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Our Trustees

Our Trustees are critical to the running of our trust, they bring a vast breadth of expertise from a range of areas.

At the forefront of their thoughts and decisions is the students that we serve. Below is an opportunity to learn more about them and their backgrounds.

To contact our Chair of Trustees, Mr Neil Yeomans, please email Ms C Morris at cmorris@sfaet.co.uk.

Neil Yeomans - Chair of Trustees

Screenshot 2023 01 22 at 14.16.57Neil has recently retired having spent over 30 years working in audit and accounting for one of the largest global professional services firms and was a partner for the last 20 years.  

He has traveled extensively and worked in Australia for 2 years and Poland for 3 years. Neil is a qualified Chartered Accountant and as well as having skills in financial management and control, he has experience in project management, risk management and governance.  

Neil has a number of other voluntary roles, including being a school and college governor, trustee of a number of charities focussed on providing assistance to the vulnerable and isolated and non executive director of a couple of businesses with a similar focus. He also acts as a mentor to university students and business start-up young entrepreneurs. As well as being a Trustee of SFAET, Neil was previously Chair of the Local Governing body for Sanders Draper School.

Deborah Smart - Vice Chair of Trustees

Deborah SmartDeborah is Finance & Business Manager for the Innovation & Growth Directorate at the City of London Corporation. Prior to this, Deborah worked in the Social Investment sector, where she specialised in developing and delivering large scale support programmes for charities and social enterprises. Deborah is also a trustee of Radio Forest, a hospital broadcasting charity based in Essex.

Deborah grew up and attended schools in Havering, and passionately believes that all children should be supported to reach their potential.

Joanne Hatfield

Joanne HatfieldJoanne is the HR Director for a Multi Academy Trust and a chartered member of the CIPD with 25 plus years' post qualification experience gained within varying medium and large Local Authorities across London and the South East. She has extensive experince as a HR/OD generalisy and specialist on both a strategic and operational front. She is also able to effectively integrate workforce strategy within organisational culture to follow through on business direction changes to support the transformation of services delivered. Her HR career for the last 15 years has been targeted to support Education and Childrens Services as it is fundamental that every child shoudl haev access to excellent education and have the opportunity to flourish as individuals and our leaders of tomorrow. Joanne's ability to influence and support that through the recruitment and development of teachers and support staff in schools is key.

Ian Seymour

Ian SeymourIan has worked in the financial departments of several major foreign banks, focusing on regulatory balance sheet and P&L data for over 30 years. During which he has worked in Frankfurt, Singapore and Manila on system implementations and transformation projects. He has worked alongside a number of charities including Help a London Child, Rays of Sunshine and Cure Leukaemia as a charity ambassador and fundraiser. Ian has helped mentor interns and graduates into full time employment. Away from work, Ian is a keen golfer and sits on the Board of Directors at Romford Golf Club.

Andrew Grounds

Andrew GroundsAndrew has worked in the education sector for over 15 years including state and independent senior schools starting his career in Barking. His roles have included Head of Year, Head of Middle School as well as his current role as Housemaster at St Edward's, a leading independent boarding school in Oxford. Alongside these roles, Andrew completed his MSc in Leatrning and Teaching at Oxford University focussing in the role of homework in education and he has also been part of academic initiatives including the development of alternative GCSEs, the growth in the International Baccalaureate, and the development of a new Mathematics curriculum at priary age. Andrew grew up and attended schools in the Havering area and is a keen sportsman playing rugby for Oxford University as well as coaching for Wasps at youth level.

Natasha Howard

Natasha HowardNatasha is Head of Knowledge and Library Services at NELFT NHS Trust. Prior to NELFT she worked for a start-up in the city and at a healthcare charity; she has over 20 years of experience in the library and information sector and was joint winner of the CILIP k&IM and UKeIG Information Manager of the Year Award 2020.

Natasha is passionate about health inequalities and health and digital literacy. In her spare time she enjoys running (slowly) and can often be found participating and volunteering at local parkruns.

 

Natasha holds a BSc. in Geography from King's College London and MA in Information Studies; she is a Fellow of the CILIP: the Library and Information Association.

