Ten Years‘ Time’s dynamic and diverse team in London come from across the private, public and non-profit sectors. Feel free to browse some of our bios and be in touch!
Jake Hayman
CEO
Jake is the CEO and Founder of Ten Years’ Time. He launched the firm following a career in New York with the foundation arm of the social-purpose business Peaceworks. Jake speaks regularly on panels and at conferences on the future of philanthropy and innovative grant-making.
In 2014, he was voted one of London’s ‘Most Influential People’, has a certificate in Global Health from Imperial College, London and worked in 2015 and 2016 as an e-tutor for the University of Cambridge on their Masters in Sustainability.
Jake previously co-founded the award-winning social enterprise, Future First, which builds alumni networks for over 10% of UK state schools and, thanks to support from the Open Society Foundations, is taking its model to partners in the US, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Rwanda.
In 2018 Jake co-founded the 2027 Coalition to support frontline workers from diverse, working-class communities into jobs and trustee roles in trusts and foundations. He spends most his free time trying to build a movement of philanthropists prepared to fight climate change.
If I had £500k... I would invest in re-training climate scientists as climate communicators in order to help them better translate their messages into individual lives and policy decisions.
How I joined Ten Years’ Time: I was a co-founder of the parent business, The Social Investment Consultancy. Rather than take a loan from the bank, I made money playing poker to float the organisation during its first year before quitting cards once we got our first full-time employee.
What gets me up in the morning: My two year old son, Stan. He shouts ‘is anybody there?’ at around six each morning.
Ask me about: Why philanthropy is broken and how to mend it, Pot Limit Omaha and why your lawyer, accountant and banker may not be on your side if you are trying to do good in the world.
Pavlina Draganova
Climate Change Researcher
Pavlina is a Climate Change Researcher at Ten Years’ Time, where she supports our project work related to climate change mitigation and biodiversity preservation.
Pavlina graduated from UCL with a degree in Law, and also holds an LLM in Public International Law from the LSE, where she was awarded the Lauterpacht/Higgins Prize for best overall result in public international law. Her thesis focused on exploring different international law approaches to protecting the environment, from human rights, to the common heritage of mankind principle and the rights of nature.
Pavlina previously worked as Programme Manager at Organise, a social enterprise dedicated to strengthening and protecting workers’ rights in the UK. Prior to that, she was the COO and co-founder of Ally, a social enterprise using artificially intelligent chatbots to provide on-demand legal support to individuals at risk of eviction and homelessness, free at the point of access.
If I had £500,000... I would use it to support a grassroots, internationalist Green New Deal movement in the UK. I believe that environmental justice is inextricably linked to social justice, and that any viable long-term climate solution must include a just transition for ordinary people and workers at its core.
How I joined Ten Years‘ Time: I heard about it through the team at Year Here, a social leadership programme for professionals to test and build responses to inequality in London. I was a Year Here Fellow in 2017, and we all stay in touch and have our own jobs board to share cool opportunities - this role at Ten Years’ Time came up and I thought it sounded really exciting!
What gets me up in the morning: People I love, sunny days in the springtime, and the hope for a better future.
Ask me about: How we can fix socio-economic inequality, how to be funny online, and fun facts about nature.
Eli Manderson Evans
Researcher
Eli is a Researcher at Ten Years’ Time, where he works with the wider team researching social change issues in relation to addressing systemic challenges in society. Eli also supports on Ten Years’ Time works to connect a new generation of philanthropists to the communities they wish to serve.
Eli has spent time working in international LGBTQ+ rights, previously running the business engagement department at the Bisi Alimi Foundation and as a Policy and Research Intern at the LGBT Foundation. He also has experience as a researcher in an MP’s constituency office and has worked in policy and public affairs. Eli currently volunteers in the Engagement and Communications team of the London based charity Memorial 2007, which campaigns to remember victims of the transatlantic slave trade and their descendants, erecting the first national memorial as a point for reflection and education.
Eli studied an undergraduate degree in Politics and Hispanic Studies at the University of Sheffield and was a awarded a distinction in his MSc in Politics of Conflict, Rights and Justice from SOAS.
If I had £500,000… I would use it to invest in projects which address the failures of the British education system to educate on the lived experiences of many communities which make the UK their home, focusing on the history curriculum. I see the way in which history is taught at present as marginalising the histories of many people in the UK, whilst failing to confront racially charged nationalist narratives. I believe that through addressing these flaws young people will gain an understanding of global history beyond a Eurocentric vision, establishing an awareness of the enduring legacy of perceived ‘things of the past’, such as colonialism. Such projects would have the effect of demonstrating the interconnected nature of all of our histories and would positively impact intercultural dialogue, establishing a more inclusive society for all.
