Helen Taylor Thompson, OBE
Co-Founder & BRDF Trustee, Chair

Helen was elected to the board of the Mildmay Mission Hospital in 1952 and afterwards sat on a number of Government NHS committee. She later fought the closure of the Mildmay hospital and became its chair when it reopened as the first hospice in Europe for people living with AIDS in 1988.  

In 1995 Helen, alongside with CAN co-founders Adele Blakebrough and Lord Andrew Mawson, organised the Great Banquet - which saw 33,000 people in London sit down with people from every background to a meal. This event saw the beginnings of CAN, the launch of a network of social entrepreneurs who shared a commitment to tackle social problems through business.

In 2000 Thare Machi Education (originally Starfish Initiative) began and today Helen is chair of the organisation. Thare Machi Education (TME) uses interactive DVDs in local languages to educate children and young people against the disease. TME works with local partners in Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Malawi, India and Cambodia, and soon will be in DR Congo, Zambia and China. In 1990, Helen was awarded the MBE and in 2005 the OBE.  

Robin Pauley
BRDF Trustee, Chair of Mezzanine2 Ltd and CAN Mezzanine Ltd

Robin was BT's President of European Affairs. Robin joined BT as Group Communications Director in November 1999 after a long career with the Financial Times. He was responsible for BT's external and internal communications, public affairs, media relations, brand, and social policy. He is BT's race champion and a member of the Group Equality and Diversity Forum.

He is a member of Business in the Community's Race for Opportunity Board in the UK and a Corporate Trustee of the Tate museums.

Previously, Robin worked for five years as Asia Editor for the Financial Times. He became deputy managing editor in 1990 and managing editor in 1994.
In 1998-99 he was instrumental in establishing a new newspaper in Germany, the Financial Times Deutschland, which launched successfully in January 2000.

Olu Olasode MSc BSc MBA IPSM FCCA
BRDF, Mezzanine2 Ltd and CAN Mezzanine Ltd Trustee 

Olu is an experienced turnaround and change agent and has delivered on major projects across the public, private and third sectors, and holds a number of ministerial and public appointments. He is a Commissioner and the Chairman of Audit & Risk Committee for the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) and Chairman of the Audit Committee for Bromley NHS PCT.

He also serves as non-executive director for Bromley PCT and was previously Chairman of General Performance and Advisory Panel Member with DCLG’s Beacons Panel (formerly ODPM), and former Chair of SLFHA Housing Association.

He is an experienced accountant with a track record of achievement in a number of diverse roles including: chief executive of voluntary organisations and director of finance and performance management for a key independent healthcare provider.

Judith Miara
BRDF, Mezzanine2 Ltd and CAN Mezzanine Ltd Trustee

Judith has over 20 years’ experience in corporate banking, structured products and debt capital markets in New York, Chicago, Tel Aviv and London.   She was a director in a $400 million emerging markets private equity fund and established a partnership to work with UK mid-market companies to formulate strategic business plans, valuations, and financial modelling to prepare for private investment. She is currently CFO and responsible for Investor Relations for a new internet media venture and provides consulting services in the areas of finance and fundraising to young ventures.

Her Third Sector work includes surveying and analysing the capital needs of sector finance providers to propose a structure for ‘Wholesale Capital in the Social Investment Market’ for the Commission on Unclaimed Assets and extensive work on sustainable models for financial inclusion with ABCUL and individual credit unions.

Judith has a BA cum laude in Political Economy and Economics from Barnard College, Columbia University, an MSc Management from Boston University and a PGD Law with Commendation from Middlesex University. 

 Leo Shapland
Mezzanine2 Ltd and CAN Mezzanine Ltd Trustee

Leo joined Tishman Speyer in 2009, and is responsible for asset management of the UK portfolio, the ongoing leasing of a 160k sq. ft development in the City, and identifying and undertaking new investments for the Tishman Speyer funds.  

Prior to joining Tishman Speyer, Leo was at Brookfield Asset Management, working on acquisition, asset management and development opportunities including managing their office properties at Canary Wharf, and a scheme to redevelop a 500k sq. ft tower in Central London. Mr. Shapland joined Brookfield as a result of their take-over of Multiplex, where he helped establish the stock exchange listed Multiplex European Property Fund, and acquire 67 investment properties across Germany.   

Leo has a double first in political science from University of Cambridge as well as a Masters in Real Estate from Kingston University, and is a qualified Chartered Surveyor.