The charity that underpins Sacks Morasha, the Finchley Jewish Primary School Trust, is served by trustees who ensure that the charitable trust is run properly. The chair of the trustees is Jeremy Newman, and he is supported by Rob Gershon, Ian Kamiel, Darren Lewis, Gillian Marantz, Adam Phillips, Penny Simmons and Michael Weinstein.
Trustee Profiles
Jeremy Newman – Chair of Trustees
Jeremy is one of the founders of the school and has been Chair of Trustees since it was established. He has extensive involvement in education, having been a founder and Deputy Chair of the Jewish Community Academy Trust (JCAT); a Governor of North Herts College; a member of the Council of the Open University; a founding member and Finance Governor of The Leigh City Technology College (now The Leigh Academy); served on the finance committee of North West London Jewish Day School; and was Treasurer for over a decade of the UK branch of ORT, the world’s largest Jewish education and vocational skills training charity. He is currently an Honorary Visiting Professor at Cass Business School. He is also Chair of Trustees of The Workforce Development Trust; a Trustee and Hon Treasurer of World Jewish Relief; a Trustee and Chair of the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee of The Frontline Organisation; and a trustee of a number of charitable trusts. Jeremy is married to Judi and they have two adult children and three grandchildren.
Rob Gershon – Treasurer to the Trust
Rob has been involved in the community and with informal Jewish education from a young age, having spent many years as a participant and youth leader with Bnei Akiva, both before and after his gap year in yeshiva in Israel. He is also a graduate of the AJE’s teacher training programme and the UJIA’s Adam Science Programme for leadership in the Jewish community. Rob works as a CFO, non-executive director and advisor for a number of private equity and family office backed companies. He is a qualified chartered accountant, holds an MBA from Cass Business School (City University) and is a member of CFA UK. Rob is married to Simone and they have three sons.
Ian Kamiel
Ian was the Founding Chair of Governors, a position from which he stepped down in 2012. He grew up in the Finchley community and was warden of ‘The Minyan’ service for 3 years. He was active in Bnei Akiva and spent his gap year on their Hachshara programme. Ian has an Economics degree from Manchester University and has spent most of his career working in Jewish education. He is currently Executive Development Director of the British Friends of Boys’ Town Jerusalem. He is married to Angela and they have three sons, Jay, Charlie and Abe.
Darren Lewis
Darren is a Director of Talent and Recruitment in the hospitality industry with a global track record including household names and celebrities. He is a mentor for Surrey University and is regularly invited to speak at industry events. He is Chair of Kinloss United Synagogue and sits on the United Synagogue Rabbinic Careers steering group. Prior to this, Darren chaired ‘The Minyan’ at Kinloss, as well as leading on communal programmes in the States. Darren grew up in Brighton and spent 12 years living in the USA until he settled in London. Darren is married to Fleurise and they have a son and a daughter.
Gillian Marantz
Gillian was actively involved in Bnei Akiva both before and after her gap year in Midreshet Ha’Rova, having grown up in Manchester, and has also taught at cheder in Manchester and London. Gillian is a doctor who qualified from the Royal Free and University College Medical School in 2002. She holds a degree in Genetics and is currently working as an Oncology registrar at UCLH. Gillian is married to Jason and has four children, Ellie, Ora, Mark and Keren.
Adam Phillips
Adam and his wife, Anna, were founding governors of the school. They have three children who all attended Sacks Morasha. Adam is a qualified chartered accountant and is a director of Uptown Events. Adam is involved with organising the events for many Jewish charities as well as a wide range of corporate and private events.
Penny Simmons
Penny has been actively involved in the Jewish community and Jewish education since her youth. As a young adult she was a madricha for FZY, including taking a group of teenagers on Israel tour. More recently, she was a governor at a neighbouring Jewish primary school. Penny is a qualified tax lawyer and works as a legal director at an international law firm. Throughout her professional life, Penny has been involved in several mentoring initiatives. She is currently a mentor for her firm’s internal mentoring programme and a volunteer mentor on the Aspiring Solicitors Programme – an organisation aimed at increasing diversity across the legal profession. Beyond life as a lawyer, Penny is a media volunteer for Jo’s Trust – the UK’s only dedicated cervical cancer charity and regularly supports campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of cervical screening and the HPV vaccine. Penny is also a mum to three boys: Zac, Ayden and Nate.
Michael Weinstein
Michael was joint Managing Director of Ernest Jones Jewellers plc until the business was sold and has now retired from running his family’s property investment group. He was Treasurer of University Chaplaincy for many years and is one of its Vice-Presidents. He was also a Trustee and Governor of the North West London Jewish Day School and, over many years, was actively involved in several of its committees, particularly Limmudei Kodesh, Staffing and Finance. Michael is married to Linda and they have two married children.
