After a record year of impact, leading gender diversity charity names new Chair to steer its next phase of growth.
London, 1st May 2026 — GAIN (Girls Are INvestors), the UK registered charity dedicated to increasing gender diversity in investment management, has appointed Anita Tiessen as Chair of the Trustee Board effective 1 May 2026.
Ms. Tiessen, who has previously served as a trustee of GAIN, has been appointed following a formal process led by the Nominations Committee. She succeeds Co-Chairs Anne Marie Fleurbaaij and Natasha Braginsky Mounier, both of whom will remain on the Board as Trustees and continue their committee responsibilities.
Anita brings extensive senior leadership experience. She currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Youth Business International (YBI), where she leads the global network’s efforts to connect members, partners and young people to develop and scale entrepreneurship-driven solutions for social and economic change. Prior to joining YBI in 2018, she served as Chief Executive Officer of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, where she focused on expanding the organisation’s reach and impact. She has also held senior roles as Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF UK and Head of Communications at Amnesty International’s global headquarters.
Anita’s experience guiding a UK charity through a period of organisational maturation will particularly serve to benefit GAIN at this stage of the organisation’s development.
The appointment comes at a pivotal moment for GAIN, which recorded its most impactful year to date in 2025. According to its 2025 Impact Report, GAIN reached more than 12,500students during the year, with over 1,120 young women and non-binary students completing structured GAIN programmes, representing 54% year-on-year growth in programme participation. The charity now works in partnership with more than 90 university societies across the UK and is supported by over 60 corporate sponsors and a community of more than 2,000 industry volunteers.
Despite such encouraging momentum, significant structural challenges remain in the investment management industry: while women represent 41% of investment management employees in the UK1, only 12.9% of fund managers are female2. GAIN’s programmes are designed precisely to address this disparity at the pipeline stage.
Commenting on the appointment, Tilly Franklin, Founder of GAIN, said:
“Anita’s appointment reflects both the strength of GAIN’s board and the significance of this next chapter in our development. I look forward to working with her in this expanded capacity, and I am deeply grateful to Anne Marie and Natasha for their exceptional stewardship of GAIN since its earliest days.”
Tanya Tracey, Chief Executive Officer of GAIN, added:
“Anita’s appointment as Chair is a hugely positive development for GAIN at a time when our work has never been more important. Her track record of leading mission-driven global organisations, combined with her deep understanding of the GAIN community built as a trustee, makes her ideally placed to guide the next phase of our growth. I am very much looking forward to partnering with her as we continue to build the pipeline of diverse investment talent that our industry urgently needs.”
About GAIN
GAIN (Girls Are INvestors) is a UK registered charity (number 1182317) founded by investment professionals to address the persistent gender imbalance in investment management. Working with students from secondary school through to university and beyond, GAIN delivers free programmes, insight days, competitions, internships and mentoring initiatives that equip young women and non-binary students with the skills, knowledge and connections to build careers in investment management. GAIN’s long-term objective is to increase the female application rate across the UK investment industry to over 30% within ten years.
Notes to Editors
• All programme statistics cited are drawn from GAIN’s 2025 Impact Report, which is available here.
Sources
1 The Investment Association, Investment Management in the UK 2023–2024.
2 Citywire, Alpha Female Report 2025. Available at citywire.com
