Our Trustees 

Baljit is the Director of Nucleus Legal Advice Centre, where he has worked for the past 24 years. The organisation was established 35 years ago to provide advice to the local community. His aim for the organisation is for it to thrive and retain its values and spirit and to retain its community focus within a changing and competitive environment.

When he took up this post he received lots of support from the AdviceUK London Regional Network as the organisation went through a big change process. He hopes that his involvement as a Board member will help AdviceUK to continue to support its diverse membership.

He volunteered at Woolwich CAB which started his interest in advice and subsequently worked in a law centre before taking up his current post. Prior to this he had trained as a civil engineer. He became politicised at university where he was a member of the Anti-racist Alliance which resulted in a change of career path.

Jawanza entered Advice through Students’ Unions, having held elected positions as an Officer for Leeds Beckett Students’ Union, and the National Union of Students with a focus on LGBTQ+ and Disability Liberation. During their time in elected positions Jawanza held roles in the National Disabled Students’ Committee, National Executive Council of NUS and as a Trustee of Unipol; a unique student housing charity, established in 1975.

Jawanza also sat on the Higher Education Advisory Panel for the Office of the independent Adjudicator for 5 years.

Jawanza has a passion for being technological forward thinking with Advice, and brought in some of the first online self-booking systems in a Students’ Union, trailed the use of Smart NFC Posters, and made use of popular medias such as WhatsApp as a delivery of advice appointments.

Jawanza currently Co-Chairs ACSU- the Advisors and Caseworkers in Students’ Unions Network.

Vicki stepped into the world of advice as soon as she graduated from Lancaster University. She began working in community advice on a pilot project that had been brought in by the local council and tendered out to local charities across Lancashire. The purpose of the project was to provide an advice service that could support the community through the up-coming cuts to the social care system. It was certainly a challenge to try to help create an advice service from scratch. Fortunately, the service thrived for a number of years, teaching her a huge amount in the process.

Following this, Vicki stepped back into Higher Education, this time to become a Student Advisor at the University of Manchester Students’ Union. It was certainly a transition from community advice but she thoroughly enjoyed her time working at the largest Students’ Union in the country with never a dull moment.

Over a decade after leaving, Vicki decided to return to Lancaster as the Senior Student Advisor and Deputy Safeguarding Lead at Lancaster University Students’ Union. She utilised her skills from her previous roles to build up the service, which doubled its casework numbers within her first two years of running the service.

Vicki is also part of the membership of Advice UK, as are many other Students’ Union advice services. She hopes to bring her prior experience particular in Students’ Unions to the forefront in her role as a Trustee.

Nathaniel has been working in I.T. for over 25 years. Since 2009 he has specialised in Salesforce CRM systems and today works as a Salesforce contractor.

Nathaniel has helped many businesses and charities with their digital transformations. He has designed and implemented technical solutions to businesses for diverse applications including commercial sales systems, advice helplines, marketing and survey systems.

With a passion for using technology to improve processes and productivity, Nathaniel aims to bring that experience and expertise in his role as trustee.

Naomi Jessop is the Director of Business at the Child Poverty Action Group, where she is a member of the senior leadership team and oversees publications, membership, training and events, marketing, and digital teams. She previously built a diverse career in marketing, events, and production across television and the creative sector.

Tony Quinn has been an AdviceUK Trustee since July 2021 and is the Chief Executive Officer of GEMAP (Greater Easterhouse Money Advice Project) Scotland, an organisation offering free support to local people, inspiring them to transform their lives by offering financial inclusion and money advice.

Chris is brings his experience as a Lawyer with GLD to the team.

Matt is the Director of Advice Services at Toynbee Hall, where he oversees a portfolio of services supporting people in financial hardship. This includes Debt Free Advice – a MaPS-funded coalition of charities providing free, expert debt advice across London – as well as Toynbee Hall’s long-running free legal advice centre and a welfare benefits advice service.

Matt has worked in the non-profit sector for over 15 years, with a background spanning youth, education, and financial guidance. He has led on a number of innovations within the advice sector, including the development of video advice kiosks for use in public settings and prisons, and the introduction of AI tools to support advisors in delivering high-quality, accessible advice.

He also serves as a Non-Executive Director at Richmond Housing Partnership and as Chair of Governors at Hall Mead School. Matt is committed to advancing financial inclusion and ensuring that advice services evolve to meet the needs of the communities they serve.

Lisa is Advice Team Leader at DASL, a Deaf & Disabled People’s Organisation providing welfare benefits advice and tribunal representation to Disabled people living in Lambeth.

With a background in Law, Lisa has worked in the not-for-profit sector for over 12 years and has experience in health services, social housing, income management and debt advice services. She has experience as a Trustee for Citizens Advice Allerdale and supported the recent AdviceUK #AdviceSaves campaign, with a particular focus on improving funding and sustainability for advice services for Deaf and Disabled people.

Atif is an internationally experienced CFO and Board Adviser specialising in corporate finance, governance, performance improvement and organisational transformation. His career has been shaped predominantly within technology-led and digitally native businesses, spanning more than twenty countries.

He has built and led finance and multidisciplinary business functions across complex, multi-jurisdictional environments, guiding organisations through uncertainty, structural change and large-scale operational transformation.

His board experience encompasses extensive audit and risk oversight, M&A activity, and the design of digitally enabled operating models. He combines rigorous stewardship with a considered interest in how institutions adapt to structural shifts in technology and society.

Atif read Management Sciences at the University of Bristol. He is a Certified Accountant and Certified Director. He is reading Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford, where his work examines the evolving relationship between human judgement, organisational culture and intelligent systems.

At AdviceUK, he brings disciplined financial oversight, a long-term strategic perspective and a principled commitment to governance in service of the organisation’s mission and the communities it exists to support.