Our team

Jenni leads The Talent Foundry team on its strategy, growth and impact. She has worked in the third sector for over 20 years increasing income, devising marketing and communications campaigns within youth development, sport and children's health organisations.

She was the first in her family to go university, taking a non-traditional route to her undergraduate degree, culminating in an MSc in Charity Accounting & Financial Management from Bayes Business School.

She loves sport and is a Trustee (formerly Chair) of the Active Essex Foundation. Jenni enjoys triathlon and duathlon and with her husband has two cats and two dogs.

Alex is a qualified management accountant, and holds a Diploma in Charity Accounting & Finance Management from the Cass Business School.

She has worked across the NHS, Local Authority and not-for-profit sectors over the last 35 years, holding senior leadership roles at School-Home Support, Young Minds and Target Ovarian Cancer.

She has also completed the Sayer Vincent ‘Inspiring Charity Leadership’ course; has served as a Vice Chair of Governors at a nursery school, and as a trustee at the Mary Ward Adult Education Centre.

Cate joined in 2017 after working in Beirut for five years. While in Lebanon, she worked at the United Nations (UNRWA) coordinating an EU-funded employability project, before moving on to manage humanitarian relief and development programmes.

Cate sits on the Editorial Board of Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, a peer-reviewed, inter-disciplinary academic journal. She is also the Chair of the Barclays LifeSkills Youth Advisory Council (LYAC).

Cate holds a first-class honours degree in International Relations from the University of Leeds.

Francesca's background is in training and employability. Prior to The Talent Foundry, she worked on the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as a Training Coordinator and worked with an employability charity as a Progression Officer.

She graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a first class honours degree in Fine Art and Art History, where she then went on to complete a Masters in Fine Art.

Julia has worked in programme management roles in the commercial and not-for-profit sectors. Originally from Australia, she started her career in advertising before transitioning to managing cultural projects with a social impact. In the UK, Julia managed an art gallery dedicated to empowering marginalised indigenous communities. She played a key role in organising the Fitzrovia Arts Festival, curating an inclusive programme of events, with a focus on accessible programming for children.

Julia has a passion for travelling and hiking and has volunteered in South Africa on social mobility projects.

Olivia re-joined The Talent Foundry having spent ten months working and traveling in Australia and the far east. While in Australia she spent time fundraising for the Red Cross and Child Fund which increased her interest for working within the charity sector.

Prior to working for The Talent Foundry and after completing her A Levels, Olivia worked as an investor relations associate for a startup.

Pip graduated from the University of Kent with a First-Class Honours degree in Social Psychology and achieved a Distinction in an MSc in Forensic Psychology.

Since then, she has been involved in work and volunteer roles within children's services for five+ years. Pip has worked in Support Worker and Academic Support Assistant roles, leading workshops with a particular emphasis on improving access to high-quality education and support for neurodiverse students.

For her master's thesis, Kristina explored the role of non-governmental organisations in providing children with educational opportunities to tackle the issue of child labour.

She coordinated volunteer recruitment, planned and implemented the summer programme for looked after children and volunteered as a fundraiser.

Prior to TTF Matt worked at a local charity in Essex that supported vulnerable young people with learning and physical disabilities. By seeing the positive impact of the connections he made, he fell in love with the charity sector. In joining TTF he is able to deliver this impact on a national scale.

Matt graduated during the pandemic in 2020 with a degree in Psychology.

Maria graduated with a first-class honours degree in Media Arts from Royal Holloway, University of London, and worked as a freelance short-film producer. Alongside this, she worked for a local tuition centre and passionately volunteered at food banks and with animal welfare charities.

More recently, she volunteered with Mind, where she created, coordinated, and presented a series of Anger Management and Awareness workshops for young people.

Sean enjoyed a 20+ years career in the ICT industry working internationally across sectors. He then took a huge career change to work in disadvantaged schools for over 15 years, initially as a teacher, progressing to become an Assistant Headteacher and a recognised expert in Early Years.

In the not-for-profit sector he has successfully delivered programmes to reduce exclusions and improve engagement for young people.

A proud dad of three grown up children he enjoys volunteering at a weekly local community coffee morning.

Susie has worked in learning and development for over 25 years in the UK and internationally based across multiple sectors.

More recently she focused on attracting, recruiting and developing students leaving education and entering the world of work.

As a mum of two teenage boys, a mental health first aider, advisor to SEND schools and a member of the SEND steering group in Gloucestershire she is passionate about helping to level the playing field for every individual leaving education.

Sophie graduated from UCL with an MA in Social Justice and Education in 2022, focusing on addressing racial inclusivity in education.

Prior to TTF she worked as a programme coordinator at an education charity. She has spent a decade volunteering as a leader with Girlguiding UK, where she was also an inclusion advisor, helping to create a more inclusive organisation for all members