Our board of experienced trustees come from different sectors and all walks of life. They share responsibility on how Cerebra is governed.
Charlotte Geeves – Chair of the Trustees
Charlotte Geeves is the Executive Director at Bristol Old Vic. Since taking up the post in 2019, Charlotte has successfully championed the cultural strength of Bristol in the region and UK arts sector. She has steered the organisation through the pandemic, and change of artistic leadership, while maintaining BOVs commitment to creativity and producing new work in a challenging financial climate. She has also spearheaded the organisation’s environmental transformation, including the first UK arts sector carbon literacy training programme, and worked alongside Aisha Thomas at Representation Matters on the development of EDI training for the organisation. Alongside the Chief Executive role which she shares with Nancy Medina, she is chair of Folio theatre company, co-chair of Bristol City Council’s Culture Board, is on the WECA Cultural Compact board and most recently has become the chair of Cerebra.
In her spare time she helps Bradford-on-Avon RFC U10’s team with fundraising for the club and is a keen, but slow runner.
Charlotte has a deep knowledge of producing theatre beginning her career in stage management, rising to the role of Company Manager for both The Young Vic under David Lan and Shakespeare’s Globe under Dominic Dromgoole. From there she developed her producing skills working as Projects Manager for Alistair Spalding at Sadler’s Wells and then as General Manager at Salisbury International Arts Festival before working as Festivals Manager for Wildscreen in Bristol. She was previously Chief Executive Officer of the annual Henley Festival.
David Beattie
A qualified management accountant (CIMA), David has recently become self-employed following 20 years of senior manager roles across IT and financial services sectors. Outside work, most of his time is spent supporting his wife and two children who are immersed in a variety of sports clubs and interests, with any spare time being taken up by golf and his new passion for cycling. David has previously been an active supporter of Bristol charity ‘PROPS’, which raises money to provide opportunities for young people with learning difficulties and special needs, the key focus being inclusion. He is very proud to be a trustee for Cerebra, believing the charity has a unique proposition and is successfully delivering its aims and objectives through the valuable connection between colleagues, supporters and families.
Jan Crosby
Jan is a chartered accountant and Fellow of the Securities Institute. He works in corporate finance at KPMG and focuses on capital raising and mergers and acquisitions. He has previously been non-executive at the Land Registry and also leads KPMG’s housing sector where he has led a number of collaborations with the charity Shelter on housing policy.
He has seen the benefits of Cerebra first hand as a parent of premature twins and is delighted to be supporting such an important charity in bridging between the real experiences and needs of children and parents with clinical knowledge to deliver new insight and solutions.
Isabel Shapiro
Isabel joins the board with lived experience as a parent-carer and a career in film fundraising. She began her career at the British Film Institute in Trusts and Foundations fundraising for education and heritage projects to make film culture more accessible. She later joined film foundation Doc Society where she produced Good Pitch, a global programme connecting social justice documentary projects with policymakers and funders. Isabel first encountered Cerebra’s work as a service-user, benefiting from advice and resources for her son Jesse, who had a rare mitochondrial disorder. Jesse’s life was full of fun and adventure thanks to charities like Cerebra. The experience of caring for a child with a life-limiting disease now drives Isabel to improve support services for other families through fundraising consultancy and advocacy work. Most recently, Isabel worked as safeguarding advisor for the First Assessment service at Bristol Children’s Services. She lives with her family in Swansea where she’s learning to surf and speak Welsh. She couldn’t be prouder to be on the board of Cerebra and is excited to help the charity maximise its impact and reach.
Nigel Over
Nigel is passionate to see every person with a learning disability, and/or genetic syndrome, having a fulfilling life within a supportive and understanding community. Everyone has their contribution to make and a role in our community built through collaboration and shared knowledge, skills, and experience, on the foundations of compassion, equality, and mutual respect.
His involvement in the rare disease, learning disability and special needs community has come from personal lived experience through his son, Matthew, who was diagnosed with Smith-Magenis Syndrome in 2001 when 4 years old. Since then, he has been regularly involved with the Cerebra’s projects and the Research Support Network.
