Advisory Board

Nousheen Jalal
Chairperson Advisory Board

Nousheen Jalal is a Strategy and Human Capital advisor with a passion for people development, organisation effectiveness and purposeful change.  She is grateful for her life experiences of growing up in Bangladesh, Pakistan, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom before the age of 18 and as a young adult in the United States and Germany.  Her appreciation for multicultural experiences has grown further through an international career living and working from London, Singapore, and Chicago.

With her Bangladeshi-Muslim heritage, Nousheen has always been curious about multiple perspectives and conscious of the importance of bridging societal inequities within communities. Her current volunteer commitments focus on empowerment for women and girls in the United Kingdom and Bangladesh.

Nousheen has been an HR business partner at Vue International and was in business leadership roles at the Human Capital Leadership Institute and Hewitt Associates in Singapore.  She has also held principal client-advisory and client-engagement roles at Mercer and Duke Corporate Education.  She has an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a Bachelor degree from Grinnell College.

In 2016, Nousheen, her husband and two sons returned to live in London after Singapore as their home-base for 12 years. As a family, they enjoy long walks, games of tennis, skiing and celebrating multiple cultural and religious events reflecting their mixed-ethnicity, mixed-religion and multi-national family make-up and experiences.  With the sons now at university, the family quite likes to engage in constructive and lively exchanges about global politics and economics, cultural values, personal identify, and ethics.

Henna Veitch

Henna is the founder and owner of Design by Henna a net zero carbon - upcycling and recycling business. A graduate of Leeds University, she studied textiles to PhD level and has worked in the public and private sectors in the UK and Sweden. She spent 5 years in Asia raising her family and volunteering/raising funds with local charities in Tokyo and New Delhi. 

She has worked with social media and ‘free’ marketing for many years and is skilled in building relationships. During her time in Asia, she enjoyed travel and the varied cuisines - which led to a job as a restaurant critic. 

Henna has worked at five UK universities and remains involved with higher education through her consultancy programme - providing support for university applications and scholarship programmes. 

She studied Indian classical dance until the age of 18, and speaks eight languages. She’s enjoying being back in Britain and teaching her children what it’s like to be British. An incredibly proud Brummie and lifelong supporter of Aston Villa!

Lucy Marsh

Lucy has 5-years’ experience working in the Financial Services industry, having worked for Barclays Bank since graduating from the London School of Economics in 2018. She is currently studying for the final level of the Chartered Financial Analyst programme.

Lucy is passionate about furthering the gender agenda across the industry. As co-chair of the subcommittee of the Barclays gender employee resource group aimed at pipeline and junior talent, she lead a group of colleagues with the aim to provide a safe space and empower the voice of these colleagues through creating events and initiatives focussed on personal and career development.

In her spare time, she is a keen marathon and ultramarathon runner, and through this a huge advocate for women in sport. She hopes to see more women and girls on the start line reaping the mental, physical, and social benefits that sport has rewarded her with.

Mary Catterall

Mary has a diverse background in corporate IT consulting and management.  She has worked with a variety blue-chip company to implement global programmes across many countries, which has provided her with invaluable insights into problem-solving on a large scale.

Mary has extensive experience of working on boards for non-profit and financial organisations, with a strong focus on providing strategic risk analysis and guidance.

Mary has always been a strong advocate for women and girls and is privileged to contribute to the work of Action Breaks Silence to create a safer world.

Olivia Francis

Olivia has worked in financial services in London and New York for over a decade, and currently works in Emerging Markets at a London based bank. While in New York, Olivia gained experience of managing employee support groups; organising events and sharing information to give colleagues the tools to develop their careers.

Olivia is passionate about volunteering and supporting charities that promote equality through education. She was inspired by movements such as #MeToo and BLM to join the fight against VAWG and is excited to be working with such an amazing female-led charity with a global, intersectional agenda.

Silas Edmonds

An alumnus of Calday Grammar School, Silas Edmonds completed his BA in English Literature and Latin at the University of Keele (the poetry of William Blake and Catullus being particular favourites), later achieving Chartered London Teacher Status, an NPQH through the Institute of Education and then his MA in Educational Leadership and Innovation through the University of Warwick.

Formerly Head of Senior School and Acting Principal of Surbiton High School, Silas was appointed as Principal of Ewell Castle School in 2019. His educational focus is inspiring young people to discover their strengths and to stimulate their intellectual curiosity so that they can think freely for themselves, “knowing what to do when they don’t know what to do…” (Piaget).

Silas is honoured to contribute to the essential work of Action Breaks Silence to bring about lasting change for formidable girls and women, to become all that they can and should be, through courageous education and empowering experiences to challenge and to effect social change.

Francesca Samlalsingh

Francesca currently works in the banking world to help tackle financial crime typologies through enhanced due diligence. She has honed her investigative skills through working abroad and between languages in France, West Africa, and China.

Francesca has an undergraduate in International Relations, learning considerably about the structural challenges in place that enable indirect violence against citizens, and a Master’s degree in Chinese.

Francesca volunteers in her free time for various causes, most recently fundraising money for Shelter and supporting a social business in their endeavour to financially support as a partner lead in identifying ways to develop.

Hiba Ouadia

In her professional journey, which has been enriched by her pursuit of an ACCA qualification and studies in finance complemented by a minor in business law, her diverse experiences have shaped a transformative tapestry. Hiba served as the Student Government Treasurer

Added to this she was a Residential Advisor, with comprehensive training in first aid and fire safety.

Addressing Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) through Action Breaks Silence is profoundly personal to her and is deeply rooted in her lived experience and that of fellow women who have unjustly faced blame for harassment based on our attire, speech, or simply for being themselves. As a Moroccan woman, she witnessed the pervasive victim-blaming culture that often accompanies such incidents, insinuating that women somehow invite this mistreatment through their choices, causing immeasurable pain and fear.

Her journey, alongside others who have endured similar experiences, strengthens her resolve to address VAWG, Hiba sees Action Breaks Silence as the platform to make a meaningful impact, raise awareness, and advocate for change.