About us

Meet the CSC Team

We are based in London, with Patrons, a Board of Trustees and a team of staff running the day-to-day operations. For more information about our Network members and the type of work they do, have a look at our directory.

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Board of Trustees

Our Board of Trustees is responsible for the governance of the organisation. Selected for their expertise in different areas, they work closely with our CEO and senior management team to guide decision-making on strategic issues and hold them to account for their leadership of the organisation. Our Trustees are responsible in law for the organisation’s assets and activities, and we are grateful to these people who volunteer their time and talents to help ensure good governance at CSC.

Patrons & Ambassadors

Our Patrons and Ambassadors generously donate their time and leverage their public profile to help raise awareness and promote the work of CSC. They are passionate advocates for street children around the world.

Development Board

We are fortunate to benefit from the commitment of an active and involved Development Board whose members, in addition to promoting the work of CSC within their networks, are helping develop influential relationships for CSC and drive forward philanthropic giving.

Our Development Board was founded by Dr Roger Hayes, who was a senior counsellor at APCO Worldwide, specializing in international strategic communications with a particular interest in emerging countries, especially in Africa and Asia, where he worked both for governments and the private sector. Roger sadly passed away in 2020, but will be fondly remembered for his deep seated passion and seemingly endless energy to do right by street children and incredibly generous long-standing support for our work through his late wife Maggie Eales’ trust.

CSC Staff Team
Board of Trustees
Patrons and Ambassadors
Development Board
Senior Strategic Advisers

info@streetchildren.org

An experienced leader, with a background in both the not-for-profit and the commercial worlds, Pia has represented organisations at a CEO level in a range of contexts. In her work in the not-for-profit sector, Pia has focused on the areas of health, education and child protection, with a particular interest in government systems strengthening and child rights. She has worked with VSO, the Tropical Health and Education Trust and Save the Children. Working for the private sector for well over a decade (BP and Oxford Policy Management), Pia also understands the for-profit world. Pia’s most recent role is as Chief Business Delivery Officer at Crown Agents a not-for-profit international development company. Pia is on the Board of the Great Britain China Centre and Kings Global Health Partnership.

advocacy@streetchildren.org

Katherine is responsible for the growth of the CSC through programmes, research and advocacy. An experienced leader in the charity sector, Katherine has worked in community, national and international development and has focused on child rights, nutrition, health, migration, and social care. She is particularly interested in strengthening governments and civil society and tackling the root causes of poverty and exclusion. Prior to joining CSC, Katherine has worked with Save the Children, VSO, philanthropic organisations and in local government.

network@streetchildren.org

Siân is CSC’s Director of Programmes for Network, Practice and Children’s Participation, responsible for network development, distilling and promoting good practice and mainstreaming children’s participation in CSC’s work. Having been Director of Programmes at StreetInvest for 3 years, in January 2022 she stepped up as CEO to drive forward the coming together with CSC, embedding StreetInvest’s expertise in street work, training and participation within CSC’s wider strategy. Siân brings 15 years’ experience of programme management, network building and partner development in the UK, Asia, Africa and Latin America at both grassroots and international levels. Having previously worked for CSC from 2016-2018 in a network & programmes role, then later for ChildHope and as a consultant, Siân has extensive knowledge of the street-connected child sector and a strong track record in working with partners and networks to promote the rights of street-connected children and strengthen rights-based and child-centred practice in frontline services.

communications@streetchildren.org

Bereket joins CSC from StreetInvest, where he worked as Programme Funding Manager. Prior to this, Bereket worked as a Grants Manager for a human right charity called the Helen Bamber Foundation for nearly three years. He also worked as a Global Funding Manager for seven years for a children charity called Viva based in Oxford. Bereket has been working for charities since 1998 and managed multiple grants while working for Save the Children, World Vision, and Merlin including UK Aid, EU and USAID grants to the value of $10 million. Bereket finished his Master of Business Administration from the University of Westminster in February 2012. He also gained a Master’s Degree in Social Development Policy and Management at the University of Wales, Swansea, in 2008.

advocacy@streetchildren.org

Helen will lead the Consortium for Street Children’s contribution to the CLARISSA initiative, co-ordinating the advocacy agenda for this innovate participatory action research initiative to bring positive change for children affected by the worst forms of child labour in Nepal and Bangladesh. An experienced consultant in the children’s rights sector, Helen has set up her own NGO, Children Unite, that promotes participatory approaches to working with exploited children. In her 25 year career Helen has worked with community based organisations, INGOs, donors and UN agencies, engaging street connected children, sexually exploited children and child domestic workers in advocacy, activism and research activities.

network@streetchildren.org

Jessica focuses on strengthening and developing the network. Prior to joining CSC Jessica spent three years working and volunteering for NGOs in the ethical investment, criminal justice and human rights sectors whilst studying for her Human Rights Masters. She is looking forward to growing the number of member organisations we work with, diversifying our reach and highlighting strategic opportunities for collaboration within the membership.

