Who we are
hyh is led by a group of Trustees and a Chief Executive, Jonny Whitehead, supported by the leadership team and Youth Advisory Board.
Jonny Whitehead
Chief Executive
Jonny joined the team in January 2022 with over twenty years’ experience of senior management roles in the not-for-profit sector. He has a breadth of experience across service delivery, communications and public affairs, partnership development, strategy and operational leadership. He is a charity trustee, a fellow of the RSA and has been a school governor and a volunteer for a number of environmental, human rights and community organisations.
“I vividly remember my first charity work when I was at school, volunteering on the weekly ‘soup run’ up to the homeless community living under the bullring at waterloo station. Now, after nearly 30 years in the not for profit sector I’m delighted to have returned to what, sadly, remains an urgent and important cause, namely homelessness. Young people face huge challenges at the best of times, let alone as we emerge from a pandemic. At the sharp end of that, preventing and tackling youth homelessness is so important for a frighteningly large number of young people across the UK and here in Hertfordshire.”
Leadership Team
Caroline Neill
Job Share: Head of Fundraising & Communications
Caroline joined
hyh in 2019. Caroline’s background is in consumer book publishing with roles in Marketing & PR and Digital. She has experience within the fashion industry, voluntary sector and as part of the client services team for a creative agency.
‘It is a pleasure to lead our Fundraising team, working closely with supporters and funders to grow our income, in order for hyh to provide our range of vital services to young people and their families. We would love to hear from you if you can help us to raise awareness and funds!’
Tamora Burford
Job Share: Head of Fundraising & Communications
Tamora joined hyh in June 2024. Tamora has over 15 years’ experience working in fundraising within the not-for-profit sector and is particularly passionate about supporting young people. Tamora also has experience of working within the education sector and spent time working for the commercial agency at the BBC.
Paul Boty
Finance Manager
Paul joined hyh in March 2023. Paul is a chartered accountant with a background in finance management, management accounts, business systems development and financial modelling. Paul was previously working in University Education and the Local government where he managed a housebuilder and local major airport for a local council.
Laura
Head of Partnerships and Prevention Services
Laura joined hyh in 2009. Laura has 20 years’ experience working with and for young people, with a background in youth and social work within the statutory sector, and experience of charity governance as a trustee. Laura is passionate about education and youth engagement providing the opportunity for informed choices that young people deserve to succeed. She believes youth-led and grassroots partnership work provides a platform for creativity, innovation, and impact.
Charlotte
HR Manager
Charlotte Hack is an experienced, approachable CIPD Level 7 HR professional who specialises in creating inclusive, supportive and high performing workplaces. With a background spanning the charity sector, FMCG, financial services, public sector, retail, and her own HR and Coaching consultancy, she brings a strong blend of compassion and strategic HR expertise, from developing wellbeing and EDI initiatives to coaching managers and strengthening organizational policies. She is deeply passionate about neurodiversity, with a particular interest in executive function coaching, supporting individuals to build confidence, organisation and sustainable ways of working. Her experience implementing wellbeing programmes, improving processes, and shaping culture focused strategies supports hyh’s commitment to an inclusive workplace ensuring staff feel supported, valued, and able to thrive.
Emma
Head of Prevention Services
Emma joined HYH in 2014 as an Advice & Information Worker before moving into the mediation team. Throughout her time at hyh, she has supported young people and families to overcome challenges, improve communication, and strengthen relationships at home.
Before joining the organisation, Emma qualified as a counsellor and developed a strong passion for prevention and early support. She believes in empowering people to find their own solutions and is committed to creating safe, respectful spaces where individuals feel heard and understood. Emma’s work is driven by her belief that positive relationships and effective communication are key.
Becca
Head of Outreach Services
Becca joined hyh in 2000 as a volunteer, originally planning to pursue a social work degree. However, she quickly discovered her passion for the role and the charity and went on to become a paid frontline worker supporting young people and managing a caseload. She remained in frontline services for 15 years, working across hyh’s 18+ provisions, before moving into management. In October 2025, Becca became the charity’s Designated Safeguarding Lead.
“I am proud to work for hyh and to be part of an amazing team that provides truly impactful support to young people in need. I love the charity and everything it stands for, and I’m so happy to be part of an organisation that truly cares about the people it supports and genuinely wants to make a difference in their lives.”
Meet the hyh Trustees
The trustees are ultimately responsible for everything hyh does. They decide our strategy, ensure our resources are managed responsibly and that we comply with legislation as well as making sure all hyh’s decisions put the needs of the vulnerable people we support first.
All our trustees are volunteers.
Peter Holland
ChairJoined hyh: November 2019
Peter began his career as a journalist on local newspapers in Hertfordshire and national newspapers in the UK before joining Reuters. During a 23 year career with Reuters he moved from journalism into management where his roles included Managing Director of Reuters Europe, Managing Director, Reuters Overseas, Chairman, Reuters Africa and Reuters Latin America and Chairman of Reuters Television.
After leaving Reuters his career included Chairman of Hertfordshire Police Authority, a Board member of the National Crime Squad and the National Criminal Intelligence Service, Chairman of Ombudsman Services and Chairman of the National Policing Improvement Agency. He was also a board member for eleven years of St John Ambulance and Chairman of its Audit and Risk Committee. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire in 2000 and awarded CBE in 2005 for services to policing.
