The Team

Simon Patterson joined Silver Lake in 2005 and is a Managing Director and co-head of the firm’s activities in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He has managed Silver Lake investments across a variety of sectors including software, hardware, semiconductor, healthcare technology, internet and sports.

Prior to joining Silver Lake, he was a member of the founding management team of the logistics software company GF-X (acquired by Descartes) and worked in various management roles at the Financial Times.

Simon holds an M.A. from King’s College, Cambridge University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar and received the Alexander Robichek Award for Finance.

Zeinab Badawi was born in Sudan – her family moved to London when she was two years old. She studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University and for an MA in history (awarded with a distinction) at SOAS, London University.

Zeinab has worked extensively in the British media for four decades and is now best known for her work in the BBC’s international division at BBC World News TV and BBC World Service Radio on programmes such as 'Hard Talk', and 'Global Questions’ as well as a major 20-part tv series on the history of Africa which she produced and presented through her own production company for BBC World News.  She also produces and presents films on opera.

Zeinab is President of SOAS London University, a member of the advisory board of the think tank Afro-Barometer, and of MINDS: the Mandela Institute for Development Studies; a trustee of Historic Royal Palaces, BBC Media Action (the charitable arm of the BBC), the Royal Opera House, the Hampstead Theatre in London and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. She is also a council member of the Arts Humanities and Research Council of UKRI; Zeinab was Chair of the Royal African Society (Patron: HRH the Duke of Cambridge); she has served on the board of the British Council, the National Portrait Gallery, the Institute of Historical Research, the Overseas Development Institute, and has been Chair of Article 19.

Zeinab has received many awards including honorary doctorates from SOAS, the University of the Arts London, and York University and received the President’s Medal of the British Academy for her services to broadcasting and education and the United Nations Association-UK Sir Brian Urquhart award for distinguished service to the UN. She is also an honorary fellow of St Hilda’s, College Oxford University. Zeinab has four children.

Pippa Harris is an Oscar-nominated, BAFTA award-winning, film and television producer, who established Neal Street Productions in 2003 alongside Sam Mendes and Caro Newling.

The company’s work includes the hugely successful BBC series Call the Midwife which Pippa has executive produced for the past 15 years, as well as the multi award-winning First World War movie, 1917, which Pippa produced. Neal Street’s recent stage productions include the Tony award-winning The Lehman Trilogy, and the acclaimed productions of The Motive and The Cue, and The Hills of California. Pippa’s upcoming projects include movies of Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, and of Enid Blyton’s children’s classic The Magic Faraway Tree. She is also developing four movies for Sony, one on each of the Beatles, which will be directed by Sam Mendes.

Following her tenure as Chair of BAFTA, Pippa is now their Vice President of Television. Pippa is also Chair of Charleston, a museum and gallery which was home of the Bloomsbury group. She is an Ambassador for Women for Women International. Before setting up Neal Street Productions, Pippa was the Head of Drama Commissioning for the BBC. In 2015 she was made a Dame in the Dissolution Honours.

Ron Kalifa is Chair of Financial Infrastructure at Brookfield Asset Management and a Non-Executive Director at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG).

He is a Senior Independent Director on the Court of Directors to the Bank of England, a Non-Executive Director of the England & Wales Cricket Board and a member of the Council of Imperial College, London.

Additionally, Ron is Chair of the Sport Honours Committee.

After 28 years at Unilever, Dave spent nearly 7 years as Group CEO of Tesco PLC.  Dave chairs Haleon PLC, sits as a non-exec director for PepsiCo and chairs a private renewable energy business Xlinks.

He is also the Chair of the World Wildlife Fund in the UK, and acts as an operating advisor to CD&R private investment firm. Married to Helena with two daughters.

Ian Patrick is the Private Secretary to HRH The Prince of Wales. Prior to this he was a Partner at the geo-political risk advisory company Macro Advisory Partners, and a British diplomat.

Patrick began his career as an advisor to Paddy Ashdown in the House of Commons, following Lord Ashdown to Bosnia where he worked in the international peace keeping mission. Patrick then joined the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, before joining Macro Advisory Partners.

Alice Webb is Chief Executive Officer of Universal Music Group’s Mercury Studios. Prior to this Alice spent 15 years at the BBC in a number of roles. As Chief Operating Officer and then Director of BBC North she was a key figure in relocating key BBC departments and over 35,000 hours of output a year to MediaCityUK in Salford.

