This Trustee Week, we’re delighted to announce that Khulisa have appointed a new Chair, Laurie Martin to step into the formidable shoes of Jean-Marc Morel, after 7 years at the helm of Khulisa, of which 4 were as chair.
Jean-Marc joined Khulisa in 2017. During his time he helped lead the organisation through the highs and lows of being a small charity including responding to the pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis and a surge for our services as young people’s mental health continues to deteriorate. He leaves having guided Khulisa through a number of changes including;
- Financially, our turn over when he joined was less than £750K – in 23/24 our accounts tipped the £1mil mark for the first time!
- Strategically, we’ve wrapped up our work in the criminal justice system and moved into the preventative space, focusing on our work in schools and supporting to reducing the attendance and exclusion gap.
- Governance, Jean-Marc on-boarded 8 new board members during his time as Chair, inspiring the next generations of leaders at Khulisa.
“My time at Khulisa has been marked externally by rapid change and challenge, with the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis both featuring as points where flexible leadership was needed. Throughout this time Khulisa has strengthened it’s purpose, invested in evaluation and impact to understand where we are seeing the most significant change and created strategies that look to supporting the whole community around the child. I am immensely proud of the team who I've worked with, both in leadership and in our programmes team and look forward to seeing where Khulisa goes next under Laurie’s leadership” - Jean-Marc
Our New Chair
Laurie Martin will be stepping up as Chair formally from 6th November. With a career spanning the public, private and charity sectors, Laurie is deeply committed to Khulisa’s mission and is well placed to support Khulisa to grow its long term impact in its new strategic period.
Laurie worked for an education non-profit and as a child protection social worker, before joining the civil service. He has held a variety of policy and strategy roles in central government in the Cabinet Office and Department for Education – including as Head of Strategic Policy, where he advised Ministers and Secretaries of State on shaping and delivering their strategic priorities across schools, skills and families policy.
After a decade in the public and third sector, Laurie moved into management consultancy, advising senior executives on improving public services, across central and local government, and the health system. The national scale of rising social and emotional needs was underscored for him during a project he led with local authorities to identify opportunities to improve outcomes in special educational needs systems.
He brings a valuable blend of frontline experience, social policy expertise, and a track record of translating strategy into delivery. This is particularly important for us in this strategic cycle as we look to increase our impact and influence. He steps in with the full support of the board of Trustees and of our experienced Deputy Chair, Dami Solebo who offers continuity having been with us for nearly 4 years.
“I’m delighted to be joining the Khulisa team at a critical point in the organisation's development, building on the work of the current board and Jean-Marc’s leadership. I know first-hand the challenges faced by some of our most disadvantaged young people, and the long term impacts this can have on their life chances. I am incredibly excited to help steer Khulisa as it continues to strengthen and grow, and ensure that more and more young people benefit from our strengths-based, therapeutic interventions." - Laurie Martin
Governance - The Wider Board
Laurie will be joining a wider team of 9 board members including a Chair, Deputy Chair, Treasurer and 6 trustees with varying specialisms and lived experience of our work. Finance, Fundraising, communications, school partnerships and delivery, learning and development, people and culture and performance are all represented across the board and in special working groups.
We are also delighted that the board has been refreshed with new members in the last 6 months that include:
Nick Darbyshire – Nick is the Director of Funding and Community at Purposeful Ventures (which spun out of Arc Ventures who set up Arc Schools), having joined in 2024 from the charity Impetus, where he was lead of the education sector which encompassed a portfolio of 15 charities. Prior to this, Nick worked in social impact investing, and was a partner in Oliver Wyman’s Financial Services practice for 10 years, as well as co-leading the firm’s social impact practice. Nick worked closely with us whilst developing our strategy and was our Investment Director at Impetus in Jodie’s first year as CEO where they developed a strong high-challenge and high-support relationship. He has particular expertise in school sales, as does one of our other trustees Bernadette Keane, together they are key to our programmes and innovation committee
Bernadette Keane – Bernadette has worked in the voluntary sector for over 30 years, all in organisations focused on achieving social justice, in roles from volunteer to CEO and trustee. Bernadette has particular experience in delivering and leading services for young people, with an expertise in safeguarding. In addition to leading service delivery, Bernadette has strong knowledge of charity governance, business development and people and culture processes.
Darlene Roberts – Darlene brings crucial marketing, fundraising and strategic leadership skills to the Khulisa Board. She has worked with a number of charities such as Shelter, UNICEF and Mind, gaining further appreciation of the benefits that therapeutic methodologies and trauma-informed environments provide to a rising number of young people. In her current role at EFG Private Bank, Darlene has gained crucial insights into effective leadership and strategic planning. There Darlene supported their employee wellbeing initiatives and launched the ‘EFG Purpose’, providing further experience in leadership, communication and strengthening culture. Darlene’s upbringing in West London provided her with a deep understanding of the challenges that face young people and the importance of providing focused resources and solutions.
Amy Yuan – Amy is a Managing Consultant at Inlumi, a digital transformation boutique consultancy for the Finance function. Prior to joining Inlumi, she joined the Financial Services audit practice at KPMG at the age of 18, where she qualified as an ICAEW ACA accountant. She has more than a decade of experience specialising Finance and Finance strategy, helping clients transform their Finance function to achieve their strategic objectives.
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