Our Governors
Our Team
Our Governors
Loading...
Co-optative Member & Vice Chair
Jop joined the Board of Governors in January 2023 as an Advisor, and now serves as Vice Chair of the Foundation, and Co-optative Member on the Finance & General Purposes Committee and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Jop is also the Co-Chair of the Governance & Remuneration Committee.
Co-optative Member
Edmund is the Chair of the Foundation’s Finance and General Purposes Committee, Asset Working Group, and Development Partner Programme Steering Group. Edmund is also a member of the Islington Giving Board.
Co-optative member & Chair
Nezahat Cihan is Chair of the Foundation and has been a member of the Foundation’s Board of Governors since 2014. Nezahat is Chair of the Governance & Remuneration Committee, Islington Council Community Chest Panel, and Advice projects steering group. She is also a member of the Diversity Equity & Inclusion Committee.
Co-optative Member
Maggie Elliott was absolutely thrilled to join the Board of Governors in January 2023, and is C0-Chair of the Programme Committee and Catalyst steering group. Maggie also serves on the Finance & General Purposes Committee and Islington Council Community Chest Panel.
Advisor
Alderman David Graves is a nominative representative of the Corporation of London, joining the Board of Governors in 2010. He now serves as an Advisor to the Board. “Helping to continue the 500 year tradition of reducing inequalities is for me a wonderful challenge.”
Co-optative Member
Deborah Higgins is a member of the Foundation’s Programme Committee and of Islington Giving Grants committee.
Co-optative Member
Saffi Jones is Chair of the Diversity Equity & Inclusion Committee, as well as a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee and the Islington Council’s Community Chest Panel.
Co-optative Member
Paul Formosa is Co-Chair of the Programme Committee and the nominated Safeguarding Governor. A life-long Islington resident, Paul has volunteered, been an activist, and worked in the community for over 20 years.
Nominative Member
Councillor Jenny Kay is a nominative representative of the London Borough of Islington, as councillor for Mildmay ward. She has been a member of the Foundation’s Board of Governors since 2014 and is a member of the Programme Committee and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.
Co-optative member & Chair of Islington Giving
Sarah Lee has been a member of the Foundation’s Board of Governors since October 2020. Sarah is Chair of the Islington Giving Board, and of the Islington Giving Grants Committee. She is also a member of the Foundation’s Diversity Equity & Inclusion Committee.
Nominative Member
Saiqa joined the Board of Governors in December 2022 as a Local Authority Governor. Saiqa is an elected Labour councillor in Islington, having won a seat to represent the ward of St Mary’s & St James.
Nominative Member
Susan Pearson (Alderwoman) joined the Board of the Cripplegate Foundation in January 2020. She is Chair of the Islington Residents Support Scheme Steering Group and sits on the Islington Giving Grants Committee.
Co-optative Member
Bethlehem Tewelde joined the Board of Governors in December 2022 as an advisor and now serves as a Co-optative Member, and Co-Chair of the Development Partner Programme Steering Group. She also sits on the Programme Committee, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and Islington Giving Grants Committee.
Co-optative Member
Manny Wiafe joined the Board of Governors in October 2020. He is a member of the Finance & General Purposes Committee. He was born and raised in Islington and continues to live in the borough.
Our Team
Loading...
Chief Executive
Sarah has been the Director of the Foundation and Islington Giving since September 2019. Sarah is an Islingon resident herself, and manages relationships with key supporters.
Director of Finance and Resources
Jenny joined Cripplegate as Director of Finance and Resources in May 2024. She has worked in similar roles across a variety of local, national and international charities over more than a decade, and has an MSc in Voluntary Sector management. Prior to moving into the voluntary sector she worked in central government as a social researcher.
Programme Manager
Patrick oversees Islington Council’s Community Chest and a number of the Foundation’s Main Grants and Islington Giving grants.
Programme Manager
Victor has worked in the voluntary and community sector for more than 15 years and joined the Foundation in September 2020. His role sits within the programme team and oversees the RSS and strands of Islington Giving grant-making programme.
Director of Fundraising and Communications
Lisa is an Islington resident and joins Islington Giving and Cripplegate as our new Director of Development and Communications.
Office Manager
Jess started at Cripplegate in October 2022 as Office Manager. She has previously worked with mental health and homeless charities as well as being a qualified hypnotherapist. She’s always keen to lend a helping hand to anyone that needs it.
Finance & Resources Officer
Azar joined us in March 2023 as an ACCA qualified accountant with over a decade of experience working in community-based non-profit organisations. Azar’s role is crucial in providing the link between various teams, ensuring grants are paid to our grantees.
Programme Director
Anne joined the Foundation in 2019. She oversees the operation and development of the Foundation’s programmes as well as Islington Giving’s strands of grant-making.
Fundraising and Communications Manager
Isy started at Cripplegate and Islington Giving in October 2022 from a fundraising role at a place-based children’s charity in west London. She works with the Fundraising and Communications team on our individual giving, local business partnerships and campaigns.
Alumni Programme Manager (Islington Giving)
Calliope joined Cripplegate Foundation and Islington Giving in October 2023. As the Alumni Programme Manager at Islington Giving, Calliope is really excited to begin work developing a range of follow on opportunities for our resident grant makers. Prior to this, Calliope worked at Crisis UK for six years.
Digital Communications Manager
Tam joined Islington Giving in January 2022. She is part of the communications and development team and manages the digital side of things.