Charu Fernando

Charu has 39 years of investment experience and has been managing institutional assets since 1987. Prior to founding Edgbaston in 2008, she spent over 21 years at Pyrford International Plc where she was appointed the Head of Asian Equities in 1993. Charu has practiced a value-based investment philosophy in the Asian region for over three decades. She was born in India but grew up in Calgary, Canada. Charu received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary in 1984 and a Master of Arts from the University of Warwick in 1985. She attained the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1990. Charu resides in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham, UK.

Catherine Rainey

Catherine Rainey was a Founding Partner of Sanderson Asset Management, an active, value manager of international equities.  Catherine has worked within equities for almost 30 years, having started her career as a sell-side analyst in Hong Kong at G.K. Goh Securities. Prior to this, she taught English in Taiwan to a wide range of students - from kindergarteners to business executives.

Her primary non-profit involvement has been both in health, having served on the Investment Committee of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, and in the advancement of education and literacy.  She has established libraries in an orphanage in Mongolia and been an active supporter of literacy programs throughout Asia. She believes strongly in the transformational power of education; U-GO has the potential to unlock educational opportunities for generations of young women, increasing access to rewarding career paths and therefore more social and economic mobility.  Catherine is looking forward to using her professional and non-profit experience to promote U-GO’s vision.

Thomas Crampton

With a lifelong commitment to education and social impact, Thomas Crampton has co-founded and served on the boards of numerous non-profits, many focused on expanding access to education for underserved and underprivileged communities.

Professionally, Thomas helps venture-backed startups and growth-stage companies achieve strategic growth by attracting follow-on capital, preparing for public listing, and navigating complex market challenges.

A former globe-trotting foreign correspondent with The New York Times, Thomas also held global leadership roles at Ogilvy & Mather and Edelman, where he developed deep expertise in storytelling, marketing, and corporate strategy. More recently, he led Corporate Affairs for several innovative startups, including a cutting-edge biotech company that achieved unicorn status in listing on Nasdaq. 

His experience in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors positions him to champion U-GO’s vision of unlocking educational opportunities for young women around the world.

Thuy-Tien Crampton

Thuy-Tien Crampton brings a unique blend of creative entrepreneurship and strategic expertise to the board of U-GO. 

She founded and served as Creative Director of La Petite Caravane, a French children’s clothing brand celebrated for its vintage-inspired, limited-edition designs crafted from hand-picked fabrics that reflect her passion for creativity and craftsmanship.

Before founding La Petite Caravane, Thuy-Tien built a successful global career in advertising, serving as Regional Strategic Planning Director for BBDO China and holding strategic planning roles at BETC EURO RSCG and CLM BBDO in Paris. 

Her expertise in storytelling, brand strategy and engagement, as well as her passion for education, makes her a valuable advocate for U-GO’s mission to empower ambitious young women in low-income countries to achieve their higher education goals.

Sam Guinness

Sam and Natasha Guinness organized their first London event at a very cool Mayfair art gallery just a few months after joining our UK Board. Talk about GSD!! Sam is a former Hong Kong hedge fund executive who is now with Goldman Sachs in London. Natassha (GTash) is a jewelry designer and is passionate about charity work, especially for children, and has experience working with children's charities. They have two young boys and like many of us want them to grow up with an appreciation for the value of education.

Raj Srinivasan

Raj was born and raised in Madras (now Chennai), India and trained as a chartered accountant. He has spent his career around the globe. First, with Ernst & Young in Bahrain, then Hemisphere Management in Bermuda and Boston, Citibank in Bermuda and Dublin and for the last 14 years with Morgan Stanley in London and Hong Kong. He is currently on the Board of Morgan Stanley Fund Services UK Limited and the Head of Fund Services. As many of U-GO Boards are “spouse friendly”, he joined at the invitation of his wife, Alicia Eastman, a founding member of the UK Board. 

Natasha Guinness

Natasha Guinness lives in Chiswick, London and is a jewellery designer. She is married to Samuel Guinness and they have two boys; Rory aged 4 and Ivo aged 3. Their kids love sport, adventure and learning like their parents. 

Tasha has always loved travel and experiencing different cultures from an early age since her mother is Sri Lankan they used to travel far afield regularly as a family. This sparked her to study Spanish and Business at Newcastle University where she spent a year living abroad in South America, mainly Argentina, learning Spanish at the University of Buenos Aires and working in Fundacion Agreste charity helping underprivileged children to promote education in sustainable development in the environment, economy and social spaces. 

After university she went on to train in Johannesburg, South Africa as a steel trader and subsequently got posted to Hong Kong where she lived for nearly 11 years, where she met Sam and they had Rory. 

She is very proud to have been involved with the first 10x10 charity event in Hong Kong on the sponsorship committee where more than HKD 200,000 was raised for the three participating local charities; Food Angel, Mother’s Choice and ChickenSoup Foundation. Also during her time in Hong Kong Tasha trained at Mother’s Choice charity which helps pregnant women, babies and children without family support. 

Hong Kong is where she started her first jewellery design company before moving back to the UK and where she set up another business. Tasha has always been very passionate about charity work, especially to do with children, and could not be more aligned with U-GO as her kids have just started education. She is very much looking forward to working with U-GO to help women in developing countries around the world get access to university and to change their lives and countries for the better.

Alicia Eastman

With three decades of experience spanning international investment, private equity, project finance, and corporate strategy, Alicia Eastman stands at the forefront of global sustainability and energy transition efforts.

Alicia co-founded InterContinental Energy (ICE) in 2014 and was President until 2024. At ICE, she was instrumental in developing some of the world's largest green hydrogen and ammonia projects across Australia and particularly in the GCC, driving decarbonization in hard-to-abate sectors like shipping, heavy industry, chemicals, and power. Alicia is still an active Board Director of ICE and is also a Non-Executive Board Member (NED) for multiple CleanTech investment companies including patented nanotechnology supported highly efficient and zero emissions semiconductors and microchips, critical mining and materials, and other global impact firms through APC Investors (APC), a group she founded to address serious financial needs in the energy efficiency and alternative fuels supply chain sectors. APC strives to provide Agile, Purposeful, Catalytic advice and investment to accelerate the energy transformation.

Alicia also sits on the Global Hydrogen Advisory Board of Sustainable Energy Council (SEC), the McKinsey & Company Sustainability Advisory Council, the Monaco Hydrogen Alliance Board of Trustees, and the Women in Renewables Association (WiRA) Board of Councilors. Alicia is the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Hydrogen Expert driving the zero emissions ammonia work stream, and she is the Co-Host of cult favorite podcast ‘Everything About Hydrogen’, shining a light on the opportunities and obstacles to decarbonization utilizing hydrogen and clean derivatives. She is also a Trustee of a number of charitable endeavors including U-GO, focused on sending underprivileged women in developing countries to college, Prospero World which invests in children and communities globally in need of nutrition, education, career pathways, and disaster relief and she is the Founding Coalition Member of Operation Anti-FreeZZ, which supports Ukraine through difficult winters with green energy and microgrid solutions. 

A frequent speaker and contributor to prestigious platforms such as the Financial Times, Bloomberg, UNIDO, COP26-29, the World Economic Forum, the Economist, McKinsey, International Energy Association (IEA), ASDW, ADIPEC, FII and the International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA), Alicia is a recognized authority on green hydrogen, sustainability, green finance, and emissions elimination. Her work bridges innovative energy solutions with advocacy and policy, and is particularly focused on critical European and Middle Eastern partnerships.

Whether as a Founder, Board Director, Impact Investor or Advisor, Alicia leverages her Ivy League educational background from the Wharton School of Economics and the Fletcher School of International Law & Diplomacy as well as deep operational expertise across multiple industrial verticals, including renewable energy, biotech/specialty chemicals, mining, telecoms, and technology. Her commitment to equity, sustainability, and innovative financing structures positions her as a driving force in the global energy transition.