The Young Achievers Trust is governed by a board of trustees. They are;

Russell Brooks (Chair)

works in fundraising for Cancer Research UK. He previously worked for STAR (Student Action for Refugees), where he supported student volunteers to design, deliver and evaluate volunteering projects providing practical support to refugees. Russell has developed national volunteering projects targeted at young people for St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross and was a member of v20, the youth advisory board to the national youth volunteering charity v. 

Jen Lowthrop (Secretary)

Jen runs the Volunteer Centre at the London School of Economics, supporting students to find suitable volunteering roles and set up new projects. She has worked in volunteering since leaving university, previously working at Volunteering England, organising events such as the National Student Volunteering Conference and Student Volunteering Week. Jen has spent two years living and studying in America where she realised her passion for volunteering and set up a project supporting homeless children in California.

Nadine Ibbetson 

studied European Studies at King's College London. Whilst at university, Nadine did an internship with an MEP and taught English in Berlin. Upon her return, she got involved with Student Action for Refugees (STAR) and became STAR's Regional Coordinator for London. She now works in the Public Policy team at Action for Children.

Abby Kegg

has been working at UnLtd for two years where she helped to set up the UnLtd Sport    Relief  programme which supports 11-21 year olds. She has gone on to manage the Big Challenge competition which is a prize for young people who want to tackle major social issues. Before coming to work at UnLtd, Abby ran her own community project for young people and was a youth panel member, ambassador and mentor for The Big Boost funding  programme.

Chris Denholm  

is the editorial assistant at YouthNet and helps produce content for its websites, TheSite.org and do-it.org. He graduated from Bournemouth in 2007 where he studied Multimedia journalism. He previously volunteered for a year at a High School in Vancouver, Canada coaching rugby and producing school plays.

Helen Williams 

is communities involvement manager at YouthNet and encourages young people's participation across its websites. She trained as a journalist after university and has previously written for local papers, trade press and has volunteered to write for science, literature and music reviews. She's also worked as a learning mentor and group leader for young people's summer camps.

Tamara Nerima 

has worked at BBC for 4 years in different capacities, most recently as a purchasing and agency spend analyst. She is currently studying full time for her undergraduate degree in Economics. She also volunteers at a local youth club once a week. She enjoys cooking, reading swimming and watching rugby!!

Peter Ptashko

was born and schooled in Nottingham in the East Midlands. He went to University in the West Midlands - at Warwick to study Politics- and followed this with a Masters degree in Globalisation & Development and helped run his Students' Union for a year, as Vice President. He am now living and working in London: for UnLtd - the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs - on several youth volunteering and research programmes.

The board is also supported by a group of advisors who kindly donate their time, experience and expertise:

Michael Norton
founded the Directory of Social Change in 1975, and set up the Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action in 1991. He was involved in setting up Changemakers, Youthbank, the Voices of Change international summer school, UnLtd, and MyBnk, a children’s banking initiative. He will be launching the Otesha Project in the UK in summer 2007, and is the author of “How to be a Community Champion”, “How to be a Fundraising Champion”, “365 Ways to Change the World” and several books on fundraising.

Fiona Dawe
is Chief Executive of YouthNet UK, the UK’s first virtual, or online charity set up by Martyn Lewis CBE in 1995 to champion an inclusive social environment where all young adults aged 16-24 can contribute to society. She is currently a trustee of the Charity Technology Trust. A Fellow of the RSA, she was awarded an OBE for services to the voluntary sector in January 2003.