Our Team

Michael Phair joined CFAB as a Trustee in Oct 2018 and became Chairman in January 2019. Michael has held executive board level positions since 1988 with a number of City merchant and investment banking houses, starting with N M Rothschild for over 8 years and most recently with Bear Stearns International until 2003. Prior to that, Michael lived and worked in a number of countries in North and South America as a commercial and development banker, including a three-year appointment at the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) in Washington. He has been the founding shareholder of a number of successful private equity investments in the UK and overseas. A British citizen, Michael is currently the Founder and CEO of REG (UK) Ltd., the leading online counter-party risk management platform in the UK Insurance Market.

Anita was previously Head of Human Resources for the Continental Tyre Group, as well as Appointments Manager and Management/Executive Development Manager at British Telecom. She holds an MBA in Business and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Marketing. Anita’s passion for social work and child protection came from time spent travelling in South East Asia, China, Mongolia and Russia. Anita chairs the Finance & HR Committee and was Acting CEO from July 2016 - January 2017.

Hirsch joins CFAB with 32-years of experience in a variety of roles including Accountant, CFO, Finance Director and Auditor, having worked in both the public and private sector, covering Fortune 500, charities and schools. Hirsch is currently the chief executive of two companies and has an active role in various charities - including CFAB where he services on our Finance & HR Committee. These charities are mostly involved in child protection and development discourses which are areas he is passionate about.

Hirsch has a plethora of qualifications including: Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA): Institute of Chartered Accountants (London). Post Graduate Diploma in Organisation Management with a specialty in Human Resources (Anglian Regional Management Center) Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, Psychology, and English (Punjab University).

‍

Douglas Lewis CBE is President of CFAB and services on our Marketing Committee. He was the Chair of CFAB between 2004 and 2014. From 2010 to 2014 he was also Chair of the Governing Board of the International Social Service Network (ISS). Between 2014 and 2018 he was the International President of the International Social Service Network (ISS), of which CFAB is the UK branch. He is the first UK citizen to hold this position since Sir Clive Bossom between 1984 and 1989.

David is a qualified social worker with local, national and international senior management and service inspection experience in social services. He was Deputy Director (Children) at Ofsted, leaving in 2010. He was Chair of Leicester LSCB (2010-16) and Chair of the Association of LSCB Chairs (2014-16). He has substantial experience working with Parliament, Ministers, government officials and NGOs. David is a former Honorary President of the International Federation of Social Workers (2006-2010) and was a member of the Board of the British Association of Social Workers (2017-2021).  He is a Board Member of the Commonwealth Organisation for Social Work and a Governor of Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust. David now services on our Policy & Practice Committee.

Mark has been a CFAB Trustee since 2013 and he services on our Fundraising Committee. He runs his own FCA-registered consulting business, Tate Consultancy Limited, having spent a 34-year career in financial services. He has previously worked for credit asset management business ECM, as Managing Director for Debt Markets for Mitsubishi Bank in London, and as London Managing Director and Head of Debt Markets distribution for Nomura.

Christopher is a barrister and King’s counsel in 4pb chambers. He has practiced in family law for over 30 years, developing a practice in cases which cover the whole spectrum of modern international children and their families, including cross-border child abduction, overseas adoptions, placement of children abroad, FGM, child trafficking and disputes between parents living in different countries. He is also a Recorder of the Family Court, an approved arbitrator in children's cases and authorised to sit as Deputy High Court Judge. He is a past Chair of the Child Abduction Lawyers Association and is a case reviewer for Advocate. He joined the Board of Trustees of CFAB in January 2018 and sits on our Policy & Practice Committee.

Angie has a lengthy experience in Fundraising and Development and thus, services on our Fundraising Committee. She is currently Managing Director at the Al Madad Foundation and was previously Director of Development at the Westminster School and Campaign Director at the American Cancer Society. She is passionate about creating change, building capacity and sharing knowledge. She has an MA in Cultural Heritage from UCL.

Karina has been supporting CFAB’s work since 2018 when she first arrived to London from Hong Kong. Most recently, she chaired our 65^thAnniversary Event Committee and organised our prestigious dinner at Windsor Castle. Karina will be helping us to expand our fundraising efforts in the future through major donor fundraising and events

‍

Victoria Mellor services on our Marketing Committee and is currently the Chief Marketing Officer of NEX, a CME Group company. Victoria has 20 years’ experience working for both large and small companies across finance and technology. Victoria specialises in developing and delivering fully integrated strategic marketing and communications plans to drive business success. Victoria also has significant experience working as a volunteer with various charities such as ChildLine and Terrence Higgins Trust providing counselling and mental health support.

Richard Morris MBE services on our Policy & Practice Committee. He is currently an Assistant Director with Cafcass with responsibility for the Southeast Region and the National Associate Population. He has over 20 years’ experience as a qualified and registered Social Worker holding a number of Senior Management positions inside and outside of his Social Work profession. Previously Richard has travelled extensively and worked alongside organisations such as UNHCR, Princes Trust Volunteers and International Red Cross.

Cornelia is currently the Director of Social Care in Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, after previously being the Assistant Director for Children’s Safeguarding and Early Help in Northamptonshire County Council and the Improvement Director for Lincolnshire County Council and the East Midlands Regional Improvement and Innovation Alliance. Prior to this, Cornelia was Head of Service in Lincolnshire, where she ran integrated social care, early help and public health services and had the strategic lead for Early Help, Lincolnshire Children's Centres offer, and the integration of Public Health into the Local Authority. 

Cornelia is both a registered nurse and a qualified social worker. Having extensive leadership experience in public services, she started her social work career in Romania where she also taught Theory and Method in Social Work. Cornelia now sits on our Policy & Practice Committee.

Hilka Hollmann is an experienced children lawyer and partner at Dawson Cornwell. She specialises in care proceedings often involving the most serious of allegations of non-accidental injury, sexual abuse, factitious illness and radicalisation, and cases involving the international movement of children, international adoptions and international surrogacy. Hilka services on our Policy & Practice Committee.

James Cox is an independent social worker, registered in Scotland , who has worked in social care and social work in voluntary and statutory sectors since 1984. He has worked in a range of context in Scotland, England and Lithuania. Until 2021 he was the social work professional adviser to the Scottish Government on child protection and Children and Families Lead for Social Work Scotland. Special interests include kinship and foster care; family group decision making; support for young carers and for disabled children and their families; and social work education.

‍

Marija is a bi-lingual business development and finance specialist. MBA qualified, she has significant experience in financial and operational management. Formerly a Senior Finance Business Partner at Close Brothers, she is now a Strategic Finance Manager at Global Screening Services (GSS). Marija has a deep interest in CFAB's cause and is eager to help the organisation develop further.