Trustees and senior leaders

Chris Akpakwu

Chris holds a Masters Degree in Human Resource Management and brings a wealth of HR experience in diverse industries such as tech, manufacturing, supply chain, automotive and tech.
He has held roles of increasing responsibility in the HR field across Europe and in the US. Since 2021, Chris has been the International HR Director for a multinational gas company providing integrated gas solutions to diverse industries worldwide. Chris is a school governor and Social Mobility Foundation mentor.

Tanya Barron

Tanya joined our board of trustees as Chair Elect in June 2019, taking on the role of Chair in September.
Between 2013 and 2019, Tanya had been Chief Executive of Plan UK. Previously she had been International Director at Leonard Cheshire Disability.
Tanya’s career began as a special needs teacher, and then a lecturer in Politics and Philosophy. She joined VSO in 1989, becoming their Head of Programmes for Eastern Europe and the CIS.
After three years with the European Children’s Trust, Tanya was appointed as the first CEO of Home-Start International in 1999. During this period she was seconded to Brussels to manage a grant-making facility for the European Commission. Between 1995 and 2002, she was the Chair of the UNICEF NGO Committee for CEEC/CIS in Geneva.
Tanya has co-authored various papers and edited two LCD books, Disability and Inclusive Development and Poverty and Disability. In 2003, she was given the European Woman of Achievement (Humanitarian) award. In 2016, she was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for helping to provide safe education for girls internationally

Hanah Burgess

Hanah qualified as a chartered accountant with PwC in 2000 and then went on to have a career in finance, working for a range of companies including Barclays and ITV.  Hanah has spent the last ten years working for large UK charities, leading on finance, governance and strategy. Hanah sits on the board of the international children’s development charity, Plan International UK, where she also chairs the audit, finance and risk committee and she is also a council member of Lancaster University.

Jenny Edwards

Until late 2017, Jenny was Chief Executive at the Mental Health Foundation/Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities.
The Mental Health Foundation is the originator and promoter of Mental Health Awareness Week, among many other areas of work. Earlier in her career, Jenny was Chief Executive of Homeless Link and Director of the National Campaign for the Arts. She has also been a member of a number of national policy and advisory groups.
In 2011, Jenny was awarded a CBE for services to disadvantaged people. Jenny joined the board of trustees in January 2018.

Caroline King

Caroline, who joined the board of trustees in 2021, has held senior roles in HR, supply chain and finance for 30 years, working in the consumer goods sector.
She brings experience in business transformation, change management and improving end-to-end business processes. She combines strong people-orientation with insight into organisations and culture, and has worked with boards and leadership teams across all business functions. She has UK and international experience, has worked with colleagues across the world, and has lived outside the UK. She is working towards accreditation as a life and transformation coach.

Colbert Ncube

Colbert joined the board in 2022 and has held senior roles in Commissioning, Transformation and National Policy development for the NHS with a focus on Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism.
He brings experience in commissioning and service improvement, transformation and is committed to being a part of improving the quality of service delivery and outcomes for the people that Affinity Trust support.

Richard Parry

Richard started his social care career working as a care assistant in a residential care service for people with a learning disability.
He subsequently qualified as a social worker, working in mental health services and services for people with a learning disability. Since then, he has held a range of roles in both the NHS and in local authorities in various parts of the country. This has included the post of Director of Adult Social Care in two different local authorities. As a result, he has a wide range of operational and commissioning experiences.

Siân Rees

Siân Rees has more than thirty years’ strategic, advisory and operational experience in children’s service delivery and organisational development across government, not-for-profit and private sector organisations.

She has held regional and national non-executive directorships in the UK, including as chair of a national charity and director of a newly created university. Sian was previously director of education services for local government, chief executive of an award-winning not-for-profit social enterprise company, and managing director of a commercial education services company in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2012, Sian established her own company, working with organisations to determine strategy and develop governance and partnership models which transform service delivery.

She has worked with a renowned sexual health charity to develop a new operational model and two large local authorities to lead service improvement for Special Educational Needs. Most recently she led the disaggregation of a county children’s services department and the transition into a new unitary council.

Siân began her career as a teacher, training to postgraduate level in education and leadership.

Together, we make it possible.

Our Senior Team

Leo Sowerby

Andrew Beland

Sarah Wight

Donna Leedham

Our Board