Our Trustees

Anne-Helene Biosse-Duplan

I applied to join the Board after I heard good things about the work of the Volunteer Centre when interviewing London institutions for a mid-career MSc dissertation on employment support services.  A long time Kensington & Chelsea resident, I wanted to contribute to organisations that are making a difference locally and I was honoured to become part of the committed, dynamic and professional team in early 2014 and Chair in 2018.

As a volunteer myself, fundraising for my daughter’s school, participating in local community life or delivering pro bono consulting assignments to various voluntary organisations, most recently through Pilotlight (a non-profit management consultancy which offers strategic business support to charity leaders), I have first-hand experience of the benefits of volunteering both for the community and the volunteer. This is why I firmly believe that the Volunteer Centre has a key role to play in the Borough.     

My professional background is in corporate finance and management consulting, specialising in the project management of large public sector projects, particularly procurements. The lessons from this 20-year experience prompted me to go back to school and study social policy research at the LSE with a particular focus on outcome measurement and payment-by-result for voluntary organisations. I later led on a substantial and complex funding application for West London Zone, a charity which works in schools and aims to bring the local community together so that every child can thrive. 

Apart from rejoicing in quality family time, I am a keen reader, passionate theatregoer, prudent sailor and dedicated, if easily exhausted, hiker.

Jennifer Clarke

I joined the Board of the Volunteer Centre in July 2010. I have a passion for volunteering and I’m delighted to be able to play a role in supporting my local community.  

My professional background is in accounting. I am a US Certified Public Accountant who practiced international tax at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Arthur Andersen, in the UK, the US and the Netherlands for over 10 years.   I now run a Pricing, Performance and Analytics team for the Lloyds Commercial Bank’s Payments business.  

I have been involved in the UK voluntary sector serving as a Trustee for almost 20 years.  I started my journey as Trustee and Treasurer for the London Gallery of Children’s Art from 2004-08.  I am also a member of the Junior League of London, another UK charity, where I have taken on a range of leadership roles over the years from the “hands on” role of running a community programme designed to help disadvantaged young people to increase their self-awareness and confidence to the governance focused, full-time position of President. From 2012-2018, I was Chair of the VCKC Board and am now pleased to remain on the Board in a traditional Trustee capacity. 

My outside interests include ferrying around my two daughters, traveling, keeping up with current events, and running.

Michael Pearson

I became a trustee of the Volunteer Centre Kensington & Chelsea in 2011 with the objective of supporting the local community in the borough where I have lived for over 20 years.

As an experienced business consultant, and with training in corporate governance, I felt that I could make the best use of my experience to bear as a trustee.

The voluntary sector faces significant challenges in the current economic environment and working with the Volunteer Centre is a real opportunity to help make a difference. I have a professional background in business strategy and planning, and I am currently working as a consultant in financial services, which takes me across Europe as well as several African countries.

I find the experience of working in different countries and with different cultures to be both interesting and exciting, even if it is sometimes very challenging. My work has also shown me the real benefits of a sound strategy and rigorous planning, wherever you are and whatever type of business you are in.

My other interests when I am not busy travelling on business or for pleasure are golf, skiing, film and theatre, together with some occasional gardening.

Joseph Carim

I first came across the work of the Volunteer Centre Kensington & Chelsea when I was invited to participate on the Committee of one of its pilot projects called the City Skill Exchange. This was a potentially valuable programme which provided exciting volunteering opportunities for senior executives and professionals.

Although I am new to volunteering, during my career in the City I had often considered taking an active role in the voluntary sector and once I had met the volunteers and Trustees at the Volunteer Centre, I was very keen to translate this idea into practice.

Initially, I attended a Board meeting as an observer and I was delighted to see how professionally the Volunteer Centre’s operations are organised and how seriously the other Trustees take their responsibilities. I also visited local charities and not for profit organisations in the Royal Borough, finding out about their work, their priorities and their concerns.

These visits demonstrated how important the work of the Volunteer Centre is within Kensington & Chelsea. This has been an interesting time to join the Volunteer Centre’s Board given the recent deterioration in the economic climate, the coalition government’s proposed financial constraints and the likely effect upon the charities within the Royal Borough.

I hope that being a Trustee will enable me to use the skills and experience that I have cultivated throughout my career to help sustain and develop the Volunteer Centre’s operations through the difficult times that lay ahead.

