Sarah Porretta – CEO
Before joining YE, Sarah was Deputy CEO at Fair4All Finance, leading the strategy, policy, comms and research function focusing on tackling financial exclusion. Prior to this she was Executive Director for Strategy and Insights at the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) and Head of Financial Inclusion and Education Lloyds Banking Group. She has private and public sector experience across various sectors, most recently financial services. She specialises in strategy, stakeholder engagement, and innovation. At MaPS, Sarah was one of the UK’s leading spokespeople on financial wellbeing and education, appearing regularly on TV and radio in the UK to speak about financial education.
Sarah has a Politics degree from Bristol University and she has also completed the Prince of Wales’ Business and Sustainability Programme at the University of Cambridge and a post graduate study at Liverpool John Moore University in ‘Promoting Financial Inclusion in Low Income Communities’.
She commutes to London from Dorset where she lives with her husband and kids where they lead a very active outdoor lifestyle, having relocated from London a few years ago to be near family.
Sharon Davies – CEO
Sharon’s professional background is youthwork, latterly over the last 13 years in the charity sector. With strengths and skills covering negotiation, change management, culture and strategy, Sharon is an MBA qualified director with a strong track record in the planning and implementation of successful organisational change within not-for-profit organisations.
She is a qualified youth worker and experienced in the delivery of informal education in a range of settings, including detached and outdoor-based youth work. Sharon is passionate about equality of access to opportunity for young people, having benefitted first hand from opportunities that have made a huge difference to her own life. The importance of making such opportunities available to all, regardless of their starting point is an area of work that has been of keen personal interest for over 25 years.
Sharon is a graduate of Liverpool John Moore’s University and a postgraduate of Leicester University.
Russell Winnard – COO
Russell began his career as an accountant within the Lloyds insurance market before moving into education. His time teaching highlighted the need for all young people to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes beyond the traditional academic learning and prompted the decision to join the charitable sector supporting schools and other educational institutions to address this.
Having previously been Young Enterprise’s Director of Programmes and Services, Russell now drives the organisational strategy internally. He has contributed to a range of reviews into financial education and skills development within the UK, including the Lords Select Committee Report on Financial Inclusion, London Assembly Economic Committee, and conducted a series of Inquiries with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education for Young People.
Director of Corporate Partnerships
With a private sector background in finance and marketing, Anita now has nearly 15 years of experience leading high-performing development and fundraising teams in the charity sector. At Young Enterprise, Anita is responsible for developing relationships with key corporate partners to allow the charity to deliver high-quality services to young people.
Director of Development
Donna started her career as an accountant, first in practice and then in a corporate setting. Following a career break for children, she moved into the third sector and has over 18 years of experience building strong partnerships with supporters across corporate partnerships, trusts and foundations and individual philanthropy.
Head of Programmes & Services
Liz has extensive experience leading and supporting the Programmes and Services team. She has developed and delivered both targeted intervention projects and large scale national programmes designed to improve the financial capability of children and young people across England and Wales. She is a PRINCE2 qualified project manager with responsibility for ensuring all of the Young Enterprise programmes and services are delivered on time and within budget.
Head of Marketing and Communications
Elsa joined Young Enterprise in 2023, having specialised in campaign and brand management in recent years in the third sector. Having started her career working internationally in banking, she has nearly two decades’ experience in financial services. She leads Young Enterprise’s marketing and communications activities and oversees the charity’s public relations work.
Head of Impact and Insights
Andrew joined Young Enterprise in June 2021 and he is responsible for research, evaluation, policy and public affairs at the charity. He brings over 15 years’ experience of senior roles in economic and social research in private, public and charity settings, and he is a proud alumnus of Young Enterprise Company Programme.
Director of Finance and IT
Tim joined Young Enterprise in October 2015, and as Finance and IT Director, has responsibility for the charity’s finance and IT functions. He is a qualified chartered accountant having trained with Ernst & Young and has spent 25 years working in senior finance roles in the commercial and charity sectors. Tim is a graduate of Manchester University.
Director Of Educational Partnerships
Lee started his career in Teaching. He originally trained to teach Primary and later re-trained to include Secondary. He has over 17 years’ experience in education which has ranged from Teaching (KS2-KS5), Education consultancy, Examiner and Assessor, SEN specialist alongside volunteering. He has taught in the UK, US and the Netherlands, teaching varying curriculums, including the International Baccalaureate in both state and independent schools. His passion for education and learning has extended to completing 3 masters (Education, Educational Psychology and Law). His current studies include a doctorate in educational psychology, specialising in SEN. He has been involved in numerous national working groups, and a Trustee for numerous charities.
Head of Volunteering
Katherine is based in the South West of England and joined Young Enterprise in April 2023 after more than a decade in the charity sector in roles spanning youth work, service delivery, change management and volunteer engagement. She is passionate about the transformative power of volunteering for young people, organisations and for our volunteers themselves.