Latterly, Alice was Director of BBC Children’s & Education - leading the BBC’s output and activity for Under 16’s – including CBeebies, CBBC and BBC Bitesize. She led the launch of the BBC’s hugely successful Bitesize Daily which supported millions of children across the country during the coronavirus pandemic.

Alice lives with her family in the North West of England.

Claire Wills is a senior partner at global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and served as the firm’s London Managing Partner. She joined Freshfields in 1992, becoming a partner in May 2001. Claire is on the board of Surrey County Cricket Club and was formerly a Governor of Rugby School and also Chair of the Arnold Foundation Board, established by Rugby School in 2003.

Tom White is the Private Secretary to HRH The Princess of Wales.

Tom commissioned into the Royal Marines in 2007. He spent time at regimental duty with 42 Commando and 45 Commando Royal Marines and has led military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. More recently, he has served within the British Defence Staff in the United States and the United States Central Command. He was appointed as equerry to HM Queen Elizabeth II in 2020.

Amanda joined The Royal Foundation in June 2022 from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), where she served as Chief Executive for over 20 years. She led major changes at BAFTA, positioning it as the pre-eminent global charity celebrating the best in film, games and television, and expanded its talent programmes to nurture emerging creators.

Prior to BAFTA, Amanda was a TV producer and theatrical agency director. Amanda received an OBE for services to the film industry in 2009, and an honorary doctorate from University of the Arts London in 2022. In the King’s 2025 New Year Honours, Amanda was made a CBE for services to the creative industries and charity.

As our CEO, Amanda works closely with the Royal Household and the Trustees, ensuring that the Foundation continues to support The Prince and Princess of Wales in realising their philanthropic ambitions.

Tom leads The Royal Foundation’s nature conservation programme, including United for Wildlife, which unites leaders from governments, private sector, philanthropy, civil society and communities to protect, sustain and restore wildlife and nature. He also works to identify new opportunities in the sector, with a focus on measurable and scalable impact.

Prior to joining the Foundation in 2024, Tom was the UK Government’s Strategic Advisor on International Nature. He designed the global commitment to end deforestation by 2030, which was announced at COP26. To deliver on this commitment, Tom then led the establishment of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership.

Tom began his conservation career in 1999, leading expeditions to rainforests in Brazil, Malaysia, and the Philippines to document new species. In 2002, he moved to Cambodia with the Wildlife Conservation Society, where he remained for nearly two decades, eventually serving as Regional Director for Southeast Asia.

Christian leads the Royal Foundation’s Centre for Early Childhood. The Centre was founded by The Princess of Wales to unlock the positive future change – social, emotional and economic – that can be achieved by shaping human development in the earliest stages of life. Working in partnership with others, The Centre aims to raise awareness, support world-leading research and promote innovative, scalable early years interventions.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Christian was Chief Executive of Justice and Care, the award-winning international anti-human trafficking charity. He has also served as a special advisor to former Prime Minister David Cameron, focusing on life chances policy, and was Chief Executive of the Centre for Social Justice, a cross-party think tank.

Christian began his career as a community organiser, and has served as an advisor to both Government reviews and to prominent organisations, including the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and the Early Intervention Foundation.

Kully leads The Royal Foundation’s research and impact strategy. This ensures that all the Foundation’s initiatives are evidence-led and grounded in research, and that they deliver measurable outcomes. Since joining in 2021, Kully has built a dedicated Research and Impact team which has overseen the development of the Foundation’s Impact Framework, embedding measurement and evaluation across all programmes.

Prior to joining The Foundation, Kully was a Senior Director at Ipsos UK, where she worked for 22 years. She led multidisciplinary research teams managing complex research and evaluation programmes, primarily for the UK Government as well as for think tanks, NGOs and academic institutions.

Kully’s work covered a wide range of policy areas, including migration, integration and community cohesion, gender equality and crime and policing, as well as leading Ipsos’ Diversity and Inclusion research programme. Kully was also involved in political polling and regularly gave expert commentary to the media.

Kathryn joined The Royal Foundation in July 2024 as Director of Finance and Operations, overseeing strategic and operational planning, commercial strategy, and financial management.

She leads the annual budgeting process, risk management, and finance business partnering, all of which provide robust financial insights to teams across the Foundation as they make decisions and plan for the future. She is also responsible for the operational running of the organisation including overseeing the IT strategy, compliance and governance.

