Four new charity CEOs, & other sector movers
Melanie May | 4 July 2024 | News
A raft of recent movers, including new CEOs announced at Eden Project, Make 2nds Count, ASDAN, and Unlock.
Andy Jasper joins Eden Project as its new CEO
Andy Jasper will be Eden Project’s new Group Chief Executive Officer, replacing Rob Chatwin who will step down in September after nearly three years in the role. Jasper will join the Eden Project in September from the National Trust where he is currently Director of Gardens and Parklands.
In his current role, Jasper is head of profession for a team of more than 750 horticulturists (106 of whom are Head Gardeners) and around 50 apprentices. This will be his second period at the Eden Project, having previously spent 13 years as the project’s Head of Research and Evaluation. His experience spans over a decade working on the transformation of garden visitor attractions in the UK and overseas, including as Director of the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii, USA, and Programme Director of RHS Garden Wisley.
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Make 2nds Count announces Samantha Dixon as CEO
Samantha Dixon has joined Make 2nds Count as the charity’s new CEO. With nearly three decades of experience in the voluntary sector, Dixon’s career has consistently focused on increasing the impact of available services, promoting innovation and addressing inequality, particularly in women’s health and wellbeing.
Her career in the voluntary sector began in fundraising, culminating in her role as Director of Fundraising for Regions and Countries at The Prince’s Trust. She then transitioned to broader leadership roles, including a decade as CEO of various cancer charities. At Weston Park Cancer Charity, she strategically reshaped the organisation, increased fundraising, and invested in research and clinical trial infrastructure. At Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, her leadership enhanced service impact and influenced significant policy changes, including the NHS in England’s commitment to a cervical cancer elimination strategy.
ASDAN appoints Melissa Farnham as new CEO
ASDAN has announced the appointment of Melissa Farnham as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective from 10 June. Farnham brings a wealth of experience in education and charity leadership across multiple settings, and holds a number of non-executive and advisory roles across education.
ASDAN is embarking on a new education strategy, which will encompass the development of a suite of qualifications across its specialist areas, incorporating digital components, and featuring a series of goals for the coming years to benefit learners.
Professor David Cunningham OBE appointed as Trustee of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
New Trustee of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity Professor David Cunningham OBE is a leading Consultant Medical Oncologist and is the Head of the Gastrointestinal and Lymphoma Unit at The Royal Marsden in London and Surrey. Professor Cunningham has also recently taken up the post of Clinical Director, Philanthropy at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, where he had previously served as the Director of Clinical Research. He also held the title of Director of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at The Royal Marsden and the Institute of Cancer Research, London.
In recent years, Professor Cunningham has supported The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity to help secure funding for the Oak Cancer Centre, a state-of-the-art treatment and research facility which opened in June 2023 at The Royal Marsden in Sutton, as well as individual research programmes and facilities. The Charity’s £70 million Oak Cancer Centre Appeal was its largest fundraising appeal to date.
Karen Frank announced as the BHF’s new Chair of Trustees
Karen Frank has been announced as the new Chair of British Heart Foundation’s Board of Trustees and will start in the role immediately. She has been a member of the Board of Trustees since October 2019 and Acting Chair since the end of 2023.
Frank has led several global businesses over a 30-year career. Most recently she was the Global Head of Equities and Executive Director for the Sovereign Wealth Fund, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, and prior to that, CEO of Barclays’s Global Private Bank. Her career has also seen her hold senior leadership roles at leading businesses including Goldman Sachs, where she was Managing Director, as well as various private equity institutions in the US and London. Frank has also held Chair and Board positions with organisations including The Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Old Vic.
Paula Harriott joins Unlock as CEO
Paula Harriott will become Unlock’s new chief executive on 19 August. There will be a handover period with Unlock’s joint interim CEOs, Justina Forristal and Jo Easton, and joint interim CEO Jo Easton will return to her substantive post as Unlock’s Director of Policy and Advocacy.
Harriott joins Unlock after holding the role of Head of Prisoner Involvement at the Prison Reform Trust since 2017. She is a nationally known lived experience leader, with previous senior roles at User Voice and Revolving Doors Agency.
Brain Tumour Research announces new Chair and Vice Chair
Brain Tumour Research has announced a number of changes to its board of trustees effective from 1 July 2024, the beginning of its new financial year. As the charity celebrates 15 years since its launch, Wendy Fulcher is standing down as Chair while trustee and current Vice Chair Rob Hughes will take over as the new Chair of Brain Tumour Research and Sue Farrington Smith, also a trustee, will become Vice Chair.
Hughes and his wife, Carole, established Anna’s Hope, a member charity of Brain Tumour Research when they lost their youngest daughter Anna to a brain tumour at the age of three. He worked for Mars Inc for 33 years, where he was Managing Director of Mars Food in the UK for 11 years, and was chair of North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust from 2013 to 2021 and a member of Cambridgeshire Integrated Care Board. Co-founder and former CEO of Brain Tumour Research, Farrington Smith led the coming together of a number of brain tumour charities to found Brain Tumour Research in 2009. At the end of June last year, she announced that she was retiring from her role as CEO after undergoing extensive surgery for low-grade abdominal cancer the previous year.
Photo: Nick Strugnell
Aarti Thakor joins Mishcon de Reya’s Charities and Social Ventures team
Aarti Thakor joined Mishcon de Reya‘s Charities and Social Ventures team as Partner in June. At the law firm, she is is based in the London office. Thakor most recently worked as Director of Legal and Accountancy Services at the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
She brings a wealth of experience gained from work with major international NGOs, charities, and philanthropic foundations, and specialises in multi-stakeholder projects, major and high-risk investigations, complex operational implementation across countries, governance, incident response, and general compliance or reviews as well as technical consulting on financial crime and terrorist financing risks. Her expertise extends internationally to advising governments, regulators, and other global institutions on developing and improving legislation, regulatory systems, and policies for NGOs and civil society. She also has extensive experience in capacity building at local and national levels.
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.