Meet the Board

Yixuan has been involved with WEST Youth Zone since 2023, initially serving as an Associate Trustee before becoming a Trustee in 2024. She works in the finance industry in London and has lived in West London since graduating from the University of Warwick.

Yixuan moved to the UK at the age of 17 to pursue her studies. This experience gave her a strong awareness of the challenges faced by young people from minority and underprivileged backgrounds as they grow up. She believes that the opportunities provided by WEST Youth Zone are vital in helping young people develop new skills and build confidence, setting them up for success in later life.

In her free time, Yixuan enjoys cooking, rollerblading, and visiting the theatre and art galleries.

Vicky has been a trustee at WEST since 2021, before we even started building WEST! When the opportunity came up to join the Board, Vicky jumped at the chance to be able to use her finance and operational knowledge in a charitable capacity and has hugely enjoyed supporting the very talented and hardworking team at WEST.

With 3 children (all were under 15 years old in 2021 when she joined WEST), Vicky feels strongly that all young people should have the opportunity to find and go after their passion and in doing so, to hopefully find a way to help build a better, stronger local community as well.

Vicky is currently the Director of Operations and Compliance for Leonis JEGI (UK), a New York headquartered Corporate Finance firm and has previously worked for Clarity Corporate Finance and JP Morgan Chase, as well as ITN the news production company, as their Director of Corporate Development.

Rob is the Director of Young Lyric at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, strategically leading the Lyric’s multi award-winning work with young people across West London. Prior to this he was Head of Participation at the Young Vic Theatre. Across his career he has led international participatory programmes in Australia, Canada, Egypt, South Africa, Taiwan and Zimbabwe. He chairs WEST Youth Zones Delivery Committee and is passionate in ensuring  young West Londoners have the ability to access high quality youth provision at WEST and beyond.

Rob has been a trustee of WEST since 2019 – long before we opened!  He was previously chief executive of a number of different financial services businesses, and his diverse career has also taken in business consulting and building design engineering.  He has also been a trustee of a number of national and international charities and grant giving bodies.

Rob is passionate about volunteering and giving back to society.  He lived in West London for many years, where his children all went to school, and he cares deeply about young people and communities.  He is incredibly proud to support the incredible work that WEST is doing in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham and West London more generally.

Charmian is a trustee of WEST Youth Zone and is passionate about finding ways to build young people’s confidence so they go after whatever they want from life.

She is also the General Counsel at the consumer charity Which?, leading the legal, corporate governance, risk, and data privacy teams. Her previous professional experience includes roles as the General Counsel of Friends Life (now part of Aviva) and as a solicitor at Slaughter and May and Dechert.

If she were a WEST member, you’d find her in the dance studio, acting, or in the kitchen.

Day to day, Kate works as a Senior Social Worker in a London borough supporting care leavers as they transition from the care system into adulthood. Her role involves helping young people navigate housing, education, employment and emotional wellbeing, ensuring they have the support and stability needed to build independent and fulfilling lives.

Before qualifying as a social worker, she worked as a youth worker at one of OnSide’s other London Youth Zones. During that time, I saw first-hand the transformative role a youth zone can play in a young person’s life, offering safety, opportunity and a place where young people feel they truly belong.

WEST provides incredible facilities, opportunities and trusted adults for young people. At a time when youth services across the country are under increasing pressure, safe and inspiring spaces for young people are more important than ever. Kate is proud to play a part in supporting WEST and the life-changing work it does for young people in our community.