Meet the Team

OUR VOLUNTEER MENTORS

Our volunteer mentors are a the heart of the ReachOut team; without them we wouldn’t exist. They are the reason we’re able to run our projects and support the young people we work with.

ReachOut’s volunteers are from all backgrounds and walks of life – from university students to working professionals and retirees – they’re passionate about making a difference in their local community.

Our Project Leaders

ReachOut Project Leaders are sessional staff who do amazing work facilitating our weekly mentoring projects. 

Every Project Leader is part of our exciting Leadership Development Programme, a one-year scheme designed to support their professional development and provide direct experience leading groups of young people and volunteers.

ReachOut Staff Team

SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM

Our experienced Senior Management leads the organisation and works closely with the Board of Trustees to ensure ReachOut is always delivering outstanding front line services, innovating creatively, and building for the future.

Alice Memminger

Interim CEO

Joy Upchurch

Head of Delivery

James Williams

Head of Marketing and Partnerships

PROJECT TEAM

Our project team manages all of our projects – liaising with schools, supporting mentors and maximising the impact on students.

Alice Cleary

Delivery Lead

Mehmet Aygun

Programme Development Manager

Nicole Burgess

Project Manager, London

Ella Downs

Project Manager, London

Ruth Butler

Project Manager, North West

Jess Morgan

Project Manager, North West

Leonie Saunderson

Project Officer, North West

Rory Hemsted

Project Officer, North West

Kiran Khela

Project Officer, North West

Lizzie Reay

Project Officer, London

Alondra Vera

Project Officer, London

Phoebe Gittins

Project Officer, London

Samii Miller

Project Officer, London

VOLUNTEER TEAM

Our volunteer team leads in recruiting over 1000 mentors in our locations of London, Greater Manchester and Liverpool. They design and deliver our extensive mentor training programme and ensure volunteers have a fantastic experience at ReachOut.

Rebecca Waite

Volunteer Manager

Sia Kampouri

Volunteer Officer, North West

Alice McGILL

Volunteer Officer, London

Jasmin Kees

Programme Assistant

Partnerships Team

Our partnerships team develops partnerships with companies, trusts and foundations and individuals.

Felicity Lewis

Fundraising and Partnerships Manager

Lydia Warrilow

Fundraising Officer (Maternity Cover)

Ruby Richards

Fundraising Officer

SUPPORT TEAM

Our support team work closely with all teams to ensure ReachOut runs smoothly.  Our Operations Manager, Marketing Manager and People Manager liaise with senior management to support the strategic development of the organisation.

Chady Sabeti

People Manager

Kevin McCarthy

Operations Manager

Tom Jeffery

Marketing and Communications Manager

Bhavin Jamnadas

Operations Officer

Our Board of Trustees

Edmund Lehmann, Chair

A former mentor, Ed became a trustee in 2009 and Chairman in 2011. In his very early career Ed was a youth worker for the London Borough of Camden, and is a qualified mountain leader, climbing instructor and Duke of Edinburgh's Award expeditions assessor. After 15 years in commodities trading and business development at Shell and BG Group, Ed now runs his own fund, investing in financial markets as well as start-up ventures where he has a particular interest and relevant experience to offer. Ed holds the bilingual MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona and an undergraduate degree from the University of Manchester and Sciences-Po, Paris, in Philosophy and Political Science. He leads the board and has a particular focus on business planning and strategy.

Marion Baker

As a trustee of the Four Acre Trust Marion got to know ReachOut from 2011, visiting the charity and learning what we do first hand. A former Director of Ohal Marketing Consultancy (a WPP company providing statistical modelling and consultancy to major companies in the UK, Europe and USA), her responsibilities included project delivery, recruitment, training and people development as well as sales and marketing. Now retired she is a volunteer fundraiser for the NSPCC and a member of their senior volunteer committees as well as retaining her role as a trustee at the Four Acre Trust. Marion brings extensive operational experience of SME life and detailed understanding of ReachOut’s space in the charity sector to the board.

