Our Trustees
Our Board
The Board of Trustees is responsible for setting and monitoring Chance UK’s strategic objectives. They also bring unique knowledge and expertise. The trustees meet four times a year.
Our board members are:
Chair of Trustees: Mary Mulvey Oates
Mary is an Early Years and Participatory Research Manager at Contact, the charity for families with disabled children. Previous projects with Contact include work with hospitals and educational settings to enable improved support for disabled and autistic children and their families. Mary holds an MSc in Charity Management and an MSc in Public Policy. Her previous roles have been in health commissioning in East London and as a policy manager and strategy advisor for the Department of Health and Social Care. I particularly look forward to seeing trustees engage in Chance’s work, and to seeing a resilient, effective Board in full flow. And most of all I’m looking forward to hearing about Chance youth workers supporting more children to overcome tough times and get stuck into enjoying childhood again!
Deanna Neilson brings over 30 years of experience in safeguarding, child protection, and organisational leadership to her role as a Trustee at Chance UK. Graduating as a social worker from the University of Sydney, Deanna has dedicated her career to enhancing the safety and well-being of children and young people. She currently serves as the Director of Safeguarding and Quality Assurance at Action for Children, a national charity committed to supporting vulnerable children across the UK. Prior to this, Deanna was the Head of Service for Early Help, Prevention, and Permanence at the London Borough of Hillingdon. Her extensive background also includes serving as a child safeguarding expert for NACRO and the Scouts. Deanna’s wealth of experience and unwavering commitment to child welfare make her an invaluable asset to the Chance UK board.
Paul Sutcliffe is a partner with EY, and is part of its accounting advisory team, working with clients in a variety of industries on both complex accounting issues and finance process and controls, particularly related to large transactions. He has previously worked with a number of charities and other NGOs in the UK and abroad and is interested in bringing commercial experience to the voluntary sector.
Cristina Otelea is an experienced charity sector professional, who is particularly focused on supporting organisations that work with children and young people. Having previously worked for Youth United Foundation and UK Youth, she is currently looking after the grant programmes at Berkeley Foundation.
Helen Fletcher d’Arjuzon has over twenty years’ experience working in city law firms and investment banking, and is qualified as an English and Irish law solicitor. She is UK General Counsel at BNP Paribas, overseeing a team of 160 lawyers across the UK and advising senior management on a variety of legal, governance and regulatory issues. Helen is a passionate advocate for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, often speaking to young people via charitable and school events, seeking to improve diversity in the financial services and legal industries.
Keisha Forteau has 10 years of experience working in health and social care services, including working within the voluntary sector. Keisha’s work with children and young people has included improving access to mental health services (CAMHS), working with young people to ensure they have a say in how health and social care services are designed and delivered works within NHS England and Improvement to improve population health and well-being.
Jess Talbot has 16 years experience of working in the charity and education sectors in the UK and East Africa, including setting up new schools, managing schools and running leadership development programmes for educators and government education officials. She has held senior roles at a range of organisations including Challenge Partners, Future Foundations, Scholé and STiR Education. Jess is currently a trustee of the EA Foundation and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA).
Bridget Banton Bridget is creative consultant and founder of Dear Creative Gurl, a trustee at The Museum of London where she is Chair of the Sustainability Working Group, a recent strategic advisor to B Corp UK, a member of BAFTA, fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures & Commerce, and volunteer mentor at ScreenSkills. Bridget has held senior leadership positions in television and audio as a commissioning editor at Channel 4, Penguin Random House, Paramount/ Channel 5 and BBC.
Nicci Marzec is CEO at Aspire Oxfordshire, a charity which provides employment support, homelessness prevention and supported housing across Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley. Nicci has previously worked in the public and voluntary sector with experience across children and families, vulnerable adults, community safety, corporate governance and business transformation. Nicci is passionate about prevention, promoting the importance of early support and investment in preventative services at a local and national level to improve outcomes for vulnerable people and address inequality and disadvantage for people and communities.