Gwen Williams

Chair

I have over 20 years’ experience of working in the voluntary sector, focusing on providing accessible to psychological services to all regardless of circumstances. My experience includes: working for Islington Mind’s crisis line many years ago, holding the role of the head of the Psychological services at City and Hackney Mind and currently I am a practising psychotherapist in my private practice as well as in a hospital setting.

I am also a trained mindfulness practitioner and currently involved in running mindfulness support groups for women with breast cancer and for people with  mental health concerns.

I am Islington Mind’s Chair for the past ten years.

It has been and remains a privilege to be part of an organisation that continues to support residents with mental health challenges and where the staff team are always striving to find innovative and creative ways to do so. This creativity was evident throughout the challenging period of the Covid 19 pandemic.  

Anna MacGillivray

Secretary

Anna MacGillivray is an Islington resident and has been a Mind trustee for over 10 years.  Anna runs a small sustainable development consultancy and brings a mix of strategic, business and public engagement skills to the board. 

Brenda Bulamu Kabaseke

My name is Brenda.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to become part of the Trustee Board for this organisation that has greatly supported me for long. I have been a client of the wonderful Outcome project for more than five years.

I have great passion for supporting people with mental health problems, Refugees, Asylum Seekers and LGBTQ+ people.

I have over fifiteen years’ experience of working with asylum seekers and refugees in different volunteer roles and partly in a paid role, with the Refugee Council and RAMFEL (briefly).

I also have personal experience of psychiatric services and have been a service user of different Mental Health Organisations including  Mind.

I will bring to the Board, lived experience of mental health.

Lisa Haywood

Lisa Haywood has personal experience of psychiatric services. As a freelance consultant her work has covered a variety of management, supervisory and policy roles with a strong focus on the participation of service users with an emphasis on self-direction and personal autonomy.

In the voluntary sector, she was Director of City and Hackney Mind, and Vice-Chair of National Mind for 12 years. Her most recent roles were as a Mental Health Act Tribunal Member and appraiser for the Ministry of Justice.

Roman Podolczuk

I’m Roman, my pronouns are he/him/his. I’m delighted to play a part in this important, effective and vital organisation as a Trustee. I volunteered and worked for the brilliant Outcome (our LGBTQ+ service) for over three years in various roles, with a particular passion for supporting our LGBTQ+ asylum seekers and refugees.  I have over 20 years of experience in HR and management consulting as part of IBM through which I’ve brought insights from DE&I and mental health to improve employee experience at the company and for our clients. My passion is creating empowering spaces and encouraging understanding, collaboration and inclusion at all levels.

Rob Jessett

Rob is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years’ experience in a variety of companies and roles. He started his career at PwC and then moved to one of his audit clients, Shaftesbury PLC, a FTSE 250 Real Estate Investment Trust. He spent 9 years at Shaftesbury where he held a variety of roles, including Head of Finance. He was also a member of Shaftesbury’s Community Investment Committee.

He is currently CFO of London Wall Group, a real estate advisory and lending business based in Mayfair.

He has a broad range of experience including process improvements, forecasting & analysis, project management, controls, compliance & auditing, and leadership & development.

He was previously the Treasurer of Lambeth & Southwark Mencap.

Rob got involved with Islington Mind when he was a resident of the borough and heard about the great work they do in the community.