Dr Carol Sweetenham (Chair of Trustees) Expand Dr Sweetenham is a founder member of Aspire, and has been Chair of Trustees since 2014. She is a senior civil servant with a long track record in government and experience in local government, the voluntary sector and the European Commission.
Lesley Pollock Expand Lesley has been a solicitor in private practice since 1980, and working in Oxford since 2008. She is a director of Freeths LLP which is a national law firm. In her current role, she is head of charity property and head of residential property in the Oxford office, but also has over 30 years previous experience as a commercial property solicitor. She is a member of the Charity Law Association. Lesley has previously been a charity trustee for various charities, including a Housing Association, and has been a member of Aspire’s board since 2010.
Rose Rolle-Rowan Expand Rose has worked in local government for 9 years and prior to that worked in the voluntary and not-for-profit sectors. Her background is in economic development, working with disadvantaged communities to support them into employment. Rose currently works as a manager for Oxfordshire County Council in the Organisational Development team in Human Resources. For Aspire, Rose leads on HR matters on behalf of the board for example supporting senior staff recruitment, encouraging a performance management culture, and acting as a sounding board for senior managers on HR issues. Rose also liaises with our external HR service provider on behalf of the board as required. Rose has been a member of the board since 2011.
David Green Expand David has been a trustee of Aspire since 2011. With key strengths in financial and commercial strategy development and delivery, he is currently Head of Commercial Finance for Fresh Direct (UK), and formerly of Food Commercial at The Midcounties Co-operative - the UK’s largest independent Co-operative.
David Whittingham Expand David joined the Aspire board in January 2016. David is Chief Executive Officer at the Royal Air Force Sports Federation. Prior to this appointment David was the Chief Executive Officer at Oxford Brookes Students Union; a membership organisation with charitable status representing and supporting the 18,000 students of Oxford Brookes University, a role that he held for 10 years. His background prior to working within the higher education and charity sectors respectively was luxury hospitality where David held operational leadership roles with major global hotel brands, Marriott, Le Meridien and Starwood.
Gareth Nixon Expand Gareth has been working in the digital sector in Oxford for over 20 years. He is the Managing Director of Global Initiative, a local digital agency working in digital health, education, and more recently, community projects. He brings knowledge of digital strategy and engagement, but only recently joined Aspire in 2018.
Richard Dick Expand Richard Dick is the Chairman and CEO of Lucy Group Ltd, which was established in 1812 as an iron founder and now has 1500 employees with a turnover of just under £200 million. Richard joined Aspire's board of trustees in 2018 and brings considerable commercial experience, local business contacts and a passion to tackle homelessness.
Mick Blowfield Expand Mick has four decades of experience in international development, much of which has involved helping build, fund and manage socially and environmentally oriented enterprises in poorer countries. He has a wide range of geographical and sectoral experience as well as first-hand knowledge of the different governance and organisational structures that help social enterprises thrive. He brings a mixture of theoretical and practical experience having helped develop types of social enterprise, and also being a senior academic at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and was Professor of Corporate Responsibility at Wolverhampton University. He is a published author on the role of business in society, and has advised a number of large companies in Europe and North America. For Mick, Aspire is the kind of organisation that can not only draw on his experience, but one that addresses his concerns about how to assist disadvantaged people. He has a special interest in tackling issues faced by people who experience mental illness, homelessness and special educational needs, and how these can be addressed through effective organisational strategies.
Emma Radley Expand Emma is Director of Fundraising and Communications at Winston’s Wish, a national charity supporting children, young people and their families after the death of a parent or sibling. She comes with over 15 years of fundraising experience in healthcare, education and, for the last four years, a children’s charity.
Paul Staines Expand Paul has recently joint the Board of Trustees and will play a role as our housing specialist, assisting us as we expand our role in this important area. Paul has worked in housing for local authorities in Oxfordshire for over 25 years covering both homelessness, housing advice and affordable housing development. He is currently the lead officer for delivering both accelerating planned housing development and additional affordable housing as part of a Deal between Oxfordshire councils and Government.
James Seddon Expand James was an academic physicist for more than a decade before moving into university management. In that role he was responsible for strategy development and implementation and risk management of policy, subsequently becoming a consultant - firstly in the Netherlands and more recently moving to Oxfordshire - with specialisation in strategy and change for SMEs. James was shocked upon returning to the UK to see very tangible evidence of social inequality and is eager to share his knowledge and experience with Aspire to help address this head on.