Krishna Gopala, Chairman: Krishna is the founder of Mirch Animation LLC, and the former Chairman of Cafédirect plc. Recently, Krishna completed service on the board of American Pharmaceutical Partners(NASDAQ:APPX.) where he was instrumental in bringing closure to the debt financing with Deutsche Bank and in networking with interested buyers in Europe including Glaxo Smith Kline, Novartis, and AstraZeneca.

Krishna is an alumni of the Harvard Business School, (Advanced Management Program AMP 157, ‘99), James Cook University of North Queensland (Masters in Business Administration ’96, University Topper), and holds a Bachelors degree in Physics with honours in Electronics from India.

Ernie Finch, Board Member: Ernie has had senior commercial management and board experience holding key roles in project management, change programmes, and customer service. He has successfully led reviews in the public sector advising on and managing business development and improvement. This includes working with the family justice system to address unnecessary delay in Public Law Cases and contributing to Programme Boards and Steering Groups. Ernie has a portfolio of commercial and public interest roles and also sits on the Board of CAFCASS.

Ulla Stauch, Board Member: Ulla is a co-founder of MEND and worked full time in its start-up phase to 2008. Previously she worked in the private sector for more than ten years, primarily in the consulting field where she held a number of senior positions in business development and sales management. She was one of the top sales executives at the Corporate Executive Board in the USA and Europe for several years. Ulla holds a B.Com from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and an MBA from Stern School of Business, New York University.

Catherine Stewart, Board Member: Catherine is a writer and creative facilitator for film and TV and has also served as a marketing/educational consultant for several NGOs and government. Her clients include EGMONT, Egmont Imagination, France Animation, and the South African and Tibetan Governments.

Harry MacMillan, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member: Harry is the CEO and co-founder of MEND Central Limited. Since 2003 Harry has helped develop MEND’s model and create the organisation, moving from initial research to a social enterprise with multiple programmes being delivered at 320+ sites per term in five countries. Internally, Harry leads on strategy, operations, finance and internationalisation. Externally, he focuses on building mutually beneficial partnerships with stakeholders in the UK and internationally.

Prior to MEND Harry was the Managing Partner of Kick-Start Ventures International where he helped a range of small and medium-sized European organisations plan for and manage growth and raise funds, as well as providing strategic consulting services to blue-chip companies. Before that he worked with Mercer Management Consulting. Harry holds an MA and MSc. from Oxford University.

Paul Sacher, Chief Research & Development Officer and Board Member: Paul is the Chief R&D officer and co-founder of MEND. Paul is also a Senior Research Fellow and Head of MEND Research at the MRC Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health and an Honorary Specialist Paediatric Dietician at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust.

Paul has previously worked in the NHS for more than eleven years and is a recognised author and expert in child health and obesity. Paul has been an invited speaker at over 30 national and international conferences and has published over 20 peer-reviewed publications and three books.

He is a previous holder of a Department of Health, Researcher Development Award and is a current trustee of the National Obesity Forum.  Paul has a Bachelor of Science in Medicine and a two-year honours degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Dr Paul Chadwick, Clinical Director: Paul is a leading clinical and health psychologist and specialist in the field of child obesity at University College London.  Paul provides regular training to health care professionals in the field of obesity and is also involved in the Traffic Light Programme.

Tracey Bleakley, Operations & Delivery Director: Tracey has 13 years experience in operations and management consulting. Her consultancy career spanned PWC and Accenture, as well as an in-house strategy position at ITV. Tracey designed and managed a number of large projects covering clients such as BP, Sun Life, Ann Summers, O2, and BPP in addition to setting up back-office functions for a number of demergers and internet start-ups. Her working experience spans the UK, Europe, US, and Australia.

Tracey is a policy advisor to The Bow Group (Centre-Right think-tank) on health education and holds a BEng from Brunel University and an MBA from the University of Durham.

