Our trustees
The following people are trustees of Greenhouse:
Michael de Giorgio – Co-Founder and Chief Executive
Mike originally qualified as a Chartered Accountant and sold his financial consulting business in 2002. Together with Justin Byam Shaw, he founded Greenhouse in 2002 and he continues to be involved full-time in its development. He is driven by a great interest in sport and the desire to see that young people have the opportunity to participate in more regular activity.
Jeffrey Berman - Chairman
An American who came to London in 1985, Jeff has worked in both the art world and fund management industries. More recently he has been studying Asian art at the British Museum. Believing physical exercise is an essential part of living a balanced life, Jeff is a keen supporter of the Greenhouse goal of providing those opportunities to young people of disadvantaged backgrounds.
Justin Byam Shaw - Co-Founder
Justin founded and ran the Legion Group before selling it to Matra Hachette in 1995. In 2002, he co-founded Greenhouse with Michael de Giorgio and he continues to be actively involved in the evaluation of our programmes. He is an investor and entrepreneur in the new media sector.
David Gold
After 15 years in the City, David joined Business in the Community as Head of London, where he learned much about the voluntary sector, particularly from BitC's Homelessness, Diversity and Environmental campaigns. In 2000 he bought and became Chief Executive of Prospectus, which deals exclusively with recruitment and design in the not-for-profit sector. David is Chair of A Glimmer of Hope (UK), a grant-making trust, and serves on a think tank at the Ethiopian Embassy. He also chairs the advisory group of Philanthropy (UK). Additionally, David sits on the boards of FutureBuilders England, FutureBuilders Diversity sub-group, Streetshine (a fast growing social enterprise), Volunteer Reading Help and Notting Hill Applied Arts.
Penny Linnett
Penny worked for 15 years in the City in the sphere of corporate finance and corporate broking, latterly as a director of the corporate broking arm of Smith New Court PLC before it was acquired by Merrill Lynch in 1995. Following the birth of two (sports mad) sons, she put her career on hold but enjoys active involvement with Greenhouse where she helps out on a regular basis.
David Meller
David is joint Chairman of Meller Designs, which offers luxury lifestyle solutions to high end clients. He is Director at Watford FC. David is involved in several charity activities and is about to become chairman of the Young Presidents Organisation of London – a business development organisation for business people under the age of 40.
Sangita Patel
Currently manager of the London Community Sports Network, Sangita has had ten years community development practice in supporting community and youth engagement initiatives. Sangita is a published researcher, consultant and policy advisor on sports based social interventions for the Home Office, Sport England and Connexions Service. She has also led a team of young women volunteers in Indonesia delivering environmental projects.
Emmanuel Roman
Co-CEO of GLG Partners, a well known money-management firm, Emmanuel is a member of the International Council of the Tate Museum and a Board Member of Inclarity and Cogepar. Among his many altruistic endeavours he is known for his support of the Tate, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in its cancer research, various charities fighting AIDS in Africa and The Centre of Cold War Studies at The London School of Economics. His interests include 20th century history, classic music and modern literature.
Michael Sherwood
Michael is co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs International and co-global head of the FICC and Equity Divisions. He is particularly keen on table tennis and has been a key supporter of the TTK programmes from inception. Michael earned his BA from the University of Manchester in 1986. He lives in London with his wife and two children.
