Trustees

Patrick Dunne

Chair

Patrick joined the Leap board in 2002, and has been Chairman since 2006. In addition to his executive role as Communications Director for 3i Group plc, the international private equity business, he is also a member of the General Council of Warwick University, a Visiting Professor at Cranfield School of Management and a Visiting Fellow of Kingston University. He has extensive corporate governance experience and is a regular speaker and commentator on boardroom issues, having written several books on the subject. Patrick is also a leading advocate and practitioner of Venture Philanthropy. His charitable interests are focused on the education of disadvantaged young people in the UK and in Africa.

Financial Times article about Patrick.

David Causer

Treasurer

David is a chartered accountant and a member of the Securities Institute. He has held a number of senior positions within financial organisations including being Finance director of Mercury Asset Management group plc and a managing director of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers until 2001. David also has extensive experience in a range of charities including the British Red Cross where he was director of Finances and Resources at until December 2007.David joined Leap’s board in 2008.

Anna Herrmann, MA, PG Cert

Anna has been working in the field of social change for twenty years, specialising in theatre and education with marginalised groups, both in the UK and abroad. Since 2002 she has been the Head of Education at Clean Break, a theatre company working with women affected by the criminal justice system. Anna worked at Leap from 1991-97, culminating in the writing and publication of ‘Making a Leap: Theatre of Empowerment’, a practical handbook in creating issue-based theatre with young people facing disadvantage. She returned as a trustee in 2006.

Christine Asbury, MA

Christine joined the Board of Leap in 2006, and has over 25 years of experience in leading organisations in the not for profit sector. She is currently Chief Executive of a start-up social enterprise, ATcare; prior to that she was Chief Executive of a charity providing supported living services for adults with complex needs and Chief Executive of TreeHouse, the national charity for autism education, where she led the rapid and sustainable growth from a staff team of six with a turnover of £100,000 to employing a hundred people with a turnover of over £4 million. Christine is also a trustee of the charity Birth Companions.

Gemma Vango

Gemma got involved with Leap 4 years ago by being a quarrel shop participant in Waltham Forest YIAG. From there she has progressed into delivering conflict management programmes in young offenders, PRU’s, schools as well as to police. Gemma has been volunteering with Leap since she done her training and has represented Leap at many events by hosting or being a speaker.

Gemma has a passion for young people and making positive change and Leap has enabled her to become a positive young role model.

At just 21 Gemma is most looking forward to driving a young person’s fresh insight into the board to benefit young people who work with Leap as well as learning about other strategic areas for her own personal development that she can then pass on to other young people.

Hetti Barkworth-Nanton

Hetti is Commercial Director of BT plc’s Openreach division. She is an experienced business leader with extensive experience in Human resources, E-learning, Business Development and Finance gained in leading organisations such as BT, Centrica and British Airways. Hetti is also a programme facilitator for the Windsor leadership Trust and joined the Leap board in 2009.

Leon Ward

Leon Ward is 20 years old and currently reading Law at the University of Westminster. Leon has been working with Leap for over 5 years in a variety of capacities, including Leap’s youth project Peerlink, where he sat on the regional and national steering groups. He has also been involved in recruiting staff, website development and governance procedures.

Whilst studying for GCSE’s Leon was co-opted onto his local authority’s Select Committee assessing and evaluating the current situation of statutory provision for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and the borough’s Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel. Leon has also sat on various Government advisory panels and has worked particularly closely with the Department for International Development, partly due to his interest in the close link between child rights, international development and the eradication of poverty as well his trusteeship of International Development Charity Plan International.

Leon is the Deputy Chair on the Board of Trustees and also sits on the Governance sub-committee. He is most looking forward to being part of Leap growing once again and championing the delivery of a wider range of programmes to a wider range of young people in the UK especially at a time when conflict is becoming incredibly relevant and prominent in our everyday lives.

Michaela Howard, BA, REC

Michaela Howard is a qualified mediator, trainer and arbitrator and works for Hamiltonmayday in recruitment. She has an honours degree in Business Law and Human Resource Management and has been on the Leap board for eight years, having previously been a participant on and then a trainer for the Quarrel Shop. Michaela was diagnosed with dyslexia in her later education and is a natural role model for young people with special needs who have experienced conflict.

Mike Conradi

Mike is a Partner at law firm DLA Piper. His passion for peer-led youth work arises from his years spent working as a leader in a Jewish youth movement. Mike joined the Leap board in 2003.

Nayar Mirza

Nayar joined Leap in November 2006 after her cousin recommended it. She went on Quarrel Shop training and became a peer mediator at her school. She’s currently finishing off her degree in Youth Work and is currently in talks with her boss to getting a mediation service set up in her work place. Nayar became a Leap Trustee in 2011.