Our Mentors

Chartered accountant. Previously senior partner and now consultant with Critchleys LLP Accountants. Non-executive director of two local companies and a number of different voluntary roles.

A management consultant professional with a strong track record of building relationships and delivering results. Offers expertise in the following areas:

An IT and consulting entrepreneur, who co-founded Freeman Clarke, providing IT directors to industry; co-founded On3, assisting large corporates with their talent management strategy; and was part of founding team of “Pennies” a social enterprise where shoppers can round-up the purchase price to give to charities. Was previously Chief Information Officer, BBC Worldwide, from 2002 until 2010; non-executive director of BBC Audiobooks from 2007 – 2010; and Chief Operating Officer of ABS (better known as “tradesimple”) from 1995 to 2002.

Currently a part time management consultant and leadership coach, having spent over 30 years in the market research industry, primarily with Nielsen where he held a number of leadership roles including UK Managing Director, European Client Service and Marketing Director and Senior Vice President of Global Clients. Recent consulting assignments with Millward Brown and Valid International include advising business leaders on commercial strategy, organizational development and personal coaching of senior executives. A trustee of Emmaus Oxford and OXSRAD.

Alison has 30 years’ experience as a senior leader in the NHS. Her last role before retirement was Deputy Chief Knowledge Officer for Public Health England where she provided professional leadership and strategic oversight for a wide range of products and programmes, such as the local authority health profiles and the obesity intelligence network. Prior to this, she was managing director of NHS Solutions for Public Health, which she built into a £6mn NHS business unit with 80 staff, providing evidence-based resources for the NHS and local authorities. Alison has a Diploma in Coaching and Mentoring from Oxford Brookes University. She was a board member of Cycling England, and is currently trustee of Charity Mentors Oxfordshire, chair of The Bikeability Trust, a national charity dedicated to delivering cycle training for children, and chair of Cyclox, Oxford’s local cycle campaign group.

Career teacher in the state school system, spending final 19 years as Head of two secondary schools, including Cherwell in Oxford.  Last 3 years working as an education consultant, particularly on matters concerning school improvement, leadership, governance and head teacher appointments (for Association of School and College Leaders). Former Brookes Governor, current Board of Oxford Playhouse.

George is an independent consultant working with organisations on strategy development and implementation, leadership and governance.  Past and present clients include large and small organisations in the voluntary, public and private sectors including the Canal and River Trust, Citizens Advice, Microsoft, Nokia, RSPCA and the Wellcome Trust. Formerly George was chief executive of the Motor Neurone Disease Association and before that Head of Marketing and Communications at the British Red Cross.  He is chair of Rewilding Britain and has held a number of other trusteeships including Self-Help Africa, the Haemophilia Society and the Association of Medical Research Charities.

Philippa was previously CEO of the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust and a director of WREN, chairing the Oxfordshire WREN County Panel. Having set up Fundraising Central Ltd in 2013, a mutual company wholly owned by seven wildlife trusts, she chaired the company until October 2019. Philippa is currently a trustee of Plantlife International, Garden Organic and Peace Partners. She also sits on the board of Grantscape, a grant giving charity that primarily administers Landfill Community Funds and Community Benefit Funds from solar and wind farms.

Currently the Secretary General of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award; Chair of Trustees of Oxfordshire Scouts; National trustee of Marine Society & Sea Cadets; Advisory Board member, University of Surrey Business School; Visiting lecturer, Oxford Brookes University. Previously Chief Executive of Young Enterprise and Career Academies UK; Director of Community Campaigning at Business in the Community; former headteacher and youth worker. Previous non-executive roles include Vice Chair of the World Organization of the Scout Movement; National Board member of UNICEF UK; Founding board member of Teach First.

Annette was originally a health visitor. Her work in mainly deprived areas led her to recognise the huge challenges all parents face in raising children especially if their own childhood had been deprived. In the Nurturing Programme she found a wonderful way for all parents to turn their history around and discover new skills, hope and happiness. Chief Executive of Family Links from 1997 – 2015. She introduced the ‘Nurturing Programme’ (promoting emotional literacy & mental health) to the UK in 1992 and led the Family Links team in adapting the programme for parent groups in the UK and for schools, for prison, for Muslim parents and for parents of teenagers. Annette developed a national training programme for practitioners working with parents and children in education, health and the community. She has written an ante-natal Nurturing Programme which is now being rolled out nationally. Received an MBE for her work in 2002.