Rossana Rocchini

After working for more than 20 years in corporate finance for large global corporations in several countries, Rossana retired and decided to dedicate some of her time to giving back to society. 

She joined the board of VCKC in mid-2020 during the Covid19 pandemic and it was almost a year before she was able to meet with the team and the rest of the trustees face to face.  A Global Chartered Management Accountant, Rossana is the current treasurer on the Board and is working on helping to shape and implement the digitalization of the charity in order to create efficiencies as well as to make back office work for the staff easier so that their time is spent on what they do best: helping the local community thrive. 

Born in Italy, she moved to the UK originally in 1991 but then moved to the Atlanta, USA in 2002 where her husband lived.  She worked for many years at The Coca-Cola Company in various finance capacities and was fortunate to travel and lived in Myanmar, Italy and Denmark.  She and her husband moved back to London in late 2019.  Rossana is passionate about travel, loves exercising, reading and learning new things. 

Muskaan Khurana

I became a trustee for the Volunteer Centre very recently, when I was co-opted as the board member in early 2019. Having shadowed a couple of board meetings, I was impressed by the keenness and challenge each and every member brings to the discussions to make Volunteer Centre a thriving organisation for the benefit of it’s community.

With a background in mental health, I have been a volunteer for a significant part of my professional life and am grateful for the positive impact it has had on me. I have been working in Kensington & Chelsea for more than three years now, during which I have had several opportunities to work alongside the Volunteer Centre on a number of projects.

I can professionally vouch for the compassion and initiative which is embedded in all VCKC’s staff and volunteers, and that’s what drew me to try and utilise my community engagement experience and bring in the practice of a person-centered well-being approach into its governance.

I believe in co-existence and trust my work on sharing knowledge while utilising and strengthening the community-based assets to build resilience, practice empowerment and living with dignity.

I hope to tap into my professional learning and the insight and understanding of local network and systems along with the expertise of others in the board to solidify VCKC’s position even further.

Bashir Hassan

Born and raised in Ladbroke Grove, I have been a direct beneficiary of the many existing voluntary services across the borough. Rather sadly, I have watched many of these organisations disappear as the funding was withdrawn despite the exponential social benefit that such services generate far outweighing the cost of welfare.  

Witnessing the Grenfell Fire in 2017 was a distressing moment for the entire community and many of us were inspired to work towards developing programmes for the area. This culminated in myself and a few others starting Maxilla City CIC, a social enterprise aimed at redeveloping Bay 17-19 for organisations within the area.

With more than 700 voluntary organisations in K&C, there needs to be greater representation in positions of authority for people that live within the area. Further to this, the sector needs to better incubate spaces to allow for succession and in particular that of the younger generation.  

A soon-to-be graduate in the biomedical sciences, much of my professional experience sits within finance, consulting and my operational work with Maxilla City. I will be expanding my role in fundraising consultancy in the near future.

When I am not enthralled in a book, I am usually pumping iron. Otherwise, I am probably ticking off a new city somewhere.

Iuliana Dinu

I was delighted to re-join the VCKC team as a trustee in 2020 after being a member of the operational team for over four years. It is a great honour to be a trustee and I am happy that I can continue to contribute and support our organisation to deliver services for the benefits of residents and community in Kensington and Chelsea.

As a VCKC trustee, I have the opportunity to use the knowledge and skills that I developed through my direct work with clients as well as in my current role as Head of Engagement within NHS South East London Clinical Commissioning Group. My entire career has been shaped by the motivation of working and supporting volunteers.

One of my core values and beliefs is volunteering and for me this means support in helping other people, developing yourself and supporting communities. This volunteer trustee role offers me the chance to give back using my experience and knowledge within mental health, inclusion, health and wellbeing alongside with developing and learning new skills and accessing new opportunities.

Marley Obi

Marley joined VCKC as a board member in 2022. She has a wealth of experience in corporate communications and has worked in a range of industries spanning the public and private sectors.

As a trustee, she is committed to helping VCKC deliver on its vision by leveraging her expertise in strategic planning, project management and stakeholder engagement. With a background in journalism, Marley is a strong advocate of storytelling as a powerful tool to inspire action and create meaningful connections. She is working on helping VCKC articulate its strategic vision and tell the stories of the positive impact on the community it serves.

Marley is from London but currently lives in Amersham. Her favourite pastime is spending time with her family and friends. She also enjoys long walks, travelling and drawing.