Simon Eyers studied Electrical Engineering at Edinburgh in the 1980’s. He then went onto become a banker at SG Warburg, Goldman Sachs & Credit Suisse, before setting out on his own in 2000. Simon is now a private equity investor at Warburg Pincus.

Olivia Gillan-Bower has spent most of her career in strategy consulting, notably at PwC where she was a Partner specialising in the retail/leisure/consumer sectors. She is now focused on the not for profit sector, acting as a Trustee for Little Village and the Mark Anthony Trust as well as volunteering as an Interview Coach at Smart Works. She also serves as a Magistrate in London.

Dan Houghton began his career as a management consultant with Bain & Company in San Francisco, where he advised clients in technology and private equity. He then joined Quid, a big data startup in San Francisco, as an early employee, building out their commercial organisation and opening their New York and London offices. He is now with Google, where he helps to lead strategy for their cloud computing business in EMEA. He holds a degree in Economics & Environmental Science from Duke University.

Edward Mackaness was appointed to the Trustee board in September 2011. A qualified surveyor, Edward first came into contact with Switchback when helping us negotiate our office move. Having served with the Brigade of Gurkhas in the Far East, Edward moved on to hold senior management roles at Credit Suisse, BT and Prudential. After three years as a management consultant at Ernst & Young, he is currently Associate Director for Business Services at the law firm, Allen & Overy LLP.

After graduating with a degree in Food Science, Gillian went on to spend most of her career from 1984 to 2009 in the investment banking industry at JP Morgan and Credit Suisse.  She worked in a variety of finance roles, including as a Financial Controller and as a regulatory specialist.  Prior to joining the Switchback Trustee board, she spent 10 years as Treasurer of a small, community based charity on the Isle of Dogs. She is also a serving Magistrate in East London.

Duncan Shrubsole observed Switchback emerge and grow while working at Crisis where he led its policy, communications and research for 9 years. He is passionate about the role of charities in changing lives and public policy and is now Director of Policy Communications and Partnerships at the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales. He started his career in local government and the civil service and is a school governor in South East London.

Ben Summerskill was, at 25, Operations Director of a London restaurant business serving 14,000 meals a week. He then enjoyed a Fleet Street career, latterly as Assistant Editor of the Observer. From 2003-2014 he was CEO of Stonewall and from 2015-2018 Director of the Criminal Justice Alliance. He’s also a member of the Board of ACAS and the Honours Committee for the Voluntary Sector.