CEO

Rebecca Stewart

Rebecca began her career in banking and consulting, first at HSBC, and then at Ernst & Young. She moved into executive search in 1999, and in 2001 was appointed head of Finance Practice for the London office of Heidrick & Struggles, recruiting CFOs across a wide range of sectors.

In 2003 Rebecca moved into the non-profit sector and joined Alpha International as Head of Alpha UK. Over the following 12 years Alpha grew significantly and Rebecca served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff before being appointed as Group Chief Executive of the HTB Group.

Rebecca founded Goldstar Partners in 2015, offering consulting and executive search service to clients in the non-profit sector. She was appointed CEO of the Huo Family Office in January 2018.

CFO

Patrick Southey

Patrick joined the Huo Family Foundation in July 2022, bringing with him a wealth of experience in finance and investment management. Prior to joining HFF Patrick spent 17 years at Waypoint Capital, now B-Flexion Capital.  

He started his career in mining in Chile, then moved into HSBC’s investment bank in London, before joining Waypoint in 2005. While there, Patrick held various senior roles with responsibilities extending across finance, risk and investment management for Waypoint’s financial services, healthcare, and agricultural businesses. 

Since 2015, Patrick sat as a Non-Executive Director on the boards of various portfolio companies, advising on strategy, capital structure, and M&A.

Patrick graduated with honours in Commerce from Stellenbosch University in South Africa and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Financial Controller

Natalie Sawaryn

Natalie joined the Huo Family Foundation as Financial Controller in April 2021. She brings over 10 years’ experience, having joined from PwC where she worked in the external audit practice with clients in banking and capital markets.

Whilst at PwC she qualified as a chartered accountant and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.  

Natalie graduated from Durham University with a BA in Economics.

Programme Officer

Julia Drayson

For over four years, Julia worked at The Willem de Kooning Foundation on exhibition, education, and loan initiatives, and monitored Covid-19 and institutional grants made to the arts, education, and community-based nonprofits in the New York area.

She holds a BA in Art History from NYU where she was a volunteer at the Grey Art Gallery and a member of the Fine Arts Society. Julia joined the non-profit Minds Matter in 2020 as a Team Leader and Board Member to address the inequitable access to higher education in the United States.

Julia joins the Huo Family Foundation in October 2022 to further explore the role of grant giving in the community, in particular the arts and education.