Chair of Trustees: Richard Collier-Keywood
Charlotte Young OBE
Charlotte has a background in management education and development and worked for many years at the University of Westminster School of Management ultimately as Dean of Management. She was head of management development for a major international company and then a founder of YSC, the international corporate psychology practice. Charlotte was a member of the founding team at SSE with Michael Young, and was Chair of Trustees from 2004-17. She was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion in April 2009. Charlotte was awarded an OBE for services towards social enterprise in the Queens Platinum Jubilee Honours List in 2022.
Jill Halford
Jill Halford is Head of Not for Profit at the accountancy firm BDO LLP. She has over twenty five years of experience in working in the charities sector. Jill has spent time on secondment into charities covering the Finance Director and other executive positions. Jill specialises in external audit and advisory work for the charity sector. Jill is a trustee and member of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, based in London and has been a board member since 2019. She is the Chair of the BDO Charitable Trust and sits as an independent member of the Audit Committee at Wellbeing of Women.
Her trustee experience has also included the Treasurer of ACEVO, the membership body for CEOs in the charity and social enterprise sectors, a trustee of a domestic violence charity for five years and she set up a small environmental NGO, where she sat on the Board as Treasurer.
Sharon McPherson
Sharon has a long history of faith led social action. She is gifted in mobilising, capacity building and upscaling Christian community outreach initiatives. Sharon is a Co-founder & Trustee of the Rehoboth Community Lunch Club, tackling the issue of supermarket & restaurant food waste and food poverty amongst the homeless community.
As well as being our Board EDI Champion, Sharon currently works for the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, engaged in the #everyonesbusiness campaign to see all women across the UK have equal access to quality perinatal care and support. For over 30 years she has worked in the public and charity sector in the area of community regeneration and family support. She is a Kinship Carer, and is actively engaged in the campaign for improvements in social policy, practice, resources and support for kinship carers, to bring about equal professional recognition to that of foster carers. She is one of the founding members of Kinship Chill and Chat, a peer support movement led by and for the benefit of Kinship Families.
John Brown OBE
John became managing director of Virgin Books in 1982. In 1987 he set up the magazine company John Brown Publishing. He is currently chairman of Bob Books Ltd and The Watch House restaurants in Cornwall. As well as the SSE he is a Trustee of Camara Education and Kensington Aldridge Academy. John was nominated for an OBE for services to charity in the King’s 2025 New Year Honours list.
Genevieve Dowokpor
Genevieve is an experienced leader delivering global marketing and communication solutions in highly competitive business markets across a variety of industries. With over 20 years success in health & social, education, FMCG, music & entertainment, government and especially within the payments and fin-tech space, Genevieve’s work in delivering end-to-end marketing and communications for start-ups and continued growth has resulted in award winning campaigns.
Will Ranjan-Churchill
Will has nearly two decades of experience in technology transformation. He is currently Technology Lead at Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, where he oversees the organisation’s technology stack, cybersecurity, and the use of AI, and contributes to wider strategy. Before joining Esmée, Will worked in roles across healthcare, education, and social enterprise, including providing support to young entrepreneurs. He also runs a technology consultancy specialising in charities and small social businesses. Will has been a member of the SSE Board since 2020 and also sits on the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.
Steve Johnson
Steve has worked in the private, public and charity sectors and has nearly 40 years’ experience of community, charity and social enterprise activity in management and governance roles at both local and national levels. From 1996 to 2023 he was Chief Executive of AdviceUK which he gradually transitioned from grant-dependency to being self-sustaining through the development of successful trading subsidiaries. In addition to SSE, he is currently a trustee of StreetUK Foundation.
Mike Phillips
Mike is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and former senior audit partner at PwC. Since 2011, Mike has focused on working with entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses in a variety of sectors, in either a mentoring or advisory capacity. Mike has been an SSE mentor since 2011 and continues to work with several SSE fellows. Mike is the chair of SSE’s Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and the Senior Independent Director on the board.
Yvonne Farquharson
Yvonne Farquharson is a seasoned, multi-award-winning social entrepreneur and visionary leader, renowned for developing creative, research-led programmes that improve healthcare and transform lives. Under her leadership, Breathe Arts Health Research has evolved from a small social enterprise into an internationally recognised organisation, delivering pioneering programmes around the world and producing groundbreaking research.
Yvonne is a globally recognised speaker and advocate, who has developed and delivered training programmes for the World Health Organisation. She has played a role in advancing arts and health research, contributing to book chapters, journal articles, and peer-reviewed medical research papers.
Yvonne won the Women in Social Enterprise National Award and has been named among the WISE100, celebrating the UK’s most inspiring and influential women across social enterprise, impact investment and mission-driven business. She has also been a finalist for Social Business Leader of the Year and, most recently, was selected as a 2026 finalist for the SheInspires Women in Leadership (National) Award.
Megan Emery
Megan is currently Head of Business Transformation at Coutts & Co, where she has spent the last few years delivering business and operating model change including responsibility for the colleague and customer experience. Her experience includes nearly 20 years working in HR, Learning and Organisational Change in a variety of senior roles across Banking and Professional Services, and she holds Chartered Membership of the CIPD. Megan was a member of our Finance, Audit & Risk Committee for 2 years prior to joining us as a Trustee.
Dr Junior Smart OBE
Junior is an SSE Fellow and a social entrepreneur and youth intervention specialist, with over 17 years of experience in driving systemic change. He is the founder of a SOS Gangs project, a pioneering social enterprise, working to support marginalised and vulnerable communities, particularly within the criminal justice system. Having transitioned from lived experience into leadership, Junior has a proven track record in developing scalable, high-impact programs, fostering cross-sector partnerships, and influencing social policy. His expertise in community-led solutions, social innovation, and empowerment-based approaches aligns strongly with SSE’s mission. His journey from direct experience of the justice system to leading nationally recognised initiatives has been widely acclaimed, and his insights into entrepreneurial approaches to social challenges will add significant value to SSE. Junior is a board member of Prison Reform Trust and a Committee member of the Youth Endowment Fund.
Louise Shield
Louise is a highly experienced communications professional with a broad background spanning corporate, commercial, consumer, and government sectors. She has led global stakeholder engagement initiatives across brand, media relations, public affairs, marketing, internal communications, and sustainability programs. Louise has had prior involvement with SSE and has followed our work closely in recent years. She is particularly passionate about entrepreneurial approaches to social impact and the role SSE plays in empowering individuals to create solutions for social and economic change. She has held leadership roles in high-profile organisations, where she developed strategic communications and advocacy initiatives. Her strong expertise in narrative-building, public engagement, and partnership development will be invaluable to SSE as we continue to enhance our visibility and impact. Currently Group Director of Corporate Affairs at M&G plc, Louise has held previous positions at Santander, RSA and Lloyds of London.
