Our trustees
Our 10 trustees have a broad mix of skills which draw on their experiences in the voluntary and commercial sectors. Up to three of our trustees are appointed by, and are employees or officers of, Nationwide. The other seven are appointed by the board following a recruitment process which carefully matches recruits with any skills gaps.
Terrie Alafat
Terrie was previously the chief executive of Chartered Institute of Housing. Prior to that, she worked at the Department of Communities and Local Government, where she became director of housing. Terrie is also a trustee at Crisis.
Saphié Ashtiany (Chair)
Saphié is the principal of a small consultancy specialising in equality law, working predominantly with institutional and charitable bodies. She is a visiting professorial fellow at Queen Mary University of London, researching equality law. Saphié holds other trusteeships, including at Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust and Equal Rights Trust.
Antonia Bance
Antonia has spent her career in charity campaigning and communications. Currently working as the TUC’s head of campaigns and communications, she was previously SafeLives’ director of policy and communications and has also worked for the housing charity Shelter, where she was head of campaigns.
Sara Bennison
Sara is leader of Nationwide’s Propositions and Engagement Community. Previously Sara has worked at Barclays Personal and Corporate Bank and had held senior roles at BT and for major advertising agencies in the UK and Asia. Sara is also a trustee of The Prince’s Countryside Fund.
Gill Leng
Gill is a national health and homelessness advisor at the Department of Health and Social Care and previous worked for Public Health England and NHS England is similar roles. She previously ran a housing, homelessness and health consultancy and worked with local government.
Judith McNeill
Judith is chief executive of the KPMG Foundation, which helps young people from disadvantaged UK communities to achieve their potential. Previously she was Comic Relief’s grants director, and director of philanthropy at The Mercers’ Company, as well as having held held senior roles at Macmillan Cancer Support and WaterAid. Judith is a trustee of the Coutts Foundation.
Sarah Mitchell (Vice Chair)
Sarah is director of Heart of the City, a charity which supports small and medium-sized firms across London to do business responsibly. Previously she was the chief executive of Carers’ Network and before that she was head of private renting and housing development at Crisis. She was a trustee of Camden Federation of Private Tenants and is a trustee of Novus Homeshare.
Tony Prestedge
Tony is Nationwide Building Society’s deputy chief executive and was previously leader of the Relationships and Distribution Community and prior to that chief operating officer. He previously held a number of senior executive roles at Barclays. Tony is a board member of Opportunity Now.
John Taylor
John is the managing director of the housing services division at Mears Plc and during his career has worked predominantly with the private sector to provide new housing solutions to accommodate people in housing need. He previously ran a housing consultancy and worked with housing associations.
Ian Williams
Ian is the director of Financial Controls and Operations at Nationwide Building Society. Ian is a qualified accountant, and previously worked for Friends Life, Aviva and PWC in senior roles. Ian is the leader of a church in the Cotswolds, and the trustee of a children’s home in Kenya.