We are proud and honoured to be supported by a team of trustees with a wealth of professional and voluntary experience in sectors including careers, local authority, healthcare, education, charity, innovation and Armed Forces.

Our trustees ensure we take the right actions to deliver our strategy and vision and meet our legal and financial obligations.

Learn more about our Trustees

Tristram Hooley

Independent Chair of Adviza Board, Chair of Performance and Quality Committee, and
Member of Finance and Audit Committee

Professor Tristram Hooley took up his role as Chair of the Adviza Board in January 2021.

He has been described by others as a “career development guru” and “a leader in the international community of career development professionals.” He is passionate about career development, education and guidance as well as social science research and learning technology. He is an expert for our times, being active on social media and his own blog, “Adventures in Career Development”.

Tristram is Chief Research Officer at the Institute of Student Employers, Professor of Career Education at the University of Derby and Professor at the Inland Norway University for Applied Science. He is also Director of the National Institute of Career Education and Counselling.

Alison Mihail MBE

Trustee and Member of Business Development and Personnel Committees

Alison spent 17 years teaching at the Piggott School, Wargrave, during which time she gained a BPhil in Educational Counselling from the University of Newcastle. She subsequently became a deputy headteacher at the Grange School, Aylesbury, responsible for the pastoral care of 1200 pupils.

In 1996 Alison was introduced to the work of The Prince’s Trust. Since then she has volunteered on various Trust committees, mentoring young people, managing two renovation projects in Romania and setting up 26 Achieve clubs in secondary schools across Berkshire.

In her role as Chair of the Thames Valley Area Development Committee Alison has raised more than £2.7 million to date, mentoring over 60 corporate teams to take part in the annual “Million Makers” entrepreneurial fundraising challenge.

In 2015 Alison was awarded an MBE for her outstanding service to young people in the Thames Valley area.

Bruce Laurie

Trustee and Chair of Performance and Quality Committee

As well as being Chair of the Adviza Performance and Quality Committee, Bruce is the Chair designate of our Finance and Audit Committee and a member of our business development committee.

He is a former Group Services Director of BG Plc, Director of Change for British Gas, and former Chair of the Newbury Community PCT. His further experience as a committee member includes time spent as Chair of Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and as a Lay Chair for Newbury Deanery.

Campbell Christie CBE

Trustee and Chair of Personnel Committee

Campbell is a former Royal Navy Commodore with 27 years’ experience of working with the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army, Royal Air Force and allied nations. His operational experience includes Commando service in Northern Ireland and the first Gulf War.

He was Principal/CEO of Bracknell & Wokingham College for 7 years as well as being the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership Director responsible for skills. He currently runs an independent consultancy as Managing Director of Campbell Christie Associates Ltd.

Chris Nehring

Trustee

Chris became a Trustee at Adviza in 2021 following a 35 year international career with BP that took him to leadership and executive roles in UK, USA, Africa, Middle East and Russia. He has extensive experience in deploying Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) strategies, building the capability of technical organisations and establishing effective risk management systems.

Chris was a Trustee for international schools in Azerbaijan and Egypt and is an accredited Executive Coach working through the Alta One Coaching & Consultancy LLP for which he is principle partner.

Hilary Omissi OBE

Trustee and Chair of Business Development Committee

Hilary has been an Adviza Trustee since 2012. Hilary has also worked for Adviza, as an interim or consultant, on several occasions.

She was a Local Authority representative on the Connexions Board which pre-dated Adviza. Hilary is a Governor of Brooklands College and an Ambassador for the Children’s Charity World Vision. She spent the majority of her career in the public sector and is now semi-retired. She was awarded an OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours list.

James Simmons

Trustee and Member of Business Development Committee

James has worked in the voluntary sector for over 25 years and is currently the Community Pastor at a church in Buckinghamshire. He previously spent twelve years as a youth worker in the Reading area, and continues to volunteer as Chairperson for a Drugs and Alcohol Education Charity.

He was formerly a trustee for Connexions Buckinghamshire until it closed, at which point he moved across to Adviza. He has a passion for seeing people flourish and communities transform.

Jaskirat Mann

Staff Trustee

Jaskirat Mann is the Senior Keyworker for the Building Futures Project within Adviza. She has worked for Adviza since 2014 and began her role as staff trustee in 2021. She represents the staff at the board.

Jaskirat joined Adviza as a Careers Adviser, has worked in a vast number of schools across Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, alongside the Youth Offending Team, Pupil Referral Units and within Community settings. Jaskirat has an extensive 20 year background working in Education and Careers Guidance and is passionate about making a difference to the lives of others.

Jonathan Olaofe

Trustee and Member of Personnel and Performance and Quality Committees

Jonathan became a Trustee at Adviza in 2017. He has extensive Trusteeship experience with a number of not-for-profit organisations in the employment, career guidance and public health sectors.

For many years he was a member of the Surrey High Sherriff Youth Council and School Governor at a local Primary School in Wokingham. He has served on strategic, finance, HR and fundraising committees for a number of these organisations and partnerships.

