Alessandra Calabrese
Marketing Manager
Alessandra has worked in marketing since 2002 in a variety of roles and organisations. Her marketing career started dressing shop windows and writing booksellers’ reviews (or ‘Staff Picks’, as they used to be called) in a small bookshop in Hammersmith, London.
After working in various marketing roles in retail, corporate and education, Alessandra joined Sussex Community Foundation in 2023, having been inspired by the brilliant work done by the team and keen to support them in their mission. In her spare time, Alessandra enjoys cooking, playing tennis and taking long walks with her family on the seafront and on the Downs.
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Stephen Chamberlain
Head of Philanthropy
Stephen grew up in Brighton and attended sixth form in Lewes before going to read Music at university. He then spent over 15 years working in the arts, including at the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance and in classical music artist management. Most recently he helped develop opportunities and raise support for talented young jazz musicians as Partnerships & Development Manager at the National Youth Jazz Orchestra along with managing a string quartet. Now moved back to Brighton with a young family, he enjoys long-distance open-water swimming and generally getting muddy outdoors.
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Hannah Clay
Head of Grant Programmes
Hannah has worked in the charity sector since 2002 and has a background in grant-making and programme management. In London, Hannah worked for the London School of Economics before moving to a large environmental regeneration charity, where she spent 14 years. She also spent time freelance consulting before moving from London. Hannah joined Sussex Community Foundation in 2017 following a move to Lewes where she lives with her husband and two sons. She is responsible for overseeing all the grant making at the Foundation and is inspired by the diverse range of voluntary sector organisations working across Sussex to make people’s lives better through difficult times. She loves getting out and about in Sussex and exploring the coast with her family and friends!
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Zoë Gandey
Events & Communications Coordinator
Zoë graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2019 after completing a degree in International Development with Economics with Overseas Experience. This included spending three months abroad volunteering with Voluntary Service Overseas in rural Nepal, working on an inclusive education project that focused on period poverty. She grew up in the village of East Hoathly and has lived in Sussex all her life. Zoë joined Sussex Community Foundation in January 2020.
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Sally Horrox
Head of Marketing & Engagement
Sally began her career in the fast track graduate programme at Saatchi & Saatchi advertising. Since then she has worked at various blue chip marketing agencies including Tequila, Triangle and AMV(Clarke Hooper). With an excellent track record in relationship development and creativity she then started her own marketing agency where clients as diverse as British Airways and Orange followed her. In 2007 she moved into the voluntary sector to bring her experience into effective communications for charities, including WorldSkills UK, NCT, Global Action Plan and was trustee at The Woodland Trust. Sally joined the Foundation in the summer of 2021 and loves playing tennis and walking her two dogs on the seafront.
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Pete Jones
Grants Officer
Hailing from Wales via London, Pete has worked in the voluntary sector since 1999 in a range of roles, such as leading a community arts funding programme, running a busy national online volunteering team, heading up the fundraising team for an award winning national children’s charity and brokering corporate volunteers from FTSE 100 companies to provide critical skills volunteering to the voluntary sector. Most recently, he led on the strategic partnerships programme at Berkeley Foundation before joining Sussex Community Foundation in July 2019. Pete lives in Brighton and spends most of his spare time, taming his jungle garden.
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Louise Meehan
Head of Finance & Resources
After graduating with a BSc in Applied Biology at the University of Greenwich, Louise’s career started within a professional services membership organisation based in London before working more locally as a Clerk & RFO within local government. She went on to support the Conservators of Ashdown Forest as their Responsible Finance Officer before broadening her experience within a finance and operations role at a prep school. Louise is enjoying the challenge of developing the operational and financial processes of the Foundation at an exciting time, as the team works towards its ambitious goals for making a real difference in Sussex. Louise lives in East Grinstead and enjoys Park Run and supporting local microbreweries!
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Laura Nuppola
Grants Administrator
Laura has a background in the arts and culture sector, having worked in venue and events management in a range of performance spaces across the globe. She grew up in Europe and the USA with family heritage from Finland. She came to Brighton for an MA in Social and Political Thought which led to a passion for local community action and the different groups supported by Sussex Community Foundation. She now calls Brighton her home and outside of the Foundation works on community arts projects with young people and local artists, coordinating the resources needed to imagine and create a better world.
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Kevin Richmond
Chief Executive
Kevin Richmond grew up in Somerset but fell in love with Sussex and Brighton, in particular, when he came to Sussex University at the age of 18. Since then, he has worked in a wide range of local and national charities. He holds an MA in Social Work from Nottingham University and a Diploma in Management from City University. He was Director of the Carers Centre for Brighton & Hove from 1999 to 2006, when he became the first Chief Executive of Sussex Community Foundation. Under his leadership Sussex Community Foundation has become one of the ten largest and fastest growing community foundations in the UK. Kevin is a trustee of UKCF, the national membership charity for community foundations and lives in Bexhill-on Sea.
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Alex Stewart
Philanthropy Manager
Originally from Gloucester, Alex has only recently found his home in Brighton in the past couple of years. Since then he has made every opportunity to get involved within the community wherever he can. After studying Politics at Cardiff and a brief stint as a commercial photographer, he moved to the third sector and has never looked back. With a Diploma in Fundraising from the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and professional experience from the Royal Hospital Chelsea, “Home of the Chelsea Pensioners” and the University of Brighton, Alex is keen to work with anyone and everyone who wants to make a real difference in and around Sussex.
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Nikki Wheeler
Executive Assistant
Nikki worked as a PA to an Executive Headteacher in a large Infant school in Hove for 14 years before moving into the private sector in 2022. She has previous experience working as a clerk to Governor during her time working in Education. Nikki joined Sussex Community Foundation in September 2023 as Executive Assistant to our CEO, Kevin Richmond. She has two grown-up children and a Granddaughter that keeps her busy. Nikki has lived in Sussex all her life in the Brighton & Hove area. She enjoys seaside and country walks as well as strength training at her local gym.
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Jackie Wilkes
Philanthropy Manager
A Scot by birth, Jackie moved to London post university to start her career in HM Diplomatic Service. Having decided that diplomacy may not be for her, she then worked in the Lloyds insurance market specialising in Bloodstock and Fine Art. A move to Sussex saw Jackie start a 20 year association with Citizens Advice and for the last 12 years she ran their Lewes District operation before joining Sussex Community Foundation in June 2022. Jackie has an in depth knowledge of the issues facing the small charities and community groups that the SCF grants programme helps to support. Jackie lives in Lewes and spends her free time with family and friends or walking her dog on the Downs.
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