Meet the Team
Behind Henka is a team of seasoned professionals with international experience and deep expertise in coaching and leadership development, united by a focus on people and transformation.
Rachel Treece
CEO, The Henka Institute PCC, CPCC, ACTC ,FCIM
Rachel Treece is the CEO of The Henka Institute, and one of Europe's most sought-after executive coaches and leadership facilitators. With a background spanning marketing, HR, and leadership development, she specialises in organisational transformation, culture, and sustainable performance – with a particular focus on financial services and global matrix organisations. Rachel is the creator of the Henka Group Transformation™ model, a practical, results-driven framework that enables teams to create measurable change in short timeframes. She has worked with organisations including JP Morgan, HSBC, UBS, Schroders, Apex, and Aztec, helping senior leaders build cultures of agency, accountability, and lasting performance. A Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Rachel is also the bestselling author of The Henka Effect and host of the Flex and the City podcast – a leading voice on leadership in financial services. Known for her direct, engaging, and commercially grounded style, Rachel brings psychological insight to every engagement – ensuring leadership development translates into real business results.
Peter Christmas
Henka Partner, Chief Commercial Officer
Peter Christmas is a Henka Partner and Chief Commercial Officer, bringing over 35 years of senior leadership experience in the asset servicing industry across Europe, Asia, and the United States. His executive career spanned client-facing and business development roles at the highest level, including Managing Director positions at Pershing and Standard Chartered Bank, and most recently Head of Client Management and Business Development at NatWest Trustee and Depositary Services. With deep expertise across asset management, wealth management, and investment banking, Peter built a reputation for developing high-performing client management teams and forging lasting institutional relationships across global markets. Since 2022, Peter has pursued a portfolio career, serving as Chair of Apex's UK Depositary business, Senior Advisor to the Fund Boards Council, and taking on consulting assignments across asset management and asset servicing. He holds a B.Sc. in Electronic Engineering, the IMC qualification, and the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing. Peter brings both commercial authority and a broad industry network to his role as CCO – uniquely positioned to develop Henka's relationships across the financial services sector.
Lindsey Braik
Henka Partner, Global Head of Talent PCC, ACTC
Lindsey Braik is a Henka Partner and the Institute's Global Head of Talent, bringing over 35 years of international experience in Human Resources, talent development, and leadership transformation. Having held senior executive HR roles across Europe – spanning financial services, industry, medical, and professional services – she combines deep strategic expertise with a highly practical, people-centred approach. Lindsey specialises in executive and team coaching, leadership development, and the design of impactful learning programmes. Her work helps leaders navigate complexity, strengthen capability, and lead with greater confidence and authenticity – delivering measurable behavioural change at both individual and team level. An entrepreneur as well as a practitioner, Lindsey has founded three successful businesses and brings a genuine multicultural perspective to her work with international leaders and organisations – operating fluently in both English and French across diverse international environments.
Ian Holden
Henka Partner
Ian Holden is a Henka Partner with over 30 years of senior leadership experience in global financial services. He spent the final two decades of his executive career at SS&C GlobeOp, most recently as Managing Director and Head of International Hedge Fund Services – leading a global organisation of over 700 professionals across Europe and Asia, serving more than 150 clients and overseeing assets exceeding $1 trillion. His career was defined by delivering performance at scale: building high-performing teams, driving operational transformation, and navigating the full complexity of large, client-driven international businesses. Earlier in his career he held senior roles at ECM and Morgan Stanley, bringing breadth across investment operations and capital markets. Now focused on coaching and leadership development, Ian combines that executive depth with formal training in coaching and team coaching through Henka Institute programmes. He works with leaders and teams to strengthen clarity, alignment, and performance in complex organisational systems – bringing the pragmatism and commercial grounding of someone who has operated at the very highest levels of the industry.
David Sarfas
Henka Partner
David Sarfas is a Henka Partner bringing over two decades of senior leadership experience in financial services and investment fund administration. He spent the majority of his executive career at the forefront of global fund services – most recently as Co-Head of Global Funds and UK Country Head at CSC, one of the world's leading fund administration businesses, and prior to that as Country Head of Luxembourg for Intertrust Group. Throughout his career, David built a reputation for developing strong teams, driving client growth, and leading through complexity across major international financial centres. His deep understanding of the fund industry – its pressures, its culture, and the demands it places on leaders – gives him a distinctive perspective as a Henka Partner. Known for his people-first leadership style and his commitment to developing the next generation of talent, David brings real-world commercial weight to Henka's work with leaders in financial services.
Jervis Smith
Henka Partner
Jervis Smith is a Henka Partner with over 35 years of experience in banking and financial services, spanning four continents and some of the world's most significant financial centres. He spent 25 years at Citigroup, building a career that took him from the UK through the Middle East, New York, Hong Kong, and London – holding senior leadership roles across investor services, client management, and business development before serving as Head of Investor Services in Luxembourg. In 2019, Jervis joined Vistra as Country Managing Director for Luxembourg, leading the business through a period of significant growth in one of Europe's most important fund jurisdictions. His executive career has been defined by deepening client relationships, developing people, and leading large, complex organisations across multiple markets and cultures. Now a Henka Partner, Jervis brings that breadth of international leadership experience to his work supporting senior leaders in financial services – offering the perspective of someone who has navigated the pressures, complexities, and cultural demands of the industry at the highest level.
