Trustees

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.

Stephen Burns

Stephen is Executive Director for Care and Communities at Peabody and is responsible for Peabody’s care services as well as the work of its community foundation. Stephen joined us in February 2022 and brings huge experience in leading strategically to enable strong and successful community based partnerships.

Chair

Husna Mortuza - Trustee
Husna Mortuza

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 is currently the Deputy Director of Advocacy and Public Engagement at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. 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.

 

Trustee

Sam Thomas

Sam is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Social Policy, Housing and Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) at Heriot-Watt University. In previous roles, he managed major grant funding programmes at the Health Foundation and led policy work for the Making Every Adult Matter coalition, working across the national charities Clinks, Mind, and Homeless Link to address multiple disadvantage.

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Trustee

Ali Hussein, Trustee
Ali Hussain

Ali has worked for JP Morgan in various roles over the last 22 years and is now an Executive Director in the Asset Management division. In his career he has worked on various finance roles and is currently the CFO for the Global Equities team.

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Trustee

Laura Ratling

Laura is a Creative Producer who specialises in large-scale socially-active arts and cultural projects, which explore and build the relationship between communities and the space around them. She has led programmes in both the UK and Uganda, for organisations including the Big Issue Foundation, the British Council and Emergency Exit Arts. She currently works as a Project Manager/Events and Engagement Officer for the City of London, and leads on community engagement strategies and programmes around Aldgate and surrounds. Laura has completed a Masters in Art and Politics at Goldsmiths College, in which she focussed on the notions of the ‘right to the city’ and the ‘right to culture’, both of which underpin her work.
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Trustee

Alice Gac


Alice is a senior insurance professional, chartered accountant, former Managing Director and former Head of Risk, Resilience & Response for Lloyd’s of London, with experience across financial services and education sectors in the UK and internationally. Alice is both a finance and risk professional and held a number of board positions including Finance Director and Chief Underwriting Officer.  Alice regularly sits as panel member to hear School Admission Appeals  for both Southwark Education Commission and Wandsworth Borough Council. She has also been a volunteer teacher for 10 years and delivers financial literacy training to primary schools in Tower Hamlets through The Switch.

 

Trustee

Thomas Nowacki


Thomas has lived close to Toynbee Hall for many years. He is an operational risk manager, with over 25 years’ experience in identifying and managing risks in technology and operations across global organisations, mainly in finance. He has worked for UBS since 2011 and has supported several local nonprofit arts organisations.

 

Trustee

Yu-Shan Chiu
Yu-Shan Chiu


Yu-Shan is a resident of Tower Hamlets and a social impact consultant at The Social Investment Consultancy. In this capacity, Yu-Shan has supported 30+ clients on impact evaluation, business development, and diversity, equity and inclusion. She focuses on social issues such as poverty, social mobility, racial justice, and arts and culture. Prior to her current role Yu-Shan was a consultant in the Social Innovation department at KPMG.

 

Trustee