St John Ambulance CEO to step down, & other sector mover news
Melanie May | 6 November 2023 | News
CEO news from St John Ambulance, The Talent Foundry and ellenor, plus a trustee announcement for Trustees’ Week, and appointments in the charity teams at two law firms.
Chief Executive of St John Ambulance to step down
Martin Houghton-Brown, CEO of St John Ambulance, has announced that he will step down at the end of March next year, after six years in the role. Houghton-Brown joined the charity in 2018 after spending five years as CEO at Depaul UK. He previously led Missing People, and held senior roles at the Children’s Society.
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In his time at St John Ambulance, Houghton-Brown steered St John through the coronavirus pandemic and has also been instrumental in helping the charity develop its volunteering and youth offering.
New CEO announced for The Talent Foundry as founder & CEO steps down
After 15 years of leadership, The Talent Foundry founder and CEO Amy Leonard MBE will step down from her role in January 2024. Jenni Anderson, who has been serving as Acting CEO since January 2023 has been appointed as CEO from January 2024. She is a former Director at The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and has held senior leadership positions at Haven House Children’s Hospice, and The Scout Association. She was appointed Deputy CEO at The Talent Foundry in April 2022.
Founded as The Transformation Trust in 2009, and rebranded to The Talent Foundry in 2019, the charity works in partnership with schools and industry to inspire young people to think big about their futures, develop their skills and connect them to exciting employers and higher education opportunities. Under Leonard’s leadership, The Talent Foundry has worked with over 600,000 young people in underserved communities to date.
Sepsis Research FEAT welcomes new trustee
Sepsis Research FEAT has appointed medical engineering specialist Dr Melanie Jimenez to its board of trustees. Dr Jimenez adds another layer of knowledge and experience to the group of medical experts currently on the Sepsis Research board.
A Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at the University of Strathclyde, Dr Jimenez specialises in medical diagnostics, looking at ways to detect conditions more quickly and affordably using engineering innovations. She was heavily involved in Sepsis Research FEAT’s recent Seps-is Schools campaign, which aims to increase awareness of sepsis in secondary schools.
ellenor appoints Michelle Kabia as CEO
Healthcare professional Michelle Kabia joined ellenor as CEO in July this year, and has spent more than four decades meeting the needs of the UK’s most marginalised, stigmatised communities. Kabia’s career in healthcare began in the 1980s as a cancer nurse, then for five years, she was a Specialist HIV Ward Manager with the NHS during a time when little was understood about HIV. Her next role was at Turning Point, where she pioneered a hospice for drug users with HIV, and later, she managed Turning Point’s mental health and learning disability services.
Following almost 11 years at Turning Point, Kabia spent three years at Strutton – a housing association that provides housing support for people with HIV. In 2005, Kabia moved to Mind, where she worked in East London supporting diverse communities across Tower Hamlets, Newham, and Redbridge.
Higgs LLP strengthens charity & not for profit team
West Midlands law firm Higgs LLP has strengthened its charity and not for profit team by appointing an experienced lawyer. Tora Pickup has joined the team as Principal Associate.
Originally practicing law in London, she has re-located to Birmingham from Oxford, where she worked most recently on governance and strategy matters as secretary to the Governing Body at St Hilda’s College, one of the colleges of the University of Oxford.
Rathbones hires new Head of Investment for Charities
Rathbones Investment Management has appointed James Ayre as Head of Investment, Charities. He joins Rathbones with over 23 years investment experience and a track record of managing global equity and multi-asset portfolios for institutional and charity clients. Ayre has worked for the past 16 years at CCLA Investment Management, most recently as Co-Head of Investments, where he was involved in delivering peer-leading risk-adjusted returns for the firm’s clients. Prior to this, he held investment analyst roles at Santander Asset Management and Inscape Investments.
He will be based in the London office, reporting to Andrew Pitt, Head of Charities at Rathbones. In his new role, Ayre will be responsible for the strategic direction of the firm’s investment philosophy and process for charity clients.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.