City centre youth charity, OPEN Youth Trust (OPEN), whose mission is to make a positive difference to the lives of young people in Norfolk has appointed Rachele Kelsall, from Hugh J Boswell and Alex Marsden, working with HSBC, to its Board of Trustees.
Rachele Kelsall is currently the Head of Community Development for insurance broker Hugh J Boswell. She grew up in Bradford and started her insurance career with Royal Insurance in 1986, moving to Norwich to join Marsh in 2000, before joining Hugh J Boswell in 2012.
Speaking of her appointment Rachele said: “I very much welcome the opportunity to join the Board of Trustees at OPEN and to continue supporting all that the Trust offers young people, especially at a time when young people often feel excluded from society, increasingly with accompanying mental health issues. Add into the mix diminishing public sector provision and the work the charity does to support the lives of disadvantaged young people is more vital than ever.”
Alex Marsden, who grew up in Sprowston, comes with a wealth of experience at senior board level within the financial services sector and is currently working for HSBC Global Bank as Senior Call Centre Transformation Manager (EMEA). She is also Company Director for Leximars Consulting Ltd, an Interim Management Consultancy, offering expertise in Leadership/Contact Centre Transformation and Customer Experience.
Alex said: “The work of OPEN has been of interest to me ever since I was involved in a market research project as part of my MBA back in 2014 – I am very much looking forward to getting involved in helping the Trust progress in its mission to be self-financing by 2020 with every penny of profit from its commercial revenue going to the charity.”
OPEN’s Chief Executive, John Gordon-Saker said: “We are honoured to have both Rachele and Alex on our Board of Trustees as they will help raise the profile of what we offer to young people, the business community and the general public. Specifically, Rachele comes with a wealth of expertise in the education sector which will help our youth team grow its school engagement delivery, whilst Alex’s knowledge of customer experience strategies will be crucial as we continue to diversify our range of events and increase capacity.”