Christine Bowden (Chair)

Christine is the former Deputy Mayor of Newham, with over 30 years' experience of charity management.​ Along with volunteering alongside a busy career in business, the Voluntary Sector and local politics, she has dedicated many years to successfully guiding and supporting disadvantaged young people, giving them opportunities that allow them to grow, develop and aspire to greater things which may not have been within their own vision of their future.

Dave Burns

​Born in Hackney and an East London resident, Dave is the joint owner and Managing Director for Clark Electrical Industries Ltd, an electrical testing and maintenance contractor who have been established in Canning Town since the 1970's. Dave is a very keen cyclist and has completed the London to Paris charity cycle ride raising £2,500 and was part of a team that did the trek to the base camp of Everest which raised collectively £90,000 for charity. Dave has always supported AAA, and was very happy to join our team us as a trustee.​

Colin Grainger

Colin is a freelance journalist, editor, sub-editor and writer. As former Editor of the Newham Recorder and sub-editor on The Guardian, he has 51 years experience in the media industry. Colin is actively involved in heritage and history projects and has been working with charities and community organisations for more than 45 years.

Haydn Powell

Haydn is a former secondary head teacher and is currently an education consultant, who is actively involved in developing educational initiatives in third world countries.​

Cllr Sarah Ruiz

Sarah brings over 30 years experience of working for and supporting charities in Newham, as the former secretary NCVS for 15 years and more recently the founder director of Eat E16 a community café.​ Sarah is a local Councillor in Newham and is the current cabinet member for Children and Social Care.​

Melba Palhazy

Melba is a freelance programme and business development consultant and manager, bringing expertise in developing partnerships and community projects. Melba's past experience includes leading projects supporting vulnerable young people in East London and managing sports development programmes. A keen sportswomen, Melba was nominated to be a London 2012 torchbearer and Olympic ambassador.

Eustace Bellevue

Eustace is an IT Consultant and Manager with over 35 years experience in delivering complex IT and business change programs for large corporations around the globe. His passion is supporting youth development, through wellbeing and sporting projects, reflected in his stewardship whilst acting as chairman of ProStar Youth FC, and more recently establishing The Atoms FC, a new football player development club whose focus is on supporting boys and girls to be the best they can be, by way of excellent coaching, delivered by local youth and like-minded adults.

Sharon Kaur

Sharon Kaur is the Managing Director of Sahara Care Limited, a company she built from scratch. She was named “East London Business Person of the year” at the Thames Gateway Business Awards in 2006, “Entrepreneur of the year” at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in 2007, and “Businesswomen of the Year” at the Asian Women Awards, also in 2007. Having left school at 15, Sharon founded Sahara Homes, professional care homes of distinction for people with learning difficulties, in 1997. She is as passionate about her company and the community she serves and actively supports several charities.​

Karen Ay

Karen is a presenter on East London Radio, hosting The Heavy Rock Show and co-hosting the Saturday Morning Show, as well as the Rock Radar show on ERB Radio. She also writes for ERB magazine. She has a long-standing passion for music and
the arts as well as community based, grassroots football, and co-founded The Atoms FC, a youth development football club based in Canning Town. In the past, she has worked on the Haiti Earthquake Fundraiser at the Roundhouse and The Blank Canvas Project at the Big Chill Festival, and was editor and producer of LoveEast
Magazine, an East London focused print magazine which reached over 10,000 homes and businesses.

John Bergin

John is the current Chief Executive of Newham Music, the award-winning Music Education Hub for Newham, providing high quality music-making opportunities for children and young people in schools and music centres across the borough. 
John is also a trustee with Drake Music, a leading national organisation working in music, disability and technology. His musical expertise stems from his earlier working life as a violinist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Mark Perkins

Mark is a former Head of Commissioning for the London Borough of Newham with over 25 years experience in the direct management and commissioning of a wide range of services including; parks and open spaces, leisure centres, libraries, sports development, volunteering and community grants. Mark has worked closely with AAA since its inception to help develop facilities at Arc in the Park and Abbey Hub.​

Steve Cameron

Steve worked, for 40 years, across a broad range of educational services for the London Borough of Newham before retiring in 2017. He worked as a teacher at Eastlea Community School for 13 years and played a leading role in developing it as a community education facility for residents of Canning Town. From the early 1990’s he led the newly established Community Education Service for the Borough developing a large Adult Education Service as well as managing Newham’s Youth Services and Enrichment Learning for children and young people. In the latter part of his career he was also responsible for Newham’s School Improvement Service and supported the development of the new school funding structures . In all this work Steve actively promoted strong partnerships between schools, colleges, other education providers and the Local Authority.

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Helen Page

Helen has worked in the NHS in Newham for over 30 years in a variety of roles and it was her midwifery role that really focused her desire to support children and young people . Helen has been a Board Nurse previously and recently has been the Director of 0-19 Children’s Health and HeadStart services whilst working for Newham Council before moving across to Newham Health Collaborative where she was the Director of Health Improvement and recovery. She has a passion for patient care and has developed, delivered and redesigned patient services. Helen has also lived in Newham for over 30 years and has recently moved to Havering to be the Chief Exec of their GP Federation

Cllr Carleene Lee-Phakoe

Carlene was born, educated, and raised in Newham, and carries immense pride in her local origins. Carlene is a councillor for Plaistow North and a cabinet member for Housing Needs, Homelessness and Private Rented Sector. As a passionate advocate for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities
(SEND), she helped to run the Newham Parent Forum. Carleene was also Chair of the Newham Corporate Parenting Board and Youth Safety Board. Her belief is simple - every child should be empowered to aspire, to cultivate their unique talents, and seize
the myriad opportunities around them. Carleene is honoured to bring her  commitment and expertise to my role as a trustee.​