Head of Private Clients

Edward Garrett

Edward Garrett

Head of Private Clients

Ed joined CAF in April 2020 bringing with him extensive experience of managing corporate and private clients in both commercial and third sectors as well as front-line experience of running a social enterprise. His role is to lead CAF’s entire Private Client proposition, including both the CAF Charitable Trust and CAF American Donor Fund teams.

Having started his career in legal practice Ed moved into the London Insurance market where he managed the client service division of a specialist professional risk brokerage, leading a team advising and supporting a portfolio of major national and international professional services firms. Pursuing his interest in delivering positive social impact Ed joined a start-up social enterprise where he oversaw the development of a national network of independent and state school partnerships providing opportunities and resources to the most deserving young people in the UK.

Ed is particularly passionate about improving social equality through access to quality education and the potential of blended finance and digital technologies to maximise the impact of capital deployment for social and environmental initiatives.

Senior Private Client Managers

  • Adriana Lowe

    Adriana Lowe

    Senior Private Client Manager - Engagement Lead

    Adriana joined CAF in 2021 from Founders Pledge where she led their philanthropic advisory team, working with major philanthropists to help them take an evidence-based, strategic approach to their giving. She has degrees from Durham and UCL as well as the University of Kent, where she taught undergraduate and masters level anthropology and gained her PhD in behavioural ecology. She has lived and worked in Nigeria and Uganda at wildlife conservation sites and is passionate about conservation and education. 

  • Amy Cunningham

    Amy Cunningham

    Senior Private Client Manager

    Amy has worked at CAF for over 11 years, originally on CAF’s Corporate Accounts, which provided her with great insight into the Corporate Social Responsibility sector. She then moved to the Private Client team in 2012 wanting to further her experience of individual giving and explore what personally motivates donors to give. She regularly engages with a broad range of Private Clients, supporting them throughout their giving journey. Amy manages a portfolio of clients, and also works with internal and external parties in order to deliver a high-quality service level across the team.


Private Client Managers

  • Cecilia Weng Song

    Cecilia Weng Song

    Private Client Manager
    Cecilia joined Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in March 2023 as a Private Client Manager. Just before joining, Cecilia completed an MSc in Public Policy and Management at King’s College London (KCL). She also holds a BSc in International Social and Public Policy from the London School of Economics (LSE) and is passionate about social development and alleviating social inequalities through evidence-based approaches. In the past, she has worked at Opportunity International EduFinance and at the Ministry of the Interior, Housing, and Public Works of the National Argentine Government, helping achieve UN SDG goals through her work. She also has years of experience in public relations and content creation in the arts and culture industry. At CAF, she seeks to develop long-lasting relationships with her clients and help them effectively achieve their social impact goals. 
  • Simi Braithwaite

    Simi Braithwaite

    Private Client Manager
    Simi Braithwaite is a Private Client Manager at CAF working with HNW and UHNW clients to help develop their philanthropic giving strategy, assisting with impact generation for CAF Charitable Trusts. Simi joined CAF in the summer of 2022 from a background in Economics with years of experience in fundraising and advocacy in the public and private sector. In 2021, she completed a master’s degree in International Social and Public Policy, during which she garnered specialist knowledge on the influence of civil society on social welfare.
  • Eleanor Rees

    Eleanor Rees

    Private Client Manager
    Eleanor has a decade of experience in the charity sector working across international and national causes as a philanthropy fundraiser and joined CAF in December 2022 from a local endowed foundation, where she lead their general grant making.  Driven by the belief that philanthropy can make the most impact when considered strategically, Eleanor works with clients to help them make the most of their philanthropic capital and has a keen interest in charity innovation, social justice and engaging the next generation in family philanthropy.
    Outside the office, Eleanor is involved in local food redistribution and urban nature conservation.

  • Jason Van Haaster

    Jason Van Haaster

    Private Client Manager
    Jason joined CAF in 2022 from Stewardship where he served as Relationship Manager for U(HNW) Private Clients with a particular emphasis on dual tax liability giving solutions for US nationals living in the UK. He has a Bachelor of Commerce from Monash University, Australia and extensive industry experience working with Private Clients over 8 years at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia followed by 8 years’ experience leading various teams and projects focused on frontline service delivery within the UK charity and government sectors.   
  • Anna Fraser

    Anna Fraser

    Private Client Manager

    With over 12 years experience in the sector, Anna has built relationships with many individuals and families supporting them to give effectively to their chosen causes. She works with a range of clients who are all at different stages of their Philanthropic journey. Anna enjoys helping her clients to understand what they are passionate about and how they can best support the causes close to their hearts.

