Our Trustees
Jim Minton
Chair of Dost since June 2017.
Chief Executive of the Mayors Fund for London.
Former Chief Executive of the anti-poverty charity Toynbee Hall.
Spent 5 years as a director at London Youth, following a range of other roles in government, charities and international development.
Former Chair of school governors and trustee of an East London community arts charity.
Jim holds an MBA from London Business School.
Michael Harvard
Joined Dost as a trustee in June 2017.
20 year’s experience in new income and new business in the private and charity sector.
Headed new business teams at organisations focusing on homelessness, children’s services and community crowdfunding.
Developed income strategies that include trusts and foundations, corporates, commissioned services, social enterprises and crowdfunding.
Currently providing freelance business development and fundraising advice whilst studying for a Master’s in Sustainability and Behaviour Change.
Bejal Shah
Joined Dost as a trustee in July 2023.
Interim Chief Executive of Hackney Centre for Voluntary Service.
Passionate about supporting people from marginalised communities to thrive. Former CEO of ReachOut, a youth charity working across England. Joined ReachOut in 2017 to lead programme delivery in London, became Director of Programmes nationally in 2019, before becoming CEO in 2021.
Prior to joining the charity sector, worked for Explore Learning for 7 years managing education centres, leading teams to provide high quality support to children and their families.
Bejal speaks Gujarati and Hindi.
Tommy Edwards
Joined Dost as a trustee in December 2018.
A professional film-maker with a wealth of experience of creative programme management within the Youth Sector.
Worked for 14 years as a leader within the creative education sector, developing and delivering differentiated inclusions programmes to young people with learning disabilities, complex needs, mental health problems and those that are at risk of isolation.
Currently working as a freelance Writer/Director in Film and TV.
Winnie Sham
Joined Dost as a trustee in July 2022.
Passionate about creating safe environments for people, no matter their background.
An immigrant child who moved with her family from Hong Kong to Canada as a young child. Fluent in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
Winnie has mainly worked in the financial services sector in Hong Kong and London, spanning financial crimes compliance and learning & development functions.
Currently a regional financial crimes training officer at an international bank.
Aneesa Ali
Joined Dost as a trustee in November 2025.
Aneesa has extensive experience working with young people, supporting them to develop leadership skills and take meaningful action.
She holds a bachelor's degree in environmental sciences and a Master’s in Environment, Politics, and Development. Her academic background informs a holistic approach to empowering young people to drive social and environmental change.
Passionate about learning from London’s diverse communities, Aneesa is committed to understanding how different voices contribute to the city’s success and how to support these voices in decision-making spaces.
She currently serves as Youth Engagement Manager at the Mayor’s Fund for London.
Aneesa speaks Urdu.
Noah Leul
Joined Dost as a trustee in November 2025.
Noah arrived from Eritrea to the UK in 2019 and joined Dost in 2021, where he attended for around 3 years.
He loves the diversity of the cultures and foods in London.
He is an accomplished photographer and videographer, which is a hobby as well as a part time job.
Noah is a qualified Level 3 Personal Trainer and is
now in his first year at London Metropolitan University, studying Dietetics.
Noah speaks Tigrinya.
Adis Birhanu
Joined Dost as a trustee in November 2025.
Adis arrived from Ethiopia to the UK in 2021 and joined Dost very soon after arriving, where he attended 200 sessions over the next few years.
He has been volunteering regularly at Dost since December 2024.
He studied English at Newham College and then went
on to complete the Breadwinners Programme, where he ended up working as a Stall Manager, selling organic bread.
Adis is now working at London markets, selling cheese
and doing a delivery job.
In the future would love to travel more.
Adis speaks Amharic.