Zeynab Yusuf

Zeynab joined ReachOut as a mentor in 2015, progressing to a Project Leader and leading an exceptional mentoring project through her 2nd & 3rd years of university. She carried our her undergraduate research project on the factors that influence young people’s educational and occupational aspirations and after graduating became a secondary school Mathematics teacher. She became a trustee in 2019 and helps the board with understanding and experience of our young people, their lives and also the challenges for teachers and parents.

Tom Edmonds

Tom Edmonds is the Founder of Edmonds Elder, a digital creative agency that works with clients ranging from Deliveroo and Sky to ParalympicsGB. He previously ran the UK first's ever digital election campaign, helping the Conservatives secure an unexpected majority at the 2015 UK General Election. Since then, his work and focus has been on helping organisations use creativity to engage stakeholders and drive the results that really matter to them. He has been involved with ReachOut for nearly a decade.

Nimesh Patel

Nimesh is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of Spirax-Scaro, a FTSE 100 engineering company. Before joining them in 2020, Nimesh held various senior roles in the finance sector including Chief Financial Officer of the De Beers Group and Head of Corporate Finance at Anglo American. He spent 14 years in investment banking at both JP Morgan, and as a Managing Director at UBS. Nimesh holds a BSc in Mathematics, Operations Research, Statistics and Economics from the University of Warwick. He joined the board in 2019, and specialises in business planning and finance, leading ReachOut’s Finance and Impact Sub-committee.

James Browne

Currently Director, Specialist Businesses at BT, James has held a variety of senior commercial and marketing roles globally across FTSE 100 companies covering consumer goods, durables and finance sectors, including at Hiscox, and Phillips, where he held various general manager and senior marketing roles over ten years. An advocate of building businesses by committing to the success and well-being of people, he holds a 1st class degree from University of Bristol and the bilingual MBA from IESE Business School. James specialises in business growth, commercial development and marketing on our board.

JOIN Our Team

By joining ReachOut, you’ll become part of a fun, tight-knit, supportive team where you’ll constantly be progressing and learning, whilst making a difference to the young people we work with.

We use cookies to improve your experience on our site and to show you the most relevant information. To find out more, read our updated Privacy Policy

CASE STUDY

“At first, I was really hesitant to take on the Project Leader role, despite having mentored with ReachOut. However, with the support of the team I’ve really developed my skills. For example, at the Mentee Graduation, I stood up in front of 200 people and presented an award which is something I would never ever have been able to have done before, and isn’t an opportunity I could gain in my other situations.”

Amy McCutcheon, Project Leader at ReachOut Academy, Dean Trust Ardwick, Manchester.

CASE STUDY 03

“Being able to spend the summer working at Rede Partners, was an amazing experience. Whether it was working in HR or Finance, I learned so much about the world of private equity, made great connections with fantastic people and I got to learn first-hand what it would be like to work there! I really believe that I can go onto build the career I want now I’ve been a part for a workplace for real”

Victor Adekunle, 18 years old, ReachOut Ambassador, London

CASE STUDY 02

“When I first my mentee, she was very reluctant to participate in the sessions. Now, I see a completely different person! Her confidence has grown and she is happy to join in! She still has some self-doubt when it comes to academic work, but that’s what I hope to help her overcome, because she is a very bright person!

Through mentoring, I’ve learnt I’m a lot more patient than I realised. There will be days where she refuses to participate and those are the days that I really see the importance of the character strengths, for both the mentees and the mentors. It also makes it easier for the mentee to understand the character strengths, when I use them myself”

Myrtle, ReachOut Club mentor at Tufnell Primary School, London

CASE STUDY 01

“There are more distractions than ever outside of school, and the commitment of our students to attend ReachOut sessions is testament to the value they place on the relationships they foster there, and the challenge and enjoyment they provide.

ReachOut’s focus on communication skills and character development has become an important aspect of our provision of support for these students. The opportunity to relate to a positive role- model other than their usual teachers is key to the programme’s impact, and the evidence of this has been seen in the students’ attendance, resilience and to their overall progress across all the subjects in the school.”

Thomas Janvrin, Assistant Vice Principal at the Petchey Academy London