    Contact Anna via email or telephone on +44 (0)3000 123 013

Private Client Executives

Joanne Mason

Joanne Mason

Private Client Executive Team Manager

Jo has 20 years customer services experience across a wide range of sectors including; travel, retail and finance. Jo enjoys having in depth conversations with clients and learning about philanthropy and the wider charitable sector. She has volunteered on various school and club committees and is a keen runner completing the London marathon in 2014.

  • Mark Hodkinson

    Mark Hodkinson

    Private Client Executive

    Mark began his career at CAF in 2011 as part of the Charities Team and was responsible for delivering investment solutions to charities, before moving to the Private Clients Team as a Private Client Executive in September 2020.

    Prior to joining CAF he has worked in the finance sector for over 25 years, having various roles but concentrating on building relationships with both individuals and firms within that sector. Mark is keen to deliver excellent client service and to ensure that Private Clients attain their philanthropic goals. He enjoys playing social golf with friends.

  • Lindsey Marden

    Lindsey Marden

    Private Client Executive

    Lindsey joined the team at the end of 2022. She brings over 30 years experience from Private Client Broking, Financial Markets product marketing and customer service alongside, more recently, marketing and funding campaign knowledge in the public sector.

    Joining CAF has offered the perfect opportunity to bring together her customer facing skills, knowledge of Private Clients and fundraising.

    Having worked as a Business Development Manager for an urban winery she has a keen personal interest in the world of wine!

  • Keeli Jones

    Keeli Jones

    Private Client Executive

    Keeli joined CAF in May 2016 as part of the Trust Finance team, before moving over into the Private Client Service Support Role in October 2018 where she supported the team to ensure that clients received an exceptional level of service. Keeli is now a Private Client Executive where she guides both our Private Client and CAF American Donor Fund clients through their philanthropic journey.

    Prior to joining CAF, Keeli spent nearly 10 years at PWC as a client administrator with teams throughout the organisation.


    Contact Keeli via email or telephone on +44 (0) 3000 123 150

  • Verne Ringshall

    Verne Ringshall

    Private Client Executive
    Verne has over 20 years’ experience in the business finance industry and has spent much of her career building client and banking relationships.  She has experience speaking with HNW individuals and also helping charities to make business purchases via asset finance and loans.

    Verne is very interested in helping client’s have a great experience and enjoys understanding their philanthropic goals.

    She is a keen dancer and takes weekly classes in ballet, tap and modern jazz as well as teaching ballet to the younger pupils.
     
  • Elly Drake

    Elly Drake

    Private Client Executive

    Elly is one of our Private Clients Executives, delivering outstanding client service and experience. Responsible for managing Charitable Trusts, she provides tailored philanthropic services to Private Clients, HNW individuals, Family Foundations and Corporate donors. Passionate about enabling our Private Clients to reach their philanthropic goals, she enjoys the opportunity to work alongside both charities and philanthropists.


  • Katie Cosgrove

    Katie Cosgrove

    Private Client Executive

    Katie began career at CAF as part of the Validation team before becoming a Private Client Executive in September 2018.

    Prior to this, Katie worked within the financial sector where she gained experience of building relationships with individuals and became passionate about helping people achieve their goals. Katie’s previous role saw her working with charities and it was from this that she decided to move to the Private Client Team to help individuals fulfil their philanthropic goals. Katie has taken part in several runs for charity and will be volunteering at the Friend Animal Sanctuary this Giving Tuesday.

  • Ellen Kitney

    Ellen Kitney

    Private Client Executive

    Ellen joined CAF in November 2014 as part of the Customer Contact Team, acting as the initial point of contact for both client and charity queries. In September 2018 Ellen progressed into the Private Client Team under the role of ‘Private Client Service Support’, where she supported the team to ensure that clients received an exceptional level of service. Ellen is now a ‘Private Client Executive’ and is passionate about creating long-lasting relationships with clients, guiding them through their CAF journey to help reach their philanthropic goals.

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