About Us

Chief Executive, London

Kedge Martin
Kedge's career started in political lobbying and as a researcher for an MEP. Soon after the Berlin Wall came down she went to newly liberated Poland and established a business of launderettes and dry cleaners. In 1998 she sold the business and became London Campaign Manager for the largest ever charitable appeal in the UK, the NSPCC Full Stop Appeal. She then took over as CEO of WellChild - then Children Nationwide - when it was a very small charity funding research into childhood illness. Over the past few years, Kedge developed WellChild into a much larger charity providing care (WellChild Children's Nurses), support (practical help for families) and research to long term chronically sick children across the UK. Kedge joined Sentebale in June 2009 as its first full time Chief Executive. Kedge is a mother of two.

Sentebale's Trustees are:

The Rt Hon The Baroness Chalker of Wallasey
Sophie Chandauka
Nigel Cox
Mark Dyer
Philip Green (Chairman)
Larry Hirst
Johnny Hornby
Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton
Bert Piedra
Damian West

The Rt Hon The Baroness Chalker of Wallasey
Lynda Chalker has been a member of the Lower and Upper House of the UK Parliament for over thirty-seven years and was a made a Life Peer in 1992.

Between 1986 and 1997, Lynda was UK Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, holding responsibility for Europe, Africa and the Commonwealth and for Overseas Development from 1989.

Lynda was the first woman to be appointed an Advisory and then a Non-Executive Director of Unilever, a position she held from 1998 to 2007. She is a Non-Executive Director of Group Five (Pty) Ltd., a member of the international advisory board of Lafarge et Cie and also advised the World Bank for over 10 years. Lynda was Chairman of Board of the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) from 2006 to 2011, and of the Board of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine from 1998 to 2006.
Lynda is Chairman of Pasco Risk Management, and of Africa Matters Limited, an Executive Trustee of the Global Leadership Foundation (GLF) and Trustee of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF), as well as being a patron of a number of charities, mainly concerned with Africa, health and child welfare.

Lynda has been the Co-ordinator of the Nigerian International Investor Council since 2002, a member of the Ugandan Investor Round Table, and the Tanzanian International Round Table.

Sophie Chandauka
Sophie is the Head of Strategic Risk Projects for the Virgin Money Group. She is a corporate finance lawyer by background, and her practice areas include mergers and acquisitions; equity capital raising; and UK corporate governance and regulatory compliance (including for UK listed companies).

Sophie was born and raised in Zimbabwe before completing her "A" Levels in Canada. She undertook her first degree at Lake Superior State University in Michigan, where she graduated with the highest distinction and valedictorian of her graduating class of 2000. Sophie then completed a conversion graduate diploma in law at the College of Law before completing her LPC at the Oxford Institute, receiving a distinction.

Sophie joined Baker & McKenzie LLP in September 2003 as a Trainee Solicitor and became Senior Associate in the Corporate Department in 2010 having advised on significant transactions including the The Bodyshop’s acquisition by L'Oréal, Nike’s acquisition of Umbro and flotations of a number of companies onto various stock exchanges. Sophie decided to embark on a career in industry and was invited to join Virgin Money in its bid to launch a challenger UK retail bank in 2011.

Sophie's professional achievements have been recognised by the British Legal Awards, The Lawyer Awards, Management Today and the Black Lawyers Directory amongst others. Sophie is also an active supporter of Rotary International and believes strongly in the value of mentorship and the pursuit of education. Sophie is a mentor to a number of students from all walks of life.

Nigel Cox
Born in Zimbabwe, Nigel Cox was an audit manager with PWC prior to joining SABMiller in 1973 as Finance Manager. In 1980 Nigel was appointed Managing Director of SAB’s operations in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. In 1990 he became Managing Director of Westgate Overseas which managed SABMiller operations internationally, outside Africa, prior to becoming Group Finance Director in 1994. Following the successful achievement of its London listing in 2001, Nigel moved, at his own request, to the SABMiller European Operations, from which he retired in 2010.

Nigel remains as a Consultant to SABMiller Group. He is also an Advisor to a leading international strategic consultancy and works with the Moller PSF Group, Churchill College in the University of Cambridge. During his career Nigel has held many non-executive director roles and chaired several audit committees of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Nigel is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and a member of the Institutes of Chartered Accountants in South Africa and Scotland. He is married, with two adult sons.

Mark Dyer
On leaving school in 1984 Mark worked for the Save the Children Fund as an Administrator for eight months in Ethiopia and Sudan during the famine. He went on to Sandhurst in 1986, and then joined the Welsh Guards, with whom he served in Germany, Belize, Australia, Northern Ireland and the UK. He also served as Equerry to HRH The Prince of Wales. Mark left the Army in 1997 and worked for Allied Domecq until 2000 as an Area Manager and Brand Manager in the pub retail sector. In 2000 he founded The Bar Management Company which opened and continues to operate the So bars in West London. From 1997 to 2005 Mark worked as a part time private secretary for The Prince of Wales, with responsibility for Prince William and Prince Harry.

Philip Green – Chairman
Philip Green was Chief Executive of United Utilities PLC from February 2006 until 31 March 2011. United Utilities is one of the largest utility companies in the UK, ranked mid-way in the FTSE100, with a market cap of approximately £4bn after recently returning £1.5bn to shareholders. During his tenure Philip restructured and strengthened management, created strategic focus through several disposals, created a strong and credible capital structure, and improved operational performance.

