As a charity, ICYE UK is ultimately run by a Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees are and must be volunteers and are democratically elected by ICYE UK members at the organisation’s AGM which takes place in Autumn each year. The Board is responsible for ensuring that ICYE UK is operating according to our goals and beliefs whilst making sure that we are a financially stable organisation. They have a key role in long term planning for the organisation and managing the strategy in order to shape ICYE UK’s future.
Currently the Board is made up of 7 trustees who come from a variety of professional backgrounds. All, however, share a passion and commitment for the work of ICYE UK and seek to use their skills and knowledge to the benefit of the charity.
Nora Russell
Chair
- Nora has over ten years experience in fundraising and marketing within the third sector and gained her first experiences of the sector through an internship in the ICYE UK office. Since then she has worked with large international and national charities as well as small NGOs. She is experienced in community, major donor and corporate fundraising and has used these skills to help diversify the support ICYE UK receives. Having studied Development Studies at SOAS, she has a keen interest in international relations and politics, particularly women’s rights and has worked and studied in China and Australia.
Jonathan Potter
Vice Chair
- Jonathan has had ten year's international business experience followed by over twenty-five working in the humanitarian/development sector. He has been CEO of several charities, has established and chaired inter-organisational networks, and promoted global quality standards. He worked for a volunteer-sending organisation in the 1990s and, between 2005 and 2017, undertook 4 consultancy projects supporting the European Commission to establish EU Aid Volunteers. Jonathan is thoroughly committed to inter-cultural exchange, recognising the benefits of having visited nearly 80 countries.
Russell Parkinson
Treasurer
- Russell was invited to join the Board of Trustees in 2010. He has lived and worked overseas in the US, France and South Korea and spent two and a half years working as a volunteer for a youth led NGO here in the UK. He now works as a programme manager for an international development charity. He is really excited about being on the Board of Trustees and enjoys getting involved in all aspects of the organisation’s work.
Cleo Graham
Secretary
- Cleo’s first involvement with ICYE was in 2014, when she spent 6 months with YMCA in Colombia working on a youth project with socially deprived young people in Bogota. Since returning she has remained involved with the organisation by talking about her experience on information days and taking part in training and support activities on our camps. Cleo works for the Ark, an international education charity on the Professional Development team and is keen to be able to bring her skills and experiences to the board
Jasmine Wakeel
Trustee for Marketing and Fundraising
- Jasmine was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2014. She first became involved with ICYE UK in 2011 as an intern. In 2012, Jasmine took part in the ICYE UK volunteering programme in Uganda, keeping involved with the charity's work upon her return. Outside of ICYE UK, Jasmine works as a campaigner for a national charity.
Hannah Kowszun
Trustee for Membership
- Hannah spent a year abroad in South Africa in 2001/2. This opened her eyes to the wider world and how experiences like this can bring lasting benefit. She was elected to the Board of ICYE UK in 2017, eager to contribute her professional experience of membership and marketing in the voluntary sector. She currently works at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as Communications Manager for the outreach programme Grow Wild.
Bilal Khan
Trustee for Governance and Policies
- Bilal has a range of experience in the voluntary and youth sector, from 1-1 mentoring through to running frontline programming for a National youth empowerment charity. Having travelled to India and Kenya with the organisation he works for (“WE”) he has seen first-hand the long-lasting impacts of volunteering abroad and believe in ICYE's aims in learning through Inter-Cultural Exchange.