How I joined Ten Years’ Time: I was working in policy and public affairs but saw little positive impact in the work I conducted in terms of addressing the inequalities of our society. I became disillusioned that I would be unable to find a work place where my passion to expose and dismantle structural inequality in the UK would be celebrated and then I found Ten Years’ Time!
What gets me up in the morning: A cup of coffee followed by a passionate sing along in the shower to my favourite Jamaican dancehall hits.
Ask me about: Collective remembering, transitional justice, Manchester and why salted popcorn is better than sweet popcorn.
Joaquin Figaredo
Senior Climate Change Consultant
Joaquin is a former senior management consultant from Boston Consulting Group and Open Journey, with 15 years of experience in identifying and executing systematic transformations for better performance and resource management in both profit and non-for profit initiatives.
Joaquin’s experience includes the contribution to the 2020 strategy for the optimization of the immunization supply chain for the GAVI Alliance, collaborating with the WHO, the Bill & Belinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF, and co-leading the sustainable trade action group for the World Trade Board.
Joaquin holds an MBA degree from London Business School and apart from working with Ten Years’ Time, he leads his own agroforestry, nature & people’s wellbeing organization. His main environmental interests include sustainable food-systems, changing people’s behaviours towards nature, and biodiversity in land and oceans.
If I had £500,000... Firstly, I would support scalable initiatives enabling the transition from traditional agriculture, to fully sustainable and environmentally friendly, forest based food production. Secondly, I would support technologies and policies looking to reforest our planet at big scales.
How I joined Ten Years’ Time: I‘ve been asking the same question myself. I’m still wondering how they allowed a management consultant to sneak in.
What gets me up in the morning: Hope. Hope that we still have time to do something for our planet. Hope that we can create a brighter future for nature and all species that form part of it. Hope that my one year old daughter will grow old in a society living in harmony and balance with nature and others.
Ask me about:How the market dynamics and its systemic inertia have brought us to verge of environmental disaster. I’m also fascinated about human behaviour and the power of nature as the source to heal most of our wounds.
Bami Jolaoso
Researcher
Bami is a researcher for Ten Years’ Time, where she consults on Ten Years’ Time client activities and supports Ten Years’ Time campaigns.
Bami previously spent two and half years on the Police Now Graduate scheme. On this scheme she worked as a warranted Police officer for the Metropolitan Police, where she served deprived inner-city communities. While in the Police she had experience in multiple departments such as the Gangs’ unit, Serious Sexual Offences unit and Counter Terrorism.
Most recently, Bami has worked as a caseworker for the Aspire Higher programme. A programme designed to provide exit routes and strategies for young people in pupil referral units, who are involved in and/or affiliated with gangs.
Bami graduated from the University of Leicester with a degree in Criminology. While studying she volunteered for a year at FOCUS charity, a charity aimed at developing leadership skills in vulnerable and underprivileged children.
If I had £500,000…I’d use it to fund effective training for counselling services within schools, from a primary school age. Despite the amount of mental health awareness there is, many young people do not get access to this, unless they are referred to a mental health team. I believe children should have access to counselling from a young age, to expose them to a culture of sharing their issues with others. This is a preventative tool especially for children at risk of mental health problems in later life.
How I joined Ten Years’ Time: I was actively looking for research roles within the charity sector, but I found that I wasn’t very happy with the roles I was applying for. When I saw the job advert for Ten Years’ Time, I knew it was a unique opportunity that I had to apply for!
What gets me up in the morning: Friends, Family and God!
Ask me about: Youth Justice, Eating out and MasterChef
Angela Newton
Managing Director
Angela is Managing Director at Ten Years Time and takes a lead on all UK social change work, provides coaching and management for the staff team and helps develop the business.
Angela has spent 20 years working in health and social care services, primarily within mental health third sector organisations. Before joining Ten Years Time, she was the Director for Service User Involvement at Together for Mental Wellbeing where she was responsible for ensuring that the lived experience of people using mental health services and experiencing distress influenced the organisation at all levels in addition to the wider mental health landscape. She was also responsible for the development of a national peer support network that ensured almost 700 people struggling with their mental health were supported by others who really know and understand what it’s like based on their own experiences and insights. Angela was a member of the Advisory Group of the National Involvement Partnership to develop best practice standards in service user and carer involvement that have widely adopted across health and social care services.
Angela has developed and delivered two accredited training programmes and established an award-winning service user led training programme to reduce stigma and discrimination about mental health issues. Angela has a wealth of experience of working across statutory, private and third sector organisations and speaks at national conferences and events about the importance of lived experience to transform people’s lives and the services they access.
