Dr Titilola Banjoko – Chair
Dr Titilola Banjoko Osiyemi is a senior health executive and global development leader with over 25 years’ experience in the NHS, international development, humanitarian affairs, gender‑based rights and health systems strengthening. A former NHS senior leader, she has driven major transformation programmes and multi‑agency partnerships for underserved communities.
She founded AfricaRecruit and FindaJobinAfrica.com, pioneering diaspora engagement across Africa. She chairs International Rescue Committe (IRC) UK and serves as Trustee of IRC Inc and Global Health Partnerships, with previous advisory roles for World Health Organisation, UK Department For International Development, Comic Relief, the EU–United Nations Joint Migration Initiative and the Royal African Society. She is a principled advocate for equity, dignity and gender justice.
Dr Lisa Smith – Treasurer
Lisa was previously a Director at Unilever Ventures leading their sustainable investment practice for 8 years, and was founder EIR at the RCA Dyson Incubator. She was the first female Chief Engineer in Africa: building and operating factories for Unilever; she then joined McKinsey, practicing lean operations in NA and EU. Lisa is a sustainability consultant and advisor for Unilever, advisor and faculty lead for CISL (Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership). Lisa has won numerous leadership, innovation & IT awards most recently as UK Women in IT Mentor of the year. Lisa has an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MSc in Bio-Mechanics and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.
Joy Fraser- Amosun
Joy is a chartered accountant with over 20 years senior level experience in financial management, internal control and compliance. She has over 10 years’ experience in the insurance industry having worked in leading global Insurance companies in the UK. Currently she in the Compliance Monitoring and Testing team where she is responsible for compliance and regulatory audits of companies in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Her other experiences have been within professional accounting firms providing a variety of audit and management consultancy services.
Vanessa Thomas
Vanessa has over 7 years-experience in the charity sector, specialising in participatory and power shifting grant making and management, project/programme management, and people management. She has expertise in feminist philanthropy, with experience managing global, multi-million- pound programmes. She is committed to youth development, racial equity and African led development.
Kadra Abdinasir
Kadra Abdinasir is Associate Director for Children and Young People’s Mental Health at Centre for Mental Health. She leads the Centre’s research and policy in this area to help improve the lives of children and young people. She is also Strategic Lead for the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, a network of nearly 250 organisations. Outside of work, Kadra is a committee member at #CharitySoWhite, a campaign calling on the sector to take lead in rooting out racism in their organisation and beyond. She is also a Youth Board Member for young people’s mental health charity Beyond and a fellow of the RSA. Kadra has nearly a decade of experience working with children and young people, specialising in youth policy, research and engagement.
