Our people

Sir David has held a number of chairing roles, including: the Pensions Regulator from its inception in 2005 to 2010; the Low Pay Commission from 2009 to 2016; the UK Statistics Authority from 2017 to 2022; and the Family Justice Board from 2011 to 2017.

Sir David’s early career saw him work as an economist at the Treasury and as Private Secretary to Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. This was followed by a corporate career with Marks & Spencer from 1988 to 2004 in several senior executive positions, including as a member of its Board.

Sir David was knighted for services to the low paid and to family justice in 2016 and remains a Governor at the University of the Arts.

Graeme is a Director of the Vardy Foundation, a UK based charity which focusses on early intervention programmes to support families. He is a Board Member of Developing the Young Workforce, the Scottish Government initiative to help eradicate youth unemployment and Chairs the Communications Board of the Young Persons Guarantee. Previously, Graeme was Chief Communications Officer at Standard Life Aberdeen.

Kate is Assistant General Secretary at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and supports the General Secretary in leading the organisation. Prior to this, she was Head of Rights, International, Social and Economics at the TUC and led a department responsible for boosting employment rights, and promoting social and economic policies that benefit working people. Previous roles have included the Work and Pensions Adviser to the Leader of the Opposition, and Director of Policy, Advice and Communications at Gingerbread. She is a member of the Low Pay Commission and Governing Council of the Productivity Institute.

James is Chief Executive of the UK bookseller Waterstones and also of the US bookseller, Barnes & Noble. James founded Daunt Books, which remains independent, in 1990, prior to which he worked in investment banking with JP Morgan. James is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Trustee of the Booker Prize Foundation.

Naomi is Chair of the Northamptonshire Health and Care Partnership and from 2017 to 2019 was Vice Chair of the Scottish Government’s Poverty and Inequality Commission. In 1999, after a long career in non-governmental organisations, Naomi became the first Director of the Sure Start Unit – a government initiative delivering free nursery education places for all three and four year olds in the UK – and of the national childcare strategy for England. From 2006 to 2009 Naomi served as Director of the Social Exclusion Task Force in the Cabinet Office. She has also been a trustee for Save the Children and Trust for London and is currently a trustee of the Educational Endowment Fund..

David is Professor of Education at the University of Exeter. With a background in economics and business education, David has over 30 years’ research experience in the field of education policy and leadership and links between socio-economic and educational disadvantage. He has developed a range of internationally-focused masters level programmes of study for education professionals across the globe and has previously been Head of the Graduate School of Education at Exeter and Professor and Founding Head of the Institute of Education at the University of Manchester.

Wendy is the Dean of the Business School and Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the University of Edinburgh. Wendy's main research field is age and employment, with a particular focus on changes in employees’ and employers’ attitudes and practices in extending working lives. She is especially interested in the ways in which gender, age and health interact to affect work and retirement experiences amongst older men and women across Europe.

Jenny was a Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament from 2011 to 2021 and served as Convener of the Public Audit Committee for five years. She held a position as Shadow Minister in various government portfolios including Finance, Youth Employment and Health, and chaired cross-party groups on Cancer, Preventative Health, Deafness and Human Trafficking. Prior to her political career, Jenny worked in public relations.

Sarah is Chief Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations Officer at abrdn Plc, leading brand, marketing, communications, corporate sustainability, and investor relations. She is also the Chair of the abrdn Charitable Foundation. Before joining the business, Sarah was Co-Founder and CEO of Future 30 Funds, a start-up asset manager focused on sustainable investing. Prior to that, Sarah was Group Director of Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations at Pennon Group plc, where she was part of the team that sold Viridor energy-from-waste and recycling to KKR for £4.2 billion. Sarah was previously an Associate Partner at Finsbury (now FGS Global), the strategic communications advisory firm.

Euan is Head of Stewardship at Irish Life Investment Management. Prior to that, Euan was Investment Director at abrdn (formerly Standard Life Aberdeen) and Global Head of Stewardship and ESG Investment at Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) before that. A chartered accountant, Euan's career began at Ernst & Young in 1986 and he subsequently held a variety of accounting roles spanning Private Practice, Industry and Local Government. Before joining ASI, he was a UK fund manager at Schroder Investment Management where he managed several institutional pension funds and charity portfolios. Euan moved into his role as Head of Stewardship and ESG Investment at ASI in 2016 following a fifteen year career with them during which he was a fund manager and investment analyst in the UK Equity Team. Euan's role brings together the Governance & Stewardship and Responsible Investment teams.

Matt is Director of Policy at Labour Together. He was previously Director of Policy at Citizens Advice where his teams focused on research and advocacy for welfare, work, debt and money, housing, health, justice, Brexit, consumer policy, wider public services and all Welsh policy. Prior to this, Matt held roles at London Borough of Camden and The Campaign Company.

Mubin joined the Trust in May 2018. He has worked for a number of independent funders, including Trust for London and the South East London Community Foundation. He was at Trust for London for over a decade where he was the Director of Policy & Grants and developed a range of initiatives tackling poverty and inequality, including strategic work on the living wage. He also developed the Trust’s research activity and policy work. Mubin has been on the boards of a range of organisations including as Chair of London Funders and on the boards of Community Foundation Network, the London Strategic Migration Partnership and the Homelessness Transition Fund.

Charlotte runs the communications for the Trust. Contact her for media, website or event queries. Charlotte joined the Trust in February 2019, prior to which she headed up the communications for Safe Passage, a charity which opens legal routes for child refugees. She has also set up the external relations department for Human Appeal and managed media relations for Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Jenny joined the Trust in early 2020, prior to which she managed finance and operations at an Edinburgh based grant-making charity dedicated to the promotion of traditional music education for young people in Scotland. She is a Chartered Accountant, having worked with PwC and in the hospitality sector for a number of years before moving into the not for profit sector.

Karen started with the Trust in March 2022 and focuses on ensuring our grants achieve positive policy impact. She joined from Citizen’s Advice where she worked on social security policy. Karen has previously held positions with the British Red Cross, the anti-poverty think tank the New Policy Institute, and the research consultancy nfpSynergy, giving her varied experience in undertaking research and campaigning relating to living standards.

Sabrina joined the Trust in 2021 as Executive Officer and was promoted to Operations Manager in 2023. Prior to joining the Trust she was with children’s charity Barnardo’s where she had held roles in fundraising and communications. She has also led the customer facing team of an events management company as Operations Manager. Her varied background allows her to support the team, Board and grantees across the full spectrum of activities and processes.

Vivienne joined the Trust in 2022 to support the Trust’s grants programme and work closely with our partners. She has worked in the voluntary sector, social research and journalism with a particular focus on migration, young people and housing. Viv most recently managed the Act for Change Fund: a grantmaking partnership between Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and the #iwill Fund resourcing young people who experience social injustice and inequality to tackle unfair policies and systems.

Joseph works on communications and public affairs for the Trust, joining in 2023 from Culture Counts where he worked as advocacy and events manager. With a background spanning the culture sector, politics and education, Joseph has previously held roles with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Scottish Parliament and Federation of Scottish Theatre.

As Director of the Centre of Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University from 2012 to 2022, Donald led its pioneering research on the Minimum Income Standard which has become Britain's leading benchmark of what income households need for a decent life. Previously, as Poverty Adviser to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation from 1998 to 2008, he was closely involved in monitoring the Labour government’s programme to reduce child poverty. A former journalist, Donald has written a wide range of influential reports on living standards and related issues. He is now Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at Loughborough, and a consultant providing analysis of the present crisis and policy responses. Donald now provides his expertise on the living standards to the Trust as an external advisor.