Our trustees

Helen is a Chartered Accountant and charity finance specialist, with over twenty years of experience in financial leadership roles in the charity sector. After qualifying at Deloitte, Helen has worked with charities in the international development, refugee, and veterans’ sectors and is currently Director of Finance at The Royal British Legion.

Having previously worked in the refugee sector, I am passionate about helping refugees to build a new life in the UK. I am excited to be joining the Board of Breaking Barriers to support financial decision-making at a key point in the charity’s history, as we grow our services to support more people across the UK.

Alba is a non-profit leader with 22 years of executive experience in global, award-winning think tanks, and comes with a wealth of experience serving as a Trustee on several charitable Boards, including Accountability Lab, Women in International Security (WIIS) Italy, and the PM Sports Foundation in Ghana. Alba also has a strong track record in scaling organisations for impact and spearheading change management.

Kelly is a fundraising specialist with over 20 years’ experience. Kelly’s experience across the non-profit sector has helped grow mass fundraising programmes for environmental charities, heart research and most recently mental health.

Kelly’s passion is social justice and she is looking forward to using her skills to expand Breaking Barriers reach and influence, enabling more refugees to gain access to meaningful employment.

Katie Rickard is the director of country programmes and operations at IMPACT initiatives. Katie currently oversees over 20 country teams and in previous roles with IMPACT initiatives, worked in South Sudan, Iraq and Jordan. Katie holds a MPhil in Development studies from the University of Oxford.

Having worked in conflict and emergency settings over the past 6 years, I am deeply aware of the injustice that push communities to seek asylum. While I am proud that the UK continues to welcome asylum seekers, there are critical gaps in service provision for meaningful integration, gaps which I see Breaking Barriers in a unique position to fill.

Anna is the Co-Founder and CEO of RefuAid, a UK-based charity dedicated to supporting refugees through its Equal Access Loan programme. Since launching RefuAid in 2015, she has led the organisation to support over 2,200 individuals and issue more than £2.6 million in interest-free loans, helping refugees access re-accreditation, higher education, stable housing, and financial independence.

Anna is also the Co-Founder of Merit AI, a social enterprise developing inclusive tools for the financial sector. With over nine years of experience leading mission-driven initiatives, Anna brings deep expertise in refugee support, social innovation, and ethical finance. She joined the Breaking Barriers board in 2024.

Andrew Waidhofer is a Vice President at Apax Partners and has been involved in a number of key deals in the services space. Prior to joining Apax Partners, Andrew worked at HSBC. Andrew holds a Masters in Pharmacy from the University of Nottingham.

As a son of immigrants myself, I understand first-hand the difficulties of starting a new life in a country which is unfamiliar in so many aspects. Breaking Barriers’ focus on helping support immigrants through every step towards employment, whilst cultivating direct partnerships with businesses, is both impressive and unique; and one that I am incredibly privileged to be associated with.