Our People

In his last role as MOD Policy Head for Training, Education, Skills, Recruiting & Resettlement, he was an active member of the Wider Public Sector Strategic Leadership Group for Apprenticeships, the Apprentice Ambassadors Network and The 5% Club Steering Group. Having joined the Royal Navy aged 16 as a 5-year technical apprentice, Mark benefited from significant investment in his professional development, including a sponsored degree, graduate development scheme and executive MBA.

He is a Chartered Engineer, Chartered Manager and Chartered FCIPD, and was awarded an OBE in 2017 for his services in transforming Naval recruitment. In advising The 5% Club, Mark is passionately committed to helping accelerate its work, so that similar opportunities become ever more widely available across the UK.

She was Director of Marketing, Press and Business Information at the British Retail Consortium and more recently was Head of Patron Membership at the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Additionally, she headed up the membership and marketing divisions at the Fostering Network and the Booksellers Association.
Gill has also been a charity trustee for the charity Re-Solv and was Company Secretary for the charity World Book Day.
Having gained a BA from the University of London straight after leaving school, Gill was fortunate to be offered an ‘earn and learn’ opportunity to gain an MBA while working full time.

Helen’s conscious decision not to go to University saw her join the Civil Service where she spent many successful and happy years supporting British companies exporting and investing overseas.

As well as overseas postings to Norway, Trinidad & Tobago, and Croatia she also spent time working closely with Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

From a beginning in marketing, Victoria deliberately broadened her skills and experience through financial analysis, M&A, investor relations, corporate communications and operational management. She has been instrumental in two business start-ups, campaigns on environmental issues and writes unpublished novels as a hobby.

The originator of the concept for The 5% Club and now its Chair, Victoria is a passionate believer in the power of lifelong education as a driver of individual achievement – and the obligation on those who fulfil their ambitions, to help others share in the same opportunities.

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, of the Chartered Management Institute and of the Institute for Leadership and Management. Isabel has an MBA, two PhDs in history and moral & political philosophy, various professional certificates from learned institutes. Outside of work, she is a Trustee of the Chartered Accountants Benevolent Association (CABA), The 5% Club, and the International House London, having sat on various charity Boards and held NED posts for over 10 years. Isabel is a mental health first aider and an accredited coach and civil mediator.

Faheem is also Deputy Headteacher and Head of Safeguarding at Woodbridge High School in East London, a large comprehensive school with over 2000 students, and has worked in education for over 16 years. He is also the LGBT+ School Lead for the London Borough of Redbridge. Faheem also sits on the steering group at the Youth Resilience Unit, Queen Mary University of London, that works to improve resilience in vulnerable young people.

Faheem has been the recipient of the Mayor’s Award for ‘Services to Young People’, the UK Parliament Award for promoting civic responsibility with young people and is currently nominated for the Ethnicity Awards 2022. Faheem was named in the Top 10 Muslims in the Charity Sector and in the Top 50 BAME Leaders in the UK.

Faisal is a big believer in the opportunities that can be accessed through focussed education and training. He also sponsors several programmes within BT from D&I talent to cultural change.

Faisal is married with two children, living in Kent. He enjoys all sports and loves international cuisine.

David left BP in 2009 and joined Balfour Beatty in 2011 until retiring from full time employment in 2019 to pursue his passion for sailing. Since then, David has held a number of interim general counsel and company secretary roles at FTSE 250 companies.

David is happily married to Jane, has four “grown and flown” children and now lives in Marylebone, London. He enjoys sailing, golf, opera and natural wine.

Ozlem is originally from Turkey and lives with her family in London. She volunteers regularly with Earthwatch Europe to create urban forests to reduce the impact of climate change and increase overall wellbeing of the communities surrounding these pocket forests. You can find her regularly looking after the forests around London.

With more than 2 decades of experience working for global financial services institutions and media businesses in senior leadership roles; Charlene has held several Marketing roles for one of the largest global asset management companies (by AUM) and has held the role of International Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion since January 2021.

Charlene is also Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory Committee, for the Investor Leadership Network (ILN); an open and collaborative platform for leading investors interested in addressing sustainability and long-term growth.

Born and brought up in India, Ritika has the unique experience of living, studying, and working in senior roles in several multicultural countries. She is passionate about Cultural Intelligence and is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion champion. Ritika is part of British Telecom’s Ethnic Minority Mentorship programme and also sits on the Independent Advisory Board for British Transport Police and is a UN Women UK Delegate.