Leadership
The Stream Foundation is governed by a board of trustees who have a duty to act at all times in the best interests of the Foundation and to apply the Foundation's assets to advance its objects.
Board of trustees
Stream Foundation, established in 2026, is an independent charitable company set up by Stream Group Holdings. The Foundation is solely funded by donations from Stream Group Holdings through a 1% pledge, and is led by a Board of Trustees.
As Foundation Director, Emily oversees the full operations of Stream Foundation. Her time is split between the Foundation and her job as Chief Impact Officer at Stream, where she leads on the scale-up's work to tackle financial exclusion and build a more inclusive app that improves workers' financial wellbeing. At Stream, she runs the company's programme of academic research in collaboration with leading think tanks and global universities, and hosts the Invisible Worker podcast. Before joining Stream, Emily co-founded a social impact fintech, Touco Lab, which built financial services products for people with cognitive impairments using open banking technology.
Portman Wills is the Co-Founder of Stream. Over the past 25 years, he's worked at the intersection of technology and impact: designing the first MVNO for consumers with poor credit at Liberty Wireless (2001); offering dignified employment for landmine victims in Cambodia at DDD (2004); monitoring for early outbreak of communicable diseases in Peru and India at Voxiva (2006). He even got lucky with a few startups: SocialCash, acquired by LifeStreet Media (2009); Join the Company, acquired by GSN (2011); Sports Illustrated Play, acquired by NBC (2017). At home, he and his wife are currently learning to deal with the constant eye-rolls of their four teenage children.
Gemma joined Rathbones to lead business development for Charities in February 2025. She was previously Co-Head of Global Social Impact at BlackRock and Co-President of The BlackRock Foundation where she led grant making on financial inclusion and sustainability. Gemma was formerly Head of BlackRock's dedicated Charities and Endowments Team. Prior to joining BlackRock in 2016, she was a Partner at NewSmith Asset Management responsible for marketing and business development. She started her career at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in 2001. Gemma holds an MA degree in Geography from St Catharine's College, Cambridge. She is a Trustee of the Stream Foundation, and was previously a Trustee of The Girls' Network, a School Community Governor, and a volunteer Funding Panellist with The Fore. She also mentors with The King's Trust.
Tim Parsons is Chief Financial Officer at Stream. He has been with the company since 2019, overseeing financial strategy and operations as Stream has scaled to serve millions of employees across the UK and US. He brings deep expertise in treasury operations, risk management, and debt financing. As a Trustee of the Stream Foundation, Tim is passionate about ensuring that access to fair financial tools is not a privilege, but a right for every worker.
John is an experienced Chief People Officer and Business Coach, with a 30-year track record of delivering results in multiple sectors, across the UK and internationally. He has a deep understanding of cultural integration, enabling change, managing transitions and impacting organisational results through nurturing and collaborating with high performing teams. John graduated from the Meyler Campbell Coaching Programme in 2011, is a trusted confidante to senior executives and via his coaching company, Latitude with John, supports executives who are invested in their own personal and professional growth. John is also Chair at British Home, a charity with a Royal Charter dedicated to transforming the lives of individuals living with neuro-disability.
Nick Rogers is Chief Product and Technology Officer at Stream, leading the product teams that build financial wellness tools for millions of workers across the UK and US. Nick holds a First-Class BA and MA in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge, with a dissertation on Artificial Intelligence. Before joining Stream, he led a large engineering team at BT Openreach, delivering a mission-critical planning platform central to the UK's full-fibre rollout to 30 million homes. He has also co-founded a technology business and brings experience across finance, telecoms, defence, and healthcare. At Stream, Nick is responsible for building the products that underpin the company's mission to make fair financial services accessible to every worker. As a Trustee of the Stream Foundation, he is committed to ensuring technology remains a force for good.
