About
Prism the Gift Fund was established with the clear vision to increase the flow of funds into the charitable sector from UK donors through effective administration.
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Alison Merchant
Human Resources Consultant
Before joining Prism the Gift Fund (Prism) as a HR Consultant in March 2017, Alison spent over 10 years in senior Human Resources roles within Centrica, the global energy firm and high street retailer Marks and Spencer.
Alison is passionate about working alongside the team at Prism, focusing on the People strategy to support the exciting growth period within the organisation.
She is also a volunteer mentor for the Aspire Foundation and is keen to support women working in not for profits, charities and social enterprises.
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Anna Josse
CEO and Founder
Anna co-founded Prism in 2004 as a way to increase charitable funds into the sector . She has expertise in relationship management and building operations. Previously Anna worked in the high-tech industry and set up the Yazam Europe office and was their Director of Investor Relations. For six years Anna set up and ran the British arm of a USA based charity, the New Israel Fund. Anna also acts as a trustee and advisor for a number of charities. She is also the director and shareholder of a financial services company, Regent Capital, which specialises in offering investment products and services to UK-based high net worth investors.
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Gideon Lyons
Co-Founder
Gideon co-founded Prism with Anna. He has a background in the financial, media and retail sectors - as an active business owner, entrepreneur and private investor he has helped build a diverse range of companies whose clients include multinationals and government bodies.
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Grace Coffey
Relationship Manager
Grace joined Prism in August 2018 as a Relationship Manager within the Collective Funds team. Her desire to work in the third sector follows time spent personally fundraising to build classrooms in Uganda, followed by a graduate role in Education Management.
Grace is excited to combine her customer experience background with her passion for the sector to support Prism's aim of increasing the flow of funds into the charitable sector.
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Harry Mallidis
Head of Internal Systems and Operations
Harry joined Prism to maintain and build upon internal systems and processes, ensuring that we have the best technological and organisational solutions in place to support the organisation’s rapid growth. Harry is also focusing on developing relationships with clients and is responsible for the on boarding process for new clients.
Previously to Prism, Harry worked for Impetus – The Private Equity Foundation where, as an associate manager, he oversaw a programme of operational and organisational optimisation. He holds a Masters in Cultural Economics and Cultural Entrepreneurship from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and a Bachelor in Economics and Finance from the Athens University of Economics and Business.
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Jack Burgess
Finance and Administration Assistant, Help Refugees
Jack joined the team at Prism in early January, 2018. As a Finance and Administration Assistant for Help Refugees, he supports the Finance and Compliance manager in maintaining the financial processes and internal systems.
Previous to Prism, Jack held the position of Accounts Assistant for SJD Accountancy and has obtained a Bachelor's degree in Accounting and Finance.
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Jack Darby
Junior Office Administrator
Jack joined Prism in late September 2018. As Prism's Junior Office Administrator, he supports both the Collective Fund teams and our individual client administration.
His interest for working in the third sector developed while studying History at the University of Liverpool where his dissertation and primary focus was understanding the birth and development of NGOs and grassroots movements.
Jack has experience working in marketing having previously completed a marketing internship for the tutoring service, Askademia.
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Jenny Davis
Finance and Compliance Manager
Before joining Prism in early 2012, Jenny ran a client facing private business and has experience in a number of areas from accounts, marketing, customer relations, administration, office management and more. Jenny was also the volunteer fundraising coordinator for Radio Lollipop London and Evelina Children’s Hospitals, responsible for raising tens of thousands of pounds yearly, and sat on the management committee for two years. Jenny therefore brings to Prism a wealth of experience in both the private and charitable sectors.
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Lewis Parkes
Relationship Manager
Lewis has joined Prism as a Relationship Manager to help with our Collective Fund offering. He’ll be looking after our clients, offering both a personal and professional level of service.
Lewis has always had an interest in international development and the third sector, graduating with a BA in Human Geography. Lewis has fundraising experience and volunteered regularly at ‘DENS the Food Bank’. He comes from a sales background, having developed relationships with national accounts in the DIY sector.
