New Trustees have been appointed to the Board of the Mayor’s Fund for London. We are a social mobility charity that empowers young Londoners from disadvantaged backgrounds to acquire the skills and opportunities they need to secure employment, climb the career ladder and escape the threat of poverty. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is the charity’s Patron. Last year, the Fund supported over 31,000 young Londoners, across all 33 boroughs, working in partnership with 325 schools, 220 employers and 78 charities, social enterprises and local authorities.
Welcoming them to the Board, Chair of Trustees, Tim Roberts said, ‘The Mayor’s Fund has always benefited from the support and leadership of an immensely experienced, diverse and committed Board. Several of our first cohort of Trustees have now completed their maximum 9 year terms, and we are hugely grateful for their contributions. We are delighted to welcome new Trustees to take their place.’
Elena Baturina: Born into a simple, working class family, Elena is a self-made woman who, as a pioneering Russian entrepreneur, created one of the country’s leading development corporations, Inteco. She sold Inteco in 2011, but continues to expand her business in the sphere of hospitality, investments through a broker online and development internationally. Elena is the founder of international charitable foundation, BE OPEN, and has been playing an active role in charitable causes for many years, supporting important projects in the field of culture, education, arts, design and sports internationally.
Mehmet Dalman: Mehmet is the Chairman and founder of WMG Advisers LLP. He is Chairman of HR Owen and Cardiff City Football Club. Previously, he was Chairman of ENRC, a FTSE 100 mining company. Prior to establishing WMG, Mehmet was Head of Investment Banking and a Member of the Board of Managing Directors of Commerzbank AG.
Melanie Grant: Melanie Grant has been a been a journalist for over 20 years having worked at The Times, The Financial Times, The Independent, The BBC and now The Economist where she writes about luxury. She also owned and ran her own creative agency for eight years producing photography and animation for commercial clients.
David Meller: David is joint Chairman and CEO of the Meller Group, one of the largest luxury home and beauty suppliers in the UK. David is also co-founder of Access Aspiration with Jenny. David is a non-executive board member for the Department for Education and is Chairman of the Meller Educational Trust.
Jenny Halpern Prince: Jenny is the founder of Halpern, a global PR and influencer agency part of the WPP network and &partnership, CHI & Partners. Jenny co-founded the education charity, Access Aspiration, which provides the most amount of aspirational work placements in London to State schools.
Moni Varma: Having run a successful steel business in Malawi, Moni Varma moved to the UK in 1982. In 1985 he set up a rice milling and packing business in west London, rapidly making a name for Veetee in the supply of high quality basmati rice. Today, Veetee is the largest rice supplier to the UK retail trade, with over one third of all rice now bought by UK supermarket shoppers produced by Veetee. The Group currently exports rice to about 50 countries from its seven factories around the world.
The full Board of Trustees:
- Tim Roberts, Chair
- Elena Baturina
- Mehmet Dalman
- Melanie Grant
- Jenny Halpern Prince
- Ian Livingstone
- Sir Harvey McGrath
- David Meller
- Michelle Pinggera
- Moni Varma