ALTON BROWN (CHAIR): Alton is an art and sports professional, specialising in youth and community engagement. Alton has spent 15 years at a variety of multi-artform venues such as Southbank Centre, Royal Opera House, and Roundhouse, as well as several grassroots organisations including Art Against Knives, Tomorrow's Warriors and Akademi South Asian Dance. Alton currently works for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as Head of Youth Programmes & Policy, leading multi-level engagement activity regionally, nationally and across the Commonwealth. Alton is also a former elite athlete, having represented England and Jamaica over a 21-year period.
NATHAN WHITE (VICE CHAIR): Nathan currently works as a Skills Strategy Advisor at the Department for Education. Prior to this, he completed the Unlocked Graduates programme where he supported and safeguarded some of our society’s most vulnerable and challenging young people in HMYOI Feltham; drafted a group policy paper focused on improving remand prisoners’ treatment; and was a member of Unlocked’s inaugral Diversity and Inclusion Advisory group. With a particular interest in tackling inequalities in criminal justice and education, Nathan has also held a range of advisory roles at various charities and initiatives. This includes being a member of the Career’s and Enterprise Company’s ‘effective transitions fund’ steering group, an ambassador trustee at Unlocked Graduates and a governor of a local primary school.
JAMES POLE (TREASURER): James Pole is an ACA qualified chartered accountant who is a Finance Director at Universal Music. Since qualifying in 2013 he has worked in various financial roles across the music industry both in the UK and abroad and specialises in bridging the gap between creative and financial communities. This is James’ first trustee and treasurer role. He has gained charity sector experience working in a consultancy role for international development organisation IDinsight. IDinsight work in impact evaluation for government bodies such as DFID, CDC & UNICEF, as well as large philanthropic organisations such as The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Hewlett Foundation.
ANNA HAMILOS is a passionate, empathic individual with an ability to lead agile innovation programmes that result in positive social impact. She is currently Head of Engagement with the Centre for Youth Impact and a Senior Associate with Collaborate CIC. Relationship and partnership building has been at the heart of her career, from her work at the GLA, London 2012, CABE and Nesta. Anna was selected for the prestigious Clore Experienced Leadership course, and received 360 Feedback, where she received top marks as an Empowering Enabler (someone who prioritises organisation and team visibility over personal gain and profile), a Courageous Changemaker (someone who injects a sense of urgency when necessary) and a Focused Strategist (commended for her ability to stay abreast of, and adapt to, social, political and economic trends).
LUKE SOLON is a qualified medical doctor who works at Prescient Healthcare Group where he leads teams supporting clients in the life sciences industry to address their key strategic challenges. Before this, he worked in industry with AstraZeneca, PwC, and McKinsey & Company where he started his consulting career. Prior to this he was a surgical trainee in the NHS. He has always had a strong interest in the arts and the voluntary sector and has worked with several charities to support both strategy development and impact assessment of the interventions they deliver.
ROBINA BRENNAN: Growing up in a tower block, with a family of documentary filmmakers, Robina was always acutely aware of issues of injustice and inequality. Following her law degree completed whilst working weekends, she decided to move from her background in museum management to another charity to focus on partnerships, events, editorial and styling. As a former fashion magazine editor, Robina is passionate about creativity and the arts as a vehicle for, and documentor of, social change. Working closely with youth organisations and young people on a daily basis, she is passionate about empowering young people at the margins of our society.
BINDI McPARTLAND: Bindi McPartland has spent the last 22 years working within the advertising and marketing sector, with a primary focus on digital marketing. Her roles have varied from Head of Delivery, Programme Director to freelance consultant, working with agencies to develop commercial capabilities, operational processes and governance to ensure optimal performance. Her interest in charity work began when she first volunteered with Victim Support as a support officer, visiting people at home to empower them to overcome emotional, psychological and practical effects of crime.
JAMIE HILTON: Jamie has worked in post-disaster contexts in Peru and Haiti, delivering interventions spanning all age groups; and in community leadership roles in Colombia and South Africa. He has also worked as a surveyor for Deloitte; in youth & outreach roles at the Prince’s Trust, particularly arts & sports engagement; and as lead for Save the Children’s work in the south east. Jamie has since held consultancy and director roles at Beyond the Page, supporting trafficked women in Margate; and at Fulham Good Neighbours – a charity dating back 100 years – where he is the current CEO.
SHERÉE PROSPERE: Sherée has worked within the voluntary sector since 2011, within various frontline positions across think-tanks and charitable organisations including St Giles Trust and Leap Confronting Conflict where she currently works as a Senior Programme Officer and Trainer. During her career, Sherée has spent time working within local communities in North and South London, leading on youth-led projects within campaigning, journalism, social enterprise and frontline work with young people who have experienced violence, county lines and trauma to currently project managing delivery programmes across London. Realising throughout her profession, that creativity and the arts have always been at the forefront of her work, to showcase the passion and talent of young people and to provide a platform for conscious change.
JULIANA RUSEVA: Juliana is a qualified commercial and corporate lawyer who has worked with FTSE100 clients both in private practice and in-house. She will be pursuing an MBA at London Business School from the summer of 2022 and is a recognised female leader as a Laidlaw Scholar and Forte Fellow. She has over 10 years of experience in volunteering on the frontlines and in leadership positions for London based and international NGOs, the NHS, the London Fire Brigade, and other youth education and mentoring-focused charities. Her expertise lies in building youth mentoring programmes, supporting strategy development, restructuring corporate social responsibility and ESG programmes, and creating youth employment initiatives particularly in the art and tech sectors.
FRANKLYN ADDO: Franklyn is a multidisciplinary artist and community advocate. Growing up in Hackney when it was infamous for poverty and crime, literature and music helped him to make sense of his social context. Today, Franklyn writes about issues like police brutality in platforms like The Guardian and The Independent, in addition to publishing his own similarly themed songs, poetry and photography. His non-fiction debut A Quick Ting on Grime is forthcoming on Jacaranda Books in spring 2023, while his latest single ‘Ghetto Angels’ for example addresses gentrification and economic inequality.
Franklyn embraces creativity as a therapeutic tool and is an advocate of freedom of expression for young people. He is now one of the expert witnesses working to challenge the misuse of music as evidence in criminal proceedings, and the blanket mischaracterisation of defendants as gang members. Before this, he spent years in various frontline contexts, managing programmes supporting some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable young people, most recently helping to socially rehabilitate survivors of violence in hospitals and local communities.