Advisory council

The Aldridge Foundation's Advisory Council looks at the work of the Foundation, ensuring that is in line with current thinking around social entrepreneurship.

Natalie Campbell, Freelance consultant

Natalie Campbell was until recently campaign manager of the Make your Mark Campaign, which aims to build an enterprise culture amongst young people, aged 14 – 30, encouraging them to consider entrepreneurship as a viable career option. Natalie founded the ONYX Professional Network for young Black professionals, and is  a trustee for the British Youth Council.

Whilst at university studying Consultancy and Independent Research, Natalie Campbell set up her own event management and promotion business specialising in student entertainment. She is now completing a Masters in Journalism.

Rajeeb Dey, ESSA

Rajeeb (Raj) began work on developing ESSA in November 2003 alongside doing his A-levels. He first came up with the idea after hearing about secondary student unions in other European countries and thought to himself – “if they have one, why don’t we?” and since then Raj has been able to generate widespread support for ESSA. ESSA now employs two full time members of staff and has offices in London Bridge.

His work with Chelmsford Youth Council led to him winning the DfES Exceptional Community Champion 2005 Award and being a Finalist in the Windrush Achievement Awards in 2004. Raj is currently a Co-optee on the Trustees Board of the Carnegie UK Trust, as well as a Trustee of the Phoenix Education Trust. Raj was also awarded a Young Leaders Award from the Royal Society of Arts and a Wavemakers Award by Sir John Major.

Mark Johnson, User Voice 

Mark Johnson was a homeless drug addict and serial offender who, after rehabilitation, set up his own successful tree surgery business. He wrote a best-selling book about his life, Wasted, and pioneered The Prince’s Trust Working One to One with Young Offenders mentoring project. He is adviser to the National Probation Service and a consultant for policy-makers at all levels on crime, homelessness and drug abuse issues.

He is currently in the process of establishing User Voice, an organisation that will act as a mechanism to transport the voice of users of youth services and/or criminal justice into policy design and delivery.

Peter Kyle, ACEVO

For ten years Peter was an aid worker for a relief organisation founded by Anita Roddick, working on projects across Central Europe and the Balkans throughout the 1990s.

After completing a PhD on community economic development he co-founded a successful video production company based in Brighton, before going on to become a Special Adviser to the Blair government, working for the Rt Hon Hilary Armstrong MP.  Based in the Cabinet Office he worked on a wide policy agenda that included Social Exclusion and the Third Sector, in addition to political support at cabinet level.

In October 2007 Peter joined ACEVO and went on to become Deputy Chief Executive.  Peter has been a trustee of two charities, and is a seasoned third sector and political campaigner.

Lily Lappena, MyBnk

Lily created the first ever FSA friendly youth led banking scheme called "MyBnk-in-a-Box" run by young people for young people, allowing them to save regularly and take out interest free loans to set up enterprising activities. Through this banking scheme and accompanying workshops and assemblies, young people build the knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their money effectively and to make enterprising choices throughout their lives. MyBnk also promotes the idea of social enterprise - that success is not just about making money, but being a force for positive change in the world.

Lily has taken MyBnk from a single pilot project to an organisation reaching 9,500 young people in the space of 2 years, illustrating her drive, tenacity and commitment to the project. Her passion is infectious, the MyBnk office is home to an enthusiastic team, inspired by Lily's vision. She has inspired and guided countless young people to believe in themselves and their ideas, and to empower them to instigate the change they want to see in their own lives, their communities and the wider world.  Lily was recently awarded the young social entrepreneur of the year by Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

Dan McGuire, Broadbean

Dan is MD of Broadbean, the UK’s 7th fastest growing technology firm which was acquired by the Daily Mail and General Trust in October 2008.

In November 2007 he was named the CBI/Real Business Magazine Young Entrepreneur of the Year by an independent panel of judges, consisting many of the top names in UK business. He was also voted into the Growing Business Magazine Young Guns Class of 2008 (top 30 entrepreneurs under the age of 35) and is listed in the Courvoisier Future 50 list of rising stars in business.

Dan is a regular public speaker and founder of the Two Hour Initiative, a social enterprise which brings entrepreneurs together to help promote business in schools.

Reed Paget, Belu Water

Reed Paget is the founder and CEO of Belu Water, a new bottled water brand that donates 100% of its profits to clean water projects. Belu has also launched the UK's first compostable bottles as well as the first 'carbon neutral' bottled water and is leading a range of industry-changing environmental innovations.  Reed has also develop the "Penguin Approved" certification stamp for goods and services that have reduced and offset their CO2 emissions.

In 2007, the Office of the Third Sector appointed Reed Paget a Social Enterprise Ambassador to promote the concept of using business to address social and environmental issues. In 2007, Belu Water also won the New Statesman's Social Enterprise of the Year award and in 2008, Reed was named the 2008 Schwab Foundation's Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Prior to founding Belu, Reed was a filmmaker and journalist.  In 1989, Paget began producing a film on the Cold War which led him through 13 warzones from Tiananmen Square to scud missiles hitting Tel Aviv. The result was the award-winning film "Amerikan Passport" which has screened in over 20 countries.

Reed is married with two kids, one cat and a field of sheep.

Heather Wilkinson, Striding Out

Heather has been running her own social enterprise, Striding Out, for three years. She is a Mentor to the 20 National Social Enterprise Ambassadors for the Social Enterprise Coalition, a Social Enterprise Ambassador the Make Your Mark Campaign, and was awarded the Social Enterprise Mentor of the Year Award in the Edge Upstart Awards in May 2006.

Heather has pursued and established her career within the economic development and social enterprise sector for the last ten years, working for public, private and third sector clients.  She specialises in helping young entrepreneurs to develop and implement their business strategy, through coaching, training and consultancy. Her experience spans working with commercial and social entrepreneurs from all ends of the spectrum - charities, community and voluntary groups to ethical and commercial companies,  and she undertakes research and policy work for Government and Academia on matters relating to social enterprise, youth entrepreneurship and business support.