and Head of NHS Test and Trace. Dido is a Trustee at Doteveryone – a charity ensuring tech serves a fair, inclusive and democratic society.

Rupert is an economist and portfolio manager at BlackRock – the world’s largest asset management company. He’s previously served as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the UK Treasury. From 2006-2010 he was Chief Economic Advisor to the then Leader of the Opposition David Cameron. Following this, he was Chief of Staff to UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. Rupert has also been a Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and has a PhD in Economics.

Charles is the Chair of The Bulldog Trust, who were our parent charity for the duration of our pilot, and up until 2023. He is Managing Director and Head of European Healthcare at Stifel – a wealth management and investment banking firm. He was previously a Managing Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Commerzbank. He is also Chair of Chariot Innovations Ltd – the commercialisation arm of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Ginny is founder and former Chief Executive of Read Easy UK. Ginny formed the charity in response to the 2.4 million adults in the UK who are currently unable to read. She started work as prison literacy tutor, quickly realising the extent of the problem. Read Easy was awarded funding from the Bulldog Trust in 2012 and has today scaled up to over 70 branches. Her innovative approach and ambition were an inspiration for The Fore pilot.

Shani is a leading diversity and inclusion campaigner who has spent her career looking at re-addressing the balance of diversity leadership and board appointments. She is also Founder and Managing Partner of Cadence Partners. The recruitment firm is focused on building workplaces that are diverse, inclusive, and genuinely committed to driving positive social change. She has over 20 years’ experience in executive recruitment and talent management in the UK and the US, and sits on the Race Advisory Group for ACEVO.