As Foundation Director, Emily oversees the full operations of Stream Foundation. Her time is split between the Foundation and her job as Chief Impact Officer at Stream, where she leads on the scale-up's work to tackle financial exclusion and build a more inclusive app that improves workers' financial wellbeing. At Stream, she runs the company's programme of academic research in collaboration with leading think tanks and global universities, and hosts the Invisible Worker podcast. Before joining Stream, Emily co-founded a social impact fintech, Touco Lab, which built financial services products for people with cognitive impairments using open banking technology.
Portman Wills is the Co-Founder of Stream. Over the past 25 years, he's worked at the intersection of technology and impact: designing the first MVNO for consumers with poor credit at Liberty Wireless (2001); offering dignified employment for landmine victims in Cambodia at DDD (2004); monitoring for early outbreak of communicable diseases in Peru and India at Voxiva (2006). He even got lucky with a few startups: SocialCash, acquired by LifeStreet Media (2009); Join the Company, acquired by GSN (2011); Sports Illustrated Play, acquired by NBC (2017). At home, he and his wife are currently learning to deal with the constant eye-rolls of their four teenage children.
Gemma joined Rathbones to lead business development for Charities in February 2025. She was previously Co-Head of Global Social Impact at BlackRock and Co-President of The BlackRock Foundation where she led grant making on financial inclusion and sustainability. Gemma was formerly Head of BlackRock's dedicated Charities and Endowments Team. Prior to joining BlackRock in 2016, she was a Partner at NewSmith Asset Management responsible for marketing and business development. She started her career at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in 2001. Gemma holds an MA degree in Geography from St Catharine's College, Cambridge. She is a Trustee of the Stream Foundation, and was previously a Trustee of The Girls' Network, a School Community Governor, and a volunteer Funding Panellist with The Fore. She also mentors with The King's Trust.
Tim Parsons is Chief Financial Officer at Stream. He has been with the company since 2019, overseeing financial strategy and operations as Stream has scaled to serve millions of employees across the UK and US. He brings deep expertise in treasury operations, risk management, and debt financing. As a Trustee of the Stream Foundation, Tim is passionate about ensuring that access to fair financial tools is not a privilege, but a right for every worker.
John is an experienced Chief People Officer and Business Coach, with a 30-year track record of delivering results in multiple sectors, across the UK and internationally. He has a deep understanding of cultural integration, enabling change, managing transitions and impacting organisational results through nurturing and collaborating with high performing teams. John graduated from the Meyler Campbell Coaching Programme in 2011, is a trusted confidante to senior executives and via his coaching company, Latitude with John, supports executives who are invested in their own personal and professional growth. John is also Chair at British Home, a charity with a Royal Charter dedicated to transforming the lives of individuals living with neuro-disability.
Nick Rogers is Chief Product and Technology Officer at Stream, leading the product teams that build financial wellness tools for millions of workers across the UK and US. Nick holds a First-Class BA and MA in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge, with a dissertation on Artificial Intelligence. Before joining Stream, he led a large engineering team at BT Openreach, delivering a mission-critical planning platform central to the UK's full-fibre rollout to 30 million homes. He has also co-founded a technology business and brings experience across finance, telecoms, defence, and healthcare. At Stream, Nick is responsible for building the products that underpin the company's mission to make fair financial services accessible to every worker. As a Trustee of the Stream Foundation, he is committed to ensuring technology remains a force for good.
Theory of change
If we... | Then... | Which leads to... |
|---|---|---|
Expose the granular reality of financial lives through rigorous research... | Decision-makers will no longer be able to ignore the hidden costs of their systems... | Systems and tools being redesigned to meet the actual needs of the majority. |
We consider three outcome horizons:
- Short-term: improved public and institutional understanding of how financial systems and workplace practices affect people experiencing income volatility and financial insecurity.
- Medium-term: shift in institutional behaviour — real-life impact research is used to shape inclusive practice across the financial system, employment practice and public policy.
- Long-term: regulatory and systemic shifts that prioritise financial inclusion and lower the cost of participation for the many.