Each member of the Directors Group oversees their own directorate within Cerebra.
Jessica Camburn-Rahmani
Chief Executive Officer
Jessica has over 20 years of experience in global humanitarian and charity sector leadership. She previously served as the founding CEO of Elrha, where she built internationally acclaimed programmes that reshaped how research and innovation are used in crisis response. Her career is defined by a bold commitment to equity, evidence, and impact.
Based in Wales, Jessica balances her professional leadership with being a proud mum to three ambitious young girls. This fuels her deep passion for championing female leadership and creating space for women to thrive in decision-making roles. She is a vocal advocate for inclusive systems change and a trusted advisor across philanthropic, academic, and policy sectors. Jessica leads with purpose, empathy, and a relentless drive to make a difference.
Ralph Nicholls
Chief Operating Officer
Ralph joined Cerebra in December 2007 in the position of Head of Finance. He completed a graduate management training scheme with BT in London and it was during this time that he decided to direct his career towards becoming an accountant. After his time at BT he became a lecturer teaching accounting and business studies before following a career path of being an internal auditor. This allowed him the opportunity to travel across the UK gaining considerable experience not just of accounting but meeting and developing people where he could. He has since held a number of positions from financial controller, hospital accountant, corporate accounting analyst, finance director and even managing director. In his limited free time he has many interests and hobbies, his family and two daughters being number one, then watching sport and staying active by going to the gym and running outdoors.
Beverley Hitchcock
Director of Research & Support Services
Beverley graduated with a degree in Law, and qualified as a solicitor, working in private practice for a number of years. Following a change of career, Beverley worked as a teaching assistant at a local secondary school. This allowed her to gain an invaluable insight into supporting children with learning difficulties, helping and supporting many children to learn how to navigate the education system.
Beverley joined Cerebra in 2014 and became an invaluable member of the Research team being responsible for a number of areas, including managing the charity’s flagship Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving (LEaP) Project and Legal Rights Service. She is delighted to now take up the challenge of heading the Research and Support Services Directorate with the help of her outstanding and dedicated team.
During her free time, Beverley enjoys getting out and about in the beautiful Welsh countryside with her golden Labrador, as well as spending time with her family and friends, watching rugby, and reading a good book.
Max Newton
Director of Fundraising, Marketing & Communications
Max is an experienced fundraiser and charity leader with over 25 years in the sector at The British Red Cross, Shelter, Sheffield Hospitals Charity and currently Director of Fundraising, Marketing & Comms at Cerebra. He is a strong believer that all types of fundraising, marketing, campaigning, leading and organisational development is fundamentally about building relationships. Loves: tea and biscuits, Nottingham Forest FC, funk soul and hip hop, celebrating success and learning from failure. Hates: mini mashes. Max lives with his partner, two teenagers and a Bulgarian rescue dog named Curley. He runs ultra marathons (inc. 200 miles in a cold, dark tunnel) and is a qualified football referee.
