Guide Dogs' Trustees

The information below will tell you more about the Chairman and the Board of Trustees. For further details, please contact the Association Secretary by phone on 01189 838772, by post to the Central Office address or email: associationsecretary@guidedogs.org.uk.

Isabel Hudson was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2024.

Isabel has worked for more than 40 years in financial services, latterly setting up her own business and combining a strong track record in business development with an understanding of risk and responsible business. During her non-executive career, she has sat on a wide range of FTSE 100 companies, including RSA Insurance Group plc, Phoenix Group Holdings, BT, The Pensions Regulator and Standard Life; the French multinational insurance group, AXA and The National House Building Council, a non-profit distributing company focused on the inspection and insurance of new homes. She is currently a Non-Executive Director and Chair of The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited.

Isabel has worked with the disability charity, Scope, and previously sat on the Board of the ISC Group, a not-for-profit organisation supporting women to bridge the gender seniority gap in insurance. Outside of work, Isabel has a busy family life and enjoys spending time with her young grandsons. She has a German Shepherd and provides regular doggy daycare services to the other family dogs.

Kate Crofts was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2018; she is also a Trustee of Blind Children UK, a wholly owned subsidiary of Guide Dogs.

Kate has been an energetic advocate for equality and inclusion, in particular the rights of disabled people, for many years. She is qualified in social sciences, communications and leadership and her career in local government includes facilitating complex partnerships and embedding whole system working across communities, ensuring strategies and initiatives have inclusion built into them at every level. Kate’s other achievements have included co-founding a community interest organisation which offers advice and support to mothers who have visual impairment.

Outside of work Kate enjoys a busy family and social life with her husband and two children.

Christiane Elsenbach was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2023; she also chairs Guide Dogs’ Investment Committee and sits on the Finance and Audit Committee and the Nominations Committee.

Christiane is an investment and finance professional with over 25 years’ experience in Wealth Management and Investment Banking, having worked in capital markets at several leading international banks. For over a decade she has been a senior portfolio manager at a large international wealth manager.  

She is a member of the Board at Imperial Health Charity where she serves as Deputy Chairman and Chair of the Finance and Investment Committee. She is also Treasurer at the Knightsbridge School Education Foundation, an ambitious social mobility charity. Christiane is also a Director at M&G Credit Income Investment Trust, a UK investment trust investing in private and public debt.

She is an active sportswoman and lives with her husband, daughter, and Goldendoodle in London.

Helen Farrow was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2023; she also sits on Guide Dogs’ Investment Committee and Finance and Audit Committee and is a GDBA Pension Trustee.

Helen has 35 years’ experience in investment management with a range of institutions, both as a fund manager and in senior operational and client-facing roles. She has helped many pension funds design appropriate investment strategies to meet their needs and has also worked as an independent pension trustee. She is passionate about providing clear and concise reporting, comprehensible to people at all levels.

Previously Helen served as a non-executive director of two NHS Trusts and as a charity trustee. She has also been a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of the Charities Aid Foundation. She has a Maths degree from Oxford University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

She lives between London and Northumberland where she loves walking her retired greyhound.

Lynne Hill was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2020; she is also Deputy Chair and sits on Guide Dogs’ Finance and Audit Committee, Risk Committee and Nominations Committee.

Lynne is a veterinary surgeon by profession with more than forty years of experience in practice, in academia, and industry. She has been a council member of a number of veterinary organisations including RCVS, BVA and BSAVA. She has been involved in a number of charities throughout her life including International Cat Care which she has chaired since 2019. She is an Expert Visitor for the European Association of Educational Veterinary Establishments and a Specialist Expert for the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications.

Lynne lives in London and has three grown up children. She enjoys walking here and abroad as well as gardening, travelling the world and learning more about the history of far-off places. She is an avid reader.

Mark Johnstone was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2020; he is also chair of Guide Dogs’ Finance and Audit Committee, chair of the Risk Committee and sits on the Nominations Committee.

