Meet the Team

Phil is the CEO of YWF, the first employee who started in May 2017 to drive forward the foundation. Phil has diverse experience developing and delivering community projects in the public and private sector. Including working as an English Language Teacher in Leeds, commissioning employability programmes for the London Development Agency, managing community programmes for LandSec and volunteering for a human rights NGO in Cambodia. He is also Chair of RefugeeYouth, a small charity based in South London.

“I love working for the YWF as I enjoy bringing together people and organisations from all different backgrounds to create collaborations which make positive change for young people. Westminster has some of the greatest opportunities in the country and I want to make sure these are shared equally.”

Helen is our Development Manager, working with members to ensure they can continue to deliver their projects to create better lives for children and young people in Westminster. This may be through bringing them together to working more closely on projects across the borough, offering training and support around fundraising or introducing them to partner who can support them and share their vision. Helen has worked within the charity sector for the last 15 years supporting local charities and community projects find sustainability in the disability and health sector. Most recently she worked at Healthwatch CWL championing the voice of residents using health and social care services in Westminster.

“I am excited to be part of a new organisation and to help shape new ways of working, bringing the sector together to work towards ensuring all children and young people in Westminster have the same opportunities.”

Matira is our Director of Strategy & Communications, working to grow Young Westminster’s reach and share information with our community through events, social media, press and regular e-newsletters. Matira joined us from the John Lewis Partnership Graduate Scheme, with experience managing a variety of teams and projects across retail and online.

“The YPF network has a vital role to play in co-ordinating cross-sector collaboration to deliver the best opportunities for young Londoners. I hope we can celebrate the historic youth sector in Westminster and urge our wider community to get involved, whilst advocating for the needs of young people and youth organisations.”

Aaron is our Project Manager, leading on our youth and community support work. He is a professionally-qualified youth practitioner having graduated in 2017 , and a graduate member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) since 2019.  Aaron is a passionate, highly experienced, practitioner who ensures that young people are central and beneficiaries of supportive, safe, and bespoke youth-led programs and projects.  Aaron combines both lived experience with a strong theoretical grounding in both Youth work and psychology disciplines he has held positions in both local authority and voluntary sectors. Most recently, Aaron worked for Redthread, advocating and safeguarding young people who had been admitted into major trauma centres as victims of serious youth violence, and employing thorough safeguarding measures to ensure their safety once discharged into the community.

Nora is our Grants and Evaluation Manager. Before joining YWF in March 2019, Nora worked at a membership organisation for Community Foundations in Berlin. Prior to that she held roles at the Paul Hamlyn Foundation in their Education and Learning Team. 

“I love working for YWF, as a place based organisation it allows us to get to know, understand and support the Westminster community and all the fantastic work that happens here.”

Hazel is our Operations Manager at YWF. She joined the Foundation in February 2020. She has a background in primary school teaching and has worked in operations roles for the public sector and small charities. Hazel oversees the operations work for the YWF.

‘It’s great to be part of a team that works to sustain the children and young people’s sector and positively shape services for the children and young people in Westminster who most need it.’

Sam is our Marketing & Engagement Manager, working with Matira on YWF’s communication channels, whilst also supporting our member organisations with their marketing strategy and campaigns. Sam joined YWF in October 2020. His previous work includes managing marketing within the theatre industry and freelancing with specialisms in digital, creative and social media work.

“I’m delighted to be joining YWF. I hope I can continue to build on the positive work that the foundation has been doing and am especially looking forward to working with the youth club teams. It’s a great opportunity to find new ways of getting young people excited about the fantastic services they provide.”

Beverly is the Youth Engagement Intern at Young Westminster Foundation. She brings lots of experience in storytelling and advocating for youth voice. Her focus is on amplifying youth voices by giving them the confidence to express themselves on topics surrounding current social issues. Beverly is one of the young leaders on the youth-led podcast ‘Burning The Village’ and was facilitator and host for the YWF podcast ‘Sounds from our City’.  This project used different storytelling techniques and discussions to produce a thought-provoking podcast with questions that challenge policymakers of today.

“I am looking forward to engaging with different young people and encouraging youth voices in places that matter.”

Neil became Chair of YWF in August 2019 having first joined the Board in August 2017. Neil is the Global Head of Employer Brand at Baker Hughes, one of the world’s largest energy technology companies. His focus is on sourcing, attracting, recruiting and retaining the very best people to the organisation and communicating the employer brand both internally and externally. He has won a number of awards for his use of innovation in talent acquisition and retention, implementing pioneering digital and social media strategies.

Jackie is a Founding Trustee of the YWF. Jackie has an extensive knowledge of the voluntary, community and charitable sector in Westminster, having worked for or served as a trustee for over 20 years.

Jackie Rosenberg has been the CEO of One Westminster since September 2015. Alongside this role she is also employed by another local charity Paddington Development Trust (PDT) where she has worked as Deputy CEO since 2002.

