Our staff

Our Board

Jill Healey - Executive Director (Company Secretary)

Jill has worked on international development and social justice issues for over twenty-five years. Her experience ranges from direct engagement with children and communities to influencing senior decision makers, and she has lived and worked in Malawi and Tanzania. Jill’s employment history includes The Children’s Society, VSO (as a volunteer, Country Director, Head of National Volunteering and supporting the International Citizen Service programme) and the Greater London Authority Refugee Integration Team. Jill has been Executive Director of ChildHope since 2011.

Charlie Middleton (Chair)

Charlie was the Managing Director of Triodos Bank in the UK until 2016. He now has several non-executive roles with organisations that have an environmental and social purpose and also practices as a counsellor and coach working with individuals and leadership teams of charities and businesses.

Karen Kroger (Hon. Treasurer)

Karen is a finance professional who started her career in the private sector before going to Sudan with Irish NGO GOAL in 2005. From there she moved to East Timor with Oxfam. In 2010 Karen joined Save the Children International in London, latterly as Director of International Programmes Finance. In 2015 Karen moved into the Higher Education sector and is currently Chief Financial Officer at Queen Mary University of London. She retains a keen interest in international development, particularly relating to improving the lives of children.

David Harding (Director)

David Harding has worked with communities, social movements and the international development scene for over 30 years. He was a country director and programme manager with UK development organisations in Nicaragua and South Africa through the 1980s. He now works particularly with organisations and movements in the social field, to help them understand themselves and their work better, and to work effectively around strategy and change. His work has taken him to much of Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. He has designed and run, with South African colleagues, a range of experiential postgraduate programmes on reflective social practice.

Jo Taylor (Director)

Jo is an experienced Corporate Responsibility practitioner with experience managing large scale corporate/charity partnerships, corporate fundraising, responsible business strategy and corporate grant giving internationally since 2013. Prior to this, her background in the charity sector, working in developing countries in programme delivery, fundraising and volunteer management. Currently working at Lloyd’s in their Responsible Business team, leading charity governance and effective global partnerships and grant giving is key to her role. Jo co-founded a CSR network in Leeds and has spoken at conferences about strategic partnerships, something she is very passionate about.

Laverne Antrobus (Director)

Laverne Antrobus is a Consultant Child and Educational Psychologist. For the last 25 years Laverne has worked with children and families in the most need of help. Laverne is a professional and academic tutor on the Doctorate in Child Community and Educational Psychology at the Tavistock Clinic. Laverne appears on popular daytime broadcasts and is often asked to give a psychological perspective on issues that affect children and their families in both radio and print media. She has made programmes on childhood for the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

Lizzie Towl (Director)

Lizzie has a background in fundraising but switched to a field operations career path when she joined Save the Children in 2012. After several years based in West and Central Africa, she now works in Save the Children’s Humanitarian Operations team, overseeing emergency responses all over the globe. Lizzie recently gained a Certificate in Humanitarian Leadership at Deakin University.

Natalie Au (Director)

Natalie Au has built her expertise in gender and safeguarding over the past 15 years working in international development, with a particular focus on innovative programme and product design to empower disadvantaged groups. Through her consultancy business she drives impactful work that’s gender equitable, inclusive & empowering across the private and public sector. She has extensive experience working with partners ranging from international NGOs and governments to technology companies. Separately, Natalie is a Strategic Advisor for W.E. Can Lead (Women Everywhere Can Lead). She holds an M.A. in International Politics and Human Rights from City University in London and B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies from Occidental College in Los Angeles.