Stephen leads CSC’s efforts to support national and sub-national advocacy on legal and policy change in line with international human rights law through child- and locally-led action. Stephen also leads CSC’s engagement with human rights mechanisms to promote the prioritisation of street-connected children on regional and international agendas. Before CSC, Stephen practiced as a solicitor-advocate in youth justice matters and as a Senior Legal Officer at an NGO in Cairo where he represented refugees, including unaccompanied minors, in UN RSD and protection proceedings.

projects@streetchildren.org

Lauren leads the project and grant management of our key programmes, working in close partnership with our network members and our donors. Lauren has previously worked in grant making at Comic Relief, managing grants across the UK and internationally. She is also a trustee for a charity focused on supporting D/deaf people in the UK and in Africa. She is looking forward to learning from, and supporting our network as Senior Programmes Officer.

communications@streetchildren.org

Ellie supports income generation by stewarding our corporate and major donor partnerships, as well as our individual giving programme. She is also responsible for our internal and external communications. Before joining CSC, Ellie worked with a number of regional UK based charities, producing multi-channel communications.

advocacy@streetchildren.org

Abimbola supports CSC’s programming objectives with a focus on advocacy and partnership projects. She has a passion for children and young people which has found expression in her various roles supporting research, youth advocacy, campaigns and communications at international development organisations including ActionAid, Oxfam and Plan International. A researcher, her latest work explored the lived experiences of street-connected children by asking “What brings children to the streets and keeps them there?” in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Emily is a lawyer with over twenty years’ experience, working mostly for large for BlueChip organisations. She is currently a Group Deputy General Counsel at HSBC, based in London but managing global teams handling a broad portfolio of legal, regulatory advocacy and risk management responsibilities. She previously worked at BT plc and at the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London, Washington DC and Singapore. She is a vocal advocate of diversity and inclusion, focusing particularly on LGBT+ rights.

Steve is a Chartered Accountant and he audits and advises a wide range of charities. He has specialised in working with the charity sector since 2009 and has worked with a wide range of national and international charities. In addition to external audit, Steve has led a wide range of other reviews including internal audits, finance function reviews and reviews of overseas country offices. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and holds the ICAEW’s Diploma in Charity Accounting.

Anne Louise runs the Centre for Financial Technology (CFT) at Imperial College Business School, a hub for multidisciplinary research, business education and global outreach aimed at greater understanding of the impact of technology on finance, business and society. Prior to this, she worked in the financial services sector, managing JPMorgan’s macro hedge fund sales desk and specialising in emerging markets foreign exchange and local debt markets. Anne Louise read Economics at Vassar College and has served as a member of the President’s International Advisory Committee; she also sits on North London Collegiate School’s Development Board.

Dr Chophel is current Vice Chair and Rapporteur of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as Director General of the South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children. He has over 30 years' experience in the social sector, 25 of which have been dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of children (including women and gender) at both the national and regional level. He is a member of the UN working group on children's rights and the environment, with special focus on climate change, launched at the 94th session of the committee on 18 September 2023.

Jacquie has had over 30 years corporate experience working in the UK and internationally in various business sectors at operational and strategy levels. Having started her career in brand management with Procter & Gamble, she then worked as a business consultant for large multinational and SME clients advising them on business strategies, transformation, marketing, brand positioning and product innovation. Jacquie runs Good Values CR Agency, which was founded in 2007 and works with corporates on their Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) strategies and initiatives and helps charities with their brand positioning and fundraising. She is also a Trustee of Julia’s House, a charity that provides support to families caring for a child with life-limiting conditions.

Duane is a 30-year veteran of the healthcare technology sector based in the UK since 2003. He began is his NED career in 2018 and is currently Chairman of three technology start-ups. In 2019 Duane was appointed Chairman of Mercia backed and Manchester based Rinicare Limited, which provides solutions based on AI based predictive algorithms, and machine learning into the health sector. Duane also chairs Oxford headquartered Mirada Medical, an AI medical software business that provides image analysis solutions to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases. Prior to his plural career, Duane led a series of both high-growth HealthTech SMEs, and mid-market publicly traded global technology businesses across five continents.