Jackie has managed youth provision at the Stowe Youth Club and the Avenues Youth Project and has contributed to a wide range of policies and procedures within Children and Young People’s services. She has consistently and passionately fought for the rights of young people to receive quality youth services.

Fahmim is the Treasurer of the YWF having joined the board in August 2019. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and currently works as a Management Accountant at McKinsey and Co Plc where he is responsible for Planning, Scenario Modelling and business partnering. Prior to this he has spent the bulk of his career within the Retail sector; where he worked on automation of financial process, implementation of lending platforms and VAT optimisation.

Carol joins us as a YWF Trustee alongside being Director of Programmes at Avenues Youth Project, one of our Westminster Youth Hubs. Having been in the role since 2008, Carol is responsible for managing the content, planning, staffing and delivery of Avenues Youth Project’s  programmes and activities and is actively involved in supporting numerous young people, some into adulthood. She holds a BA Hons in Youth Work and Business Management, and a Level 5 Diploma in Education & Training.

Brian joined the board of YWF in August 2019. Brian qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1976. He joined Shaftesbury when it was formed in 1986, and was Finance Director from its float on the London Stock Exchange in 1987 until he became Chief Executive in 2011.

Starting with £10 million of private capital in 1986, Shaftesbury now has a market capitalisation of c. £2.6 billion. It has assembled a portfolio of 15 acres of freeholds in the West End, comprising c.600 buildings, valued at £3.9 billion. Its ownership includes 600 shops, restaurants, cafes and pubs across 1.1 million sq. ft. in Carnaby and West Soho, Chinatown, Seven Dials and Fitzrovia.

Brian is a member of the board of Freehold, the London-based LGBT real estate professionals group. He is also a board member of The Westminster Property Association and chairs its Transport and Infrastructure sub-committee. Brian is supporting YWF with our fundraising and strategic development.

Cllr Karen Scarborough is Chair of the Business and Children & Young People’s Policy and Scrutiny Committee and is also Lead Member for Air Quality at Westminster City Council, having previously served as the Deputy Cabinet Member for Children Families & Young People. Karen has a legal and business background and has helped to fund raise for various charities including Crisis, the Homeless Charity, St John Ambulance, Acorns Hospice for children and young people with life limiting health issues. Karen is also a Governor of two Westminster primary schools. Since becoming a Trustee, she now focusses on fund raising for the YWF by raising awareness with landowners/businesses in Westminster together with liaising with the Council to promote the values and the work of the foundation.

“The Young Westminster Foundation has come a long way in a short time to help support children and young people in Westminster to fulfil their hopes and dreams for a great future. I am very excited to continue to make my contribution to this aim”

Hamza has been involved with YWF since its inception following serving as the Youth MP for Westminster in 2016 and then undertaking an internship with YWF in 2017 supporting the consultation and research as part of our needs analysis. Hamza is now the youngest councillor in Westminster City Council representing Queen’s Park ward. Hamza recently completed a in Politics at Goldsmiths where he was also a trustee for the student’s union. Hamza is now studying for a Masters at King’s College London. Hamza is also a trustee for YWF member Paddington Arts, Paddington Farm Trust and sits on the grants committee for John Lyon’s Charity. He has also worked with several other national charities.

Jayne Vertkin joined the Board of Trustees in October 2021 after retiring from a full-time role in children’s services at Westminster City Council. In this role she  worked closely with the YWF from its inception and witnessed first-hand how it has strengthened the youth sector and the difference it has made to the lives of young people.

Jayne has worked in Westminster for over 41 years, both in the NHS and Local Authority and she feels a real connection with the local communities. Her career has focused on developing integrated early intervention services; a passion, which started when she worked at Paddington Green Children’s Hospital and realised that so many admissions were preventable. She believes that collectively we can achieve so much for children and young people by joining up resources, whether from the private, charitable or public sector,  and using them in new ways to achieve lasting outcomes for children.

“It feels like a natural step to use my skills in a new role with the Foundation and I am excited by this opportunity”.

Arinola has worked in the public sector for over 30 years, with over 20 of those being in further and adult education. She is currently the Principal and Head of Service of Westminster Adult Education Service (WAES), a Local Authority, Adult Community Education Service in London. She has held this position for the last four years, having been the Deputy Principal at WAES for the previous five years.

Prior to joining Westminster, Arinola worked at two General Further Education Colleges and in both organisations led extensive employer facing and community partnership work, including the delivery of successful ESF and externally funded projects.

Having moved into Adult and Community Education at Westminster, Arinola really values the difference and challenge that working as a leader within the local authority brings to the education and skills landscape, as the ability to leverage other services in meeting the wider needs of young people and adults holistically can make a huge difference and impact on lives.

As a returnee migrant with dual nationality, Arinola is passionate about leading work that enables individuals and communities to benefit from the transformational power of education. Her own journey has made her very keen to help individuals to create their own stories and amplify their voices, with a desire to inspire people from the unexpected walks of life to “dance to the beat of their own drum!