Member Panel

NEST's Member Panel

The Member Panel allows NEST to take the views and considerations of members into account.

The panel is a sounding board for ideas and suggestions proposed by NEST. It provides recommendations on key issues ensuring that specific member concerns are raised at Trustee level.

Member Panel Chair

Museji Takolia CBE is Chair of NEST's Member Panel.

Museji is currently Executive Chairman of Intellicomm Solutions and is a Non-Executive Director at OFSTED. He has worked in local government as a senior adviser at the Cabinet Office, and has been very active within consumer and regulatory issues.

Panel Members

• Naomi Cooke
• Malcolm McLean OBE
• Stella Okeahialam MBE
• Doug Taylor
• Wendy van den Hende

The Member Panel will also participate in the appointment of future Trustee Members and will be consulted on any reviews of the Statement of Investment Principles (SIP) (PDF, 218KB).

The Member Panel will publish an annual report. This will explain how NEST has considered the views of scheme and panel members.

Member Panel profiles

• Naomi Cooke is the National Pensions Officer for the GMB trade union representing more than 600,000 members across the public and private sector. She is a member of the EU Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Group and the Policy Review Group for the Local Government Pension Scheme. Previously, Naomi has participated in the Pension Regulator's Advisory Panel, the Deregulation Review and was involved in the development of the Financial Assistance Scheme and Pension Protection Fund. Prior to joining GMB, Naomi worked for the Communication Workers Union.
• Malcolm McLean OBE joined independent actuaries and consultants Barnett Waddingham as a Consultant in April 2010. Before that, he was Chief Executive of the Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) for the preceding 13 years. His earlier career was mainly spent as a civil servant working on pension policy in the delivery of benefits. For three years he was the General Manager/Secretary to the now defunct Occupational Pensions Board.
• Stella Okeahialam MBE is Programme Director at the Institute for Sustainability with responsibility for governance, implementation, quality and risk management of the Institute's programmes and projects. Before joining the Institute for Sustainability, her roles included Head of Skills & Employment at the London Development Agency (LDA) and Director at Croydon Enterprise - an initiative aimed at developing and encouraging a new enterprise culture. Her previous experience includes delivering various strategic programmes in economic development, regeneration and community renewal. Stella has also worked in the banking and private healthcare sectors and served on a number of boards including the Croydon Savers Credit Union Ltd, Croydon Enterprise Loan Fund Ltd and Croydon Education Business Partnership.
• Doug Taylor is the Financial Services Chief Advocate at Which? where he co-ordinates the diverse strands of the Which? personal finance campaigns. Doug currently sits on a wide range of financial working groups representing Which? Doug is also a Governor of the Pensions Policy Institute. Before moving to Which? Doug was the Deputy Chief Executive of the British Society for Rheumatology, and before that the National Director of the National Union of Students. He has extensive experience in the charity sector, including being a past Trustee of a national charity concerned with the welfare of prisoners abroad, and was a past member of the Executive of the Association of Chief Executives of National Voluntary Organisations.
• Wendy van den Hende was appointed as pfeg’s first Chief Executive in 2000. pfeg is a finance education organisation in England that helps schools to plan and teach personal finance relevant to students' lives and needs. pfeg’s projects have been funded by HSBC, the government and the Financial Services Authority as a key element in the UK's national strategy on financial capability. Wendy was previously Chief Executive for Parent Network, Deputy Director of the National Council for One Parent Families and Interim Director of the Camelot Foundation. She is Chair of Milton Keynes Citizen Advice Bureau and has served on the boards of a number of charities.