England committee members

"I am very pleased to have joined BIG which has made an enormous contribution to the communities and people in need across the UK. I believe that BIG has a really important leadership role to play not only because of the breadth and depth of its reach but also because of its willingness to test new approaches that can enhance its contribution to communities and people in need."

Nat Sloane is an experienced funder. He was the co-founder and is now Vice Chair of Impetus Trust, the first venture philanthropy trust fund in the UK. Nathaniel Sloane is also an Independent member of the Bridges Social Enterprise Fund’s Investment Committee, and has advisory board membership for Social Finance Impact Bond, European Venture Philanthropy Association Knowledge Centre and Liveryman for the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants. He has also been vice chair of Crime Concern.

Nat Sloane does not hold any other Ministerial appointments.

"As a former priest in the inner-city I know at first-hand the crucial difference a well-directed grant can make to the lives of people in places of greatest need."

He was previously a vicar in Sheffield and Leicester. He continues as director of the Centre of Ethics and Religion at Lancaster University.

Alan is also a member of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. He previously trained clergy as principal of a theological college in Birmingham.
Between 1973 and 1986, Alan was a member of Sheffield City Council and served for a time as its deputy leader and chair of the finance committee.
He has held a number of other public service posts, having been chair of the Cumbria Courts Board between 2004 and 2006 and
He is a member of the Home Office Community Cohesion Panel between 2002 and 2004, set up after the disturbances in Burnley, Bradford and Oldham.

Between 1999 and 2006 he was a schools adjudicator and from 1997-99 a board member of the Funding Agency for Schools, chairing its finance committee, and from 1994-2007 he was chair of the Springfield Women’s Refuge in Kendal.

He is a contributor to “Thought for the Day” on Radio Four.

"BIG has brought real improvements to the lives of people and communities in need across the UK and internationally. It has improved the quality of life in rural areas, towns and cities, impacted on volunteering, improved community health, and generated facilities and opportunities for isolated communities and individuals. And it can still achieve a lot more."

Albert has a longstanding track record with leading charitable funders financing UK and international development. He has had senior management and non-executive roles in regeneration, community development and social enterprise.

He was Chief Executive of Twin and Twin Trading for nine years, and has been the chair of Comic Relief’s International Grants Committee and associated with Comic Relief for over 16 years, funding innovative programmes with poor communities in the UK, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

He is also:

trustee and grants panel member of the City Parochial Foundation
a non-Executive Director of The Places for People Group, one of the largest and leading Registered Social Landlords in the UK
chair of the Assurance and Regulation Board.

He currently works as an independent consultant and recently worked with the BBC, contributing to their Africa Lives season.

"Through the privilege of visiting projects and meeting organisations funded by BIG, I continue to be impressed with the support, financial and otherwise provided to enable individuals and communities to identify and respond to the issues and challenges that are important to them"

Nalini was a trustee of Comic Relief from 1996 to 2010 and chair of the UK Grants Committee from 1992 to 2010.

She is currently a lay member of a number of organisations including:

• PhonePay Plus, the regulator for premium rate phone-paid services through your landline or mobile phone account
• General Medical Council,
• Nursing and Midwifery Council,
• Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Tribunal. Earlier in her career, she was chief executive of the Rainer Foundation for three years - a charity for young people taking it through a merger with the Royal Philanthropic Society to form what is now Catch 22. She has worked for a number of other charities, including the Family Service Units, beginning her career as a social worker in the London Borough of Waltham Forest.

She has also carried out a number of assignments as a management consultant, including interim director of EAVES Housing for Women, and assignments for the Ethnic Alcohol Counselling Hounslow, North East London Advocacy, Lambeth Council and Lambeth Voluntary Action Council.

She has had appointments for children's services in Newham Social Services as a consultant commissioner, served as a board member of the Children and Families Court Advisory Support Service (CAFCASS), a Trustee of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and as a lay member of the Solicitors' Regulation Authority.

Finally, she has been a committee member of the Association for Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations and the Ashiana Young Asian Women's Refuge.

"We see a wide range of excellent applications from organisations and projects across England. There are very difficult decisions to be made but it is great to be able to fund projects which make a real difference to peoples' lives"

The South West RDA is a non-departmental public body which wasresponsible for promoting sustainable economic development in the region. Before this he was managing director of the Laird Group plc,a UK based multinational manufacturing company.Hewas a non-executive directoron the Court of the Bank of Englandfrom2005 to 2009.

He is now a non-executive director of the Eden Projectand a non-executive director of the South West Strategic Health Authority where he also chairs the Capital Investment Group.

"It is a real privilege to serve on the England Committee. Given the tough external circumstances, the importance and potential of England's voluntary voices has never been more crucial. We have a vital role in supporting voluntary action in identifying exemplary practice and in seeking to increase the impacts of BIG's investment in not-for-profit activities at the heart of some our most deprived communities."

Daniels' career in public service culminated in four CEO roles. 

• London Boroughs Grants, at that time London's largest investor in the voluntary sector
• The Commission for Racial Equality, the UK's statutory agency for enhancing and enforcing equal rights for minority communities
• London Remade , a green social enterprise, reclaiming the economic and social value of London's waste and delivering the Mayor's Green Procurement Code
• Interights an international human rights charity which litigated at international courts to extend human rights protections and jurisprudence to some of the world's most disadvantaged communities.

"I believe that there are many committed, passionate individuals who are working very hard to solve some of the toughest problems in society and they need a supportive environment that enables them to perform to their best. I mentor CEOs of small charities with the aim of providing them with a sounding board and sharing experiences"

Geeta is a Trustee of Pilotlight including acting as a mentor to small charities. She is particularly interested in supporting them to help them develop and delegate as the organisation grows.

Most recently Geeta was held senior appointments at Monitise plc, Vayana Financial Services, HBOS, and Citigroup. She also served as Director UK Payments Council and Director VocaLink.

"The diversity and the small size of community based charities and organisations presents a challenge to funders – both in finding them and understanding the organisations and their effectiveness"

Scott is a former partner of Alchemy and Director of Samuel Montagu. He currently holds a number of non-executive director positions.

He chairs the Evaluation Committee of the charity Pilotlight. All the charities helped by Pilotlight are small (under £2m income pa) and the many are community based organisations tackling the major social issues we face in this country.

"I believe that strong engaged communities with purpose, empowerment and finance to get things done are the backbone of a successful society – projects run by motivated locals can achieve far more than central ever could"

Steve has spent the last five years in Non Executive roles  helping Boards to develop strategy and support executive teams in management execution. Most recently he was CEO for Interflora and was responsible for the restructure from a member’s organisation to a regular stock company.

Steve was previously a trustee of Backup Trust, a charity for the rehabilitation of people with spinal injuries and ten years ago brought UNICEF into Manchester United when he was Managing Director of the merchandising division. A partnership that continues to this day.

In recent years Steve has focused much attention on ethical and environmental corporate responsibilities including introducing Fairtrade flowers to Interflora and setting the debate on the environmental impact of food production and distribution at Abel & Cole.