Trustees & patrons

Meet the people who guide Point North.

Trustees and President

Our Trustees volunteer their time, experience and expertise and are central to our success as a charity. They are responsible for our overall direction, strategy, and vision.

We’re looking for new trustees to join our Board. If you’re interested in finding out more about the role entails, please click here to read our trustee recruitment pack.

The deadline to apply is Friday 28 August 2026

Dame Susan was appointed President of Point North in 2026. She brings exceptional experience in public service, civic leadership and community development, alongside a long-standing commitment to improving outcomes for people across our region.

Joanna joined Point North in 2022 to make a contribution towards supporting local communities.

Joanna had a 35-year career in international finance and investment and brings her great expertise to our team.

She is a founder and trustee of Target Ovarian Cancer and received an MBE in 2014 for services to people with cancer.

“The can-do attitude of the whole team at Point North means we have the maximum impact.”

Hailing from Middlesbrough, Emma is Finance Director at Northstar Ventures, a Newcastle-based venture capital fund manager.

She joined our Board in 2022 because of her love for the region and to support the work we do in communities across County Durham and the Tees Valley.

Gillian is from County Durham and joined our team in 2024, having been part of one of our advisory committees for a few years.

Gillian is a Partner in employment law at Ward Hadaway, and brings expertise in legal matters and risk to the team.

“I have been very impressed with the forward thinking approach at Point North, it’s ambitious and there is a boundless energy and focus.”

Judith Hartley is a senior finance professional with extensive experience in the delivery of national SME access to finance programmes on behalf of the UK government and in corporate banking.

She has held several senior executive positions within the UK’s economic development bank – the British Business Bank – including CEO of British Business Investments and British Patient Capital which are its two commercial investment subsidiaries. Judith’s earlier career was in corporate banking with Barclays and Bank of Scotland.

Now living in Durham City, Judith is a Non-Executive Director for two North East fund management companies – NEL Fund Managers Limited and Northstar Ventures UK – and is also Chair of the Alumni Advisory Board at Durham University’s Hazan Venture Lab. Judith was awarded an MBE in the King’s 2025 New Years Honours for ‘services to business’.

Sarah Thorpe serves as Regional Manager for UKSE, an organisation which supports growing businesses with loan and equity finance packages. She is responsible for UKSE’s investment and property matters in the North of England and has held this role for the last 12 years.

Sarah has wide expertise in portfolio management, business planning and strategy, start-ups, funding and preparing businesses for investment. She has built up considerable experience in public and private sectors, working region-wide with companies, investors, and business angels.

Alison Dunn is the Chief Executive Officer of independent charity Citizens Advice Gateshead, host of the podcast series, ‘This is the North’, social justice activist, TV and news media commentator, Chair of Trustees for VONNE and former solicitor.

Alison’s passion is social justice, because a more equal society is better for everyone including those that have and those that do not. Through a career that spans the private, public and charitable sectors in both strategy and operations she has dedicated her work to changing the policy, practice and perceptions preventing us from having a fair society for all, with lives well lived.

Tim Mallon is an Accountant and Tax Adviser and former Chair of the North East England branch of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

Now self-employed, Tim has worked in senior roles in a number of accounting firms across the North East. He is also a Trustee of St Benedict’s Hospice.