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I am delighted to share the news that Blythe Masters has been appointed as the next Chair of the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Blythe brings a wealth of experience to our governance at a time when our mission to enable all young people to realise their full potential through the power of computing and AI has never felt more urgent.
Blythe is one of the most prominent figures in global financial services and fintech. A graduate and Senior Scholar of Trinity College, University of Cambridge, she spent nearly three decades at JPMorgan, rising to its Executive Committee and holding senior leadership roles including Chief Financial Officer of the Investment Bank and Head of Global Commodities. After leaving JPMorgan in 2014, Blythe served as CEO of Digital Asset and later became a Founding Partner at Motive Partners, the fintech-focused investment firm. Most recently, Blythe served as Group CEO of FNZ, the global wealth technology platform and Motive Partners portfolio company.
Blythe has extensive corporate governance experience, currently serving as the Chair of JPMorgan Securities plc and non-executive director on the board of SymphonyAI. She has previously served on numerous other boards including A.P. Moeller Maersk, Credit Suisse, Santander Consumer USA, Forge, and GCM Grosvenor.
Blythe also has significant experience in nonprofit governance, having served as the co-chair of the Global Fund for Women, vice chair of ID2020, chair of the NYC chapter of Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, chair of the Hyperledger Foundation, and numerous other trustee roles.
Blythe takes over the Chair from Sir John Lazar who has led the Board of Trustees since 2020. Under Sir John’s leadership the Foundation has supported hundreds of thousands of educators and tens of millions of students all over the world to develop the skills, knowledge, and mindsets to shape their world through computing and AI.
We have achieved so much under his leadership and I have learned a huge amount from working with him. We are all profoundly grateful to Sir John for his contribution.
Blythe will take up the role at the end of March 2027 and John will be staying on to manage the transition and handover. While it is hard to imagine a world where John isn’t our Chair, I am genuinely excited about the prospect of working with Blythe.
As a charity, the Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees that is responsible for ensuring we use our resources effectively to advance our charitable goals. We are fortunate to have an exceptionally strong and diverse group of Trustees who bring significant experience and expertise from a wide range of backgrounds. Trustees generally serve two three-year terms. Trustees are volunteers who provide their time and expertise to the Foundation for no remuneration.
You can see the full list of Trustees and Members on our website.
The post The next Chair of the Board of Trustees, Blythe Masters appeared first on Raspberry Pi Foundation.
Tuesday 11 June 2024 will be remembered as one of the most important days in the history of Raspberry Pi.
The successful introduction of the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s commercial subsidiary on the London Stock Exchange is a genuinely remarkable achievement. I want to put on record my huge congratulations and thanks to Eben Upton, Martin Hellawell, and the whole team at Raspberry Pi Holdings plc for everything they have done to make this possible.
The purpose of the IPO was to secure the next stage of growth and impact for both the Foundation and the company. We have huge ambitions and the IPO has provided both organisations with the capital we need to pursue those ambitions at pace and scale. Our Chief Executive Philip Colligan has already explained what it means for the Raspberry Pi Foundation and our mission to empower young people all over the world.
In this post, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the significant contribution that others have made over the years, particularly all of the Trustees who have been so generous with their time, energy, and expertise.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation was established in 2008 by six founding Trustees: Alan Mycroft, David Braben, Eben Upton, Jack Lang, Pete Lomas, and Rob Mullins. All of them deserve credit and thanks for setting us off on this incredible journey.
Alan, Eben, Jack, and Rob were all involved with the Computer Lab at the University of Cambridge. They were dealing with a decline in applications to study the computer science undergraduate course, which was a symptom of the much wider challenge that far too many young people weren’t getting access to opportunities to learn computer science, or getting hands-on with programming and electronics.
David Braben brought an industry perspective, drawing on the challenges he was experiencing with recruiting engineers and programmers at the world-leading games company that he had founded, Frontier Developments.
For Pete Lomas, he was paying forward the support and inspiration that he received from a college technician who gave him the opportunity and encouragement to experiment with programming a DEC PDP-8. That experience ultimately led Pete to establish Norcott Technologies, an electronics design and manufacturing business that he still runs today.
The founding Trustees’ original idea was to create a low-cost programmable computer — available for the price of a textbook — that would remove price as a barrier to owning a computer and inspire young people to take their first steps with computing. It took four years for the first Raspberry Pi computer to be launched, an achievement for which Eben and Pete were rightly honoured, along with other members of the team, as recipients of the prestigious MacRobert Prize for engineering.
