Allawee Albaghdadi Expand Allawee joined Acorn as a trustee in February 2020. Allawee is a real estate lawyer and partner at national law firm Shakespeare Martineau LLP based in their Milton Keynes office. Prior to that he headed up the real estate development team of a large regional law firm and has also spent time as global real estate counsel for both FTSE250 and Fortune 500 companies. He has over 15 years of experience advising on transactional and operational real estate. Allawee is also a trustee of a Milton Keynes based arts centre.
Carolyn Norfolk Expand Carolyn joined Acorn as a Trustee in July 2017 bringing a wealth of knowledge and expertise on VAT legislation. After receiving a 1st Class BA (Hons) in International Relations, Carolyn has spent the last 13 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, most recently as PwC | Director - Indirect Tax and in her previous career trained through a graduate scheme with HM Customs and Excise. Carolyn is also an ex-parent of Acorn’s Day Nursery in Shenley.
Damien Beedham Expand Damien joined Acorn in February 2020 and is a parent of one squirrel at Stanwick nursery. He studied film at university and worked in TV and video for over a decade, working on a wide range of content from short form TV commercials to long form documentaries and music programmes. He sat on the board for a small theatre company for a number of years, and worked for a social enterprise to produce video content with members of the community. In 2017 he changed careers and now works in Tax & Compliance, completing the ATT qualification in 2019 and is currently studying CTA.
Giles Chilton Expand Giles joins Acorn with vast experience in Project Management and a keen interest in analysis of social impact and the ability to co-generate value. Having gained a Bsc (Hons) in Engineering as well as a Post-Graduate Certificate in Business Leadership, Giles has worked in the rail industry for 16 years, now leading complex railway operations IT projects.
Hannah Evans Expand Hannah is a current parent of two children (Acorn and a Squirrel) at our Castlethorpe nursery and took on the role of a trustee in July 2017. Hannah is also an experienced Finance Manager, working at IG Design Group plc since June 2017 and previous to this worked as an ERP and Group Finance Manager at Domino’s Pizza Group plc where she worked since May 2011. Prior to this, Hannah spent seven years at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP specialising in corporate tax. Hannah holds a BSc from the University of Northampton in Maths and Psychology. Hannah is Deputy Chair of Trustees, and is also the Chair of the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee.
Laura Faulkner Expand Laura is our newest trustee and has been a member since March 2022. She is a current parent of a child in the Squirrels class at our Cold Harbour nursery. Laura has worked as a qualified teacher for nearly a decade and is currently employed at Paulerspury Primary School in a Year 5/6 class, in addition to leading Mathematics, Forest School and Music. Prior to this, Laura started her teaching career working in Didcot in Oxfordshire, which is where she gained her Level 3 Forest School Leader qualification. In addition to BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS, Laura holds a PGC in Leading Mathematics (Specialist Mathematics Teacher), both from the University of Northampton.
Narendra Laljani Expand Narendra Laljani is a management educator, consultant, and CEO coach who specialises in strategic thinking, innovation, execution, the challenges of building market-focused organisations and leader development. Narendra has undertaken management development projects for a diverse range of clients and has consulted at board level with a large number of international organisations. Narendra studied economics followed by a postgraduate degree in management with a concentration on finance. He started his career with ICI and worked with the multinational for 15 years, in a range of general management roles in the UK, Belgium and India. He has a doctorate from Cranfield, was Dean of Graduate Studies at Ashridge Business School for five years, and is an Executive Fellow at Henley Business School and Professor of Practice in Strategy at Ashridge Executive Education. Narendra is Chair of the Strategy & Impact Committee.
Professor Dr Eva Lloyd OBE Expand Eva is professor of Early Childhood in the Cass School of Education and Communities at the University of East London and Director of its International Centre for the Study of the Mixed Economy of Childcare (ICMEC), which she co-founded in 2007 with Professor Helen Penn. Her research and academic publications focus on international early education and childcare policies, particularly for disadvantaged children. She has held honorary positions at the University of Cambridge and the Queen’s University Belfast and in 2017 spent a semester as Visiting Professor at the University of Muenster, Germany. Eva has wide experience of providing expert policy advice to national and international government departments. She co-authored a range of government commissioned studies and evaluations and is currently on the team evaluating the 30 hours free childcare policy’s implementation in England. Eva is Acorn's Safeguarding Trustee (alongside Vanessa Gwyn), and is also Chair of our Childcare, Learning & Development Committee
Robert Prosser Expand Robert is the parent of two young boys and joined Acorn as a Trustee in February 2021. Robert is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a member of the British Computer Society. Robert brings to Acorn more than 25 years’ of industry experience in both finance and day to day operational management.
Ruth Stone - Chair of Trustees Expand Ruth spent over 30 years working in the charitable sector in a range of executive and non-executive roles, including being trustee and vice chair of a large national charity, and a range of community groups. Ruth recently retired, but for the last 15 years of her career she was CEO of Community Action: MK, the local umbrella organisation for over 1200 not-for-profit organisations.
Tracey Coley Expand Tracey is a parent of 2 boys and joined Acorn as a trustee in July 2021. She graduated from St Andrews University with a MA (Hons) in Modern Foreign Languages before completing a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has enjoyed a career in HR spanning 20 years, with 15 of those at Deloitte (professional services) as a Senior HR Manager and Senior Reward Manager and the last 4 years in a stand-alone HR role at Euro Food Brands Ltd. She is a Chartered Member of the CIPD with a strong generalist HR expertise.
Vanessa Freeman Gwynn Expand Joined the Board in February 2020 following a varied career of over 30 years in local government promoting employment growth (including provision of Early Years Services); lifelong learning; leisure and youth services; and the Safeguarding of children and young people irrespective of setting. At the point she retired Vanessa was the designated Director of Children’s Services for Milton Keynes. Vanessa holds an Honours degree and a Masters from the Open University, is a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute; a lifelong member of the Institute of Economic Development; and has held a variety of board positions both before her retirement and presently. Vanessa is Acorn's Safeguarding Trustee (alongside Eva Lloyd), and is Chair of our Governance & HR Committee