Committees

About

Sufina is Director of John Ellerman Foundation, an endowed grantmaker aiming to advance wellbeing for people, society and the natural world, through its grantmaking, investing and operations. She has a background in strategy, impact, policy, grantmaking and adult social care. She has an Executive MBA with a Strategic Leadership specialism.

What they are involved with at Youth Futures

Sufina is a member of our Grants & Evaluation Committee.

About

Joel Buchanan is a multi-award-winning social entrepreneur and the Chief Executive of Quintessentially Foundation. Before joining Quintessentially Foundation, Joel spent a decade in his previous role as Founder and CEO of Tutors United, a social enterprise which hires, trains, and pays university students to tutor primary school pupils. Joel scaled the organisation across 7 cities to hire 650 university students and tutor over 4,000 pupils. Joel is currently a trustee of The Rank Foundation and a non-executive Director of Pathway Fund. Joel is a former trustee of the multi-national charity School for Social Entrepreneurs and a former Non-Executive Director of Youth Futures Foundation.

What they are involved with at Youth Futures

Joel is a member of our Grants & Evaluation Committee.

Parise supports the Youth Endowment Fund as a Race Equity Associate (Research & Evaluation), working with evaluators, researchers and project delivery organisations to advise on equitable evaluation design, trial implementation and reporting across youth justice, education, health and community settings. Parise previously worked as a Trial Manager in the Youth Mental Health Research Unit at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, supporting the delivery of multi-site evaluations and randomised trials within NHS research settings. Parise completed a PhD in Education through the national evaluation of the HeadStart programme, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, which aimed to explore and test new ways to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people through evidence generation and learning.

Thomas is the Director of Strategy and Operations at Cumbria Education Trust where he is responsible for collaborating with colleagues across the Trust to design and evaluate the Trust’s approach to school improvement. He ensures key decisions are made by following the best available research and evidence, which is key to rolling out effective School Improvement Plans.

Thomas has hands‑on experience of commissioning and running evaluations and his career has focused on combining rigorous evidence with practical delivery to improve opportunities for young people. His previous roles were with North East Learning Trust and the Education Endowment Foundation.

Adrian is the Director of Innovative Evidence, a consultancy looking to build new and exciting ways to tackle challenges. Prior to this, he held positions as Directors of Analysis and Data across the Ministry of Justice and HM Revenue & Customs. He has 36 years of experience of developing and using evidence to drive innovative policies and programmes including on employment and tackling disadvantage. He has a wide range of expertise including leading programmes of measurement, research, policy, operational and change appraisal, testing and trialling, evaluation and impact analysis.

About

Steph is Chief Executive of Leeds Community Foundation and GiveBradford and was previously responsible for raising and distributing over £20million a year at Charities Aid Foundation alongside leading its strategic advisory function for government, companies, and major donors. Steph has established, led, and worked in partnership with numerous grassroots and national charities over the years and began her career in Yorkshire as a youth worker giving careers advice to young people excluded from school. Steph is both an RSA and Windsor Leadership Fellow, has an MBA, and is a trustee of the Leeds Rhinos Foundation.

What they are involved with at Youth Futures

Steph is a member of our Grants & Evaluation Committee.

About

Robert Welch is Group Company Secretary of Monzo. He has over 20 years’ experience in leadership roles across a variety of public companies, was Securities Champion of the Dormant Assets Scheme and brings to Youth Futures a wealth of experience in governance, risk management, remuneration and compliance.   

What they are involved with at Youth Futures

Robert is a member of our Audit, Finance & Risk Committee.

About

Peter Wells is Professor of Public Policy Analysis at Sheffield Hallam University. He led the evaluation of the National Lottery Community Fund’s Talent Match programme. He has authored over 100 publications, many on the evaluation of public policies. He is the co-director of the ESRC funded Collaborative Centre for Community Connectedness.”

What they are involved with at Youth Futures

Peter is a member of our Grants & Evaluation Committee.