Board of Trustees

Chair of Trustees

Sharon is a retired senior manager who has managed complex teams across many countries, cultures and nationalities. She first volunteered as an English language mentor when she lived in America. Once she returned to the UK, she became a volunteer with another charity before discovering LEAH. She became a volunteer with LEAH in 2021. Sharon has also worked with an adult social care charity and currently volunteers with her local foodbank.

Deputy Chair

Harprit is a Londoner and grew up in a Punjabi speaking household, with parents who struggled to speak English but valued education, and told wonderful stories. Harprit brings a wealth of experience in education, has served as a school governor for 13 years and sits on ‘The Equity Awards - Campaign Development Board’ at Goldsmith’s College (University of London). Harprit is Company Secretary for The UK Foundation of the University of British Columbia.  She is interested in equality and diversity, and believes LEAH’s services can positively impact and improve lives.

Chair of the Finance Committee

A retired Finance Director, Ruth spent the majority of her career in the not for profit sector.  Working in a variety of roles across a wide spectrum of organisations, she gained experience in finance, facilities, IT and project management which she hopes to use in support of LEAH and its mission.  She is delighted to be joining the Board of Trustees of such an exceptional charity and looks forward to helping LEAH develop and achieve their long term goals.

Trustee

Qualified in the law in Canada and England and Wales, with a legal postgraduate degree from University of Cambridge, Harbinda has extensive experience in the charitable and nonprofit sectors in the areas of health, social exclusion and education. Throughout her professional career she has been fortunate to work with diverse ethnic minority and other marginalised groups. LEAH feels like coming home as English is not her first language and she has direct experience of the challenges that learners at LEAH face. She also volunteers as a LEAH tutor. Harbinda is delighted to be able to work with LEAH staff and volunteers to play a part in the charity’s continuing essential work and development.

Trustee

Sue is a semi retired teacher and has taught in a wide variety of settings in South London. Having retired from school teaching, Sue took the CELTA English language teaching qualification. She also wanted to experience the challenges of learning a difficult new language as an adult, so she is now in her fourth year of learning Mandarin Chinese. Sue has been a volunteer with LEAH since Autumn 2021 and finds her experience as a learner invaluable in her work as a teacher.

Sue is looking forward greatly to contributing to the continued success of LEAH’s invaluable work as a Trustee.

Trustee

Lakshmi has a background in product & design for both start-ups and corporations, currently working within the European Retail Ads division at Google. Prior this this role, she lived in New Zealand, where she helped to start-up the country's first non-profit company within the recruitment sector. She is interested in building awareness of LEAH across the web, and helping businesses to incorporate partnerships with LEAH into their business model.  

Trustee

Audrey is French and has a background in sales and marketing.  She has worked with top brands from the retail industry in France, Belgium and the UK to help them build their brand awareness and customer loyalty.  An arts and design aficionado, Audrey likes to discover new artists and she recently joined the board of Young Arts Fundraisers to help develop partnerships in the arts sector.  She is interested in building LEAH’s public awareness and fostering partnerships with the private sector to help LEAH expand its services to a wider public.

Trustee

​Barbara retired in 2019 following a career in software development and Project Management, both for large telecoms companies and for start-ups, and in a number of countries.

Inspired by her mother's previous work in adult literacy, she joined LEAH as a volunteer tutor in 2021, and is looking forward to continuing this as well as contributing to the activities of the Board. Barbara is also a Trustee of a local bereavement charity​.