Our Trustees
The Trustees at Toynbee Hall have ultimate Governance responsibility for the organisation. They have legal responsibility for the charity’s work, guide strategy, support the Senior Management Team and ensure the objectives of Toynbee Hall are realised. All Toynbee Hall Trustees are volunteers.
Julian Corner
Chair
Julian is chief executive of Lankelly Chase Foundation, which he joined in 2011 from the Home Office where he had been head of its crime strategy unit. Julian lives in Tower Hamlets and is committed to our key role in improving lives in the borough.
Husna Mortuza
Trustee
Husna grew up locally to Toynbee Hall and has strong connections to the area. Beyond Toynbee Hall, she advocates for policy changes in areas of social justice and welfare reform and has recently joined charity Education Support as Head of Policy and Communication. She is a former civil servant and Head of Policy Campaigns for the pan disability charity, Leonard Cheshire. Husna has extensive experience of Policy Development, Strategy and Campaigns with Governments and the not-for-profit sector.
Maysam Rizvi
Trustee
Founder and CEO, Elifinity. Maysam’s career is defined by problem solving and tapping fruitful new areas of opportunity. He is a keen advocate for the fair use of technology in finance and is a thought leader on open banking and artificial intelligence
Tahera Rouf
Trustee
Tahera is an architect with Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture and has extensive experience in the education sector. She was part of the RIBA award winning Westborough Primary School zero carbon remodeling and research project, looking into ways to refurbish primary schools to be meet zero carbon standards.
Sarah Squires
Member of the Finance Committee
Sarah Squires is a barrister at Old Square Tax Chambers and has significant experience of advising on corporate, finance and real estate transactions. She is a long standing trustee of Toynbee Hall, with a real expertise in governance
Kate Swade
Chair of Redevelopment Project Panel
A former Residential Volunteer at Toynbee Hall who now runs social enterprise Shared Assets, Kate until recently lived in Tower Hamlets
David Warner
Chair of the Finance Committee
Former chief executive of London Funders and before that Homeless Link, with a huge knowledge of civil society inside and outside London
Kawsar Zaman,
Trustee
A pupil Barrister who grew up and still lives locally. He is a qualified solicitor having worked previously at Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy
Halima Begum
New Trustee
Halima works as an independent political analyst and social policy expert. Experienced in international development work and specialising in education. She has worked with the European Commission, United Nations, World Bank and NGO and lived and worked in Bangladesh, China, Nepal and Indonesia on long term diplomatic assignments with the British government. Halima is also Chair of Women’s Environmental Network.
Laura Ratling
New Trustee
Laura works as the Project Manager/Events and Engagement Officer for City of London and sits on the Aldgate Partnership Board. She has experience as a creative producer specialising in socially focused art projects and community engagement, having carried out a lot of work in Aldgate and Whitechapel.
Dee O Connell
New Trustee
Dee is the Deputy Director for the Building Safety Programme at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. She is highly experienced in policy and strategy and has worked for the government in various other departments and policy areas, including crime and policing at The Home Office, children and young people, inclusion and domestic violence. She is also the founder of Dalston Partnership.
Gemma Wosznicki
New Trustee
Gemma currently works as a Programme Manager for the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime. She was previously employed by Greater London Authority. Her professional focus is around seeking better outcomes for victims of crime through affecting strategic change. She has experience working specifically with women and girls, schools, youth violence and history and heritage.
Ali Hussein
New Trustee
Ali has worked for JP Morgan in various roles for the last 14 years and is now the Vice President for Regulatory Change and Advocacy. In his career he has worked on community engagement on behalf of corporates and managed regulatory developments and projects. He is also Governor of Sir John Cass School (Aldgate).
Sam Thomas
New Trustee
Sam is a Policy and Programme Manager currently working at Health Foundation across health, social policy and housing, specialising in substance misuse and mental health. His focus is on improving support and outcomes for people facing the most severe forms of disadvantage and exclusion.