Navin Pareek, Chief Information Officer: Navin has nine years' experience in the development and management of extensive, complex projects. He has varied experience in IT, Operations and Strategy in global companies including BT, MCI & CNBC, and manages the operations for MEND. Navin has an undergraduate degree in Engineering and an MBA from London Business School.

Arjun Krishnan, Strategic Partnerships Director: Arjun has been actively involved in the healthcare sector for the last eight years as an equity investor in public and private healthcare companies. Most recently, Arjun was a senior analyst at HealthCor UK, a hedge fund focused on investments within the healthcare sector globally. Prior to joining HealthCor, he was a senior healthcare analyst at Magnetar Capital, a diversified, multi strategic hedge fund that looked at alternative investment opportunities. He began his career at J.P. Morgan Securities within the equity research group of the investment bank and was a member of the number 1 ranked Institutional Investor All-America Research Team from 2002-2005.

Rachael McGrath, UK Partnership Development Director: Rachael has a management career spanning 12 years within the healthcare sector. Rachael has held General Manager positions and other senior roles in a specialist international health systems consultancy. She joined MEND from Humana Europe, a provider of commissioning support services to Primary Care Trusts. Here, she was a Business Development Manager with a particular focus on their health and wellbeing solutions. Rachael is a management and languages graduate and has an MBA from Bradford University School of Management.

Lisa Taylor, Strategic Partnerships Director: Prior to joining MEND in March 2009, Lisa managed the Health and Fitness brand “kinetika” for DC Leisure representing over 30% of the company’s £90 million turnover generated from 72 leisure centres across the UK.

Lisa created MENDs first Adult programme, a six week behaviour change programme approved by the Department of Health, designed to support those wishing to lead a healthier lifestyle. She has also been instrumental in cementing the key partnership between MEND and the Fitness Industry Association (FIA).

Phil Veasey, Strategic Partnerships Director: Phil joined MEND in September 2009 following a successful 21 year career in national roles in Sports Development where he earned a reputation for fast efficient delivery of national programmes to local communities. At Sport England, Phil led the development and implementation of the £36 million three year Sport Unlimited programme within the Government’s PE and Sport Strategy for Young People – attracting 219,000 ‘semi sporty’ young people and retaining 177,000 of them in 10 week courses by the end of year one in March 2009.

Dr. Gordon MacMillan, International Partnership Development: Prior to joining MEND, Gordon spent a decade designing community-based programmes in the health, education, and housing sectors. His clients included Cafédirect, the World Bank Group, the G7, the EC, the UK Government, and the Scottish Executive. Gordon was awarded a PhD from the University of Edinburgh for ethnographic studies on a gold rush in the Brazilian Amazon and has had books published in the UK and USA. Gordon also holds a postgraduate qualification in corporate finance and has worked with global venture capitalists to identify investment opportunities in high-growth companies. 

Gordon joined MEND in 2005.  As part of the Partnership development team he has forged strategic partnerships with the leisure sector, pharmaceutical sector, food and drinks industry, housing associations, football clubs, and the construction sector.

Chris Calitz, North America Partnership Development Director: Chris has eleven years experience in advising international organisations on US market entry strategies, product development, sales, and talent management. Chris specialised in helping European film studios and television networks work effectively on developing content, sales, and financing strategies for international co-productions in Hollywood and other key media markets.

Chris joined MEND in May 2008 to develop its North American market entry strategy with a focus on partnership development and sales. Successfully overseeing the adaptation and pilot testing of MEND's first programme in the US, Chris has currently raised almost $1 million in project funding for program implementation. Chris has a BA (Hons) (cum laude) from the University of Cape Town.

Madeline Freeman - Director, Australia: Madeline joined MEND Central in 2005 and worked in London as the team’s nutritionist before returning to her native Australia in September 2007 to establish a local office. Madeline holds a Diploma of Nutrition from the Australian College of Natural Medicine and has 3 years’ clinical experience. Prior to that, Madeline worked in management for an international advertising sales company in Australia, South Africa and the Netherlands.