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Mohamed Hassan
Accounts Assistant
Mohamed joined Prism as a Accounts Assistant. Previously, he worked for Sands as an Account Assistant and at Tower Hamlets Youth Offending team as a Supporting Officer. He helps with the day to day running of Prism's finance department, completing payments, processing, verifying, and reconciling invoices.
Mohamed has a degree in Accounting & Finance and is MAAT qualified as well as being part qualified in ACCA.
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Rina Chandwani
Finance and Relationship Manager
After completing her education in Hong Kong, Rina has continued to develop her career in the UK which spans 20 years experience in operational and client management. Her knowledge in both the public and private sectors across the fields of finance, health, legal and the arts, has led her to pursue her interests within the charitable environment, keenly supporting programmes for underprivileged children's education in India.
Having initially joined the company briefly some years ago, Rina recently returned to Prism in January 2018, excited about helping Prism's impact in the community. Rina's unique skill set enables her to focus on her role of maintaining relationships with the foundations and donors, while at the same time supporting the finance team at Prism.
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Sadie Beckwith
Administrator and Coordinator to Foundations
Sadie joined Prism in May 2018 as Administrator and Coordinator to Foundations and has over 9 years experience in client and customer focused roles within insurance and advertising.
Sadie works alongside the Senior Relationship Manager and CEO servicing our individual donor DAF accounts, as well as working directly with Prism's Foundation clients.
Sadie has always been interested in the charity sector, and likes to raise money for charity by taking on new challenges that take her out of her comfort zone.
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Stephanie Berger
Relationship Manager
Stephanie has always had an interest in working within the charity/NGO sector. This has stemmed from her Masters degree in Global Ethics and Human Values at King’s College London, in which she learnt about global issues and crises and the involvement needed from people to solve these. She has previous experience working in the charity sector as a research intern for Penny Appeal and as a communications intern at Global One. She has also volunteered for the British Red Cross at their Refugee centre in Hackney.
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Zuzana Olejnickova
Finance and Compliance Officer, Help Refugees
Zuzana has long nurtured a personal ambition to work in the area of Humanitarian and Development Aid and is delighted to have joined the Prism team so that she can realise that goal. Since graduating at International Relations and Economic Policy, Zuzana has worked in international client-facing administration roles. She first joined Prism as a Database and Financial Administrator where she was committed to increasing the flow of money to good causes. After 9 months in this position she moved to the role of Relationship and Finance Manager, supporting Refugee Collective Funds to deliver their mission of providing aid in the current Humanitarian Refugee Crisis.
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Lord Stone of Blackheath
Lord Stone was raised to the peerage as Baron Stone of Blackheath in 1997. He joined Marks and Spencer Plc as a trainee in 1966 and retired his position as joint Managing Director of the Company in 1999. He is currently a Director of two retail companies and a number of NGOs and involved in several charities. He has a deep interest in community work based around his fascination with the juxtaposition between art and science and a lifelong interest in the process of creating understanding and progress toward peace in the Middle East.
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James Libson
Chair
James is the Executive Partner of the law firm, Mishcon de Reya LLP and heads its Private Department. He looks after the interests of families and entrepreneurs especially when they are involved in complex disputes. Recently he acted for Gina Miller in her challenge to the Government over the triggering of Article 50. He is a trustee of World Jewish Relief (the Jewish community's international development charity), which he chaired for five years until October 2016. He has also served as a trustee of the Jewish Leadership Council and a governor and chair of governors of a primary school.
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Penny Lovell
Penny was appointed as Head of
Private Client at Sanlam Private Office in October 2017.
She has over 20 years of experience working with private clients, family offices, charities, professional intermediaries and financial advisers. Penny began her career began at Friends Provident before joining Coutts. Penny subsequently worked for ten years at Fleming Family and Partners as a Client Director for the Fleming family. Before joining Sanlam, Penny was Head of Private Client at Close Brothers.
