Our Board of Trustees is responsible for our governance and strategic direction as a charity.
Mark Wood (Chair)
As our Chair, Mark brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that helps us to respond to a complex, changing environment and ensure we're fit for the future.
Mark is Chair of Percent, a tech platform which is helping to transform fundraising for charities. Mark also chairs Boclips, an AI-driven technology platform which supplies video for use in schools and higher education. Mark began his career as a journalist and was based in Germany and Russia for 10 years. He was subsequently appointed Reuters' Editor-in-Chief, managing a global network of 2,500 journalists. After Reuters, he served as CEO/Chair of ITN, which produces ITV News, Channel 4 News, and Channel 5 News.
Mark joined our Board of Trustees in August 2023 and took over as Chair in November 2023.
Seeing Barnardo's front-line staff at work helping is truly awe-inspiring. Talking to the children and young people in their care leaves you in no doubt that for many of them Barnardo's has been a lifeline, for others a source of desperately-needed support and guidance. For all of them it is a means to transform their lives for the better. That is what Barnardo's does - transform tens of thousands of lives, year after year. It does it so well because it is a brilliant, highly professional organisation focussed on managing its core mission as effectively as possible. Barnardo's is not only the largest charity helping children, it also aims always to be the best.
Mark Wood
Chair of the Board of Trustees
Magdalene Bayim-Adomako
Magdalene Bayim-Adomako is a lawyer and senior leadership consultant who provides coaching, business advisory and management support.
As an Investment Director with a particular focus on the youth education sector at Impetus, The Private Equity Foundation, she provided leadership and management support to high potential charities to make them more effective in achieving their mission of supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Magdalene has sat on the board of several charities and is currently a trustee of The Difference, Barnet Afro-Caribbean Association, and a member of the Advisory Board for the School of Law at Leeds University.
A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, Magdalene has lobbied for and led corporate initiatives to tackle issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.
Anne-Cécile Berthier
Anne-Cécile has 30 years of experience in marketing, sales, partnership management and fundraising. She has been Movember’s Country Director for the UK and Europe since September 2017, helping the organisation return to growth in the UK. Previously, she worked at Comic Relief as Head of Partnerships then as Head of Fundraising & Partnerships.
She is passionate about using her skills, enthusiasm and experience to raise money to help support the most disadvantaged communities and people. Anne-Cécile became a Trustee in September 2020.
During my time at Comic Relief, I could see first-hand how important it was to give a good start in life to children. When I left Comic Relief, I felt I needed to contribute in another way, which is why I joined Barnardo's as a Trustee. I've been so impressed by the passion of the team and the quality of the work they do day in and day out to support children across the UK.
Anne-Cécile Berthier
Trustee
Neil Crockett
Neil is passionate about using digital innovation to lead teams and organisations through rapid change in strategy, culture and execution. His most recent role was as Chief Digital Officer at Rolls-Royce PLC and previous roles included a variety of senior executive positions over a 14-year career in Cisco and as CEO of the Digital Catapult, a leading advanced digital technology innovation centre.
Neil also served for nine years as a Governor at Coventry University and is an active supporter of Co-Operation Ireland, the largest Irish peace charity. Neil became a Trustee in 2019.
I became a Barnardo's trustee because of my dad's passion that every child deserves safety, hope and their best future. The realisation that this was increasingly not the truth for so many saddened me, but I knew my digital transformation and commercial skills could help Barnardo’s in doing something about it.
Neil Crockett
Trustee
Avis Darzins (Senior Independent Trustee)
Avis brings a considerable amount of retail experience to the Board. Avis was a Partner at Accenture for eight years, focusing on the retail and consumer products sector, where she delivered successful profitable growth engagements with many well-known national and international brands.
Avis also founded her own management consulting practice in 2013 following four years as Director of Business Transformation at Sky where she established and led a team of business operations transformation experts.
Avis spent over a decade as a board member of retailTRUST, a key retail-orientated charity and continued her involvement as co-chair of their Ambassadors Group until December 2023 and was also a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Moss Group PLC until June 2020. Most recently, Avis is a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of Marshalls PLC, Grafton Group PPL and Safestore Holdings PLC.
For most of us and our loved ones being safe, happy, healthy and hopeful is very familiar and a state we could almost take for granted. Serving on the board of Barnardo's and working alongside people who have spent their whole careers supporting the needs of those children and young people who are not able to feel the same is both a privilege and an exciting opportunity.
Avis Darzins
Trustee
Meredith Pierce Hunter
Meredith has over 25 years of experience as a global fundraiser, beginning her career at Harvard University and bringing her experience to London Business School in 2010. She most recently led the Kew Foundation at Kew Gardens.
She is the founder of Atheneum Consulting, providing fundraising consulting to clients including Cambridge University, the Booker Prize Foundation, ZSL (London Zoo), and North London Collegiate School.
Meredith is also on the board of the British Friends of Harvard Business School and is a Commissioner of the Crown Estate Paving Commission. She holds American and British citizenship and has her BA and MBA from the USA. She became a Trustee in December 2020.
