Executive Team
Ben Kernighan [he/him], Interim CEO
Ben has over 30 years’ experience working in the charity sector and was formerly CEO at Leap Confronting Conflict. He began his career at Terrence Higgins Trusts, and since then, Ben has helped hundreds of charities to thrive. His previous roles included Group Chief Executive of the National Union of Students and Deputy Chief Executive at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. He has extensive non-executive experience and is currently Vice-Chair of The Henry Smith Charity, a large charitable foundation.
Board of Trustees
Lenna Cumberbatch (all pronouns welcome) – Co-chair
Committed to community, Lenna volunteers for organisations such as LGBTQ+ anti-bullying charity, Diversity Role Models, King’s Health Partners Haematology, and small business advisors, Be the Business. Lenna also spent several years volunteering for Galop in the early 2000s.
Lenna’s current work focuses on inclusion taking a strategic change approach. She has been active in diversity and inclusion in operational and strategic roles for over 25 years. Currently, these roles are cross-sectoral and cross-regional such as a London recruitment firm, a Midlands housing association, the European Commission’s research executive agency, and Ofcom’s Communications Consumer Panel and Advisory Committee for Older and Disabled People.
A member of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, Lenna is a Toastmaster’s Competent Communicator and Competent Leader. Her speaking engagements have included a keynote at the Portuguese Annual Science Communication Congress, BBC Scotland’s Black History month programme, and the Women of the World (WOW) festivals. She has a BA in English and Women’s and Gender studies.
Kingsley Macey (he/him) – Co-chair
Kingsley is an accomplished Human Resources and People Leader, with extensive experience in Chief People Officer roles. He works closely with CEOs, commercial leadership teams, and diverse employee populations both in the UK and internationally driving People, Diversity and Commercial strategies.
A staunch advocate for equal rights and conscious inclusion, Kingsley is dedicated to fostering safe and progressive work environments. He is committed to extending his positive impact to society and, in particular, within the LGBTQ+ community.
Sandeep Jha (he/him) | Chair of the HR Sub Committee
Sandeep’s career began working for Vodafone in India as a HR Management Trainee. He has worked on different specialist HR roles before taking on HR Business Partnering and working across India, South Africa, Portugal and the UK leading an international team. He is currently the HR Director for Group Functions at BMI Group working with the team to Build New Horizons.
Sandeep has experience of working through significant business and culture transformation. He is passionate about driving change and believes in creating an environment where people can thrive to achieve their potential.
Simon Hall (he/him) | Treasurer
Simon has always been a community activist, and has been actively involved in a number of voluntary organisations and societies at board level for forty years. He was involved in the community response to the HIV pandemic, including being one of the founding directors of GMFA.
From 2018-2023, Simon was a trustee of the equality and diversity charity, METRO, and was the treasurer for four years. He is also an experienced trustee of a multi-academy school’s trust.
Simon comes to Galop with a wealth of experience in the statutory sector, having been in the NHS for 35 years until 2023. During his leadership of Tower Hamlets CCG, it achieved an Outstanding rating from NHS England twice, was nominated for 2017 Health Service Journal CCG of the Year, and achieved high rankings for patient and public involvement and staff satisfaction. Simon led the testing and vaccination programmes for all of North East London during the Covid-19 pandemic, and currently is the interim Chief Executive of Compass Wellbeing.
Simon is passionate about the work that Galop does, with which he feels a personal connection as a gay man and a parent. He is also a passionate internationalist, and loves to travel as often as he can.
Ruth Arnold (she/they) | Trustee
Ruth is a counsellor specialising in working with trauma. She has a range of experience in frontline services including sexual violence, hate crime, advocacy services and education. She lives in Bristol and is the Clinical Manager at Kinergy, a charity providing therapeutic services for survivors of sexual violence and/or abuse. She is passionate about system change and partnership working to improve services and accessibility for clients along with support and wellbeing of staff.
Bennjoseph Vaughan (he/him) | Trustee
Bennjoseph works within the social care sector in frontline and leadership positions, empowering children and young people, families and adults through adversity and vulnerability, building on strengths. Challenging the status quo and striving for systems change for all survivors is a passion for him. Bennjoseph has both personal and professional experience in social care that continue to motivate him to advocate for and to walk alongside survivors and the LGBTQIA+ community, with equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging being of the upmost importance. Raising his daughter as a rainbow parent, Bennjoseph hopes to lead by example in creating psychologically safe spaces for people of all genders and sexualities, affirming individuals’ value and worth.
Tash Walker (she/they) | Trustee
Tash is a writer, podcast producer and community organiser, as well as a founding director of the Aunt Nell production company and a queer historian. Tash was trustee and then co-chair of LGBTQIA+ charity Switchboard from 2014 to 2022, and continues to manage their archives at Bishopsgate Institute. They are also a co-founder of Get In Her Ears, a community organisation that supports and promotes women, non-binary and LGBTQIA+ people in music.