Katharine Horler OBE

Trustee

Katharine has over 30 years’ experience in the careers field and has been Chief Executive of Adviza for the last 17 years. In addition to being a qualified Careers Adviser, Katharine is a qualified Executive Coach (Henley Business School), Mediator (CEDR) and Myers Briggs Practitioner. She has been Chair of a school governing body and served a six-year term as a Director of Thames Valley Berkshire LEP, where she remains as the Skills Advisory Panel Chair.

She is passionate about the role that great careers guidance can play in helping people make sound decisions about their futures, especially those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.

Katharine is Chair of Careers England, and was awarded an OBE in 2017.

Kath Dunn

Trustee

A qualified careers practitioner, Kath worked for Adviza for over 20 years, firstly as a Careers Adviser and latterly on a range of initiatives spanning operational and strategic management.

Kath moved to Buckinghamshire New University in 2014 as Head of Careers, focusing particularly on support for students from “widening participation” backgrounds and employability in the context of “with Foundation Year” degree programmes.

In 2020 she joined Buckinghamshire College Group as Executive Director of Student Support and Services, overseeing areas of support for the college including careers, welfare, safeguarding, learning support and foundation learning programmes for students with special educational needs.

Laura Coughtrie

Trustee and Member of Finance and Audit Committee

Now retired, Laura spent ten years working at Adviza where she held the posts of Development Director, Delivery Director and Corporate Service Director. She joined the Adviza Board in 2019 following the closure of Connexions Buckinghamshire where she was a Trustee for three years.

Laura has also been a Trustee of Against the Grain, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation which was part of the Adviza Partnership, and Governor and Chair of the Governing Board for The Queen’s CofE Primary School in Kew. She is passionate about careers guidance and the impact good quality support can have on the upward mobility of young people and adults.

Maninder Hayre

Staff Trustee

As Adviza’s Head of Delivery, Maninder is responsible for a large portfolio of direct-delivery projects including The Prince’s Trust Team programmes, Information, Advice and Guidance in schools and education, NEET support and the National Careers Service in the Thames Valley and South West.

Maninder trained and qualified with the diploma in Information, Advice and Guidance. She became a Careers Adviser in 1993, initially working directly with young people before going on to hold various senior strategic and partnership roles within her field.

Maninder believes passionately that education and guidance is the key to opening doors and that it can and does change the lives of young people and adults who want to achieve their potential.

Peter Thorn

Trustee and Member of the Finance and Audit, Personnel, Performance and Quality Committees

Peter began his career in a business environment within the private sector but with a change of career into education, he eventually became the Principal of a Further Education College. The college offered a wide range of vocational education and training for young people and adults.

Peter, now retired, has maintained his commitment to the development of young people particularly, as the Co-Chair of Governors of an academy secondary school and as a Governor of a specialist school for children and young adults with moderate to severe learning difficulties.

Peter has extensive experience of Trustee work. He has a strong belief that personal development is lifelong and within that, it is key that individuals should have both opportunity and support toward developing their ambition, skills and ultimately achievement.

Ruth Spellman

Trustee

Ruth has been an Adviza Trustee since 2012. She formerly chaired the Careers Professional Alliance and is a member of the National Careers Commission. She has been CEO of Investors in People, the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, the Chartered Management Institute and the Workers Education Association (WEA).

She is currently an ambassador for the WEA and the Open University and a board member of the Education and Training Foundation and the Learning and Work Institute.

Ruth is passionate about the role of education and career development in social and economic mobility and has received an OBE and three Honorary Doctorates for services to industry, management & leadership and education.

Seth Allen

Trustee and Member of Finance and Audit Committee

Seth has a background in corporate sales and has worked in the innovation space for over six years as a founder, consultant and community builder. He has built entrepreneurial communities from the ground up and organised conferences attended by industry leaders and politicians from around the world.

He is currently focused on innovation projects in food systems and healthcare and brings a valuable perspective on innovation and technology to his role as Trustee at Adviza.

Sue Ormiston

Trustee and Member of Business Development Committee and Personnel Committee

An expert on European Funding, Sue is Programme Manager at The National Lottery Community Fund where she leads the development and delivery of EU funded programmes. She previously worked for the European Commission and has led many EU funded programmes for various public and private sector organisations.

Sue is currently responsible for The National Lottery Community Fund’s multi-million-pound “Building Better Opportunities” programme which supports disadvantaged communities towards and into employment. She also has wide-ranging experience of business and enterprise and is the Managing Director of her own consultancy company. She chairs a not-for-profit community organisation for children and young people and is a Trustee of two charities.

Tim Parry

Trustee and Member of Finance and Audit Committee

Tim has been an Adviza Trustee since 2009. He is the Chief Operating Officer at Connecting Communities in Berkshire, a rural community development charity. He joined the charitable sector 20 years ago as a project manager, following roles in the construction and IT sectors. He is particularly interested in people’s motivations for giving their time to improving other people’s quality of life.

As Tim says, “these active citizens are crucial to the development of sustainable communities, and ensuring that young people are supported and inspired to look beyond their own welfare has to be one of the best ways of achieving sustainability in all of its forms.”