Our board

Joe Saxton was founder and driver of ideas at nfpSynergy a research consultancy for Charities, until he sold the business to two colleagues in November 2021. He has been the Chair of six different charities and founded two. He was Chair of the Institute of Fundraising for three years, and co-founder and Chair of CharityComms for seven years.  For six years until June 2021, he was Chair of Parentkind, the umbrella body for PTAs. He also sits on the board of two small grant-makers. In total he has worked with over 200 charities.

He was in the top ten of the most influential people in UK fundraising every year for its first decade including top of the poll on four occasions. He was named one of the most influential people in voluntary sector communications by PR Week, and has twice been named as one of the 1000 most influential people in London by the Evening Standard newspaper. He was given the Lifetime Achievement award by the Institute of Fundraising, and was highly commended in the Chair of the year category in the Third Sector excellence awards.

I am beyond delighted to be the new Chair of the Association of Chairs. The importance of Chairs in charities cannot be over-stated, and the Association has been a pioneer in highlighting and championing the role of Chairs. They have done so much in recent years, but there is still a huge amount to do in helping Chairs and trustees guide their organisations through these difficult times. I am excited to be part of that journey.”

I am a Chartered Management Accountant and an Associate of Taxation Technicians.

For the past 15 years, I have been managing an accountancy practice, offering comprehensive services in compliance, taxation, and advisory. With a passion for assisting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), I work closely with clients to optimise their financial processes, mitigate risks, and maximise profitability. I am confident that my commercial acumen will be a valuable addition to AoC’s board.

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join the board in the role of treasurer, and I eagerly anticipate collaborating with fellow board members to help achieve AoC’s objectives.”

By profession, I am an Optician and not long after qualifying, I joined my first board, which was the Opticians professional body.  I have become very involved with education, being a principal examiner and chief practical examiner for one of the Livery Companies of London. After 6 years as a university Senior Lecturer and Programme Director, I started my own training company, offering workshops, courses, qualifications and CPD. I was involved with the new T-Level qualifications, as an adviser, then becoming a Chief Examiner; I also sit on the Department for Education’s T-Levels Action Group. I have had the pleasure of being on the board for various local and national charities, as well as membership bodies. Over the years I have also been a vice-chair, co-chair and chaired various committees.

I am proud of the difference that the AoC makes to people from charities of all sizes; not just Chairs, but also vice-chairs/deputy chairs, and those aspiring to become chairs. We have much to learn from each other and no chair should feel alone“

Currently, I’m leading a campaign – Action for Trustee Racial Diversity – to increase the racial diversity of trustee boards. I’m also a trustee of the British American Drama Academy and an independent panel member of the Ministry of Justice Public Appointments Unit. I’ve previously been Chair of the Young Harrow Foundation and Vice Chair of both Anti-Slavery International and Nacro. I’ve worked across the public, private and not for profit sectors where I’ve largely been involved in funding or seeking funding for charitable organisations.

I have two key ambitions for AoC. One is that as a small charity it punches well above its weight by positioning itself as the go to place for charity Chairs across the UK for advice and support. Two, that AoC becomes a strong and passionate champion of racial diversity on trustee boards.”

Following 20 years in executive director of HR/workforce roles in healthcare/charity sectors at local, system, regional and national level, I now have a portfolio of consultancy, NED/Trustee, teaching and coaching roles. I’m the Managing Director of Zenon Consulting, a boutique people management and development consultancy, and Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Greenwich. I’m a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Chartered Management Business Educator and member (and judge) of HR in Hospitality.

My current board roles in addition to AoC are Non-Executive Director at the Liaison Group (finance and workforce digital specialist consultancy), where my key focus is on growth strategy and senior stakeholder engagement, and the Healthcare People Management Association London Academy, where I am a Founder member and now the Education lead Board member. From 2010 to 2019, I sat on the Board of a Southwark charity, United St Saviours, as Chair of Housing and Chair of Governance. I was a Board Trustee at Borough Market, from 2015–2019, where I was the non-executive lead on Learning and Entrepreneurship. I was also Chair of Hammersmith and Fulham CAB from 1997-2001.

I am delighted to join the AoC’s Board, having been a member since 2016.  A Chair’s role is tricky and can be very lonely, whilst being exciting and transformational.  As an executive coach and former People Director in healthcare and charities, I would like to further build our community of Chairs to amplify our voice and develop our skills and knowledge which, in turn, will strengthen our positioning in the wider community.”