Pat has extensive public sector experience of secondary education, including headship of. two comprehensive schools, one in Oxfordshire. Subsequently she was an independent consultant in school improvement, providing challenge and support to headteachers and governors, coaching and mentoring school leaders and advising on appointments. She is a trustee of a local Academy Trust and was a trustee of a charity providing grants to people in hardship in Oxford. Particular expertise in: leadership, coaching and mentoring, team building, strategic planning.

A Chartered Accountant who has spent most of his career in senior management positions in the not-for-profit sector, including in film and theatre, a national museum, professional societies and international education. He has also held several charity board roles, including Chair of the Oxford Literary Festival, St Peter’s College Audit Risk and Remuneration Committee and Treasurer of the Temple Music Foundation. He currently works providing financial guidance to theatre companies, and is a trustee of Phosphoros Theatre and a project manager with the Step Change Fund.

Following a career in Investment Banking as a Managing Director at JP Morgan, Elizabeth has experience as chair and board member on public and not-for-profit boards at national, regional and local levels. Current roles include chair, The Oxford Playhouse, chair, The Orwell Youth Prize and trustee, SOFEA. She is a Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, and an Associate Fellow at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. A focus on women and entrepreneurship includes roles with the World Bank, Oxford, Goldman Sachs, as well as teaching women entrepreneurs from China to W. Africa.

Associate Fellow and Industry Advisor Finance and Banking, at the Said Business School, providing careers support to MBA students in the fintech, commercial banking and strategic marketing sectors.  Formerly with Barclays Banking Group, including roles as Caribbean Director and Director of Communications and Training for the Group’s Euro programme. He has helped to finance and build two orphanages and a school in Nepal. Former Chair of SMART, The Art Room and the Oxfordshire Common Purpose Advisory Group. Currently a Trustee of The Ley Community.

William retired from Ernst & Young in 2008 after 25 years as a partner in London and Reading. Since then he has held several business, teaching and charity appointments and is chair for Northern House School Academy Trust which educates and nurtures children with emotional and social difficulties. He is also a trustee of Prior’s Court Foundation which is a residential support centre for young people affected by autism and is a founding trustee of Charity Mentors. (Photo of William by Patrick Marks)

Background as a senior leader in the public and voluntary sectors. She has been Chief Executive of a national charity and two local authorities including Oxfordshire County Council (2005-2015). She has a professional background in housing and regeneration. Previously Chair of Governors Oxford Brookes and Advisory Group member Oxfordshire Common Purpose. Other past roles include Non-Exec. Director Govt. Office for the SE and Notting Hill Housing Trust and trustee of Shelter. Currently Chair of BBOWT, Chair of Experience Oxfordshire, Programme Chair with the Windsor Leadership Trust and trustee of the Wildlife Trusts. Qualified coach. 

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Initially with Oxfam, for the past 25 years, Jeremy has been an owner and senior executive of a range of consultancy businesses working in the international development aid sector. He has held primary responsibility for a range of functions including human resources, sales, quality assurance and finance. Throughout his career, Jeremy has designed and managed grant making facilities ranging from the provision of Oxfam funding to poor communities through grants to NGOs to support their work to risk sharing funding to the private sector. In recent years, as he has stepped back from management, he has devoted time to mentoring colleagues at all levels in the business. Particular expertise in strategic leadership and organizational development.

CEO of the Austrian based international plastics and petrochemical company Borealis AG, until his retirement in December 2007. Previously, CEO of British Nuclear Fuels PLC. Also worked at Exxon Chemical for 26 years in the UK, Belgium and the USA.  Today he is Chair of Oxfordshire Community Foundation, Chair of The Berin Centre, Vice Chair of The Friends of Dorchester Abbey and trustee of Charity Mentors.

Managing Director of Oxford Investment Opportunity Network (OION), Development Director SQW Group and Senior Advisor, Oxford Economics. Previously, Jens was Managing Director UK, Oxford Economics, Executive Director, Oxford Analytica and Executive Director UBS. Jens holds a MA in PPE and an MSc in Economic History, both from the University of Oxford. Jens is a trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Director of Venturefest Oxford, Visiting Business Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University, a governor of St Clare’s, Oxford and a Trustee of Charity Mentors Oxfordshire. He is a member of the Society of Business Economists (SBE).