I joined the Board because I care deeply about children and improving their lives, and wanted to help Barnardo’s to achieve the philanthropic ambition that it should be aiming for as the largest children's charity in the UK.
Meredith Pierce Hunter
Trustee
David Kemp
David is an accomplished and widely experienced FTSE 250 CFO and Board Director with over 30 years' experience in energy and industrial sectors. He has a strong track record managing diverse stakeholder groups, leading and building diverse global teams and developing and delivering strategy in complex and changing markets.
He was previously the Group Chief Financial Officer of John Wood Group (JWG), retiring after 11 years. JWG is a global engineering and consulting company with over 35,000 professionals across 60 countries.
David is currently a Senior Independent Director and Audit Chair of the Craneware Group who are a leading provider of software solutions to the US Hospital sector. He is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and a Non Executive Director at Tekmar Group.
When I see the incredible work carried out by Barnardo’s, I feel incredibly privileged to be a trustee. I wanted to join the Board as I am passionate that every child deserves the opportunity to fulfil their potential and wanted to do what I can to help.
David Kemp
Trustee
Briony Ladbury
Briony is a registered nurse, midwife, health visitor and specialist nurse practitioner focusing on child protection. She was the NHS strategic lead for safeguarding children and domestic abuse in the London Borough of Croydon where she set up and managed an integrated safeguarding children team, cited as an exemplar in the 2004 National Service Framework: children, young people and maternity services.
In 2007, Briony was promoted to the role of Senior Strategic Safeguarding Children Advisor for NHS London (Strategic Health Authority) moving to become the Safeguarding Children Lead for NHS England for the London region.
After retiring from the NHS, Briony has undertaken a number of projects throughout the UK as an independent safeguarding children consultant, including system and service reviews and authoring statutory safeguarding investigations. Briony became a Trustee in November 2019.
Throughout my 30-year career of working with children and families in the NHS, Barnardo's has consistently been a great support and source of up-to-date expertise for children, families and professionals. It is an honour and a privilege to be a Trustee post-retirement.
Briony Ladbury
Trustee
Breid O'Brien
Breid became a Trustee after retiring from the NHS after a long career working in frontline health service roles regionally and nationally.
Previously, she was Director of Innovation and Digital Health at NHS England, leading a team supporting the national implementation of technology to enable people to be cared for at home who would otherwise need to be in hospital.
Breid joined the Board of Trustees in September 2023.
Working with an organisation with such a strong connection to purpose is a joy and I can feel the voices of the children and young people strongly throughout our work. Seeing the relentless focus of the Board and the wider Barnardo’s family to address tough challenges like poverty makes me feel hopeful for the future.
Breid O'Brien
Trustee
Henry Odogwu
Henry Odogwu is a senior leader within financial services, with over 20 years’ experience. He is currently a Managing Director at BlackRock where he is head of UK Defined Benefit sales and a member of BlackRock’s UK Executive Committee.
Henry joined BlackRock in 2020 from London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), where he spent four years as Head of European Asset Owner & Consultant sales in the FTSE Russell business, and in his final year was additionally head of Continental European Sales. During his time at LSEG, Henry co-founded and co-chaired the Black Employee Inspired Network (BEING). He is a passionate advocate of diversity, equity and inclusion.
I’m passionate about helping children and young people fulfil their potential, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Children face a multitude of challenges including the rising cost of living and their online safety, and the role Barnardo’s plays is more critical than ever.
Henry Odogwu
Trustee
Penny Thompson CBE (Deputy Chair)
Penny began her career in social services in Tower Hamlets in the 70s, spending a decade on the frontline in various social work roles, moving from London to Sheffield in 1981. Penny moved into management and leadership in Cleveland in 1987 where she set up a Child Protection team.
Penny returned to Sheffield as Director of Social Services in 1998 where she played a key leadership and improvement role for social services and the council as a whole. Sheffield achieved an Excellent rating and Council of the Year in 2004. In 2005, Penny became CEO of the London Borough of Hackney and subsequently took her experience of improvement into a number of other CEO roles before stepping down in 2015. Penny was awarded a CBE in 2012 for services to social care.
Penny has continued to contribute to public services as the Independent Chair of Birmingham's Safeguarding Children Partnership; a leadership mentor, and a trustee. Penny has also been a Governor on the Board of Sheffield Hallam University since April 2017.
Penny became a Trustee of Barnardo’s in 2019. She chairs the Children and Young Peoples’ Committee and in 2022 she was appointed Deputy Chair of Barnardo’s Board of Trustees.
When Floella Benjamin (Barnardo’s Vice President) received her BAFTA award, she said that 'childhood lasts a lifetime'. That really chimed with me. I think that’s what motivated me to become a social worker in the 1970s. I wanted to make life better for children; I wanted to help them fulfil their potential. In Barnardo’s, I found a children’s charity that shared that ambition and I’m delighted to serve as its Children and Young People’s Chair and Board Vice-Chair, playing my part in making childhoods safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful.