Carol Shutkever
Vice ChairJoined hyh: 2019
Carol is a solicitor and was a corporate partner in a London law firm for 20 years. She headed the firm's corporate governance advisory team, focusing on issues such as board structures and behaviours, accounts and audit, risk management, culture and stakeholders. She also headed the firm’s corporate knowledge management team, responsible for analysing new law and regulation, the firm’s knowledge resources and its corporate training programme. Having retired as a partner she is now does some part-time corporate governance consultancy work and is a trustee of a school Multi Academy Trust.
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John Ball
Joined hyh: 2020
John is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years experience of managing and leading finance teams at a senior level most recently in social housing. He is a trustee at Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group and recently stepped down from the Board of Groundwork East where he was a trustee and member of the Finance and Audit Committee.
John joined hyh in March 2020 and is a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.
Ruth Barnes
Joined hyh: 2020
Ruth is an international child rights consultant specialising in the law and policy relating to child protection and justice. Ruth was Head of International Programmes at Coram International from 2007 to 2020 and has over 15 years of experience in international child rights: including research and analysis, writing training materials, publishing reports and advising UN agencies, governments and non-governmental organisations on issues relating to child protection, child justice and gender rights. Ruth is studying towards a PhD in Education at the University of Edinburgh, with her PhD research focusing on safeguarding in elite sport.
Originally from Cambridge, Ruth lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and three young children.
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Mathew Baxter
Joined hyh: 2018
Mathew will lead for the Board in supporting fundraising initiatives and work closely with the hyh team. He is the managing director and owner of a leading asset management and procurement consultancy, working primarily in the public and private housing sectors.
Mathew is also the owner of a framework management company that is supporting numerous procurement hubs across the UK and is a published author.
Paul Groves
Joined hyh: 2019
Paul is a Solicitor with more than 15 years experience of advising across the technology, media, video games and sports sectors. Paul has worked for Google since 2012 and is currently the YouTube Legal Lead for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
As a legal advisor for YouTube in EMEA, he works on a broad range of matters, including acting as point of contact for legal and business partners on various regulatory, commercial, legal and product issues.
Tim Willies
TreasurerJoined hyh: 2022
Tim is a qualified management accountant with over 25 years’ experience leading large European finance organisations within the semiconductor distribution industry. He worked for global business Avnet Inc. and throughout his career worked closely with business executives and operational leaders to improve organisational performance. He has 20 years’ experience as a member of a cross-functional European leadership team and in his final role prior to retirement was responsible for building up and running, Avnet Silica’s Business Operations, Strategy and Data Analytics team. In addition to his European roles Tim also spent two years as Asia Pacific finance director based in Hong Kong.
He has lived in Hertfordshire for over 25 years and is married with two grown up sons.
Sarah Milsom
Joined hyh: 2023
Sarah is a qualified workplace and employment mediator and is a Civil Mediation Council (CMC) Associate Mediator. Passionate about the power of good relationships for social justice, she is also a community mediator.
Prior to becoming a mediator, Sarah had a successful career in the charity sector. Most recently Director of Communications and Engagement at Relate (the leading relationships charity), her experience spans leadership, management, communication and strategy.
The skills and experience built up over her career so far are an important foundation for the work she now does as a mediator.
Sarah lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and two young children.
Hannah Victor
TrusteeJoined hyh: 2025
Hannah is Head of Community and Events at Diabetes UK, where she leads a team of 32 fundraisers delivering national community and event fundraising programmes. She brings over a decade of experience in public fundraising, with a strong track record in building engaged communities, growing income, and developing high-performing teams.
Hannah is passionate about supporting and developing people, particularly young people, and is committed to creating pathways into leadership roles at a time when new talent entering the charity sector is declining. As a trustee, she brings expertise in community engagement, event fundraising, and people development to support young people facing homelessness in Hertfordshire.
Alex Gurr
TrusteeJoined hyh: 2025
Alex is recently retired from a career delivering strategy and major transformation programmes for Global Financial Services organisations. His most recent corporate role was as Global Financial Services Lead for Baringa Partners, a 2,500 person £500m revenue Management Consultancy firm, where he worked for 17 years. He was responsible for the Financial Services practice of 300 people in Europe, US and Australia and accountable for the successful delivery of £100m of consulting engagements to 50+ Banks, Insurers, Wealth & Asset Managers.
Alex has been a long term supporter of Herts Young Homeless (hyh) and became more actively involved following his retirement from the corporate world, by helping hyh develop their strategy and as advisor/coach to members of the Leadership Team. This close involvement and belief in hyh has led to Alex becoming a Trustee, brining his strategic thinking and change transformation experience to the Board.
Caitríona
TrusteeJoined hyh: 2025
Caitríona Quigley is one of hyh’s young Trustee’s. Her professional career is within the legal sector, working as a human rights paralegal for Leigh Day and prior to this supporting legally-aided clients as a housing paralegal at LawStop. Before re-training, Caitríona worked as a mediator for Herts Young Homeless.
Meet our Youth Advisory Board
Our expert Youth Advisory Board (YAB) support us to ensure our charity developments, strategic decisions and services are youth-informed and co-produced.
