Meet the team

Our Patron, Trustees and Executive Team

Patron

HM The Queen Royal Patron

Royal Patron

HM The Queen is the current Royal Patron of the Fund – a role she inherited from her father HM King George VI.

Trustees

John Pike Chair

Joseph a. Adesunloye Award-winning indie Screenwriter and Director

Sara Putt Founder and Managing Director of Sara Putt Associates

Juliet Gilkes Romero Award-winning writer for stage and screen

Andrew Wilson-Mouasher Divisional General Manager Wales and Southern England, Marie Curie UK

Suki Gill Chief Financial Officer for the UK, Northern & Eastern Europe for Viacom International Media Networks

Cameron Saunders Executive Vice President EMEA, Paramount Pictures

Deborah Rozansky Health and Social Care Consultant

Steve Jenkins Investment Asset Manager at LGT Vestra

Lori Houlihan Vice-Provost (Advancement), University College London

Melanie Tansey Group HR Director, Hachette UK

Chair

Coming soon

Award-winning indie Screenwriter and Director

Joseph is an award-winning indie Screenwriter and Director. He was nominated for the BFI IWC Schaffhausen Filmmakers Bursary Award at the 60th BFI London Film Festival in 2016. In 2017 Joseph was longlisted for BIFA’s Best Debut Screenwriter award for his film WHITE COLOUR BLACK. Joseph’s second feature film FACES had its world premiere at the Durban International Film Festival in 2018. The film stars Terry Pheto from Oscar-winning film Tsotsi. FACES won Best Feature Film at the 2018 Durban LGBT Film Festival and 2019 British Urban Film Festival. As a freelancer, Joseph is active in the LGBTQ and BAME sectors of the industry.

Founder and Managing Director of Sara Putt Associates

For 25 years Sara has run Sara Putt Associates, the UK’s leader agency for freelance technicians and production personnel based at Shepperton Studios. Sara Putt Associates also runs an in-house Trainee Scheme supporting the next generation of freelance talent including those entrants from less traditional backgrounds. Sara is a BAFTA Trustee, sits on the Board of BAFTA, is Chair of BAFTA’s Learning & New Talent Committee & Deputy Chair of the BAFTA TV Committee.

Award-winning writer for stage and screen

Juliet is an award-winning writer for stage and screen. Her earlier career as a journalist saw her reporting for the BBC from countries including Cuba, Ethiopia, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Juliet was also a recipient of the BBC’s Alexander Onassis Bursary Award. Juliet recently wrote an episode for the TV series SOON GONE; A WINDRUSH CHRONICLE (BBC4) co-produced by Sir Lenny Henry’s production company Douglas Road and the Young Vic Theatre. She has also written a political drama for a Limited TV Series, currently in development. Juliet’s play THE WHIP will open at the Royal Shakespeare Company on the Swan stage as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2019/2020 winter season.

Divisional General Manager Wales and Southern England, Marie Curie UK

Coming soon

Chief Financial Officer for the UK, Northern & Eastern Europe for Viacom International Media Networks

Suki is the Chief Financial Officer for the UK, Northern & Eastern Europe for Viacom International Media Networks, leading the finance function for Channel 5, MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central and is passionate about diversity and inclusion. Suki qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen and in a career spanning 24 years has held a variety of roles in the media sector including at Sony Music, Capital Radio Group, Channel 7 (Australia) and Sony Pictures International.

Executive Vice President EMEA, Paramount Pictures

Coming soon

Health and Social Care Consultant

Coming soon

Investment Asset Manager at LGT Vestra

Coming soon

Vice-Provost (Advancement), University College London

Coming soon

Group HR Director, Hachette UK

Coming soon

Executive Team

Alex Pumfrey Chief Executive Officer

Chief Executive Officer

Alex has always worked in the creative industries, across television, arts, sports and media. Her passion is helping creativity to flourish in people and businesses. She has held both strategy and delivery roles and likes it best when she can do both together to create real change. Her ‘big break’ in telly came when she worked at Channel 4, and after that she worked for the public service broadcasters at Digital UK.
She loves going to the cinema and in another life would be a documentary filmmaker. Her favourite TV programme of all time is probably West Wing, but confesses that at the end of a working day she watches anything that’s light relief. She is passionate about gender equality and women’s rights. She very occasionally runs half marathons but has two small children so mostly runs after them.

Rachel Hillman Director of Grants and Programmes

Director of Grants and Programmes

Rachel has a diverse background working across media, science, arts and public engagement. Before joining the charity, she spent over ten years at Wellcome, where she set up their successful Broadcast, Games and Film strategy and launched a number of innovative industry schemes such as the Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship. She loves film and TV that challenges our thinking about ourselves and our futures and, for this reason, her favourite film is Her.

Alan de Sousa Caires Director of Finance & Operations

Director of Finance & Operations

Alan joined the Charity in 2019 to help the teams maximise the impact of the organisation.
Alan brings 15 years’ experience in charity finance and 20 years’ in the corporate sector. Alan loves travel and has lived or holidayed in more than 50 countries including two years in South Africa running Management Today magazine and a year in Papua New Guinea working in international development.
Alan’s favourite Actor is Tom Hanks, and his favourite film is Big.