Kathryn has over 20 years of experience across the public and commercial sectors, particularly in the arts. Prior to joining the Foundation, she was Chief Financial Officer at Tate, responsible for financial leadership across the galleries. She was also responsible for the oversight and running of Tate's estates and its major capital projects.

As a qualified management accountant, Kathryn previously served as Director of Finance & Resources at The Place, and as Finance Director at the Southbank Centre. Her career also includes senior financial roles in other arts and media organisations, including the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival.

Amy is the Creative Director at The Royal Foundation, leading the organisation’s brand and narrative, events, communications, and content creation. Amy supports all Foundation programmes and works closely with Kensington Palace. Recent endeavours include a digital-first conservation series in collaboration with the BBC, and events including the annual televised Carol Service at Westminster Abbey.

In 2019, Amy joined The Royal Foundation to establish The Earthshot Prize, leading its development and growth. She built and managed the Earthshot Prize team, and its network of funders, partners and high-profile ambassadors, while overseeing the landmark TV series, radio series and book. In addition, Amy created and delivered the inaugural London 2021 Earthshot awards, which won the BAFTA for Best Live TV Event of the year.

Amy began her career as a ministerial spokesperson at HM Treasury during the global financial crisis and subsequently led RBS’s central media campaigns team. She went on to work at Kensington Palace, initially as Senior Communications Officer for The Prince and Princess of Wales and Prince Harry, before establishing and leading The Duchess of Sussex’s Office.

Jas leads The Royal Foundation’s People and Culture strategy, driving organisational development and fostering a high-performing, inclusive workplace. She ensures that our teams have the skills, expertise and resources needed to support the Foundation’s ambitious vision, while also overseeing long-term workforce planning.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Jas spent nearly four years as a Chief People Officer in the NHS. Initially, she worked at a community and mental health trust where she led the workforce model for mass vaccination centres across Hampshire & the Isle of Wight during Covid. Later, she joined an integrated care board in the Southwest, working alongside partners across the system to join-up health and care and improve population health.

Jas has also held senior leadership positions in commercial aviation, leading a team across Europe, the US, Asia and New Zealand, and B&Q, where she worked for over 15 years.

Before moving into human resources, Jas began her career as an employment law solicitor and is a qualified coach with the Institute of Leadership and Management.

Melanie Waters OBE oversees The Royal Foundation’s Community Impact Programme. She works as closely with local communities as she does with the Royal Household to deliver initiatives that foster social connection, engagement and collective action. She develops new programmes that align with the Foundation’s strategy, collaborating with the Research and Impact team to ensure that initiatives are research-led and that they deliver measurable outcomes.

Melanie previously served as Chief Executive of the prominent charities The Poppy Factory and Help for Heroes, transforming the delivery of support for veterans and their families. Prior to that, Melanie started her career in law and held significant senior roles in the commercial sector, leading the External Affairs, Business Improvement and Operations for companies such as the Automobile Association (AA) and Unite Students. In 2017, she was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to ex-Service Personnel.

Most recently, Melanie founded and led Trade Up, a collaborative non-profit dedicated to addressing skills gaps in the UK construction industry.

Damian leads The Royal Foundation’s Partnerships Team, working in partnership with philanthropy and business to secure the resources necessary to develop and scale the Foundation’s programmes. He joined the Foundation in 2021 and plays a key role in delivering collaborative impact across areas including homelessness prevention, early years development and conservation. These partnerships fuel the Foundation’s ambition to be one of the world’s most influential philanthropic bodies.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Damian spent over a decade working with global philanthropists and businesses to drive innovation and investment in key social issues, such as climate change, disease elimination, and gender empowerment. His career has included roles at the Nike Foundation, Malaria No More and BBC Media Action, specialising in communications, public affairs, and corporate partnerships.

Damian began his career in consultancy, working on major government campaigns around prominent youth and social issues.

Felicity became Chief of Staff in November 2023, having initially joined The Royal Foundation in 2018 as part of the finance team.

She collaborates with key stakeholders across the organisation – including the CEO, our Board of Trustees and other colleagues – to advance strategic planning, policy development and decision-making. Felicity works to ensure that the CEO’s office is running as efficiently as possible, allowing the Foundation’s other teams to focus on strategic priorities and deliverables.

Originally qualifying as a chartered accountant at the UK National Audit Office, Felicity worked with government departments including the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. She also worked with the Royal Household, the BBC and the Investor Relations team at Marks and Spencer. Prior to joining the Foundation, she was involved in establishing the UK branch of a global start-up in the baby food sector.