Julia Lea (Chair)
Julia is currently your Foundation Chair, picking up the reins in 2016. Julia started her life in JCI in 1996 in Southampton stepping up to president in 2000. Julia was inspired by the Christmas tree appeal in Southampton running the project for a number of years collecting over 1,000 presents each year. Julia went on to be National President of JCI UK in 2005 and take on a number of international roles for JCI subsequently. Julia chose to join the Foundation as her way of giving back to JCI UK and everything it has given her over the years.
As a qualified chartered accountant, Julia has used her financial expertise in Mergers & Acquisitions for over 15 years. She currently works in house for the Alliance Automotive Group (owned by a US listed business) after a number of years in practice for Deloitte and KPMG”.
Sarah Beckwith
Sarah has been a member of JCI since 2006. She was President of JCI London in 2011 and JCI UK National President in 2016. Sarah has been a JCI Senator since 2012 and became a Foundation Trustee in 2020.
Heavily influenced by the skills she learnt through JCI, Sarah has moved from her professional background in commercial property to a portfolio career. She is the resident governance expert on several boards and has her own business as a confident communication facilitator.
Drew Charman
A member of JCI Southampton since early 2007, Drew served 7 years on the Local Board including Local President in 2011 and 2012. He joined the JCI UK National Board team in 2013 and became National President in 2015. He was awarded a Senatorship in 2014. Drew continues to actively support his local chamber, and also JCI UK through his work as a Foundation Trustee and as a member of the British Senate Council.
Outside of JCI, Drew works as a Change Manager at the Head Office of Virgin Media – one of the UK’s biggest telecommunications companies. He leads a team looking after planned works on the company’s ultrafast fibre cable network. He has previously worked at IBM, Ericsson and Richard Lewis Communications (an international management training organisation specialising in languages, communication and cross-cultural skills).
Penny Gill (Clerk)