Puneeta is a strategist and business development professional with experience in both consulting and corporate roles helping Telcos and Retailers make the most of the digital and omnichannel revolution. She has held roles in a number of companies including Telefonica UK (O2), Vodafone Group, Monitor Group, PwC and Airbus. Puneeta holds a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering from the University Cambridge, an MBA from the London Business School and is a Chartered Engineer registered with the Royal Aeronautical Society. She is also a Governor at St Helen's, a leading independent school.

Dorothy Rozga is an experienced leader, manager, fundraiser, strategist and advocate with an extensive background in international development and child rights. Currently she heads the Child Rights Programme of the Centre for Sports and Human Rights. Between 2013 and 2018, she was the Executive Director of ECPAT International, a network of organisations working in more than 100 countries to end the sexual exploitation of children. Prior to that time, she served as the interim Executive Director of the African Child Policy Forum based in Ethiopia. Between 1981-2012, Dorothy served UNICEF in a range of capacities. She served in Africa as UNICEF’s Representative to Tanzania, as Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, and as Representative to Ghana. For five years she was the Sr. Programme Officer responsible globally for the introduction and incorporation of a Human Rights Based Approach to UNICEF’s Programming. She also headed UNICEF’s Offices in Calcutta, India and Belize and served the organization in various capacities in Guatemala and Honduras.

Alec Saunders is Principal PM for Microsoft Business AI, where he works with research teams to build new AI based businesses at Microsoft. Prior to this role, Alec was a senior director in the Microsoft Accelerator team, responsible for a diverse portfolio including scaling the Microsoft Accelerator Network through partnerships, and success managing high potential startups to their full potential using Microsoft resources . Before re-joining Microsoft in 2014, Alec served as BlackBerry’s Vice President of Developer Relations and Ecosystem Development, and Vice President of QNX Cloud.Alec has founded three companies during his career. The most recent was web-based collaboration platform provider iotum Inc. in 2006. He served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Iotum Corporation until 2011. Alec has more than 25 years in software, including 9 years of service at Microsoft in the 1990’s where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first commercial direct email list ever. A graduate of the University of Waterloo (B.Math ’87), Alec lives in Seattle.

Cornelius Williams is a highly respected expert with over 35 years of experience in global child protection programming and child rights advocacy. He has worked with international organisations like UNICEF and Save the Children to improve protection for children from exploitation, violence, and abuse. As the former Global Director for Child Protection at UNICEF, Cornelius led several humanitarian and developmental programs in various child protection areas. He has served on multiple Advisory Boards, including WeProtect Global Alliance to End Child Sexual Exploitation Online, ID4Africa, CPC Learning Network, and Changing the Way We Care. Additionally, Cornelius has been a part of various UN Steering Committees, including the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme Female Genital Mutilation and Global Programme to End Child Marriage and the UN Legal Identity Taskforce. He is a national of Sierra Leone and holds a Master of Arts in International Child Welfare from the University of East Anglia in the UK.

Sir John entered Parliament in 1979. He joined the Government in 1983, and the Cabinet in 1987, where he served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury; Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He served as Prime Minister from 1990-1997, and retired from the House of Commons at the General Election in May 2001. On New Year's Day 1999, HM The Queen appointed Sir John a Companion of Honour in recognition of his initiation of the Northern Ireland Peace Process. On St George's Day 2005, HM The Queen appointed him a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. In May 2012 he was awarded the Grand Cordon of The Order of The Rising Sun by the Emperor of Japan. Since leaving Parliament, Sir John has taken up Chairmanship of various International Advisory Boards, and also serves as Patron or President of a number of charitable organisations both in the UK and overseas. In October 2011, he was appointed Chairman of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, a Commonwealth-wide initiative established to create a lasting legacy to Her Majesty’s 60 years as Sovereign.

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (given name: Susan Elizabeth Miller) is a Liberal Democrat Life peer who has sat under this title in the Lords since 28 July 1998. Amongst her other parliamentary roles she Co-chairs the APPG on street children, as well as Chairing the Agroecology APPG and the Food and Health Forum. She works very actively with the international body Parliamenterians for Nuclear non Proliferation and Disarmament of which she is a Co President. She takes a particular interest in Central and South American countries. She is a trustee of Cmap, a charity which works with street children in Ecuador, Brazil and the UK.