Nigel has extensive knowledge and experience with over 20 years of trustee and charity governance for the British Association for the Advancement of Science, ENABLE Scotland, and the Smith-Magenis Syndrome (SMS) Foundation UK. In 2020 Nigel became the first CEO of the SMS Foundation instilling an agile, family friendly, fully flexible, work from home culture. With ENABLE Scotland he was integral to the introduction of personalisation, transition planning from school to adult life, governance restructuring and campaigning. He championed revitalising member engagement, involvement, and activism, ensuring inclusive representation for all. Initiating and leading on award winning campaigns enabled him to influence policy and practice in Scotland and across the UK for children and adults living with learning disabilities and rare diseases.
As a Chartered Engineer, Nigel’s career has focused on project management for new product introduction, operational excellence, and compliance, across manufacturing, engineering, and construction sectors. Personal interest led to him providing bespoke engineering solutions to improve the quality of life for individuals with various disabilities.
In his free time, Nigel likes to walk with the Ramblers, ballroom dancing with his wife, Angela, and researching family history.
May Atkinson
May is a solicitor with over 10 years’ experience in civil litigation including acting for children who have acquired brain injuries due to third party negligence. Having acted on behalf of children with acquired brain injuries and their families for many years; she has seen how the impact of a brain injury affects an entire family and how with the right input; these families can remain united and strong and set them up to live the best possible lives they can. May first came across Cerebra after her 2 year old daughter suffered a brain injury following a prolonged seizure. She has seen first hand the amazing work the Cerebra Innovation Centre (CIC) do and her little girl has benefitted from Cerebra’s lending library.
May understands that sometimes life does not go as planned but the research that Cerebra funds, the innovative work that Cerebra does and the programmes which Cerebra offers to families all goes some way in making life a little easier for young people and their families having to navigate life with a brain condition.
May is delighted to be joining the board bringing a wealth of legal experience, business acumen and contacts within the rehabilitation sector and has the benefit of having first hand experience of a child with a brain injury so can provide invaluable insight to ensure Cerebra can maximise the service it is providing to young people and their families.
May lives in the North-West with her husband James and her two young girls. There is not much spare time as a mum of two toddlers but in her spare time enjoys playing the piano, being outdoors and travelling.
Brandon J. Moss
Brandon has over 30 years’ experience in manufacturing and logistics working in a variety of sectors across North America, Europe and the Middle East leading a variety of teams and operations.
Married with 2 daughters, 1 of whom has Autism, EUPD, and Anxiety related issues, Brandon and his family have lived the challenges of getting the right support and help for his daughter, throughout her childhood, teenage years and now adulthood.
Passionate about trying to improve everyone’s lives, both those with health issues and the families of those with loved ones with health issues, Brandon is excited to join the Cerebra team to help continue the excellent work Cerebra does and support our journey of research and support for families.
Living in Northamptonshire on the corner of Rutland, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, Brandon enjoys all sports, playing a lot of rugby in his younger days, but today is more of a golfer and armchair athlete, but enjoys quiet time at home in the garden with his dogs (Frank and Olive).
Jo Jacobius
Jo Jacobius is an experienced communications & marketing consultant. She has owned and run her own PR consultancy, Axiom Communications, for over 30 years, and specialises in the drinks sector. Before this, she was a board director of two top 10 PR firms; handled communications for Government agencies; and was employed by a national newspaper on the Business News Desk.
She has worked with several charities in the course of her work, always seeking to raise awareness and understanding of difficult topics. Campaigns have included support for charities and institutions helping those with schizophrenia and other adult mental health issues; heart disease; children’s physical and mental health; and physical disabilities. She has helped raise awareness of good causes and has often instigated partnerships between not-for-profit organisations and corporates, to the benefit of both, as well as running headline-grabbing media campaigns.
Jo is passionate about the positive work that Cerebra carries out to make the seemingly impossible possible for children with brain conditions and their families based on sound advice, expert research, and creative problem-solving. She is proud to be on the Board of Trustees.
Jo volunteered for over four years as a trained Samaritans listener. She is a Trustee for the charity Hourglass (Safer Ageing). In her spare time, she is a Committee member of The PG Wodehouse Society (UK) – humour and enjoyment of literature are important to her. She is also a member of Les Dames d ’Escoffier London and part of its Events Committee.
Jo is married with two sons, and lives and works in north London.
