Our Founders
Nancy Hungerford
Founder & Board Member
Nancy is the devoted wife and mother to Nick and Elizabeth Hungerford. She is based in Washington, DC.
Nancy is grateful for the opportunity to help other families navigate the stress and heartache of living with a loved one with a terminal illness.
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Nancy worked as a news anchor, reporter and producer for CNBC International across Europe and Asia. She is now a conference moderator and media consultant, and aspiring media-tech entrepreneur. Nancy received a Master’s Degree in European Political Economy from the London School of Economics and a B.A. in Foreign Affairs and History from the University of Virginia.
Nick Hungerford
Founder
Nick, who died in July 2023, co-founded Elizabeth's Smile to ensure that a parent's illness wouldn't condemn a child to a lifetime of grief and lost opportunity. Prior to this, he was an advisor at Portage Ventures, where he invested in early-stage fintech businesses.
Previously, Nick founded Nutmeg (now part of JPMorgan), Europe’s largest online investment management service, and led the company from an idea through development. Nick obtained an undergraduate degree from Exeter University in the UK and held an MBA from Stanford University.
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Board of Directors
Our board brings a wealth of experience and diverse views to their work as stewards of the organization.
Johnny Chen
Treasurer & US Director
Member of the Elizabeth’s Smile US Board and Treasurer. Johnny is Vice Chair, LionRock Capital; Former Managing Partner, PwC Beijing, China; Chair, Zurich Insurance, China. Mr. Chen has over 30 years of multinational, corporate and board-level experience in Asia Pacific.
Clara Belden
US Director
Owner and founder of The Happy Hour, a mental health and wellness business based in Nashville, TN. Clara is a certified holistic life coach.
KC George
US Director
Partner, Bain & Co., based in San Francisco. KC is an expert in organizational transformation, mergers, acquisitions, and health care practices. KC's core expertise is in large-scale transformation and post-merger integration across industries, with particular emphasis on organization design, leadership, change management, and capability-building.
Sophie Adelman
UK Director
Sophie is a series entrepreneur who has dedicated her career to democratising access to opportunity through learning. Her most recent startup, One Garden, where she is co-founder & CEO, is a community for the curious that enables everyone to learn from the world's greatest minds and each other through live and on-demand talks and lectures. Previously Sophie cofounded and led Multiverse.io. She is a graduate of Cambridge University and Stanford's Graduate School of Business. She lives in Munich with her husband and two young children.
Edward Griffiths
UK Director
Edward Griffiths has worked successfully in elite sport for 35 years, most notably as CEO of South African Rugby during the nation-building 1995 Rugby World Cup and as CEO of Saracens during the London clubs transformation from also-rans to serial winners. He is the author of 26 published titles.
Tara Lajumoke
UK Director
Tara, Managing Director FT Strategies, the growth consulting arm of the Financial Times, brings over 20-years of experience across strategy, digital and innovation, including scale-ups and start-ups. Previously she worked for Goldman Sachs and McKinsey. Tara, a Fulbright Scholar, is a graduate of Harvard Business School and the London School of Economics. She is also a Board member at TBIJ.
Mary O'Connor
Board Chair
Mary is an influential leader in the insurance and advisory industries. In April 2022, she joined Howden Broking Group to lead HowdenCAP, a new capital, advisory and placement business for financial institutions and corporates. Previously she served as CEO, KPMG UK and Head of Client, Industry and Business Development, and Global Head of Financial Institutions at Willis Towers Watson.
Scientific & Product Advisory Groups
The Scientific Advisory Group ensures that our work is aligned with the latest data and research. They advise when and how to insert our research into our programmatic work and when research topics need further exploration or funding.
The Product Advisory Group provides advice on developing our Grief Guides and The Smile Network, and ensures they are operating to their full potential.
Tadhg McCarthy
Product Advisory Group
CEO and co-founder of Elsewhen, a digital product company, has grown to 60+ people since its founding in 2011, and are trusted by FTSE 100 and S&P 500 companies to deliver best-in-class solutions into business-critical functions, end-to-end.