Mayank Sharma

Mayank SharmaMayank Sharma is a Supply Chain Leader at Amazon with expertise in driving transformations across the globe, through strategy development, implementation of digital solutions and delivering improved processes and decision making across planning procurement, logistics, fulfilment and sustainability. Over the last 14 years, Mayank has worked across Consulting (large global professional services firms), Operations and Technology giving him a well rounded approach to identifying operating models through outcome driven programmes. Mayank grew up and attended schools in Asia and the Middle East and has a BEng degree in Manufacturing Engineeing and a Masters in Supply Chain from Warwick. He is passionate about digital literacy, inclusion and equal opportunities for children from all backgrounds. Mayank works with local charities through work to act as a mentor to young students at schools and universities across the UK.

Tejumade Sogbetun

Tejumade SogbetunTeju is a Senior Manager within the NHS and has experience in policy, project management and strategic planning. Despite having a career in healthcare, Teju has a passion for education and motivatinf the next generation to reach their full potential. To help this she regularly volunteers in schools and youth groups across London leading workshops on education, career and personal development. 

Teju has been a non-executive Director of RPAT since 2019, where she was the nominated Safeguarding Lead. She hopes that this experience alongside her educational and career history, combined with her passion for education can help develop The Success for All Educational Trust further.

Dele Olufisan

Dele OlufisanDele is an Investment Executive at British International Investment, an impact investing firm, where he is responsible for making debt investments in financial institutions in emerging markets, with a particular focus on sustainability and inclusion. He has over 10 years experience in the financial services industry and has worked in various roles in asset management and corporate banking.

Since 2015, Dele has been a mentor to secondary school students on career choices and higher education. This stems from his passion of young people reaching their full potential and having equal access to opportunities regardless of their background.

Dele holds an MSc in Infrastructure Investment & Finance from University College London, as well an MSc in Finance & Management, and a BSc in Economics, both from Loughborough University.

Minaar Hansi

IMG 20191225 163319 706I was born and have lived in London all my life. Following the completion of my A Levels, I completed an Apprenticeship and then went on to work my way through several sectors such as Healthcare, Charity, and Railway, building on my skills and knowledge in Data Science and Programming. I currently work in Financial Services as a Corporate Performance Manager and in my spare time, I enjoy the art of patisserie as well as learning new programming languages as I don't believe we should ever stop learning, regardless of what route we take after finishing our GCSE's or A Levels.

I look forward to bringing my experience and knowledge to SFAET and supporting the trust to achieve its long and short term goals.

Sana Essid

HeadshotSana Essid is a seasoned Senior Operations Consultant at Amazon Web Services (AWS), specialising in advising global financial customers on operating models and IT strategies to drive successful digital transformations through cloud adoption and modernisation. With a multicultural background that includes growing up in France and studying in Germany, the UK, and Jordan, Sana brings a diverse perspective to her work.

With a strong educational foundation, including an MBA, Sana embarked on a self-taught journey in IT and has since accumulated 17 years of experience in IT operations across various industries, including cinema, newspaper, transport, and finance.

In addition to her professional endeavours, Sana is actively involved in community initiatives. In 2019, she joined the Sanders School Local Committee, contributing to the school's achievement of a Good OFSTED rating for the first time. Furthermore, she dedicates her spare time to volunteering at the East London Mosque, where she passionately teaches the basics of Islam to both new Muslims and non-Muslims.

Sana's unique blend of expertise, multicultural background, and commitment to community engagement make her a valuable asset in the technology industry and a compassionate advocate for education and cultural understanding.

Sonehal Kooner

Sonehal Kooner

Sonehal is a Consultant Solicitor with over 14 years of experience handling complex and high-value litigation claims for individuals, businesses, sports institutions, government departments, and public bodies. 

He studied Law in both England and Italy and continues to maintain a considerable cross-jurisdictional portfolio of work.

Away from work, Sonehal is an enthusiastic advocate for helping his local community and spends a great deal of time on charitable causes close to his heart, such as the International Rescue Committee, who helps people around the world suffering from political or environmental disasters. He is also passionate about helping children and young adults in any way possible. Aside from his work with SFAET, Sonehal mentors a number of school and university students each year. 

In his spare time, Sonehal enjoys the simple things in life, particularly spending time outdoors with his closest friends and family.