In 2003 Philip was appointed CEO of P&O Nedlloyd, one of the largest container shipping companies in the world, and a joint venture between P&O and Royal Nedlloyd. He led the company to its successful listing as Royal P&O Nedlloyd BV in Amsterdam in April 2004. Under his leadership operating profit increased from $77m in 2003 to approximately $550m in 2005. In August 2005, the company was acquired at a share price of 57 compared to a market price of less than 10 in 2003.

He was previously Chief Operating Officer at Reuters Group plc, which he joined in 1999. His responsibilities included the design and implementation of a global change management programme. From 1990 to 1999 he was at DHL, the global market leader for cross-border express delivery, becoming Chief Operating Officer for Europe and Africa.

He holds an MBA from the London Business School and a BA (Hons) from the University of Wales.

He is also personally involved in several philanthropic projects in southern Africa, including being patron of Hope Through Action.

Philip is Non-Executive Chairman of Baker Corporation in the US; a Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director of Carillion PLC; a Director of Business in the Community and a Trustee of the Philharmonia Orchestra. He has previously been a non-executive director of SKF in Sweden and of Lloyds Banking Group plc.

Philip is also an Adviser to the British Prime Minister on Corporate Responsibility.

He was born in 1953 and is married with two daughters.

Larry Hirst
Until his retirement from IBM in July 2010, Larry Hirst was chairman of IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He represented IBM to the European Commission and other authorities such as NATO and the EDA on issues of international public policy and business regulation. He was also responsible for the company's corporate citizenship, environmental affairs, intellectual property, standards development and university relations activities across the region.

Previous roles in his 33 year career included the leadership of IBM's business in the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and South Africa (between 2002 and 2008) and Vice President of IBM’s Financial Services Sector in EMEA (1994-2001). Chairman of IBM Netherlands 2002-2010.

Larry has a number of roles that support his twin passions of educational improvement and information technology. He is Chairman of the 'Transition to Teaching' Steering Committee, appointed by the UK Secretary of State for education; he was appointed Commissioner at the UK Government's Commission for Employment and Skills. The following year he was made Chairman of the UK Trade and Investment Executive Board, responsible for driving the UK's trade and investment objectives in the telecoms and IT sectors.

He is a non-executive director of ARM Holdings Plc and MITIE Group plc, the facilities, property and asset management company. He is an adjunct Professor and Chairman of the digital Cities Exchange Board at Imperial College.

Outside the UK, Larry has been an Advisor to the Presidential Advisory Council on Information Society and Development (PIAC) in South Africa. He was the Chairman of e-skills the Sector Skills Council from 2003 -2010.

Yorkshire-born and married with two children, Larry graduated in Mathematics from Hull University.

In December 2009, he was announced as a private sector Business Ambassador by the UK Prime Minister, a role created to promote UK excellence. This appointment was renewed in Nov 2010 by the current Prime Minister.

Larry was appointed C.B.E. in 2006, in recognition of Services to the IT industry.

Johnny Hornby
Johnny graduated with an MA (Hons) from Edinburgh University and became a trainee at Ogilvy & Mather advertising in 1990.

He moved to TBWA in 1998 and was responsible for winning and running the campaign that saw Labour to a second landslide victory in 2001.

In June 2001 he set up Clemmow Hornby Inge, now CHI&Partners, with Simon Clemmow and Charles Inge which has British Gas, Nestle, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lexus, Carphone Warehouse, The Times, Samsung, Argos & Britvic on the client list, and has been awarded Agency of the Year at BTAA, been Marketing’s Agency of the Year, and is now a top 10 UK agency.

Over the last couple of years, Johnny and Clemmow Hornby Inge have gone in to partnership with Sir Martin Sorrell and WPP - with WPP taking a 49 percent stake and the agency being renamed CHI and Partners.

Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, MVO, MBE
Jamie was Private Secretary to Prince William and Prince Harry from May 2005. He is now Private Secretary to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. From 1979-1998, Jamie was an Army officer, serving in the Irish Guards and the SAS. He is also a Trustee of the HALO Trust (humanitarian mine clearance). Jamie is married with four children, and lives in Suffolk.

Alberto Piedra
In 1981, Bert joined Marine Midland, a subsidiary of HSBC, where he spent six years based in the United States and Spain. In Spain, he built a successful trade finance and cash management business and helped to combine the Spanish businesses of HSBC, Midland Bank and Marine Midland.

In 1987, he joined Goldman Sachs, where he spent the next 16 years working predominantly within mergers and acquisitions. During his time with Goldman Sachs, he progressed through a wide range of roles. Highlights included developing Goldman’s merger business in Spain and building and running the merger business in Latin America. His final role with Goldman was as Managing Director and Co-Head of Banks within the Financial Institutions Group in London. He completed numerous cross border transactions in Europe.

In 2003, Piedra had come to the decision to leave Goldman Sachs. He joined Bank of America, initially as Head of Financial Institutions Group across Europe, before being promoted to Head of European Investment Banking.

Piedra was headhunted to Dresdner Kleinwort in 2006, as Head of Global Banking and a Member of the Management Committee. During this period, he successfully reorganised and restructured the entire business, closed unprofitable businesses and changed the culture to one that was more focused on clients. He left Dresdner Kleinwort in 2009, following its sale to Commerzbank.

Damian West
Damian West is a director of Sarmiento Mining Ltd, a mining company operating in Sub-Saharan and West Africa. Prior to this he spent ten years at MJ Gleeson Group Plc as head of joint venture development and contracting. Before joining MJ Gleeson Plc he worked as Legislative Assistant to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington DC. He was educated at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire with His Majesty King Letsie III of Lesotho and His Royal Highness Prince Seeiso, and has enjoyed close connections with Lesotho for more than 30 years.