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Charles Mesquita
Charles is Charities Director at Quilter Cheviot. He has thirty years’ investment experience working for leading financial institutions including Newton Investment Management and Rensburg Sheppards (now Investec). Among other key roles at these firms, he was responsible for founding and launched the Charities Property Fund with Savills in 2000: this was the first Common Investment Fund investing in UK commercial property. Over 1,800 charity have invested in the Fund with assets of over £1 billion.
Charles also established the first educational programme designed specifically to assist charity trustees to keep abreast of issues of interest to the sector, in partnership with Farrers and haysmacintyre. He is a regular speaker/panelist at industry seminars and has published a number of articles about charities and their investments. Charles sits on the board of the Charity Investors Group, a forum promoting a greater understanding of investment within the sector.As well as Prism the gift fund, Charles is a trustee of Bowel & Cancer Research and RL Glasspool, a charity which helps those most in need.
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Tracey Reddings
Tracey Reddings is Managing Director and Head of Front Office, UK and Ireland at Julius Baer. She has enjoyed a 30 year career as a banker spanning across the private, public and charitable sectors . Prior to joining Julius Baer she was Head of UK Private Banking at J.P. Morgan Private Bank and SG Hambros Bank Ltd and before that, she was Chief Executive of CAF Bank Ltd and CAF Marketing Services. Over the years, Tracey has developed a strong track record and reputation for delivering innovation and building partnerships to create new business, successful teams and enhance brand value; in 2007 she was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Product Innovation category. Tracey is an MBA-holder and a Chartered Director; she is also a Fellow of both the Institute of Directors and the Chartered Management Institute, and a Freeman with the Guild of International Bankers. She recently stepped down as Chairman of the British Bankers Association Wealth Management and Private Banking panel and is a Trustee for Prism the Gift Fund and Local Giving.com.
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Michael Ridley
Michael Ridley spent 37 years in Investment Banking in London and the United States and was Vice Chairman, Investment Banking at J. P. Morgan until November 2016. Prior to this, Michael was a Managing Director at Salomon Brothers and Head of Fixed Income Trading at an Australian bank. He was a member of the Chairman’s Committee at the London Investment Banking Association and a Board Member of the International Capital Market Association. He is involved with a number of charities with a strong interest in child survival, music and education. Michael is a Vice President of Save the Children UK and Deputy Chairman of the Handel House Trust. He is a graduate of Trinity College, Oxford.
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Joanne Winston
Joanne joined JPMorgan Private Bank in 2001, after completing an internship in the Investment Bank the previous summer. Since then, Joanne has worked on the UK Banker team covering UK based UHNW clients, the Fixed Income and Equities teams for Derivative Sales and most recently founded the Cross Asset Derivatives Structuring Team in EMEA in 2010.
In 2011, Joanne took over the global lead and now manages teams in New York, Asia and London covering the counterparty relationships and product development of the Structured Product and OTC businesses - with over $10bn currently invested globally. In addition, Joanne led the first phase of the EMEA Private Bank Product Governance Framework.
Joanne graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc Hons in Philosophy. Joanne is also fluent in German and proficient in Hebrew and French. She is married to Joel, a Clinician and Scientist and they have three children - Isaac, Aron and Stella. Joanne is also an active member of her Jewish community, loves cooking and entertaining and adventures with her family.
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Ajaz Ahmed, MBE
Ajaz Ahmed serves as a trustee on the charitable boards of Virgin Unite and Mental Health Innovations (The Royal Foundation). He is also on the Advisory Board of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and an Enterprise Fellow for the Prince’s Trust.
Ajaz has previously served on the charitable boards of The Design Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Arts and the Prince’s Trust. In June 2018 Ajaz was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for Services to Media. Ajaz founded the design and communications company AKQA when he was 21 years old and today the company has 2,100 employees across 23 studios in 16 countries. Ajaz authored two best-selling books, Velocity and Limitless. All proceeds were donated to five charities voted for by employees of AKQA (Brainwave, Feed the Children, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Doctors without Borders, Pencils of Promise). Ajaz was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bath in December 2018.
