A huge thank you and a fond farewell to CEO Helen Goulden

Our Chief Executive, Helen Goulden OBE, today announces the news that she will leave her role in September, following her eight-year tenure. 

Helen joined The Young Foundation in 2017 to turn around a charity with a 70-year legacy for community-involving work and pioneering social innovation. She steered us through the pandemic and beyond, growing our reach, reputation, and impact. Launching our bold and ambitious five-year strategy in 2024, Helen’s vision that everyone across the UK should experience the power of participation continues to underpin our work and approach, supporting communities, businesses and policymakers to work in radically different ways towards a fairer future.   

‘A champion of participation and equity’

Kersten England CBE, The Young Foundation’s Chair of Trustees, says: “Helen has led The Young Foundation with ambition and flair, driving our often life-changing work with and for diverse UK communities. Her commitment to our staff, passion for our work, and advocacy for a fairer future is admirable and unwavering. It has been a joy to work with Helen. I know I, and all at The Young Foundation, will miss her greatly.”

Jonny Sobczyk Boddington, Founder and Group Director of ImpactEd and a Trustee at The Young Foundation, says: “Helen has been brilliant to work with. Under her leadership, The Young Foundation has not only expanded its reach but also become more sustainable and deepened its influence, championing participation and equity in a way that truly matters. It’s been a real privilege to work alongside her as a Trustee. She leaves a powerful legacy and a strong platform for our next CEO to build on, continuing to deliver meaningful outcomes for the communities we serve.”

Sharing thanks and appreciation

Helen says: “Some roles, more than others, define and shape you. And it is with an incredible sense of affection and pride that I look back on the last eight years at The Young Foundation. From a very difficult starting point in 2017, together we have rebuilt our role as a key driver of sustainable, better-connected communities across the UK – and I’ve been lucky enough to work with some truly incredible individuals, both inside and outside the organisation, during that time. Everything I’ve learned at The Young Foundation, I will take into a new, very different role to continue that work. As well as sharing my thanks and appreciation for The Young Foundation’s brilliant staff, partners, trustees – and the many people and communities that have engaged with us over the years – I want to thank Dame Julie Mellor for taking a chance on recruiting me to such a privileged role, and to thank Kersten England CBE for her unfailing support, talent and incredible energy for our work as Chair of The Young Foundation. For the new CEO, you inherit something very special indeed.”  

Helen will continue in her role until September 2025, with The Young Foundation’s Chief Operating Officer, Sean Croghan, following as Interim CEO. Recruitment for Helen’s successor is led by Green Park.

Posted on: 4 August 2025