Skip to content

Board of Directors

Roles and responsibilities of directors

The directors are responsible for the strategic direction of Co-operative & Community Finance and for managing the staff. The directors receive no remuneration for their involvement although they can be reimbursed for essential expenses.

The directors have various legal responsibilities including overseeing the preparation of the annual report and the financial statements. They are responsible for keeping proper accounting records and for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the company or society and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

Nominate or elect a director

We want more people to be involved in the process of appointing our directors. We want more people to nominate candidates, to stand for election and to vote. We actually have two boards of directors – this is explained in our structure & governance – but at present the same people sit on both boards, although this is not a requirement.

Each year one third of the directors of each board retire from office to make way for an election. We welcome our members to get more involved with the democratic management of Co-operative & Community Finance.

So if you would like to volunteer as a potential director or nominate someone, please email info@coopfinance.coop or phone 0117 916 6750

Our current board of directors

Jon Nott
Jon Nott

(re-elected 29/06/2020)
Jon was General Secretary of Woodcraft Folk, the children and young people’s co-operative, for eight years. Before this he was Chief Executive of the Green Party in the run up to the election of their first MP in 2010. With a background in worker co-ops and membership-led campaigning organisations, Jon is an expert in democratic governance and engagement.

Nankunda Katangaza
Nankunda Katangaza

(elected 23/06/2021)
Nankunda is co-founder and director of Hook Tangaza, a small women-owned research, advisory and consulting company based in the City of London. There, she works with companies, government departments, institutions and multilateral entities operating in legal and professional services sectors globally.

Jaye Martin | Co-operative development specialist
Jaye Martin | Co-operative development specialist

(elected 23/06/21)

Previously a a specialist adviser in the Co-operative Development Scotland team within Scottish Enterprise, Jaye has worked with co-ops and employee owned businesses, and held an equity investment role. 

Maggie Rodriguez-Piza
Maggie Rodriguez-Piza

(elected 30/06/22)
Maggie is the Chief Executive of Funding London, a fund of funds providing finance to SMEs caught in the finance gap.  Maggie’s focus is the planning, creation and launch of new funds. Maggie has also been involved in funds targeting community-based organisations in East London and impactful social enterprises targeting children and young people. In addition, she has also been responsible for establishing successful investment readiness programmes targeting underrepresented entrepreneurs in London.

Owen Dowsett
Owen Dowsett

(elected 30/06/22)
Owen brings a keen interest in supporting community businesses to focus on what they do best. He currently works at British Council, supporting partners to build social enterprise ecosystems and investment climate reforms, and previously helped deliver the first phase of the Equality Impact Investing Project.  He brings experience in research and M&E, the design and delivery of learning programmes, and EDI strategies for social investors.

Dominica Cole
Dominica Cole

(elected 23/06/21)
Dominica works as a corporate solicitor for a global law firm and has a broad range of experience in providing corporate and banking legal advice across a variety of sectors. Dominica is passionate about helping people create and run projects which empower and support their local communities as well as ensuring representation for demographics which are typically underrepresented promoting inclusivity and sustainable social change.

Paul Mather
Paul Mather

(elected 15/06/2023)

After spending over 20 years in Commercial Banking, Paul purchased and ran an award winning village store and post office with his wife for 14 years. 

Currently a Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee at Midcounties Co-op and also sits on the Board of Co-op Futures.

Representatives from nominated bodies

Daniel Holden | Unicorn Grocery
Daniel Holden | Unicorn Grocery

Worker Coop Council Representative
Daniel has been a member of the Manchester worker co-op Unicorn Grocery for over 10 years and was co-chair from 2015 to 2018. He has a good understanding of the financial needs of small co-operative businesses. He takes a keen interest in the co-operative movement and has been actively involved in the establishment of the worker co-op solidarity fund and often attends co-operative networking events.

Ruth Buchanan
Ruth Buchanan

Co-operatives UK Representative
(elected 15/06/2023)

Ruth joined Co-operatives UK as Head of Finance early in 2023, and is a Chartered Accountant. She qualified in 2009, before moving on to work in-house at a number of financial services firms in the North West. Ruth volunteers as treasurer of a Liverpool based charity.