Meet the team

Liz Pepler is a charity resilience specialist who works alongside social purpose organisations to help them feel more financially confident and financially resilient.

 

She is the founder of Embrace Finance and co-founder of the Small Charity Friendly Collective, and through Liz Pepler Consulting, she provides tailored senior-level finance support, consultancy and practical masterclasses on behalf of a range of sector infrastructure bodies and grant-makers.

 

Liz has informed sector-wide thinking as a co-author of the Lloyds Bank Foundation’s Organisational Resilience Programme and the Association of Chairs’ Financial Leadership in Small Charities, and she provides finance training on behalf of NCVO, ACEVO and the Association of Chairs.

 

She is a practising member of the Institute of Accountants and Bookkeepers, holds a Master’s degree in Charity Accounting and Financial Management (Distinction), a PG Certificate in Charity Administration, and is a Fellow of the RSA.

 

From her early years, which were spent in financial hardship, Liz has a strong passion for financial justice and inclusion. 



Fiona Young (Priest) FCA, DChA is a Charity Consultant, accredited Coach and Mentor and provides professional mentoring support to our clients. She is a qualified chartered accountant. After qualifying, Fiona specialised in Charity Audit with BDO before working as a charity finance director and company secretary for 20 years for Crisis UK and the Tudor Trust. She now works as a consultant supporting charities with finance and governance projects. Recent projects include reviewing requirements for and sourcing a new finance system for a large charity, organisation reviews and supporting a number of grantmakers with their reporting. Alongside this she provides coaching and mentoring, both nationally and internationally, to charities and non profit organisations. Fiona is a Chartered Accountant, Member of ICAEW and holder of their Diploma in Charity Finance. She has a Masters in Charity Finance and Financial Management

 

Kemi Olafare ACMA  is a qualified management accountant with over 20 years experience in the not for profit sector in both paid and voluntary roles. Kemi is an experienced finance business partner in the charity, university, international development and healthcare sectors. Kemi is currently Director of Finance at UCLPartners, an Advisory Board member at Charterpath and Trustee at the Charles Russell Speechlys Foundation. Kemi has been a panel member with Getting On Board.


Yasmin Glover  is a small charity organisational development specialist with expertise spanning strategy formation, project planning, staff development, impact measurement, and change management. Using her experience as a highly skilled facilitator, trainer, and consultant, Yasmin founded the The Olive Training and Consultancy agency in 2019, a social enterprise dedicated to helping small charities and social enterprises become more efficient, mission-focused, and impactful. Yasmin is co-founder of the The Small Charity Friendly Collective —a self-organising, volunteer collective of small charity secialists - and a Strategy and Planning Associate Consultant at NCVO.


Joy Matthew  has a background in law and graduated with an LLM in 2023. Joy participated in the 2027 placement scheme, aimed at bringing individuals with lived experience into the funding sector and is now focusing on the philanthropic space, with a strong interest in network-building, collaboration, and advocacy. Joy manages a Governance hub that provides legal support to grassroots organisations involved in community organising, while also offering backend grant administration, operational, and financial support.


Hypatia of Alexandria  We are a small team with big ambitions. We like AI, and think that used wisely, AI has the potential to turbocharge small charities - and therefore social change - for the better. When we asked ChatGPT which wise character from history it might be - Hypatia of Alexandria was the answer. Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 350–415 CE) was a renowned philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer in late antiquity. One of the earliest recorded female scholars in Western history and a symbol of intellectual achievement and free thought. Hypatia sometimes helps us think through how to support small charities better and for a short while we involved her in writing some of our content but have reverted to humans for this.

Amsel Page von Spreckelsen (they/them)

Associate  

Amsel is a freelance finance and governance consultant with 15 years experience in the charity sector. Amsel provides specialist trouble shooting support.

They have spent most of their career working across all aspects of the finance department, before specialising in management accounting. They have worked across arts, LGBTQ+, disability and youth charities, public sector (NHS) and international development. 

They work as BCF Consulting now, providing a mix of strategic and technical support to a range of clients. Specialities include deep-dive analysis of financial data, support on budgets and forecasts, and systems building, as well as problem fixing and advice. 

Alongside finance, Amsel can support on governance and trusteeship, supporting boards to understand their role and senior teams to get to grips with the specifics of charity leadership responsibilities.

They have a CIMA Diploma in Management Accounting (Level 4).