Leading good board conversations about finance

Naziar Hashemi, Partner & National Head of Social Purpose & Non Profit Organisations, Crowe U.K LLP
Naziar Hashemi joined Crowe in September 2008 from a Big Four Firm as a specialist non profits partner. In addition to providing assurance services Naziar also provides advisory services to a range of charities. These include assignments from risk and finance function reviews, systems, benchmarking and performance measurements and governance reviews. Naziar leads Crowe's work on Donor Audits and has knowledge of institutional funding requirements having produced reports for a variety of institutional and governmental donors. She also carries out training for charities and lectures and writes on a range of topics relevant to Trustees and management.

James Abbott, Chief Operating Officer, RNID
James has been part of RNID’s leadership team since 2019, moving to his role as Chief Operating Officer in February 2024. Since joining the charity, he has played an important role in RNID’s transformation into a modern digital-first social change organisation, leading the charity’s corporate services (including finance, people, IT and governance functions). As Chief Operating Officer, James brings together all of RNID’s services, including those provided to the charity’s communities as well as its corporate services. James has previously worked for other charities in the health and disability space, including Guide Dogs, Diabetes UK and Scope. He is also a trustee of the Royal Osteoporosis Society. He lives on the west coast of Scotland with his wife and three children.

Chair: Kristina Kopic FCA DChA, Head of Charity and Voluntary Sector, ICAEW
Kristina is a Chartered Accountant who has worked in and for the Not-for-Profit sector for over 15 years. Kristina trained at charity specialists Sayer Vincent and subsequently worked in finance roles at the Royal College of Nursing, Imperial College London and the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. Kristina holds charity-specific qualifications in accountancy, law and governance and a Master in Voluntary Sector Management from Bayes Business School (formerly Cass). In her spare time, she is a charity trustee and treasurer.