Penny Thompson CBE
Trustee, Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees
Raj Verma
Raj is a global human resources leader and has been in the field of change, transformation and HR for almost 25 years. He is currently Chief Diversity, Culture and Experience Officer at Sanofi, a global pharmaceutical company.
Prior to joining Sanofi, Raj was Senior Vice President of HR at Sodexo, one of the world’s largest services companies, for over a decade. He is passionate about understanding the workplace and the enabling role of HR in bringing about change.
Having known Barnardo’s since childhood, it’s my privilege to serve as a Trustee. I’m proud to do my part to make change today and plan for a better future for our children and young people.
Raj Verma
Trustee
Koulla Yiasouma
Koulla is a qualified social worker. She previously worked as a probation officer in England and established the first 24-hour helpline for women experiencing domestic abuse before becoming CEO of Include Youth, an organisation supporting young people who were care-experienced and/or involved in the criminal justice system to improve their employability through work experience, training and education. Koulla led Include Youth for 17 years through significant transformation before being appointed the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People in 2015 - her eight-year term ending in March 2023. Whilst Commissioner, Koulla and her team undertook significant work in mental health, special educational needs and child protection.
Koulla has presented and engaged with parliamentary committees in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, as well as the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. She has chaired the European Network of Children’s Ombudspersons and has been awarded the role of Honorary Professor of Practice by Queens University Belfast. She currently chairs the Oberstown Child Detention Campus in the Republic of Ireland.
Koulla is a passionate advocate for human rights, particularly the rights of children and young people, and believes that the formal realisation of rights ensures better outcomes for all of society. Koulla became a Trustee in September 2023.
If we are to give children, young people and families hope that the challenges they face can be overcome, then we must stand beside them with every tool at our disposal to support them.Barnardo’s are working to uphold children’s rights and tackle child poverty by not only working directly with children, young people and families to make sure their needs are met, but by also ensuring that their voices and experiences are taken into the rooms where policy decisions are made.
Koulla Yiasouma
Trustee
EPOC Board Fellowship Programme
In 2024, the Board of Trustees was delighted to welcome two Board Fellows from the Empowering People of Colour (EPOC) Board Fellowship Programme, Bhavik Davda and Waseem Malik.
The Programme provides opportunities for senior professionals of colour to become participating (unpaid) observers on the boards of EPOC member organisations (which include FTSE 350 companies, charities and not-for-profits).
Our Board benefits greatly from the fresh perspective, knowledge, and expertise our Board Fellows bring during their 18-month placement while gaining valuable leadership experience by attending and participating in our Trustee meeting programme.
Bhavik Davda
Bhavik is a senior leader with over 20 years of experience in retail, currently focusing on customer data, analytics, and loyalty. He is currently the Chief Customer Insight & Analytics Officer at AS Watson Europe, where he leads Data and Analytics alongside Loyalty Programmes across 18 business units in Europe.
Bhavik started his professional career in finance where he found a passion for commercial impact and moved into marketing and business development where he has run loyalty programmes, built a small mobile phone network and an insight function, and led strategic development functions. Each role utilised data, analytics, and insight extensively, allowing him to understand how to extract value as a customer of data, analytics, and insight from different perspectives.
Professionally, Bhavik has a background in Mathematics, is a Chartered Accountant, and holds an MBA.
Barnardo’s is an incredible charity that offers a wide range of services, addressing the various needs of young people. This comprehensive approach gives me hope that we can support every young person in need. I contribute to this mission through my expertise in retail and data, helping Barnardo’s maximize their income generation to support the outstanding front line services they provide.
Bhavik Davda
Board Fellow
Waseem Malik
Waseem is an experienced corporate leader with over 27 years experience in the insurance and consulting sectors and is the current Chief Claims Officer of Aviva.
He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. He was the previous CFO of AXA Insurance. Waseem started his career with PwC where he specialised in financial services transactions. He has extensive leadership, commercial, change and transformation skills.
In addition to his role at Barnardo’s, Waseem is currently a Non Executive Director at the Motor Insurers Bureau where he chairs the Audit & Risk Committee and also is an Independent Member of Kings College London sitting on the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee. He has previously been a Non Executive Director at Thatcham Research and the Insurance Fraud Bureau.
I was really keen to join Barnardo’s as a father of three children I am truly passionate about giving children the best start in life. I am totally in awe of the fantastic support that Barnardo’s give to the vulnerable in society and the focus on child poverty, children’s rights and keeping children safe. I would love to use my skills to make a difference.
Waseem Mailk
Board Fellow
Our Annual Report
Our annual report includes a breakdown of the money coming in and going out of the charity in the last financial year. It also outlines the progress we've made in changing childhoods during this period.
Our impact
Read about the difference we've made in the lives of the children, young people, and families that we support across the UK with the support of our volunteers and partnerships.
Our strategy
For over 150 years, we’ve been here for children and young people who need us most – bringing love, care and hope into their lives and giving them a place where they feel they belong.