Big Society Capital

Big Society Capital’s object is to act as a social investment wholesaler & to promote social investment & the social investment market in the UK. Membership of Big Society Capital’s board reflects its mission & the need for a broad base of experience

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Nick O’Donohoe

Chief Executive Officer

Nick O’Donohoe is Chief Executive of Big Society Capital. Prior to taking this role he was at JP Morgan, latterly as Global Head of Research. He was responsible for the firm’s Equity, Credit, Interest Rate, FX and Commodities research groups in addition to the Economics research department. He was also a Member of the Management Committee of the Investment Bank and the Executive Committee of JP Morgan Chase, as well as the senior sponsor for JP Morgan’s Social Finance Unit, which invests in and delivers capital markets services to social enterprises around the world. He co-authored “Impact Investments: An Emerging Asset Class”, published by JP Morgan and the Rockefeller Foundation in November 2010. Prior to JP Morgan he worked at Goldman Sachs. He is a board member of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN).

Dawn Austwick

Dawn Austwick is Chief Executive of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, one of the UK’s largest grant-making trusts. She has had a distinguished career in the museum and heritage sector, serving as Project Director at Tate Modern before becoming Deputy Director at the British Museum. She is also Chair of Foundations Forum, a Trustee of Historic Royal Palaces and a Board Member of the Philanthropy Review. She was a member of the Social Investment Task Force.

David Carrington

David Carrington is an independent consultant working on the funding and governance of charities and social enterprises, in particular the development of social investment. He is a Member of the Supervisory Board of Triodos Bank in the Netherlands, a director of the company that publishes Alliance, the global journal on philanthropy and social investment, and a Member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Effective Philanthropy in the USA. He has 25 years’ experience of senior management positions in the charity sector and board membership of more than a dozen civil society organisations. He was a Member of the Social Investment Task Force and the Commission on Unclaimed Assets.

John Kingston

John Kingston is Chair of the Association of Charitable Foundations, the leading membership organisation for charitable trusts and foundations in the UK. He is also an independent consultant, currently researching an Investor Advisory Service at Social Finance, and is Chair of the European Venture Philanthropy Association. Previously John was Founder Director of CAF Venturesome which pioneered social investment in the UK. He was also a Director of Save the Children UK, and before that worked at 3i plc.

Geoff Mulgan

Geoff Mulgan is the Chief Executive of NESTA (National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts). Previously he was Chief Executive of the Young Foundation and held various roles in the UK Government including Director of the Government’s Strategy Unit and Head of Policy in the Prime Minister’s office. He was also founder and Director of the thinktank Demos.

Dai Powell

Dai Powell is Chief Executive of HCT Group, one of the UK’s leading social enterprises. HCT employs 630 people and has a turnover of over £28 million. HCT uses profits from commercial transport work in London and Yorkshire to fund additional transport for community groups and people with disabilities, and also provides training and jobs for hundreds of long-term unemployed people. He is currently Chair of the Disabled Persons’ Transport Advisory Committee, and a Social Enterprise UK Committee Board Member.

Lady Susan Rice

Lady Susan Rice is Managing Director of Lloyds Banking Group Scotland. A Chartered Banker, she became the first woman to head a UK clearing bank as Chief Executive and then Chairman of Lloyds TSB Scotland plc. She is a Senior Independent Director of Scottish and Southern Energy and sits on the Court of the Bank of England, where she chairs the Audit and Risk Committee. She also chairs the Edinburgh International Book Festival and Edinburgh’s Festivals’ Forum and she chairs the board of a new UK-wide initiative to create professional standards for bankers. She has worked for years in both the UK and US on issues of financial and social inclusion, helping create and guide Community Development Finance institutions and advising governments. She was a founding Director of Charity Bank, Honorary President of the CDFA, helped establish Social Investment Scotland and sat on the HMT Financial Inclusion Taskforce.

Danielle Walker-Palmour

Danielle Walker-Palmour is Director of the Friends Provident Foundation, an independent grant-making and social investment foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation she was Director of Policy and Practice at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, having also worked in senior policy and research roles throughout the non-governmental sector including as the Head of Policy of what is now The Big Lottery Fund, and roles with the Commission for Racial Equality and the Law Society of England and Wales. She was a Member of the Commission on Unclaimed Assets.

Steve Morrison

Steve Morrison is Head of Credit in Lloyds Banking Group’s (LBG) Business Support Unit. He has extensive banking experience across leverage finance/private equity, strategy and credit risk. In 2011, Steve attended the INSEAD Social Entrepreneurs Programme and currently chairs LBG’s Business Support Unit Corporate Sustainability Committee. He is a Chartered Banker and also sits on the Durham Business School MBA Advisory Board. In a private and pro bono capacity, he advises a number of SMEs on strategy and social impact. Steve represents the interests of LBG, Barclays Bank plc, HSBC Bank plc and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc on the BSC Board.

Sir Ronald Cohen

(BSC Chair)

Sir Ronald Cohen is Chair of Big Society Capital. He is founder Chairman of The Portland Trust and Bridges Ventures. He also founded the organisations: Social Finance UK, US and Israel. Sir Ronald was the founding Partner and former Chairman of Apax Partners, one of the world’s leading private equity investment groups. He is a member of the University of Oxford Investment Committee, the Harvard Board of Overseers, a Vice-Chairman of Ben Gurion University, and a Trustee of the British Museum. He was a founder Director and past Chairman of the British Venture Capital Association and a founder Director of the European Venture Capital Association. He was also a founder and former Vice-Chairman of EASDAQ and former Director of NASDAQ Europe. He chaired the Social Investment Task Force and the Commission on Unclaimed Assets.