About
Us
The DIVA Charitable Trust is committed to elevating, celebrating and supporting LGBTQIA+ women and non-binary people everywhere. Our goal is to be a stage for talent, a mirror that reflects our community in all its diversity, and a megaphone, amplifying our movement in its work to create a fairer, more just world for all LGBTQIA+ people. Through this work, we believe we can contribute to shaping a world that is better for everyone.
WHO ARE WE?
Meet the Trustees of the DIVA Charitable Trust
The DIVA Charitable Trust is guided by a dedicated board of trustees - leaders, changemakers, and advocates united by a shared mission to champion LGBTQIA+ equality, empowerment, and visibility. Together, they ensure the Trust delivers meaningful impact across communities and generations.
Marie-Helene Tyack
(she/her)
Marie-Helene currently leads Inclusion & Belonging globally for Allianz Commercial and is the Chair of the Allianz Global Pride Board. She is a proud queer leader pushing for real inclusion and belonging. She’s championed global policies on transition support, menopause, and domestic abuse, and creates safe, brave spaces to challenge discrimination— helping build a more inclusive workplace and insurance industry for LGBTQ+ people and all marginalised voices.
In addition to being the Chair of the Diva Charitable Trust, she is also a member of the Senior Advisory Board of LINK (LGBTQ+ Insurance network) and a Trustee on the Board of Kaleidoscope Trust.
Abi Shapiro
(she/her)
Abi started her career in the creative sector, overseeing the Selfridges window displays before moving on to manage and grow an independent design agency.
She then moved into more operational roles and spent ten years working in senior positions in the private sector, before transitioning to the not-for-profit sector, working with charities in areas such as education, health and equality for young women.
Abi is incredibly excited to be part of the DIVA Board and is looking forward to helping the charity continue impacting the lives of LGBTQIA women and non binary people.
Kit Morey
(they/them)
Kit is Vice President and Commissioning Editor for Unscripted at Channel 5 and Paramount+. They’ve worked on series such as First Dates, One Born Every Minute, The Real Full Monty along with wonderful four-legged content such as Dogs Behaving Very Badly, Lost Dogs with Clare Balding and Puppy School for Guide Dogs. Along with Commissioning Kit is also the Executive Champion for PROUD ERG at Paramount.
Based in Brighton, Kit is a very proud trustee of the DIVA Charitable Trust helping support equality and inclusion for LGBTQIA+ communities across the UK.
Stella Smith
(she/her)
Stella Smith is an award-winning entrepreneur and advocate recognised for her innovative leadership in technology, finance, and social equity. Leaving school at sixteen, she rose rapidly through the banking world to become Director of Retail and Private Wealth at HBOS before thirty. Now CEO and Founder of pirkx, she is redefining employee wellbeing for the gig economy with a focus on inclusion, accessibility, and meaningful impact. A proud LGBT leader, Stella also serves on boards including Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights UK, Cascade Cash Management, and Charlotte Church’s Awen Project. Her work champions fairness, innovation, and empowerment across business, wellbeing, and the future of work.
Leanne MacMillan
(she/her)
Leanne leads the Equal Rights Coalition Secretariat, a global partnership of 44 member states and civil society organisations advancing LGBTQI+ rights. With over 30 years’ experience as an international human rights lawyer, she has shaped global policy, advocacy, and strategy, including several years at Stonewall (UK), where she built international programmes tackling hate crime, refugee protection, and LBT+ inclusion. Her career spans leadership roles with the IRCT (Denmark), Freedom from Torture (UK), and Amnesty International, where she served on the senior leadership team, headed the UN Office in New York, and led global refugee programmes. She has conducted research missions worldwide and previously practised as a refugee lawyer in Canada.
Saba Ali
(she/her)
Saba is an award-winning advocate specialising in intersectionality, cultural abuse, and the challenges faced by marginalised communities. As a queer South Asian with lived experience of trauma, she brings nuanced insight to her work with institutions like the Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police Service, focusing on Hate Crime, VAWG, and LGBT+ Black/Brown communities. Saba is a trustee for DIVA Charitable Trust, Safety and Met Liaison Manager at UK Black Pride, Interim Chair for the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition, LGBTQIA+ Network Lead for the Royal Society of Arts and Advisory Board member for the Centre for Prevention of VAWG. Her leadership spans sexual health, suicide prevention, and mentoring future changemakers for equity and justice
