Trustees
Key to our success is not just the nature of the work we do but the way we operate. We are grateful for the support of our trustees.
Emily Haisley PhD
Chair of Trustees and Director
Emily took on the role of Chair at Room to Heal in July 2020, having been a trustee of the charity for a number of years. Emily has taken on this role having shadowed our long-term Chair, Penny Farrar, over the last year – Penny has now stepped down after over 10 years in this role.
Emily is a specialist in behavioural economics which examines the psychology of financial decision making. She is a Director at BlackRock where she applies psychology to help manage investment risk.
Rim Rahimtulla
Treasurer and Director
Rim joined the board as treasurer in July 2020, following a period of transition with our previous longterm treasurer who has moved abroad. Rim is a fully qualified accountant (ACCA) and Business Analyst working within Royal Free Hospital, NHS. Rim has over 10 years finance experience.
Emeka Forbes-Hastings
Trustee and Director
Emeka is a highly skilled political and communications consultant and award-winning anti-racism activist. He joined Room to Heal’s board in September 2020 and currently works for consulting agency WA Communications.
He previously worked for Barnardo’s providing in-house policy and public affairs support and for a leading global public affairs agency. He holds a degree in Politics and a master’s in Social Anthropology and International Development from Birkbeck, University of London.
Susannah Fairweather
Trustee and Director
Susannah is a Consultant Psychiatrist and has worked at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust for the past five years. She is also a trained clinical and educational supervisor and has published research on the mental health of young asylum seekers and refugees. Susannah joined the board of trustees in 2018.
Rosanna Thomasoo
Trustee and Director
Ros is Knowledge and Evaluation Lead at a national charity, Pause. Ros is a monitoring and evaluation expert and has worked in this field, with a focus on NGOs, for over 7 years. Ros became a trustee in July 2020.
Michelle Knorr
Trustee and Director
Michelle became a Trustee in November 2009 and is a practicing barrister at Doughty Street Chambers. Michelle’s main legal practice areas are immigration, asylum and human rights law. Michelle brings a deep knowledge of asylum and refugee experiences together with knowledge of best practice in charity governance and experience of working with international development NGOs to her work as a Trustee.