I bring over 25 years of international experience to the table, including 7 years of board experience across diverse not-for-profit organisations, including a UK university. My career journey has traversed both technology and business domains in the private sector. I have held various leadership positions, ranging from Business Unit Head to spearheading large-scale digital transformations, global change management initiatives, crisis and risk management, executive hiring, and business development. Throughout my board tenure, I have served on several committees, such as Audit and Risk, Governance and Resources, Marketing, and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), as a Non-Executive Director (NED) in various not-for-profit entities.

I earned my Sloan MBA from London Business School (LBS) in 2012, further solidifying my expertise and knowledge in the field. I have found much satisfaction in my diverse board and committee engagements and am keen to broaden my portfolio career, leveraging my extensive professional skills and lived experiences. Currently, my focus lies on Governance and Sustainability, areas where I aim to make meaningful contributions and drive positive impact.

In today’s ever-evolving dynamic world, the pursuit of learning is constant. With early experience as an interim chair of a committee and serving on the boards of various not-for-profits, I’ve experienced a variety of chairing styles, ranging from effective to ineffective. The role of a chair can indeed be daunting, at times even solitary. This is where AoC plays a pivotal role, offering invaluable peer collaborative mentoring support. Such support ensures that chairs are equipped to guide their boards effectively, steering them towards decisions that serve the best interests of the organisations’ stakeholders. I am very excited to have joined the AoC board.”

Penny is an inclusive charity governance consultant. She writes articles about trustees which are full of bad jokes, including a regular column for Governance & Leadership magazine. Penny serves as Director of The Festival of Trusteeship for Eastside People, and helps charity networks strengthen trustee support through training, guidance and research. As well as working directly with thousands of trustees each year, Penny has been a trustee of several organisations, and is a trustee of London Plus. Penny thinks charity governance is exciting. That might make her a nerd, or might mean that everyone else is wrong. She’s willing to accept both possibilities, but is certain she will find some fellow governance geeks at the Association of Chairs.

“I’m over the moon to become a trustee of the Association of Chairs. Our 1 million trustees need the support and advocacy the Association of Chairs offers and I’m delighted to be part of that.”

I am a global executive, board chair, and strategist with three decades of leadership across industry sectors, high-growth tech ventures, humanitarian response and climate justice movements. As a Fellow of the Institute of Enterprise & Entrepreneurs, I specialise in scaling mission-critical organisations into high-performance operations without compromising their core values. I coach senior leaders to elevate standards and mentor people pushed to the margins to reclaim their agency.

My career merges commercial gravitas with a fierce commitment to systemic justice, equity and inclusion. Recognised for my expertise in responsible tech, AI ethics and crisis preparedness, I serve as a trusted advisor to executives navigating complex global challenges, proving that impact and integrity are inseparable.

As Chief Executive of Techfugees Foundation, I engineered a post-pandemic financial turnaround while orchestrating international efforts to evacuate over 100,000 vulnerable individuals during the Ukraine and Afghanistan crises. My influence extends through roles as co-chair of The Launchpad Collective, former chair of Student Action for Refugees, UN SDG Ambassador and directing the EU Commission’s venture scaleup accelerator whilst leading entrepreneurship education and investment initiatives. As a dedicated philanthropist, I lead with purpose, authenticity and empathy driven by a commitment to advance towards a more just and equitable world.

“Courageous governance demands challenging the status quo, even when it’s uncomfortable. True leadership is forged in crisis and built from the ground up through resilience. With that experience, I am excited to join this board to harness the power in turning good governance to advance a just society and for the Association of Chairs serving as a beacon of integrity and impact – a lighthouse that guides the entire sector toward meaningful, lasting change.”

Eran’s background spans senior executive leadership, governance and transformation, with experience across sport, education, public leadership and social impact. Much of his work has involved building trust, creating alignment and turning complex ideas into practical partnerships and measurable results.

Rooted in elite sport, Eran’s approach was shaped by Olympic-level coaching, where preparation, standards and judgement matter. That high-performance mindset carried through into building and scaling Value Sports, which reached more than 100,000 participants across 70 cities, and into senior public leadership work with ministers, corporate leaders and institutional partners.

Eran’s governance experience combines chair, co-chair and trustee responsibilities in the charitable sector, mentoring at London Business School and advisory work across sport, wellness and technology. These roles have given him different perspectives on how boards create clarity, navigate transition and make better decisions. Chairing the London Basketball Association gave him first-hand experience of the responsibility and complexity of chairing a board.

“I am delighted to be joining AoC’s board at an important stage in its development. What attracted me to AoC is its practical role in supporting chairs, trustees and boards to strengthen governance, confidence and impact. I am keen to support AoC’s next stage of impact by helping grow its community and strengthen the effectiveness of chairs and boards across the sector and beyond.”