Our Board and Leadership

Our Board

Our Board members bring a wealth of combined experience that drives our mission forward. You can read about the expertise of our Trustees below.

D’Arcy Myers

D’Arcy was appointed Chair of the Trust in October 2016 and is an established independent Third Sector consultant. D’Arcy brings experience of leading charities through change and development, working with boards and leadership teams to promote a productive governance culture. D’Arcy is also Chair of Association of Charitable Organisations, the membership body for grant-makers that provide funds to individuals, of which the Trust is a member.

Rachael Bailey

Rachael joined the Smallwood board in 2017 and is the portfolio lead for fundraising and governance. Her current work focuses on supporting strong governance in the charity and education sectors. Rachael also brings expertise from the employment and skills sector, having worked for 10 years for award-winning social enterprise Timewise Foundation including as Development Director. Rachael is particularly interested in projects bringing partners together to develop innovative approaches to tackle systemic challenges.

Maureen Margrie

Maureen joined the Smallwood board in January 2016 and was appointed Vice Chair of the Trust in October 2018 and is board portfolio lead for finance. She contributes considerable experience in governance, finance, strategy and risk management. Maureen’s executive experience spans several sectors including regulated housing, homelessness and engineering industries. She has been serving as a non-executive on charities for over 15 years and has volunteered with charitable organisations helping women and people experiencing poverty for over 25 years in the UK and USA. 

Catherine Hine

Catherine Hine, MBA, FRSA, joined the Smallwood board in December 2017 and is the board portfolio lead for programmes strategy and innovation. Catherine is Chief Executive of the Breastfeeding Network, which works to ensure all women and families can access high- quality evidence-based information and support on infant feeding, as and when needed. The charity also manages the UK’s National Breastfeeding Helpline. Catherine has worked in leadership and programme advisory positions in local government and charities tackling inequality and poverty at a national, European and global level for the last 20 years. She loves cooking dishes inspired by her experience working overseas, karaoke, and has an unrealised ambition to be a jazz pianist!

Dr Ambreen Shah

Ambreen joined the Smallwood Board in December 2020. Ambreen brings knowledge of policy and strategy development, communications, grant funding and social/evaluative research. Ambreen previously worked at the Design Council as Director of Policy, Research and Communications and the National Lottery Community Fund (then the Big Lottery Fund) as Deputy Director of England.  She offers freelance support to the charitable sector and is working as an associate with Getting on Board, Institute of Voluntary Action Research and Association of Charitable Organisations. Ambreen is a proud mother of two girls and lives in London.

Faeeza Vaid MBE

Faeeza joined the Trust in December 2020 and brings over 10 years’ senior leadership experience in the voluntary and community sector, with a strong focus on gender equality and justice. She has an academic background in Law and Religious Studies, and extensive understanding of the lived experiences of Muslim women in the UK.  In the 2019 Queen’s New Year Honours list, Faeeza was awarded an MBE for Services to Women’s Rights.

Chief Executive

Paul Carbury

Paul joined the Trust as CEO in January 2017 and has been working closely with the Board to transform and develop the Trust’s grant-making activities and impact. Paul has 23 years senior leadership experience in the voluntary and community sector. He brings previous experience as CEO of the education charity SHINE and the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust and was an inaugural member of the senior management team that established UnLtd a £100m endowed charity that supports social entrepreneurs.

Scroll to Top