Our trustees

Most of our trustees are elected by our members with the remainder invited to join the board because of their specialist knowledge. The trustees are unpaid and can serve up to three terms of three years each.

Chair
Trustee since December 2016

Jonathan has a wealth of experience in public health at a local and national level. He was Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Devolution in the London Borough of Hackney, Chair of Hackney’s Health and Wellbeing Board and represented the Local Government Association on public health issues for many years. 

He currently chairs a number of national public health committees and advises NHS organisations and councils on all aspects of health and social care. He is also a  trustee at Action on Smoking and Health, and Shoreditch Town Hall Trust

Trustee since December 2021

Dr Carla Barrett is Head of Research and Impact at Royal Mencap Society. She is an experienced research and evaluation specialist, and her research interests include disability, sexuality and gender. Carla previously sat on the Board for Brighton and Hove LGBT Switchboard. She brings to the Board a wealth of experience in using monitoring, evaluation and research to inform strategic planning and delivery, policy influencing, campaigning and fundraising.
 
Carla is passionate about improving sexual health and supporting Terrence Higgins Trust’s work towards a world where people with HIV live healthy lives free from discrimination. As a disabled woman she is also passionate about ensuring this work is inclusive of disabled and neurodivergent people. She hopes to support this through her personal perspective and professional experience of working with different communities and using participatory approaches.

Trustee since December 2021

Asher is a councillor in Bristol and the city’s Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Children's Services, Education and Equalities. Previously, her cabinet responsibilities were for Public Health and Neighbourhoods. She has led award-winning work on the issues of structural and systemic racial disparities and inequalities in the city as part of Bristol One City.

She is a national thought leader on public health and crime prevention, and serves as a member of the Safer and Stronger Communities Board of the Local Government Association.

Alongside her trustee role at Terrence Higgins Trust, she is a trustee of ASDAN – an education charity – and The Friends of Fairfield House. She has previously been a school governor, trustee of the Quarter Community Foundation and Chairperson of the Black Development Agency.

Asher hosted the HIV Commission when it went to Bristol, has spoken at Terrence Higgins Trust events to mark National HIV Testing Week and helped found – and continues to support – Bristol Fast Tract Cities.

Trustee since July 2023 - Chair of the Quality, Governance and Wellbeing sub-committee and the trustee lead for Safeguarding and Freedom to Speak Up

Dr Claire Dewsnap is a Consultant Physician in Genitourinary Medicine at Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as well as President and conference and communication chair of the British Association for HIV and Sexual Health (BASHH).

Claire has delivered in a number of leadership roles within the NHS including clinical lead across two departments and lead for quality improvement across Outpatient services. Claire has an interest in education and had a number of roles including Dip GUM examiner and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Sheffield University. Claire’s research interests include management of bacterial STIs and online testing, while her organisational areas of interest include change implementation, quality and service improvement, and teaching and training. She has led, and been involved in, numerous quality improvement and change implementation projects within the field, both strategically and operationally.

As BASHH President, Claire has represented at national and international mpox events over the last 12 months and has spoken at numerous conferences on HIV and sexual health.

Trustee since July 2023 - Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk sub-committee

Melanie Knight is a Partner with KPMG and leads corporate services transformation work across the public sector. She is also the LGBTQ+ Ally Lead for KPMG UK.

Melanie graduated in Economics and French from Leeds University and qualified as a management accountant (CGMA) with Arthur Andersen in 2001. She has worked with a range of clients across public, private and charitable sectors to help them achieve their business outcomes.

After supporting close friends who had been diagnosed with HIV, she was shocked at how isolated they felt. Unable to tell their family and networks, they all went to one place for support – Terrence Higgins Trust. In response to this, Melanie started volunteering for our charity in 2009 and has performed a number of roles from being on the Audit Committee through to fundraising. She has seen first-hand what the charity does to support those living with and impacted by HIV, and is passionate about ending stigma.

She is honoured to have the opportunity to be a Trustee and is keen to bring her professional experience to this cause close to her heart.