Steve Hamilton Clark
Chief Coaching Officer, PCC, CPCC
Steve’s successful CEO as Coach track record is because early on he leveraged the power of coaching to enable his teams to step up to their full potential and deliver constant business growth, and growth is fun! Today, Steve coaches high-performance leaders to go that extra mile to deliver winning experiences; for themselves, their teams, and their clients. Described as resourceful, supportive and transformational, Steve’s style is like that of an insightful and skilful guide. He guides clients on how to step back, see the bigger picture and their role in it, challenges their belief systems, and encourages the adoption of new leadership behaviours to navigate their environment towards healthy, collaborative growth. Steve is a certified coach through the International Coach Federation (PCC) and the Coaches Training Institute (CPCC), a Conversational Intelligence® Coach, a Coach to the United Nations Humanitarian Coaching Network, and has a B. Comm. in Marketing & International Business.
Naomi Bearcroft
PCC
Naomi is an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) & has a Master’s degree from one of the Top 10 Business Schools in Europe. Her professional background is in the corporate world, having been an Executive in Business & Marketing for an International Sports Brand for the first decade of her career. Today, Naomi delivers Coaching & Leadership Programs as well as actively coaching both private & corporate clients, individuals and teams, across Europe. Naomi is considered someone who is authentic, positive, loyal, brave and fun. Her coaching & training style is direct yet empathetic. Her love of people and her never failing to believe in their potential make her extremely grateful to be able to dedicate her work to guiding, supporting and challenging individuals looking to make the next step along their professional and personal journeys. Naomi is English, but has been living in France for almost 20 years. She also speaks fluent Spanish & a few words of Mandarin.
Rachel Walden
PCC
Rachel holds an MSC in Coaching and Behavioural Change from Henley Business School. She is Hogan certified, a member of the ICF, and holds her PCC qualification. She is an influential and collaborative Talent Manager and Leadership Effectiveness Coach. Her passion and expertise lie in helping leaders realise their potential, in the context of the wider team, organisational system and succession management strategy. Her 25 years of international leadership and talent management experience spans diverse industries ranging from Banking, Telecoms, Oil and Gas, Professional Services, Construction, and Housing Associations to Not for Profit. She has had the privilege of living and working internationally in the USA, Asia-Pac, Europe, MENA, and Latin America, which brings a diverse perspective to life and work. Her coaching and facilitation style is business focused, engaging, pragmatic and challenging, whilst drawing on her studies and interest in Neuroscience and its impact on behaviour. Building individual, leadership and organisational capability can often feel intangible, particularly in times of dramatic change. Her guiding principles are: Is it empowering? Is it sustainable? Is it the right thing now and for the future?
Chris Howorth
Henka Board Member
Chris Howorth is an Associate Professor at Royal Holloway Business School, University of London, and a Board Member of The Henka Institute. His research and consultancy work focuses on leadership, change management, and diversity, with particular depth in public sector organisations and NHS hospital trusts. He has also worked across a wide range of sectors, from construction and the armed services to the arts and local education. Previously, Chris served as Director for Executive Education at Royal Holloway's Business School and as Deputy Dean of Communications and Enterprise within the Faculty of History and Social Science. In that role, he led the faculty's commercial engagement strategy and shaped its internal and external communications in line with national employer engagement initiatives. His broader contributions at Royal Holloway have included leading distance learning across the College, developing enhanced MBA programmes, and heading student recruitment for the School of Management. This combination of academic leadership and applied consultancy across complex organisations reflects the depth he brings to governance and strategic oversight. As a Board Member of The Henka Institute, Chris contributes a grounded, research-informed perspective on leadership and organisational change, supporting the Institute's work in developing coaches and leaders who create measurable impact.
Steve Mele
Henka Board Member
Steve Mele is Managing Director of SEM Consulting and a Board Member of The Henka Institute. He is the founder of SEM Consulting Partners, a practice specialising in change management for senior leadership teams navigating mergers and acquisitions, technology transformation, customer effectiveness, sales, compliance, and operational challenges. He also works as an executive coach, partnering with leaders at the highest levels of organisations. Steve brings more than 30 years of experience working in and alongside the C-Suite on senior leadership development and complex technology and cultural change. His career spans significant roles at Schlumberger, Mercer, and Towers Watson, where he held senior HR positions and developed deep expertise in how organisations build and sustain leadership capability through periods of significant change. A specialist in SAP SuccessFactors-enabled transformation, Steve guides organisations through the full change lifecycle, from initial diagnostics and business case development through design, build, and implementation, to post-production support and performance measurement. His approach combines rigorous analytics with stakeholder engagement and a strong commitment to continuous improvement, translating complex technology and process change into lasting organisational capability. As a Board Member of The Henka Institute, Steve brings a commercially grounded, practitioner perspective that complements the Institute's mission to develop coaches and leaders who create lasting impact in their organisations.
Laura Butt
Head of Operations
Laura Butt is the operational backbone of The Henka Institute, ensuring that everything the business promises to clients is planned, coordinated, and delivered to the highest standard. Reporting directly to CEO Rachel Treece, she leads operations across client relations, marketing, training delivery, and digital – managing the rhythms, systems, and people that keep a fast-moving, globally active coaching practice running smoothly. With a BSc in Psychology and Criminology, Laura brings a genuine understanding of human behaviour to her operational work – a thread that runs through her career in people management, recruitment, and coaching. Before joining Henka, she worked directly alongside the founder of a high-growth careers platform, running day-to-day operations and content strategy across three international sites scaling to over 18 million organic visitors and £1m+ in revenue. She has also worked as a private career and life coach, supporting senior professionals through significant leadership and business transitions. At Henka, Laura bridges the CEO, the coaching team, and the clients – translating vision into structured delivery, maintaining standards, and ensuring the business operates with the consistency and care its clients expect.