New CEO announced for HorseWorld Trust, & other sector movers
Melanie May | 11 September 2024 | News
Latest sector movers, including new CEOs for HorseWorld Trust, Genetic Alliance UK, and Open City, while the Chair of Bond is stepping down.
Kate Sayer stepping down as Bond Chair at the end of 2024
After nearly five years in her role as Chair of the Board of Trustees at Bond, Kate Sayer will be stepping down in November 2024, ending her tenure at Bond’s Annual General Meeting. Bond is currently recruiting its next Chair of the Board of Trustees with applications are open until 30 September.
Sayer joined Bond in November 2019, and played a crucial role supporting the Board, Bond and its members through the pandemic, the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID) and the dramatic cuts in the UK aid budget. Sayer has also led the Board’s thinking on Bond’s work to re-imagine the sector and recently supported the transition of Bond’s CEO, welcoming Romilly Greenhill at the end of 2023.
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Top LEGO executive joins Starlight’s Board of Trustees
Christian Pau, VP and General Manager of the LEGO Group for UK and Ireland has joined Starlight’s Board of Trustees. Pau brings experience in strategy, marketing and sales, and deep knowledge of the power of play in childhood, which is of particular importance for the charity’s plans for growth in awareness and income generation.
Since 2012, he has been in a variety of senior roles at The LEGO Group in Germany, Denmark and the UK, where he has held his current position since 2020. Prior to joining the LEGO Group, his career included working at the consulting firm The Boston Consulting group in Germany, Finland and across Western Europe. An economic engineering graduate, the father of four enjoys cycling, rowing, cross country skiing and playing with LEGO® bricks with his children.
Marketing chief Jo Coombs appointed as HorseWorld Trust’s new CEO
Jo Coombs has joined the Bristol-based HorseWorld Trust as its new Chief Executive. She is the former UK Chief Operating Officer of Publicis Groupe, and prior to that was CEO at Ogilvy. As a farmer’s daughter who grew up with horses in the North Somerset village of Barrow Gurney, Coombs has returned home with her two children and will now lead the charity whose headquarters are at nearby Whitchurch.
Coombes also brings charity experience to HorseWorld, having been a charity trustee of the Wooden Spoon for seven years. As CEO, she replaces Petra Ingram who announced she was stepping down from the role earlier this year to spend more time with her husband, parents and four Haflinger horses.
Mark Flannagan announced as new CEO of Genetic Alliance UK
Mark Flannagan has taken up the role of Chief Executive of Genetic Alliance UK. Flannagan has been a Board level leader in the NHS, national charities, medical bodies and the private sector across his career. For seven years, until 2017, he was Chief Executive of Beating Bowel Cancer (now merged with Bowel Cancer UK). Most recently, he was Director of Marketing and Communications at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust from 2017 until 2024. Flannagan has acted as a strong advocate for people with lived experience and their families throughout his career.
During September, he will be supported by outgoing Chief Executive Louise Fish for a one-month period of induction and handover to provide continuity for the charity’s members, staff and trustees.
Tinnitus UK announces appointment of new CEO
The Board of Trustees at Tinnitus UK has announced the appointment of Alex Brooks-Johnson as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective from September 2024. Brooks-Johnson joins from Guild Care, a social care charity, where he served as CEO for five years, bringing with him extensive experience in voluntary sector leadership.
Tinnitus UK, headquartered in Sheffield since 1979, has undergone a period of leadership transitions. Brooks-Johnson’s appointment represents a key milestone for the charity, aimed at driving long-term stability and strategic growth.
Manijeh Verghese to join Open City as CEO
Manijeh Verghese will join Open City later this month, following the 2024 Open House Festival. She was previously Head of Public Engagement at the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture where she built up their Public Programme as a free and accessible platform to collectively question how to design a more inclusive society. She was also Director of the curatorial practice, SPHERE, working on projects including the South Asia Gallery for Manchester Museum in partnership with the British Museum, and has subsequently taught, lectured and examined at architectural institutions across the UK and abroad, including teaching Diploma Unit 12 at the AA.
Verghese is also one of the Mayor of London’s Design Advocates, championing policies and guidance about access, inclusion and safety in public space, and a Trustee of the Architecture Foundation, where she leads on diversity and inclusion. She sits too on the advisory board for the DisOrdinary Architecture Project to rethink how disability can transform design in the built environment.
Suzanne Hudson joins Guts UK as CEO
Suzanne Hudson has led charities for the past 18 years, most recently with Citizens Advice as CEO at Citizens Advice Merton and Lambeth for over six years and more recently, leading the transition work of a new coalition of 28 London Citizens Advice charities.
Prior to her time at Citizens Advice, she was CEO of Bipolar UK and so brings significant experience of leading health charities, working with the NHS, the Department of Health and medical research teams. She joins Guts UK this month.
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.