David joined the Foundation in 2002, and was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in 2011. Prior to this, David served as a soldier for 24 years, serving in Africa, Middle East, the Far East, the Caribbean, and various parts of Europe. David has helped to pioneer Rank’s place-based programmes, leading the new strategy and exploring new opportunities for the Foundation. He has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, enjoys walking and wilderness trekking, and maintains a strong interest with several African charities. He is a member of the UK Foundation’s Forum, and a member of the European Venture Philanthropy Association.
Caroline has worked at the Foundation since 2006, formerly as the Director of Community Care Projects and as Deputy CEO since 2014. Prior to joining the Foundation, Caroline worked across the non-profit and philanthropy sectors. Caroline is a collaborator, working with others to create change for the better, with a focus on investing in the next generation of social sector leaders. Caroline holds an Executive M.B.A. from Lancaster University and is a Practitioner in Executive Coaching. Through her role as a Clore Social Fellow (2012) Caroline participated in secondments to Candid in San Francisco and Oikocredit in the U.K, researching the key tenets of governance in philanthropy.
Caroline is inspired by Kate Smith, CEO and co-founder of Memory Matters in Plymouth and an award-winning social entrepreneur. With a background in nursing, Kate was driven to improve support and services to people with dementia and their families, at the critical stage of diagnosis. To find out more about Kate’s inspiring journey as a social sector leader.
Kai joined the Foundation in 2015 as a member of the executive team and has a remit of proactive engagement with projects, programmes and communities. Kai has a leadership role with RankNet including the annual conference and network wide planning group, the Rank Aspire programme, Time to Shine, Profit for Good and our Start Here programme in Northern Ireland. Kai has a long association with The Rank Foundation and the network. Kai’s previous roles have been in the youth and community sector and she has also established and led a social enterprise. Kai is a Churchill Fellow, a previous tutor with the YMCA George Williams College, an Action Learning Set Facilitator and founder of LGBT youth group ‘Work it Out’ in Merseyside.
Kai is inspired by the social sector; the passion and relentless dedication of those who want to see and experience a fairer and more inclusive world.
John joined the Rank Foundation in 2021 and is specifically responsible for overseeing the School Leadership Award and Fellowship.
Born in Mansfield he became a teacher on completion of his first degree and taught in schools across the UK, most recently as Principal of Dame Allan’s Schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne for sixteen years.
His interests include local history (the role of churches in various North East communities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the subject of his PhD research), reading and watching sport. He is also a keen campanologist.
John has been very impressed by the work done by Ed Vainker and the team at Reach Academy, Feltham. Not only is the academy one of the most successful non selective schools in the country in terms of its examinations results, the team are also looking to inspire others to develop the cradle to career model of education through the work of the Reach Foundation. A long term Rank partner, the Foundation’s work in promoting values of an all through education (Nursery to Year 13) with high expectations, high aspirations and excellent teaching in schools across the country exemplifies the significant potential of a relatively small pebble thrown into the large pond of educational practice.
Tom is currently providing interim cover whilst the Foundation seeks to recruit its next Chief Finance Officer, and currently acts as The Foundation’s Finance Director and Company Secretary. Aberdeen born, City based, Chartered Accountant with over twenty two years commercial experience followed by seventeen years charity sector experience. After qualifying with Thomson McLintock in Aberdeen, which merged into KPMG, and progressing up to Assistant Audit Manager level in KPMGs London office, Tom held senior management roles at Gissings, AAT, RCP, CFG, IISS, and ASA. He is also Honorary Treasurer at the Institute of Advanced Motorists the UKs largest road safety charity, and CMV Action a small health charity. He currently holds the position as Interim Finance Executive at The Kennel Club. Outside his work, Tom enjoys membership of the Tate, the National Gallery, and the National Trust. He enjoys learning to play golf, walking, listening to music, travelling, watching films, and genealogy.
Guy Parker, Chief Executive at the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) . Guy is a great leader and motivator, and he has successfully led the ASA to ensure self-regulation in the ad industry is trusted by the public, the industry, and the UK Government and is seen by counterparts globally as a high benchmark for such regulation. He and his team tackle some of the key challenges we all face as consumers by making sure the online ad industry endeavours to adhere to the UK advertising codes. The adoption of data science and AI in recent years has also made sure regulation has kept pace with the fast-moving ad industry and public opinion on matters such as online harm and greenwashing.
Sonia joined the Rank Foundation in October 2022 as the Assistant Director of Operations. Sonia is responsible for the operations of the Foundation with particular focus on creating a collaborative co-working space for our Rank Net members in our Shoreditch, London office.
Sonia has extensive experience in operations and project management. After working in the charity sector, Sonia moved into education sector management for over 18 years. Sonia also held positions as a charity treasurer and a trustee.
Sonia is motivated by her father, who was a Deputy Director at a Czech power plant. He was a multilingual professional who was truly inspirational. He had strong family values and has always been extremely supportive of everyone, especially his family.
Helen has been with the Foundation since 2004 and manages the Penrith office, she is responsible for bringing together Rank events including the annual networking conference, Time to Shine, RAP and Profit for Good events. Helen is also involved in the delivery of many of the Foundation’s Flagship Programmes, working closely with the Director of Programmes. Also the point of contact for Rank Memorial Award applicants and the RankNet Leaders Action Group (RLAG). Helen is an Action Learning Facilitator and for the last three years has worked with groups of Time to Shine leaders.
