Trustees

Charmian Caines

Chair

Charmian is a Senior Partner at the strategic management consulting firm, The Boston Consulting Group where she has worked for over two decades. She supports global and large UK Consumer and Retail companies on strategic issues, large transformation and change programmes. Many of these programmes today are in the digital space. Charmian also works in the field and on strategic topics for UN agencies such as the World Food Programme. She has a strong interest in travel and the natural world and in particular, the Galapagos Islands. Charmian is a Trustee of the Courtauld Institute and on the CBI Council for London. She has four children and lives in London.

Jonathan Lea

Honorary Treasurer

Jonathan is a finance professional with wide international experience and an interest in the environment. He was previously Group Finance Director of FTSE 250 textiles business Coats plc and CFO of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a nonprofit organisation that advises governments on resource efficiency, sustainability and recycling. It was while working in Ecuador in the 1980s that he that he experienced two life-changing events, visiting the Galapagos Islands and meeting his wife, Patricia.  He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and has an MA in Latin American Studies from ILAS in London.

Michael Drake

Vice Chair

Michael is a Solicitor with 40 years` varied commercial, litigation, family law  and other experience in a Central London practice. Over the years, he has also been a non executive director of a number of public and private companies in different sectors, and continues as a non executive of a long established advertising/media group. He has been a trustee of the Born Free Foundation for several years, is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Member of the Athenaeum. Michael has travelled widely in Africa, Indo China, India, Antarctica, South America (including Ecuador and Galapagos).

Pippa Carte

Pippa began her career in commercial direct marketing at Brann and OgilvyOne then joined specialist charity fundraising Agency Tangible. Pippa took on the strategic planning and campaign implementation for charities such as The Salvation Army, Marie Curie Cancer Care and The Royal British Legion. She decided to make the move from ‘agency’ to ‘charity’ and took the position of Head of Individual Giving at WWF-UK. She was promoted to Director of Fundraising, leading a £45m fundraising operation with a team of 100. She was lucky enough to work on capacity building across the global WWF Network. Always looking to develop she then secured experience in capital fundraising in the museum sector and most recently has spent five fruitful years in education fundraising. Pippa has her own fundraising advisory business and was a Trustee of Make A Wish UK for seven years. As a keen scuba diver she was particularly inspired to join the Board of GCT knowing the reputation of the islands for the schooling hammerheads. She hopes to bring her communications and fundraising expertise to bear to support the Trust’s mission to protect the unique nature and beauty of the Galapagos.

Sandra Charity

Sandra is a Brazilian conservation professional living in the UK who started her career in Brazil as a wildlife vet, with a degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Sao Paulo (USP). After a year in Panama doing on research of the epidemiology of arborviruses (arthropod-born viruses) in wild marine and forest bird populations with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), she spent 6 months in 1984 working as a volunteer with the Charles Darwin Research Centre in the Galapagos, triggering a life-long interest in the conservation of the islands.

Sandra co-founded FUNATURA, an NGO dedicated to conservation of the Cerrado savannas of central Brazil, and working for the Brazilian government’s protected areas department, after which she earned her MSc in conservation and wildlife management from the University of London. Sandra then joined WWF-UK as their first Head of Latin America. During this time, she helped set up WWF-Brazil, and then was their Interim CEO for a short time in 2004. Since then, Sandra has held various other positions at WWF including Head of Forests at WWF-UK, Deputy Leader and then Leader of WWF’s Living Amazon Initiative.

Chris Jarrett

Chris is a senior level fundraising leader, working for over 15 years within the charity sector, with hands-on experience in developing strong fundraising strategies and delivering growth in income.  He is currently Director of Supporter Engagement at Sense & Sense International.