Originally from Leeds, David has lived in Leatherhead for over 25 years with his wife Louise, and three daughters.

David is passionate about helping organisations to succeed and increase their positive social and environmental impact. David is a Non-Executive Director (NED) at The Biodiversity Consultancy (a global consultancy advising companies on Nature impact), and at Tees Law (a fast-growing regional law firm, where he has a special ESG focus).

David is Chair of the Creative Commerce Board for CATS Global Schools and as well as being a Trustee for the Community Foundation of Surrey, he is on the Boards of The University of Surrey Business School, The Royal Commonwealth Society, and the IESE Foundation.  As a freelance consultant he advises Foundations and philanthropists.

Previously David was CEO or Director for a number of major start-up, charity, legal, consulting and banking organisations including Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), 11KBW, Field Fisher, Eversheds, KPMG, Accenture, RBS and UBS.

David writes for various journals including Impact Entrepreneur and Philanthropy Impact.

Susan has over 18 years of experience in the Financial Services sector, with a background in Marketing, Corporate Social Responsibility and Inclusion and Diversity. She is currently Head of Responsible Business at Unum, an employee benefits provider based in Dorking, Surrey, and is passionate about giving back and driving responsible change within our communities.

She brings extensive skills in implementing comprehensive Responsible Business programmes with in-depth experience of running successful charity partnerships, corporate giving & volunteering, employee fundraising, sustainability, and employee engagement programmes.

Outside of work, she is usually found running around after her two teenage sons and Golden Retriever.

Tamalie Newbery joins CFSurrey as a Trustee, bringing extensive leadership experience. She was previously Director and CEO of Brooklands Museum, where she led STEM programmes for young people and oversaw the award-winning museum’s role in supporting apprenticeships. Prior to Brooklands, Tamalie served as Executive Director of AIM and managed fundraising for The Lightbox museum.

With a diverse background in consulting, literacy projects, and arts governance, her skills will be invaluable to CFSurrey’s future initiatives. In her free time, she enjoys boating, scoring cricket, and spending time with family.

Dr Ruchika Gupta joined Community Foundation for Surrey in 2024 as a Trustee.

She is an experienced NHS GP, splitting her time between patients, working as a clinical director and deputy Chief Medical Officer for Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Service, and managing a portfolio of early-stage start-up investments.

Ruchika is passionate about maintaining physical and mental wellbeing; she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, cooking and travelling. She is proud to have achieved a black belt in Kuk Sool Won in 2022, and represented her club in the European Championships.

Nick is an experienced entrepreneurial P&L Managing Director, Chairman, CEO and NED with an international  track record within renewables, technology, oil/gas/chemicals, B2b, start-ups,  consumer products, agricultural and charities.

Nick Chairs the Surrey Young People’s Fund and the UK Born in Africa charity.

Diana Whittington is the Special Projects Director at the Financial Times, a position she has held for many years.  Prior to this, she was the Managing Director of Financial Times Conferences & Events, establishing it as a profitable global business.   Diana has organised major events all over the world, many involving working with governments and international organisations at the most senior level.

Before joining the FT, Diana worked in public relations for ICFC (now 3i) and Young & Rubicam – the international advertising agency.   She has undertaken consultancy projects for many organisations including Extel, the DTI, the IFC (part of the World Bank) and Chatham House and worked with the UK Government on the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in London.

Diana has been involved with The Passage – the charity for the homeless in London and SCAS – the Surrey County Agricultural Show. She has lived in Surrey for over 50 years.

Neelam Devesher steps into the role of Chair of Trustees, having previously been a trustee. Neelam will use her experience and skills to strengthen our reach within the most vulnerable communities living and working in Surrey.

Neelam has lived in Surrey for twenty years, and has worked in public sector organisations at senior management level. She has set up numerous projects focused on improving the quality of life for the most vulnerable in our communities. She is committed to finding solutions to help address inequity, racism and discrimination and is passionate about promoting equality of opportunity, inclusion and fairness for all vulnerable communities.

She currently chairs the Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum and also the Surrey Police Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel. In 2021 Neelam was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Surrey. Neelam is originally from Yorkshire and is of Indian and Hindu heritage, has two children and four grandchildren.

Elaine started her career as a graduate management trainee with the NHS, qualifying as an accountant (CIPFA) and subsequently working in finance within the public sector. After a break from full time employment to look after her family, Elaine moved into adult learning, gaining her PGCE and primarily teaching business studies and accountancy.

In 1999, Elaine joined Surrey Care Trust as their business manager, becoming chief executive two years later, and remained in that role until her retirement in spring 2019. She was awarded the OBE for Services to Adult Learning in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List.

Elaine is currently a member of both the Foundation’s Grants and Governance Committees.