So many inspirational people in the network it is difficult to name one! An example of one such person is James Watts Rees, who participated in the Rank Aspire programme with People and Work, Wales. He then became line manager to two other RAP participants in subsequent years. James was also involved in the setting up of ‘Play it Again’ (a project which recycles sports equipment for young people, to encourage sports participation). James’s commitment to his community and work with boundless positive energy touch all who meet him. You can hear more about James’ work on Play it Again.
Natalie coordinates the Foundation’s engagement with beneficiaries. She also manages The Rank Foundation’s online community platform, RankNet, and sees to the social media, website and branding. She is also involved in administering and coordinating the School Leadership Award and Community Action Placements. She joined the Foundation in 2015 as an administrator, having completed an English Literature degree and working with disadvantaged children and youth on the USA’s East Coast. She lives in London, and enjoys singing, cooking and a good cup of tea.
Kerry is responsible for the daily management of The Rank Foundation’s grant portfolio and joined the organisation in the summer of 2017. After graduating from the University of Bristol with a degree in French and German, Kerry volunteered for various Bristol-based organisations, before moving to London in 2013 to work for homeless charity Centrepoint. Prior to working at The Rank Foundation, Kerry also administered the grants programme for craft scholarship charity QEST.
Marie joined the Foundation in 2020. During her MA studies, Marie researched government policies that lead to exclusion. This sparked a passion for projects supporting integration and community dialogue, driving her to pursue her career in the charity sector. Since then, Marie has worked in different charities coordinating various projects, such as establishing an Arts diploma, organising a one-day craft festival, and knitting retreats among other income-generating projects.
Edouardine joined the Foundation in 2016 and provides day to day support to the Finance Director. Edouardine is a Chartered Accountant, and holds a degree in Commercial and Distribution from the Catholic University of Central Africa in Cameroon. Edouardine worked for more than 5 years in a variety of sectors in Cameroon such as FMG and Oil and Gas as a Sales and Accounts executive/supervisor. She has lived in UK since 2009 and decided to redirect her career to the charity sector. Edouardine previously worked in a small charity organisation and then in the education sector.
Kristine joined the Foundation in September 2022 and looks after the Start Here programme in Northern Ireland. Prior to joining the Foundation, Kristine worked for The National Lottery Community Fund in Cardiff and in Belfast and worked on the development of programmes to address homelessness and climate change.
Kristine is inspired by Nadia Bogdan, a former colleague at TNLCF, especially her ability to connect with people and communities, understand their strengths and challenges, her creativity, positive mindset and commitment to improving lives.
Janice spent many years employed in the higher education sector working in a variety of customer facing areas such as student recruitment and widening participation. Janice joined Rank in 2019 and is the main point of contact for the Time to Shine Leadership Programme and co-ordinates Community Action Placements for the School Leadership Award. She has recently trained as an Action Learning Facilitator.
Janice is motivated by watching a new cohort of Time to Shine leaders complete their leadership journey each year. She is inspired by their enthusiasm and energy to work with organisations and make a difference. During the covid pandemic, T2S leaders played a crucial role in their organisations enabling many to reshape their provision and pivot services to support communities in lock down.
Kirsty joined the Rank Foundation in October 2020 as a leader on the 2021 Time to Shine Programme. Kirsty overseas the digital event offerings which are promoted and provided to network members on RankNet and supports the delivery of Rank’s flagship programmes and events. She also provides the visual content to support most Rank events and meetings.
Kirsty has a degree in Fashion Design and Marketing with Northumbria University which included a year’s placement working in Amsterdam working with a market leading company. More recently, Kirsty completed a qualification in Events Management for Marketing and Communications.
Within her time with the Foundation, Kirsty has had the opportunity to meet many Time to Shiner leaders who participated on the programme. Kevin Holcroft participated in the 2018 Time to Shine programme with Credu and Kirsty had the opportunity to work alongside Kevin at a variety of events.
“Working alongside Kevin has been a great learning experience. His generosity in sharing his knowledge with myself is something I very appreciate.”
Noah joined the Foundation in 2019 as an administrator and was appointed to his current post in 2022. Noah previously volunteered at The National Brain Appeal as part of the ‘A Letter In Mind’ art exhibition team. He holds a BA (Hons) Music Industry Practice degree from the Academy of Contemporary Music (Middlesex University).
Noah is inspired by Hans Zimmer who has created some of the most iconic film music scores of all time. Noah’s favourite Hans Zimmer scores are from Bladerunner 2049 and Crysis 2.
Bhabishya joined Rank Foundation from February 2023. Bhabishya is our Brand and Comms assistant as well as a Time to Shine Leader.
Prior to this, Bhabishya has been in Nepal creating documentaries, working with several not-for-profit organisations and travelling. Bhabishya always wanted to work in a social sector and to go through Time to Shine programme is a dream come true for her.
Bhabishya is inspired by her father, he is an agricultural activist/ policy analyst in Nepal. He founded a leading organisation for policy research and advocacy. He strengthens the alliances of agriculture for food which is now promote Argo-ecology for sustainable food systems in Nepal.