After graduating Jon started out as a full-time volunteer at a homeless hostel in Taunton, which provided the direction for his future career. After that he spent the next 12 years working in supported housing, mainly for the YMCA. His first appointment as CEO was at a charity that provided therapy to children with developmental difficulties, and after that he joined Citizens Advice in 2016, first as CEO at Taunton before moving to the same role in Bristol in 2023. Outside of work Jon plays squash, but is mainly kept fit by a young family!

Beth is a policy professional with experience advising leaders in the public and private sectors. As a telecoms regulatory specialist, she has contributed to policies advancing the UK roll-out and take-up of full fibre broadband. Alongside her policy work, she practises as a BACP-registered integrative counsellor supporting clients with mental health challenges. Beth is the Research and Campaigns lead on the Board.

I’m a copywriter and former journalist who runs content agency 42group. I’ve lived in Bristol for 25 years, but grew up in the Forest of Dean. I work with leading businesses, brands and charities to help them improve how they communicate. I’m proud to be a board member of Citizens Advice and hope to use my professional skills and personal insights to help those who need its essential services access them.

Matt has recently moved to Bristol having spent much of his life and career in Birmingham.
Matt is a corporate audit partner and qualified chartered accountant. Matt has extensive experience in senior people roles but also in advising a broad range of organisations on governance, strategy and finance.
In addition to this, Matt has also volunteered in finance roles for not for profit sports organisations for a number of years.
Matt hopes to bring his extensive corporate and finance experience to support the fantastic and critical work that Citizens Advice performs.

Nadine is a Solicitor who specialises in Employment Law and HR. She has worked at international law firms and also in-house at large PLCs. During her career she has supported large companies, SMEs and individuals in the private, public and voluntary sectors. Nadine is the HR/People lead on the Board of Trustees and also uses her skills and experience more widely to support the Board of Citizens Advice Bristol.  

Penny has 20 years of experience working with socially excluded groups including those who are homeless, experience substance misuse or mental ill health both across the South West and in national organisations, including Shelter and the Big Issue. Penny started her career in voluntary work at a local CAB and is really happy to have come full circle to support the amazing work of Citizens Advice Bristol staff and volunteers.

Penny hopes to bring her experience in strategic planning and knowledge of charity governance to underpin the impact of our work within local communities. Her areas of interest on the Board are:

• Service quality & delivery
• Safeguarding

Originally from Hampshire, Samantha has lived in Bristol since coming to study Geography as a mature student in 1998. Since graduating she has worked at Bristol City Council as a project and programme professional – delivering programmes of system-wide change for children’s, adults and education services. It was her work on a programme looking to respond to the raft of welfare reforms being introduced by the government in 2013 where she experienced the valuable work the advice sector does. It was a natural progression to apply for the role of trustee at Citizens Advice Bristol when the opportunity arose and she joined the board in July 2022.

Samantha’s board interests are:

• Board governance and decision making
• Strategic planning and financial sustainability
• Safeguarding

Originally from Canada, Robin and her family lived in the UK since 2005 and made Bristol their home in 2012.  Robin worked in the higher education sector – both in Canada and in the UK – for over 20 years before retiring from the University of Bristol in 2018. As Chief Operating Officer, Robin led the University’s professional services, other than the finance function, embedding a culture of partnership working between academic and non-academic staff. She championed professional development, strategic planning and accountability as well as a progressive and inclusive approach to people management and leadership.

Robin  has broad experience of governance in both the for-profit and charitable sectors. She currently serves on the Boards of London Marathon Events and Bristol’s Hannah More Primary School, having recently stepped down from the Board of Young Bristol. She is a regular volunteer at her local Oxfam bookshop as well as an enthusiastic long distance walker and runner. 

As a proud Bristolian and a Christian, I use my passion for the city to help those
most in need. Using my business degree I successfully ran my own company in the
food-manufacturing industry for ten years and now I want to give back by supporting
charities helping the most vulnerable.
During a two-year sabbatical, I volunteered with charities aiding refugees and
homeless people, using my skills and experience to become chair of trustees at the
Bristol Soup Run Trust. Currently as a trustee at CAB I am looking to support the
board to grow the organization’s capacity and raise awareness that it is a charity and
not a public service.
I love everything to do with food from exploring the latest eatery to cooking and am
fascinated with how food can be used to bring people together to facilitate
conversation. I am also a fan of jazz music and enjoy attending live gigs across the
city.