Angela has also served as a Trustee and volunteered as a befriender, both of which have been invaluable and enjoyable experiences.
Angela studied an undergraduate degree in Biology and Applied Social Studies at Keele University and has since been awarded an undergraduate Diploma in Voluntary Sector Management from Edge Hill University.
If I had £500,000… I would spend it on supporting and strengthening service user led organisations that are tragically disappearing at an alarming rate. I would create leadership programmes that bring together lived experience leaders with a more traditional set of leaders in social care to enable those with the purse strings to truly understand the experiences of those facing multiple challenges in society. That way, more user led organisations would be established and be able to thrive, whilst those that are now extinct could be brought back to play a pivitol role in making the world a better place for everybody.
How I joined Ten Years’ Time: After spending quite a while working for a medium sized national mental health charity, I wanted to bring my skills, knowledge and experience to a smaller, niche organisation that challenged traditional ways of thinking and working. I believe mental health issues are inextricably linked to social issues and you can’t look at one without the other. I was really excited when I came across the work of Ten Years’ Time and even more excited when I was offered the post – I think it’s the perfect match for me!
What gets me up in the morning: In the Spring and Summer I love listening to the birds sing as it gets lighter, before I have my morning coffee and start the day. In the Autumn and Winter, I have to set my alarm (often snoozing it several times)!
Ask me about: Why lived experience is invaluable and how organisations need to see this as an essential element of their work, travelling the world and eating tasty food.
Rowena Teall
Deputy Director - International
Rowena leads on our international client work at Ten Years’ Time.
Rowena previously worked at The Baring Foundation, a private foundation focused on tackling discrimination and disadvantage. She worked across two programmes aiming to empower LGBTI communities sub-Saharan Africa, and support the use of legal tools in UK civil society to affect social change. Before this, she was part of the International Human Rights Programme at the Oak Foundation, which funds to protect and promote the rights of vulnerable people around the globe. She also acts as an adviser for the Board of Trustees at the Kreitman Foundation, supporting on setting strategic funding priorities and building philanthropic best practice.
If I had £500,000… I’d support cross-issue international activist exchanges. Working in silos is rarely the key to solving the most difficult systemic issues around the world and those on the frontline need space to learn and collaborate across sectors. Civil society in the Global South and Global North have so much to teach one another, but are not often given the opportunity to do so.
How I joined Ten Years’ Time: I took part in the Grant Givers Programme a few years ago and was fascinated by the discussions that I had there. I continued to be involved with initiatives that Ten Years’ Time were working on, particularly the 2027 Programme, and when this role came up I took the opportunity to work on the issues that I care about full time!
What gets me up in the morning: The prospect of breakfast, sunshine, and meeting new people.
Ask me about: Improving philanthropic practice (and quickly), fantasy novels, all things Yorkshire.
Elisabeth Whitebread
Senior Climate Change Consultant
Elisabeth leads on some of our climate change and biodiversity projects and supports others.
An environmental campaigner with an MSc in Conservation Science from Imperial College London, and 12 years’ experience at NGOs, Elisabeth specialises in coordinating multi-stakeholder teams, advocacy, and project management.
Previous work includes managing successful campaigns to designate two of the world’s biggest marine reserves, coordinating the NGO coalition that led to the UK microbeads ban, and co-founding the Ocean Optimism movement. Her experience ranges from climate activism to marine policy advocacy, plastic pollution science to fieldwork in the jungle and on the steppe.
If I had £500,000… I would set up a participatory funding and training platform for grassroots environmental groups, with the aim of growing a diverse network of empowered environmentalists across the country who could support and learn from each other.
How I joined Ten Years’ Time: A friend emailed me with the job, coincidentally just at a time when I was thinking about trying something outside of the NGO sector. I’m very glad she did!
What gets me up in the morning:My little boy Charlie, singing to his favourite toy penguin.
Ask me about: Environmental campaigning and communications, the Pitcairn Islands, Ru Paul’s Drag Race.
Sally Buchanan
Finance Manager
Sally is Finance Manager of Ten Years’ Time and has worked as an accountant in the charity sector for over ten years.
Prior to Ten Years’ Time she worked for Women Living Under Muslim Laws, The Foundling Museum and Parenting UK.
She is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and started her career at KPMG in 1977. She currently works for Ten Years’ Time on a part-time basis.
If I had £500,000… I would use it to buy a woodland to preserve an endangered landscape and the flora and fauna within it.
How I joined Ten Years’ Time: I was already working for the Social Investment Consultancy (the parent company of Ten Years’ Time) and became involved that way.
What gets me up in the morning: A cup of tea and or a sunny day..
Ask me about: My family, reading, theatre, gardening and Pembrokeshire