Mark is a chartered accountant who brings a depth of non-executive experience in the charity sector. He was previously Deputy Chair and Treasurer of Scope, the leading pan-disability equality charity where he also chaired the Finance Committee and the Nominations & Governance Committee. In 2023 he retired from executive roles after an extensive 40-year career across a wide range of financial management, audit and leadership roles, the last 13 years of which were in the not-for-profit sector.

Mark and his wife Debbie are experienced choral singers and live in Surrey.

Patrick Moran was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2023; he also sits on Guide Dogs’ Risk Committee, the Remuneration and People Committee and the Transformation Trustee Review Group.

Patrick Moran has retired following a 35+ year career in technology, with the last 20 years being focused on Cyber Security, where he was the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) for EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa). He was a global leader in strengthening support for and access to assistive technology.

Patrick is married to Phillipa, and they have two daughters.

Patrick has a labrador retriever cross guide dog named Izzy. They are regular attendees at local fundraising and speaker events, where Izzy is a huge hit.

Kerry Small was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2023; she also sits on Guide Dogs’ Risk Committee and the Transformation Trustee Review Group.

Kerry’s background is in shaping digital transformation strategies that deliver efficient growth. She has held senior roles in two FTSE100 companies, Vodafone and now BT in their Enterprise Division. She has led large scale transformation programmes during major changes inspiring teams to collaborate across cultures and functions with a strong passion for using technology for good and closing the digital divide. Kerry previously sat on the board of Vodafone Ventures; the social enterprise arm of Vodafone focused on Education and Healthcare.

Outside of work Kerry enjoys a busy family and social life with her husband, three children and two dogs. Always keen to be outdoors she loves walking, running and skiing.

Ranjit Sondhi was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2018; he is also Chair of Blind Children UK, a wholly owned subsidiary of Guide Dogs and he sits on Guide Dogs’ Remuneration and People Committee and the Nominations Committee.

Ranjit was born in India, and has lived, studied and worked in the UK since 1966. A graduate in Theoretical Physics, he founded the Asian Resource Centre in Handsworth, Birmingham in 1976. He was Senior Lecturer in Community and Youth Studies at University of Birmingham Westhill from 1985 to 2005.

He has served on a number of national regulatory and governing bodies. He was Vice Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality. He was a board member of the Independent Broadcasting Authority and the Radio Authority. He was a Governor of the BBC and Trustee of the National Gallery. He was Chairman of the Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust. He has been a Civil Service Commissioner and Judicial Appointments Commissioner and completed a term of office at the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and the Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel.

Jennelle Tilling was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2020; she is also a member of Guide Dogs’ Remuneration and People Committee and the Transformation Trustee Review Group.

Jennelle has more than 25 years of consumer marketing, digital and innovation experience with leading global FMCG and food retail brands. She spent more than 17 years working for Yum! Restaurants International in a variety of senior marketing roles – culminating in her serving as the Global Chief Marketing Officer for KFC, responsible for the company’s marketing, communications, innovation, digital presence and reputation in more than 125 countries.

She is the Founder and Chief Brand Strategist at London-based brand consultancy Marketing with Insight and is a Fellow of The Marketing Society and member and Past President of Women in Advertising and Communications London. Jennelle holds non-executive director roles at Joe & The Juice and Ardoe Investments.

Jennelle splits her time between London and France where she loves to ski, climb, cycle and hike in the mountains.

Emma West was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2020; she is also Chair of Guide Dogs’ Remuneration and People Committee and sits on the Nominations Committee.

Emma's background is in HR and has held senior roles in four FTSE 100 companies, including leading the Talent function globally for Cadbury, Unilever, Sainsbury’s and Burberry. She has led HR initiatives during significant periods of change specialising in talent management, leadership and organisation development and employee engagement.

Emma is a qualified coach and runs a consulting business supporting organisations with their People and Talent strategies. She is also a Trustee and Chair of the People Committee for Magic Breakfast, a UK charity providing breakfast clubs in schools. She was previously Chair of Inspire! a London-based charity working with young people and a Non-Executive Director at DVLA.

Emma lives in Kent with her husband and enjoys travelling and sports (she is a passionate Welsh rugby supporter). She is a proud sponsor of a guide dog puppy.