Our People

Mark Cameron OBE
CEO 

A former Commodore in the Royal Navy, Mark has a wealth of experience as a Board-level HR professional in the UK’s largest “earn and learn” employer, delivering Royal Navy/MOD Talent Management and Learning & Development.

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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.

Gill Cronin
Director of Operations

Gill has extensive experience in working in the not-for-profit/charity/fourth sector having managed and developed commercially successful memberships in a wide range of industries.

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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 Tanner
Member & Events Manager

Helen’s recent career has been in membership recruitment and retention. Helen is delighted to be able to bring all the skills and experience gained since her first “earn to learn” role to The 5% Club.

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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.

Board of Trustees

The 5% Club is governed by a Board of Trustees. The Board provides oversight and direction, working with a Steering Board of senior members and The 5% Club’s Executive team to ensure delivery of The 5% Club’s aims. The Board currently has four members and meets quarterly.

The Board of Trustees also delegates certain tasks to working parties comprising Trustees and the Executive, supported by an Advisory Panel of voluntary experts with relevant skills and experience.

Victoria Scarth
Chair

Victoria Scarth has advised UK leaders for over 30 years on delivering transformational personal and corporate performance, including creating the underlying culture that makes success sustainable. She has worked within and with organisations from SMEs to FTSE10 multinationals across many sectors and divides her time between London and France.

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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.

Faheem Khan
Trustee

Faheem Khan is a neurodivergent gay man who was born and raised in Pakistan. He is the Founding Director of Future Leaders UK, a non-profit empowering young people from less privileged backgrounds to achieve their full potential and access learn and earn opportunities. Faheem is also a member of the London Apprenticeship Ambassador Network.

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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 Mahomed
Trustee

Faisal is an experienced executive, currently Director of BT’s Portfolio Business units which include Media & Broadcast amongst others. He has had a 360 career, working and leading many functions including sales, commercial, operations, and transformation. He brings a wealth of international experience, having had postings across the Americas and Africa, with fluency in both Spanish and French.

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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 Mercer
Trustee

David is a seasoned general counsel and FTSE 250 company secretary with nearly 40 years’ experience working in the international resources and construction sectors. Australian by birth, David spent his early career in Melbourne before joining BP and transferring to its London head office in the early 1990s. He then enjoyed a succession of international postings across Europe, the Middle East and Asia before returning to London in 2006 to become General Counsel to BP’s global exploration and production business, leading a team of in-house lawyers across the globe.

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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 Robinson
Trustee

Ozlem has diverse international experience from senior roles at Citi, UBS, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group across corporate, private and retail banking spanning over 25 years. She started her international career in corporate and investment banking at Citigroup then decided to move to wealth management. This began at UBS supporting Ultra High Net Worth and High Net Worth clients. Ozlem then moved to HSBC to shift her focus to the retail and wealth business. Most recently she joined Lloyds Banking Group and heads the International Private Banking.

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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.

Charlene Sagoe
Trustee

Charlene Sagoe was born in Liberia, West Africa, and spent her early years in Romania where her father served as a foreign diplomat for the Liberian Embassy. Her family moved to London in 1983 where her father continued his diplomatic mission.

Charlene began her professional career in Broadcast Media working in middle and senior management roles with a number of international broadcasters including’ the Sci-Fi Channel, National Geographic Channel and Sky.

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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.

Ritika Wadhwa
Trustee

Ritika Wadhwa is the Chief Operating Officer at the Cultural Intelligence Centre. She is responsible for leading the Centre’s work in the UK and beyond. Ritika has over 25 years of extensive experience in client retention, marketing, business development, and project management – experience she has gained by working with senior stakeholders across continents, the corporate and Government sector.

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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.