Meet our executive team, who lead our work at The King’s Foundation.
Emily Cherrington LVO
Acting Chief Executive OfficerEmily has worked for The King’s Foundation since 2017. Prior to joining the charity Emily worked as Assistant Private Secretary to His Majesty The King when he was The Prince of Wales, based at Clarence House, where she was responsible for liaison with HM’s charitable patronages and his programme of engagements around the UK. Between 2006-2008 Emily worked as a Parliamentary Researcher for a Member of Parliament, based at Westminster. Emily is also a Trustee of HUMEN, a mental health charity in the UK.
Kieran Ferguson CFA
Chief Financial Officer February 2019 – presentPrior to his role as Chief Financial Officer at The King’s Foundation, Kieran worked at Virgin Money and spent eight years in management roles across risk, the CEO’s office, finance and treasury. Latterly, he held the role of Head of Credit Portfolio Management and was responsible for determining credit portfolio strategy for the bank’s liquid asset portfolio. Kieran was also appointed to the Virgin Stakeholder Pension Independent Governance Committee (IGC) and served on the Committee for four years overseeing fund performance and value for money for members.
Kieran started his career at Accenture where he worked with banking clients on business transformation and technology projects. Kieran holds a first-class honours degree in law and business (LLB Hons) from the University of Edinburgh. He has been a CFA charterholder since 2018 and was appointed to the board of CFA UK in 2020.
Ben Bolgar MVO RIBA RIAS
Executive Director – Projects May 2002 – presentBen has led over 50 collaborative planning and design frameworks that cover city expansions, new towns, brownfield remediation, town centre regeneration, heritage, ecological and healthcare projects. He has also contributed to many Patronage projects including the Armed Forces Memoria, St. Martin in the Fields, the Royal College of Music, Tintagel Bridge and the National Gallery. Ben is an honorary fellow at the University College of Estate Management, a visiting fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford and a research fellow at Grenoble University. Outside of his role at The King’s Foundation, Ben is Design Director at the development company Stockbridge Land, promoting large mixed-use sites in Cambridge and London.
Jacqueline Farrell
Executive Director – Education April 2026 – presentJacqueline joined The King’s Foundation full-time in 2017, having previously established the Future Textiles initiative at Dumfries House in 2014 on a consultancy basis. In her previous role as Head of Curriculum: Art, Design and Fashion at Glasgow Clyde College, Jacqueline managed a large team of Creative Industries lecturers in the Further Education Sector, in a department with around 800 full-time students.
Since joining The King’s Foundation, where she has served as Education Director since 2018, Jacqueline has overseen multiple curriculum areas based at Dumfries House and delivered a range of new education projects. She brings extensive experience in the education sector to her current role, embedding the principles of learning in and from nature, preserving craft and vocational skills development and fostering innovation in education.
Jacqueline is a graduate of Glasgow School of Art. Prior to her career in education she worked in the textile industry before running her own label and authored three craft books.
Gordon Neil
Executive Director – Estates & Operations 2015 – presentGordon joined the King’s Foundation in 2015, having held senior management positions in contracts and estate management roles in both the public and private sector. Since then, with the organisation’s rapid growth, his role and remit has expanded and he now holds strategic responsibility for all aspects of The Foundation’s Estates, Operations and Commercial activities. Gordon is also currently serving as a Non-Executive Director on the Board at Ayrshire College.
Amanda Lightstone
Executive Director ‑ Development February 2026 – presentAmanda joined The King’s Foundation from the University of Cambridge where she led the philanthropic fundraising team for the School of Arts and Humanities, seeing considerable growth in both financial support and donor engagement. She brings over 25 years of experience from her time working across globally recognised organisations in the arts and heritage sector, television, professional sport and the US government, as well as having been a trustee for a UK charity.
Dr Simon Sadinsky
Executive Director – Research, Impact and Learning April 2026 – presentSimon oversees The King’s Foundation’s Research, Impact and Learning work, ensuring the organisation’s output is grounded in evidence and reflection. Simon works collaboratively to generate and disseminate knowledge that informs and influences wider practice. In addition to his role at The King’s Foundation, Simon serves on the Governing Board of the Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation at Kellogg College, University of Oxford, sits on the Advisory Board of the Harmony Institute, is a Professor of Practice at the University of Wales, a Research Fellow at the University of Grenoble, and a Special Advisor to the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance. Prior to joining The King’s Foundation, Simon worked within the education and community development sector in the UK, US and internationally. He holds a PhD in Urban Studies from the University of Glasgow, an MSc in Population and Development from the London School of Economics, an MA Urban Policy from the University of Illinois-Chicago, and a BA Political Science from Colorado College.