Trustees

Patricia has been Managing Director of Shared Interest since 2006. Prior to this, she was Managing Director of Saint-Gobain Quartz Group. Patricia is a member of the UK Fair Trade Leader's Forum, and a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD). Patricia is also Chair of Governors for Newcastle High School for Girls, a Foundation Governor at St Oswald's RC Primary School and a member of the Newcastle Business School Advisory Board.

Richard is a Chartered Accountant and risk management professional with commercial and charity board experience. His career has principally been in financial services; unsecured and secured lending and his current role is Chief Risk Officer at Marston Holdings Limited (“Marston”). Richard joined Marston in 2016 as Group Legal and Compliance Director. Based in the North East, his role takes him across the UK and overseas to their Indian and Swedish subsidiaries.

Melissa has many years of experience in the ethical trade movement, including five years working for Traidcraft.  Melissa also served as a Trustee and Vice Chair of the UK Fairtrade Foundation for six years.   Prior to this Melissa completed an MBA at Cranfield University and spent 15 years in the corporate sector, including WHSmith plc, where she was Head of Communications.   After serving on the UK Fairtrade Board, Melissa was elected to the Fairtrade International Board serving as the Treasurer and then Vice Chair before taking up the role of Executive Director of Fairtrade International, which she currently holds. Having grown-up in the United States, Melissa worked in Southeast Asia for a number of years, before moving to the UK.

Yvonne is a Chartered Accountant specialising in improving access to finance for small businesses to address economic inequality. She was previously the Chief Executive at NEL Fund Managers Limited, is the current Chair of the Government UK Small Business Commissioner’s Office and Chair of the UK Prompt Payment Code. Yvonne is also Chair of the investment committee for the Millfield House Foundation, a charity that promotes social change with the aim of reducing poverty and inequality.

Jamie is a Founding Partner of Konsortium LLC, a private investment and advisory business. He also currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Governors of Sidcot School, a Quaker school located in Somerset, England. He has over 35-years of experience in international banking having previously served in senior management roles at global financial institutions in New York, San Francisco and London. Most recently, Jamie was Global Head of Markets Structuring at UniCredit Bank. Prior to UniCredit, Jamie was a Partner at NewSmith Capital Partners and held several senior management positions in the Markets Division at Bank of America. He has also served as a member of the Securitisation Board and the Executive Committee of the Board for the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME). Jamie is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States and has resided in the UK for almost 25 years. Jamie received a Masters in Business Administration from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Colorado College. Jamie looks forward to joining the Board of Shared Interest and applying his skills and experience to the support of Shared Interest’s critically important mission.

Cristina has been working with coffee, cocoa, and tea farmers across the globe for over 15 years.  She was Ethical Trading Manager at Taylors of Harrogate, before becoming Founder and Director of Source Climate Change Coffee. Cristina also works with the Wilberforce Institute at the University of Hull, to support companies to meet the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act.  Through her work as International Programme Manager with the Lorna Young Foundation, Cristina helped launch Farmers’ Voice Radio, subsequently setting up radio programmes in the DRC, Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania.  Involved since its inception, Cristina continues to advise the team.

Paul has lived and worked in the Netherlands, East Africa, Asia, the US, and the UK, and has been a UK resident since 1993.  A tropical agriculturist by training, he carried out a volunteer role with smallholder farmers in Kenya and the Philippines and has now worked in international development for over 40 years. After working as Country Representative in the Philippines and as Regional Manager for East Asia, for Oxfam Great Britain, he was Vice President for Programs of Oxfam America in Boston for three years before joining Christian Aid in 2004 as International Director until his retirement in 2019. Paul’s previous Non-Executive roles include Vice Chair of Bond (the network of UK-based development organisations) and member of the Board and Executive Committee of the Geneva-based global ACT Alliance.