Board of Trustees
William Alego
William has joined the community in Hackney from West London, with the hope of exploring the historical culture of the east-end. He has worked in varying capacities, in roles ranging from Comms to infrastructural development. He is keen to explore the third sector to bring together his understanding of International Planning systems, from his studies at the Bartlett.
Adelle Grisaffe
Adelle Grisaffe lives in Hackney and has worked with several charities across Australia and the UK. She is passionate about driving change in her local community. Adelle has more than 15 years of experience in marketing within the financial services and banking sectors.
Michelle Lawrence
Michelle’s career spans both the private and third sector. She is the founder and chief executive of charity Link Up (UK), as well as the co-founder and partner in a property company specialising in rural developments. Having worked in marketing, she moved into the voluntary sector, running corporate and community giving and developing strategic and fundraising plans.
Rachel Linn
Rachel has worked in the charity sector for over 8 years, both in-house as an expert on impact assessment and as a consultant supporting senior management teams with strategic decision-making. While her current day job focuses on international development, she has lived in Hackney since 2011 and is passionate about local volunteering.
Andreas Michaelides
Andreas has worked in a finance for a long time! His latest and most favourite role is working for a barristers’ chambers, which specialises in human rights.
He lives very near the Hackney border and wanted to share his skills with a local charity, and VCH seemed the perfect fit.
Jonathan Parr
Jonathan joined the Trustee board in 2016, bringing over 20 years of HR experience to VCH. A Hackney resident for over a decade, he is keen to leverage his corporate experience to benefit the wider community.
Rob Sugden
Rob lives and works in Hackney and has worked and studied in the fields of community development and regeneration for over ten years. He is currently Head of Communities at the Housing Association Charitable Trust.
Jade Tan
Jade, a Hackney resident for 6 years, has volunteered with VCH’s befriending and vaccination programmes, which led to a stint supervising volunteers within the programme. The experiences forged a desire to support Hackney’s diverse community. Jade brings with her twenty years of experience working in the film and TV industry.