Our Trustees
The Union is a registered charity with the Charity Commission of England & Wales (No. 1142614), and has adopted an incorporated company structure that is limited by guarantee under the Companies Act 2006.
The Trustees of the Union, are also company directors as well as charity trustees. The Trustees formally meet around five times each financial year. The Trustees are responsible for the good governance, financial stability and strategy of the Union. They delegate a number of powers and executive actions to their Chief Executive and to the Executive Committee. The members of the Union are represented generally by the Student Parliament.
There are three classes of trustees: the 'executive' Student Leader Trustees (who are current students elected by the students in a secret ballot, who also take on a representative officership) and the 'non-executive' AGM and Parliament Trustees (the AGM trustees are recruited and elected by the AGM; the Parliament trustees are elected or appointed in a manner determined from time to time by the Parliament).
Our Board of Trustees is composed of:
- 8 Elected Officer/Leader Trustees
- 5 Lay Trustees
- 2 Student Trustees
Our Lay Trustees
Zeno Frediani
Zeno has been a lay trustee with BBKSU since 2018. Zeno is a solicitor specialising in UK and EU law in relation to merger control, cartels and restrictive practices and abuse of dominance. He also advises clients on the UK’s investment screening powers for national security matters. Zeno has extensive experience handling high stakes litigation in various jurisdictions, including England & Wales and The Netherlands. He maintains an active pro bono practice and regularly advises charities and NGOs on a wide range of legal and strategic matters.
Manpreet Dhesi
Manpreet is a strategic communications consultant and founder of Studio Dhes. Manpreet cares deeply about human connection in society and about the future of our world. Manpreet is driven by the ability to effect real change with strategic communications and bring a human-led approach to the leadership of the teams and projects I get to work with. During my psychology degree, I specialised in neuropsychology, a branch of psychology that is concerned with how a person’s cognition and behaviour are related to the brain. This plays a major role in Manpreet’s approach today. Having spent a few years working in communications after their degree, Manpreet decided to complete a master’s degree in marketing communications at Birkbeck. Manpreet wanted to learn more about the entire marketing communications spectrum and connect that to how people perceive communications– ultimately, how the two sides work together. Manpreet has worked as Head of International Communications at the Department of Health and Social Care and Director of Communications and Marketing at The Bartlett, University College London. I joined Birkbeck’s Students’ Union as a Trustee in 2021 and I am also an Advisor for the South Asian Heritage Month charity.
Minutes
Minutes for our Board of Trustees will be added from September 2023 onwards.