Trustee since December 2024

Charles is Chief Executive Officer at Caribbean & African Health Network, Governor of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and pastor in the Christian faith.
 

Trustee since December 2024

Luke is professional fundraiser having worked for the Save the Children, the British Heart Foundation, and Young Lives vs Cancer (previously known as CLIC Sargent). He is currently Interim Director of Fundraising & Engagement for the Ripple Effect and chair of The Elischer Foundation, which provides mentors and support for people with a ‘talent for fundraising’.

He was previously Chief Executive of a regional health charity, Dhiverse. 

Trustee since May 2018

Gordon is a former employee who has worked and volunteered for Terrence Higgins Trust for over 15 years.

He wanted to do something about HIV and how it was affecting him and his friends since the early 1990s. He started doing scene-based outreach in 1995 and completed his HIV Buddy Training later that year. After receiving his own HIV diagnosis in 2004, he accessed services to help people who were coming to terms with their own recent diagnosis, including a Terrence Higgins Trust Newly Diagnosed Group.

Today, he works for ViiV healthcare in the Positive Action team that supports community-led efforts to address HIV and AIDS, promote sexual health and wellbeing and advance social and economic justice for men who have sex with men and transgender people. He is an experienced public speaker for Mind, the mental health charity, and the Positive Voices Programme at Terrence Higgins Trust, and mentors people living with HIV on the Work Positive programme.

He is a passionate campaigner and activist for the rights of people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, and trans people. Through sharing his personal perspective on what it’s like to live with HIV, he hopes to encourage a better understanding of how stigma and discrimination impact the lives of those affected by the virus.

Trustee since December 2021

Abayomi Olusunle holds an MSc. in Psychology from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) with a background in digital communications spanning more than six years. She is the founder of The Yommie, a thriving online community focused on empowering individuals to build authentic lives they are active participants in.

In the past, her professional communications and marketing expertise has led her to work with various brands, stakeholders, outreach schemes and community organisations. These include the Global Shapers, NTU and Black Minds Matter UK, to mention a few.

Abayomi is committed to championing health equality, psychosocial wellbeing and demystifying HIV and mental health conditions, especially within BIPOC communities both in the UK and globally. She aspires to leverage on her digital and communications experience to create awareness, reduce stigma, build significant impact, and create knowledge on issues affecting various social groups. She hopes to bridge the information gap in younger generations and BIPOC communities with regards to HIV and support Terrence Higgins Trust towards turning its vision and strategy into reality.

Trustee since November 2018

Ben was diagnosed with HIV in 2012 and benefited greatly from the services, resources and people of Terrence Higgins Trust and the NHS. This motivated him to be open about his status, to be a positive, visible role model, and to use his HIV status as a force for good.

He brings to Terrence Higgins Trust 20 years of business knowledge and experience: in a senior role in a commercial environment; growing a profitable small business in the cultural sector; and most recently in the public and charity sectors. He has always led on positive business reform, building successful strategies based on a clearly articulated sense of purpose and prudent financial management.

He is the Chief Executive for the British Film Institute (BFI), which has adapted to continued funding challenges by strengthening commercial thinking, cultivating new sponsors, building strategic national partnerships, clarifying the purpose of the organisation, and communicating a better story to government, funders and audiences.

He looks after the UK’s largest public film fund (over £30m of National Lottery funding a year) and is a visible senior industry figure and spokesperson. He represents the BFI internationally, and speaks frequently at industry events and in national and international press. He is keen to connect Terrence Higgins Trust to the creative industries' talent, resources, technology and audience platforms.

Trustee since July 2024

Thomas is the UK Government’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer leading on health protection. His role covers emergency response and preparedness, infectious diseases, vaccines and therapeutics. He was awarded an OBE for services to Public Health in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours.

He is an epidemiologist and public health physician, as well as a honorary professor at the University of Bolton. 

Thomas has worked in a range of roles at Public Health England (now UKHSA) in global health, field epidemiology and environmental public health. He trained and worked in clinical medicine and public health in South Wales.

Members of the Board of Trustees can be contacted by emailing ceooffice[at]tht.org.uk.