Lord Brennan QC has been a Queen’s Counsel since 1985 and is a senior associate member of Matrix. His areas of expertise include commercial law, public and private international law and international arbitration. Lord Brennan QC, as an appointed life peer, is active in politics as well as dedicating time to his incredibly varied legal practice. His most notable case during 2009 was the landmark civil Omagh bombing case. The outcome, in favour of his clients – relatives of those killed in the Omagh bombing – has become the first civil case of its kind in Europe in which the victims of terrorism were able to sue those responsible. In 2010, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chambers & Partners Bar Awards.

Trudy Davies (FRGS) was born in Amsterdam where she grew up during the German occupation - an experience that influenced her private and professional life. After joining the Foreign Office and Diplomatic Corps, she served in Addis Ababa, East Africa and the Sudan, and London, often assisting international humanitarian NGOs and Ugandan refugees. She did voluntary research for Sir Patrick Mayhew,`MP for Tunbridge Wells before she joining Parliament in 1980 as PA to Stephen Dorrell MP. In 1984 she became the Research and Liaison Officer, later combined with Policy Adviser, of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Population and Development. In 1991 she formed a Network of Street Children NGOs and two years later, along with Nicolas Fenton, Director of Childhope, - the original two motivators - she saw the Consortium for Street Children launched by Sir John Major in 10 Downing Street in 1993. In 1995 Trudy Davies and Nicolas Fenton became also Board Directors of the newly formed European Network for Street Children Worldwide in Brussels (ENSCW) She retired from Parliament in 2000.

Formerly the Director of Centrepoint and then the founder and Director of ChildHope UK, Nicolas was a co-founder of the CSC. He qualified as a chartered accountant with a background in the Travel industry before moving to the charity sector. A consultant to a range of UK and international not- for –profit organisations, he specialises in strategic planning, financial and governance issues.

Vartan Melkonian's gift of music has enabled him to get out of the slums of Beirut where he was born and become a celebrated composer and conductor of classical music. Brought up in the early ‘50s as an orphan in the Birds’ Nest Orphanage in Lebanon, Vartan arrived in the UK in 1972 and became a leading singer and producer in the West End as well as a TV Director working for the BBC and the ITV. His love of classical music then led him to become a conductor of classical music, conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and other similar orchestras in London’s most famous halls and across the globe. Vartan was made an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters on 21 October 2016 in Los Angeles and a Baron of Cilicia on 19th November 2015 and Sir in 1995. As a motivational speaker, he has been a Keynote Speaker at the UN in Geneva, in Cambodia, Colombia and at the All Party Parliamentary Group on Street Children in the House of Commons – in the Middle East and the Gulf states.

Surina Narula a businesswoman and fundraiser with a Masters in Social Anthropology from UCL. She has organised numerous events to raise money for various causes including street children. She is the founder, sponsor and festival advisor for the Jaipur Literature Festival. She was on the Board of Directors for Plan International UK, and is Patron for Plan India and Honorary Patron of Plan USA and a Patron for Hope for Children. She has received various awards for her contribution to street children charities and in 2003 was highly commended for The Beacon Prize in recognition of her outstanding contribution to charitable and social causes. She was presented with the Asian of the Year Award in 2005. In June 2008 She was awarded an MBE for charitable work in India. She is founder for Tve Awards and co founder of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.

Max Mongia is Managing Director of Strongfield Technologies Ltd., a specialist supplier of high-tech components and equipment for defence and space applications. He has been a member of Lions Clubs International since 1982 and has served at all levels including District Governor. As Multinational Coordinator he raised in excess of 9 million US dollars for the Lions Sight Project. Max was appointed as Ambassador of goodwill for Lions Clubs International 2008-2009 – the highest recognition for a member for the work for humanitarian causes. Max was Awarded “Asian of the Year” by Asian Who’s Who in 2009, in conjunction with live BBC World service.

London born Daniel Edozie is a professional basketball player for the Bristol flyers who has been competing in the British Basketball League (BBL) for the past 4 years. He moved to the United States in 2004 where he and his mother had to overcome hardship and adversity when he experienced being homeless as a young person. Daniel eventually went into foster care and after studying and playing basketball in the US, he returned to the UK to continue his journey and pursue his career in basketball. He is now open to using his own experiences to inspire and motivate others through coaching and public speaking, and is looking forward to representing CSC as an Ambassador.