What none of our founding Trustees could have predicted was the enormous commercial success of Raspberry Pi computers. In realising their vision of a low-cost programmable computer for education, the team created a new category of single-board computers that found a home with enthusiasts and industry, enabling the team to evolve — through hard work and creativity — into a business that is now entering a new phase as a listed company.
They also delivered on the original mission, with computer science at the University of Cambridge now being one of the most oversubscribed undergraduate courses in the country and many applicants citing Raspberry Pi computers as part of their introduction to programming.
The commercial success of Raspberry Pi has enabled the Foundation to expand its educational programmes to the point where it is now established as one of the world’s leading nonprofits focused on democratising access to computing education, and is benefiting the lives of tens of millions of young people already.
While no-one really knows the origin of the proverb ‘It takes a village to raise a child’, we can all recognise the truth in that simple statement. It applies just as much for endeavours like Raspberry Pi.
Over the years, Raspberry Pi has been a genuine team game. Employees in the Foundation and our commercial subsidiary, advisers, partner organisations and supporters, volunteers and community members have all played a crucial role in the success of both the company and the Foundation.
Over the years there have been 21 Trustees of the Foundation, bringing an incredible range of skills and experience that has elevated our ambitions and supported the teams in both the Foundation and the company.
All of our Trustees have provided their time and expertise for free, never receiving any financial benefit for their contribution as Trustees.
Serving as a Trustee of a charity is a serious business, with significant responsibility and accountability. While many charities have commercial operations, there is no doubt that the scale and complexity of Raspberry Pi’s commercial business has placed significant additional responsibilities on all of our Trustees.
I especially want to pay tribute to my predecessors as chair of the Board of Trustees: Jack Lang, one of our founding Trustees, who sadly passed away this year; and David Cleevely, who continues to support our work as a Member of the Foundation. Both Jack and David played a particularly important part in the success of Raspberry Pi.
As we enter this new phase for the Foundation’s relationship with Raspberry Pi Holdings Ltd, we are delighted to welcome three new Trustees to the Board:
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I am delighted to share the news that we have appointed a new Chair and Trustees of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Between them, they bring an enormous range of experience and expertise to what is already a fantastic Board of Trustees, and I am really looking forward to working with them.
John Lazar has been appointed as the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. John is a software engineer and business leader who is focused on combining technology and entrepreneurship to generate lasting positive impact.
Formerly the Chairman and CEO of Metaswitch Networks, John is now an angel investor, startup mentor, non-executive chairman and board director, including serving as the Chair of What3Words. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and played an active role in developing the programme of study for England’s school Computer Science curriculum. John has also spent many years working on tech-related non-profit initiatives in Africa and co-founded Enza Capital, which invests in early-stage African technology companies that solve pressing problems.
John takes over the Chair from David Cleevely, who has reached the end of his two three-year terms as Trustee and Chair of the Foundation. David has made a huge contribution to the Foundation over that time, and we are delighted that he will continue to be involved in our work as one of the founding members of the Supporters Club.
Alongside John, we are welcoming three new Trustees to the Board of Trustees:
I am also delighted to announce that we have appointed Suranga Chandratillake as a Member of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Suranga is a technologist, entrepreneur, and investor.
He founded the intelligent search company blinkx and is now a General Partner at Balderton Capital. Suranga is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and he serves on the UK Government’s Council for Science and Technology.
As a charity, the Raspberry Pi Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees that is ultimately responsible for what we do and how we are run. It is the Trustees’ job to make sure that we are focused on our mission, which for us means helping more people learn about computing, computer science, and related subjects. The Trustees also have all the usual responsibilities of company directors, including making sure that we use our resources effectively. As Chief Executive, I am accountable to the Board of Trustees.
We’ve always been fortunate to attract the most amazing people to serve as Trustees and, as volunteers, they are incredibly generous with their time, sharing their expertise and experience on a wide range of issues. They are an important part of the team. Trustees serve for up to two terms of three years so that we always have fresh views and experience to draw on.
Appointments to the Board of Trustees follow open recruitment and selection processes that are overseen by the Foundation’s Nominations Committee, supported by independent external advisers. Our aim is to appoint Trustees who bring different backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experience, as well as a range of skills. As with all appointments, we consider diversity at every aspect of the recruitment and selection processes.
Formally, Trustees are elected by the Foundation’s Members at our Annual General Meeting. This year’s AGM took place last week on Zoom. Members are also volunteers, and they play an important role in holding the Board of Trustees to account, helping to shape our strategy, and acting as advocates for our mission.
You can see the full list of Trustees and Members on our website.
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