Meet The Team

After graduating from Cambridge, I trained as a Chartered Accountant. I then worked for five years in venture capital, funding small and medium-sized businesses and start-ups. During a three-year period abroad, I studied German and worked as a freelance translator of scientific and technical documents.

 

Returning to the UK, I was appointed as Bursar of Girton College, Cambridge, a post which I held for 26 years. During that time, I undertook many governance roles in the University of Cambridge, including serving on the Council and the Finance Committee. Various ancillary roles included the Investment Committee and Chairing the Sports Syndicate.

 

I also served as Secretary and Chair of the Bursars' Committee, an inter-collegiate body sharing knowledge and best practice, and providing an important conduit for consultation and negotiation between the Colleges and the University.

 

I am now a Life Fellow of Girton College and have been a Trustee of VJF since 2019, and Chair of the Board of Trustees since 2022.

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As a father of two boys with special needs, Chris is very aware of the immense strain being placed on the disability and care sector. He was keen to find a trustee role locally where he could “give back” to the disability sector.  And so he was delighted to be invited to join the VJF board as Honorary Treasurer in May 2021, during a period of strategic change.

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Chris is an experienced finance professional with extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector. Chris completed his initial ACA chartered accountant training with Deloitte in Cambridge before focusing on the M&A sector, working in Corporate Finance and Private Equity. Chris realised his passion for the charity sector when he became the Finance Director for CIFF UK in 2011. He subsequently became Chief Financial Officer at Ark Schools and Chief Operating Officer at Permian Global.

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Bringing us up to date, Chris is the founder of Blue Jay Advisory Ltd. Chris specialises in financial management consultancy for not-for-profit organisations and academies.  In addition to his role at VJF, Chris’s commitment to the sector extends to sitting on other charity boards and finance committees.

Carli Baldasare brings over 15 years of experience in financial services, specialising in responsible investment strategies as Head of Charities at Tribe Impact Capital, having previously worked at HSBC Private Bank and PwC.

 

Carli is a Certified Public Accountant, a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and holds a Certificate in ESG Investing from the CFA Institute. She graduated from Ohio University with a BBA in Accounting and Cranfield University with a MSc in Leadership and Management.

 

As someone passionate about creating a more equitable society, Carli was drawn to The Varrier-Jones Foundation's mission to financially support charities who bring about positive change in the lives of disabled people and work towards a more inclusive and compassionate world

Resulting from 30 years of work within the residential property sector, I have a wealth of experience relating to the legal and planning aspects of property management and development. 

 

VJF has a substantial property portfolio concentrated in Papworth Everard, a village close to where I live and I feel I can help to unlock the value potential of these assets in support of our core objectives, namely to provide relief to disabled people in the medium and long term.

I am a Partner at Howes Percival LLP where I specialise in commercial property.  I have over 40 years’ experience in dealing with a wide range of commercial property transactions specialising particularly in relation to commercial investment property transactions and also development land and advising charities in relation to their property holdings.  

I became a Trustee of VJF in 2017.  It is a charity which I have a close affinity to as a close member of my family has a disability. 

Joanne is a multi-asset investment professional at the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation that supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone.

 

Joanne has 11 years of investment experience across public and private markets, following 5 years of life science experience at Cancer Research UK. Joanne is a member of the Investments Advisory Committee of Hertford College, University of Oxford and a Trustee Director of the Wellcome pension plan.

 

Joanne is a Trustee and Chair of the Varrier-Jones Investment Committee. Joanne is passionate about the charity sector and volunteering her investment skills to purpose-driven organisations.

Stuart is retired from a career in finance. He worked for Citigroup in a variety of asset management and markets roles, ultimately becoming the firm’s Chief Investment Officer. His responsibilities covered management of: investment securities, the employee pension fund, interest rate risk and the firm’s own debt and capital market activities. 

 

Since retiring, he has looked to leverage and further develop those skills and experiences in a number of volunteering and trustee roles. He became a Trustee of Varrier Jones in 2023, with a focus on the foundation’s investment portfolio.

I was appointed a Board Trustee of VJF in 2023 and am a member of the Property Committee.

 

I retired in 2018, after a property career spanning 40 years. During this time I enjoyed roles in private practice, insurance companies and a large Charity as well as a period running my own investment management business. These roles covered commercial, residential and agricultural property across the UK.

 

My role with VJF is an opportunity for me  to apply this experience and knowledge for the benefit of the charity and the worthwhile local causes that VJF support.

As a Chartered Surveyor with over 40 years of experience in the Cambridgeshire property sector, I joined the Varrier Jones Foundation in 2016. Since then I have been Chair of the internal Property Committee which manages a significant property portfolio in and around Papworth Everard. 

 

I am supported in this role by other Trustees with wide ranging property skills and we report to the VJF Board, on which we also serve, with the objective of managing an overall asset portfolio to fulfil [both] our Charitable objectives.