David is Group Head of Corporate Responsibility at Aviva. David was involved in the consultations for the Child Rights and Business Principles, the working group for the ‘State of the World’s Street Children’ report and pioneered a partnership with the UN OHCHR. He was a member of the advisory group for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child work to develop a General Comment on children in street situations; and is a member of the advisory group for the UN Global Compact UK network.

Duncan has a Development Economics Degree from the School of Africa Studies, Sussex University. He has had almost 30 years’ experience in the finance industry beginning in development finance and culminating as a Managing Director at JPMorgan. He returned to the development world in 2006, joining Street Child Africa and then co-founding StreetInvest with Patrick Shanahan and John McGuinness in 2008. Duncan was a Trustee of the Consortium for Street Children from 2008 to 2017 which included 18 months as interim Director for CSC on a voluntary basis. Duncan rejoined CSC as part of our Development Board following the merger with StreetInvest in 2022.

Cees has extensive international experience gained during a 35 year career with BP and Dialogos International. He has lived and worked in Amsterdam, Singapore, Cape Town and has now settled in London. Cees strongly believes that no child should grow up alone.

Lulu Zou is a director of the consulting firm Balmoral & Company. She is formerly a private equity investment professional with De’Long Investment Group in China focusing on energy, fintech, blockchain, AI, drone and telecom software. Prior to that, she spent 12 years in the global energy industry with ExxonMobil and Schlumberger in the US, China, Russia, Indonesia in technical and commercial development. She has designed and executed over $1B of drilling programs onshore and offshore. Lulu holds a BSc. in Electronics, a BA in Economy from Peking University, China and a MSc. In Electrical Communication Engineering from Kassel University, Germany. CSC is her first role to serve in a non-profit organization and she is excited to leverage her past experience to add more social value.

Lindsey is our Senior Communications Adviser. She is a marketing and communications specialist with more than 20 years’ experience, who works with leaders to positively impact reputation, relationships and revenue, through the strategic development and implementation of marketing and communications programs.

Helen is CSC's pro bono Company Secretary, providing governance advice and support on a voluntary basis. Helen is a governance specialist and has worked in the field for over 16 years. Her areas of expertise include the not-for-profit sector (including international development), and the public and higher education sectors.

Ben is fascinated by leadership and change. From elite sports to small charities, Ben’s work is focused on unlocking organizational potential and enabling individuals to thrive. Over the last 15 years Ben has worked with businesses, non-profits, and individuals to create organizations that allow people to reach their full potential and solve difficult problems together. His work has taken him from South Sudan to Papua New Guinea, from corporate management to public service reform. He is currently working as a leadership and strategy consultant, through Ordinary Leadership, as well as working part time with Elite Performance Partners.

Des is our Senior Events Adviser. She is a sponsorship and relationship consultant, with nearly three decades of experience in leading arts and culture sponsorship at a senior level. Her award winning work has involved partnerships in the UK and internationally with highly respected arts and culture organisations including Covent Garden Opera House, the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum. Des provides CSC with strategic leadership and counsel. She gives us motivation and inspiration.

Alan’s career started with a voluntary position on an adult literacy programme. He turned this into a full-time job and after some years became a sought after trainer in this field. Alan has worked with StreetInvest (now part of CSC) in a voluntary capacity for over eight years, working with StreetInvest’s Global Trainers to develop and deliver the training programme. He continues to support CSC’s training programme and offers long distance and occasionally face to face support for our worldwide network of trainers.

Meet the CSC Team

Pia MacRae

Katherine Richards (Maternity Leave)

Sian Wynne

Bereket Gebre

Helen Veitch

Jessica Clark

Stephen Collins

Lauren Kinnaird

Ellie Hughes

Abimbola Ogundairo

Emily Smith-Reid

Steve Harper

Anne Louise Burnett

Dr Rinchen Chophel

Jacquie Irvine

Duane Lawrence

Puneeta Mongia

Dorothy Rozga

Alec Saunders

Cornelius Williams

The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

The Lord Brennan QC

Trudy Davies

Nicolas Fenton

Vartan Melkonian

Surina Narula MBE

Surinder (Max) Mongia

Daniel Edozie

Duane Lawrence

Alec Saunders

David Schofield

Jacquie Irvine

Surina Narula

Duncan Ross

Cees Kramer

Lulu Zou

Lindsey Hornby

Helen Wailling

Ben French

Des Violaris

Alan Carter

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