Giving with Clarity, Purpose and Conviction
Your philanthropic endeavours deserve the same rigour, coordination and strategic depth you expect from every other area of your wealth. We help you find it.
Our philanthropy team combines decades of frontline charity leadership, global advisory and impact measurement experience. We come together as a collective, actively listening for different themes, drawing in governance, reputation and next-generation expertise as each family’s needs require.
Key People
Melanie Waters OBE
The Challenges of Giving Well
Philanthropy is deeply personal, yet the landscape is complex.
Unclear Starting Point
A desire to give impactfully, but uncertainty about where to begin, what structures to use, or how to align giving with family values.
Fragmented Advice
Legal, tax, investment and philanthropic advisers operating in silos with no one working collaboratively, joining the picture into a coherent strategy.
Impact Without Evidence
Generous philanthropic investment with no framework to measure outcomes, learn from results, or demonstrate impact to the next generation.
Generational Disconnect
Principals with deep philanthropic commitment, but no clear pathway for the rising generation to engage, learn and eventually lead.
Reputational Exposure
Philanthropy that attracts scrutiny rather than goodwill. Lack of coordination with the family’s broader reputation and communications strategy.
CSR and Foundation Silos
Mission of the family foundation disconnected from the corporate social responsibility of portfolio companies. A missed opportunity for coherence and scale.
How We Support Families
We bring a coordinated team with expertise in strategy, governance, reputation, next-generation readiness, global compliance that shapes a response around what your family actually needs.
Collaborative Philanthropy
Convening with other philanthropists to generate even greater impact with philanthropic investing and/or affecting systems change with combined wealth and partnerships..
Philanthropic Strategy
Developing a clear giving framework aligned to your family’s values, interests and long-term legacy whether you are at the beginning of the journey or well advanced.
Foundation and Structure Coordination
Guidance on charitable vehicles, foundations, donor advised funds, trusts, and giving pledges coordinated with your legal, tax and wealth advisers.
Impact Measurement and Reporting
Theory of Change methodology, outcome frameworks and evidence-driven reporting so you know your giving is working and can demonstrate it.
Due Diligence on Giving
Rigorous assessment of causes, partners and partner organisations before capital is deployed, protecting both your resources and your reputation.
Next-Generation Engagement
Designing pathways for the rising generation to discover their own philanthropic voice from early exposure to board-level governance roles within the family foundation.
CSR Integration
Connecting personal foundation giving with the corporate social responsibility of your operating businesses and portfolio companies under a single, coherent strategy.
Global Philanthropic Advisory
Navigating the distinct regulatory, cultural and operational landscapes of giving across the UK, US, Middle East, Asia, Africa and beyond.
Reputation and Storytelling
Working with our PR and Communications pillar to ensure your philanthropy strengthens your family’s broader narrative and reputation proactively, not reactively.
Leadership
Jamie is Managing Director of Synergos and the Global Philanthropists Circle, one of the world’s leading networks for strategic philanthropists. His career has spanned frontline charity delivery, international development and family philanthropy advisory, with particular depth across the Middle East, