Castlefield Investment Partners (CIP) established an external advisory committee in 2018 to provide impartial oversight into our investment decision-making.
The committee meets twice a year and a summary of each meeting is published on our website.
Alongside providing an independent perspective, the advisory committee provides an additional level of expertise and challenge with investment and research decisions.
External Advisory Committee Member Biographies
Lisa Stonestreet (Chairperson), Head of Communications and Charity Impact, EIRIS Foundation
Lisa is currently the Head of Communications and Charity Impact at the EIRIS Foundation. Lisa was previously a Programme Director at the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), supporting the growth of UK market demand for responsible investment and other financial services that advance sustainability through activities such as Good Money Week, the Ethical Investment Association and support for Pension Funds and Charity Investors. Lisa initially developed an interest in sustainable finance while studying Finance and Environmental Economics in South Africa. Lisa is a proud Trustee of The Orchard Project, a charity dedicated to the creation, restoration and celebration of community orchards.
Dr Ilma Nur Chowdhury, Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS)
Dr Ilma Nur Chowdhury is a Chartered Marketer and has worked as the Associate Head for Social Responsibility and Engagement in the Management Sciences and Marketing Division at AMBS.
Ilma began her career in marketing as an assistant brand manager at Unilever Bangladesh where she was responsible for the brands Sure, Cif, and Omo. She moved to the UK to do a research-based MSc in Marketing and went on to complete her PhD in services management on a four-year AMBS scholarship.
Ilma conducts research on bottom of the pyramid markets, customer vulnerability, social innovation and sustainability in supply chains. She has recently received two EPSRC funding awards to explore inclusive digital service provision for UK refugees in partnership with the charity Caritas.
Gilbert Stephenson, Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches
Gilbert serves as a Trustee of the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches (EFCC). The EFCC supports around 120 member churches in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland by providing pastoral, administrative and financial support to them as they seek to serve their local communities. The EFCC also ensures member churches have appropriate legal structures to enable them to meet Charity Commission and other legal requirements.
He is also Trustee of The Evangelical Library, set up in the 1930s as a lending library for Church Ministers, theological students and other lay persons, where he Is the Honorary Treasurer, and he is also a trustee of the British School Trust Fund a charity set up to support people who live, work or worship in parts of Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire.
Previously he had over three decades experience in accounting and auditing with professional accounting firms. His roles involved leading and managing audit teams in the audit of a wide variety of organisations ranging from owner managed business, academies and university colleges, regulated organisations such as charities, solicitors, and estate agents to subsidiaries of multinational organisations.
Mike Hart, United Reformed Church North Western Synod
Having for six years been the Treasurer of the United Reformed Church’s North Western Synod, Mike is now their Transformation Director working on projects developing connections between church and community, and remains as a member of the Synod’s Investment Committee, responsible for the oversight of investment of the resources of both the Synod and its individual member churches, many of whom are clients of Castlefield.
Mike is a qualified accountant and worked for many years at senior levels in local authorities particularly in the areas of Education and Children’s Services. He has also served as a Trustee of a number of Charities and similar organisations working in the areas of faith and social justice.
Juliana Burden, Head of Ethical Research, Ethical Screening
Juliana is currently the Head of Ethical Research at Ethical Screening, a company which provides ethical, environmental, social & governance (ESG) and positive impact research to enable clients to make responsible investments. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science, MSc. in International Development, and in recent years returned to study Business, Human Rights Law & Corporate Social Responsibility.
Juliana also serves as a Trustee of Ethical Giving, a small charity which funds organisations or projects with an environmental or social remit that operate in Cheltenham and the wider Gloucestershire area, as well as Kisumu, Cheltenham’s twin town in Kenya.