Our Patrons

Chris Achiampong

Chris is an alumnus of Smart Futures and one of EY’s past programmes, School Leaver’s.

Chris works at IBM, and was awarded Higher or Degree Apprentice of the Year for London. He is committed to helping young people and was a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and Chair of the Foundation’s first Youth Panel, he is also a governor at his old school. His profile, inspirational skills and network has already significantly contributed to raising awareness of the Foundation’s work.

Margaret Gibson

Margaret was previously Deputy Chief Executive of EY Foundation. Prior to joining the EY Foundation, Margaret was the Chief Executive of Women's Enterprise Scotland, a social enterprise working to engage more women into business and Deputy Chief Executive of The Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust and has established several small businesses.

Margaret’s work has seen her support young people for over 30 years. She is a volunteer with Young Enterprise Scotland, a Governor with the University of the West of Scotland, and a Trustee of the charity, The Lens, working with public sector and third sector organisations to examine intrapreneurship and innovation in their processes. She is a founding trustee of award-winning charity smartSTEMS, inspiring young women into STEM careers.

She was the first woman in Scotland to receive the Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion and was awarded an OBE in the 2017 New Year's Honours List. Margaret has also been presented with the Woman of Influence Award, by Action for Children.

Dawid Konotey-Ahulu

Dawid qualified in 1987 as a barrister of Lincoln’s Inn, then spent 16 years as an investment banker. In 2006, he left the industry to set up Redington, a City firm advising large institutional pension funds and insurance companies. In 2009, Dawid set up mallowstreet, a specialist online community for the UK pensions and savings industry. It has over 3,000 members representing over $2 trillion in pension fund assets across 600 pension schemes.

Dawid also founded Partnership for Change, a collaboration platform which will combine fintech, healthcare technology, ed-tech and sustainability.

Dawid is a Governor of the University of Hertfordshire, a Trustee of the Chineke! Orchestra, is on the Global Advisory Council of Tobacco Free Portfolios, and a trustee of Legacy of War Foundation. He is a frequent blogger on innovation, pensions, savings and healthcare, and is currently attempting to help build a specialist heart hospital in Ghana.

Dame Mary Marsh    

Mary served as Chief Executive of NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) from 2000-8 and, before that, as a head teacher of two comprehensive schools. From 2008-15, she was Founding Director of the Clore Social Leadership Programme, developing leaders for charities and social enterprises.

Mary continues to hold a range of cross sector non-executive roles. She has been a non-executive director of HSBC Bank plc since 2009 and, in 2015, joined the Operations and Technology committee of the Board. She is a Governor and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee at London Business School, a member of the LSO Advisory Council (London Symphony Orchestra) and Chair of LSO Discovery Advisory Committee. She is also a commissioner of the Financial Inclusion Commission and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

Patrick Dunne MBE

Patrick Dunne MBE was the founding Chair of EY Foundation from 2014 to 2023. He now currently serves as the Chair of Royal Voluntary Service and ESSA-Education Sub Saharan Africa and was the founder of Warwick in Africa.

Patrick had extensive executive experience with Air Products and FTSE 100 private equity business 3i Group plc where he held a variety of senior roles, including Communications Director and a member of its Operating Committee. Patrick is also the author of the award winning book Boards  and a leading expert and advisor on boards and governance as well as a Visiting Professor at Cranfield University, and former Council Member of the University of Warwick. 

Douglas Nisbet    

Douglas is a former Audit Partner of EY, having joined the firm in 1980, and becoming  Partner in 1994. He has held various management roles within EY, including Managing Partner of EY in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and later had a number of governance roles on the EY Global and EMEIA councils.

Douglas has also served on CBI Scotland Council and as a board member of the Scottish Enterprise Investment Fund advisory board.

Liz Bingham OBE    

Liz is a former EY Partner in Restructuring and, latterly, in People Advisory Services. She was also awarded an OBE for services to equality in the workplace in 2015. She is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusiveness, and is determined to create an environment where people from all backgrounds can succeed and flourish at work.

Liz has appeared on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour’s power list; was No 31 in the World Pride power list; No 18 in the FT’s Top 50 OUTstanding in Business list, and has received an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Bath for her contribution to social mobility and fair access to the professions. BPP University and the Open University have also recognised Liz for her contribution to professional services. Liz was also one of the EY Foundation’s founding trustees and serves on the board of Governors of University College School in Hampstead.

Nathaniel Peat    

Nathaniel is a multi-award winning entrepreneur, international speaker (including TEDx), business coach, engineer and pilots. He was listed on the 2017 Black Power List, the 2017 and 18 EMPower Financial Times List and, 2016 saw an entry onto the Financial Times Upstanding 100 BME Executive List.

Nathaniel is co-founder of Gennex Solar, which provides innovative renewable energy products in Africa. He also founded The Safety Box; a company whose training and development programmes assist with reducing youth violence and help young people develop important skills, such as leadership, communication and conflict resolution. In 2015, Nathaniel was the only UK entrepreneur selected by Virgin Unite to attend a week long leadership gathering on Necker Island with Sir Richard Branson. Nathaniel is also a former Trustee and co-founder of EY Foundation.

Steve Varley 

Steve is the EY Global Vice Chair for Sustainability. He is also the UK Government’s Business Ambassador for the professional services industry and a member of HM Treasury’s Professional Services Council.

Steve is a member of the Chairman’s advisory group at the British Museum, a founding member of the Social Business Trust and a member of its Investment Committee. He is also on the International Advisory Council for the British Chambers of Commerce and a member of the International Chamber of Commerce Governing body. He is on the board of Loughborough University and a member of the 30% Club where he is an active supporter and speaker on diversity and inclusiveness, believing that a diverse workforce is a commercial imperative for business success. Steve was recognised by the OUTstanding professional network for his impact on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender inclusion inside and outside the workplace and was named three times in the Financial Time’s Ally Executives list.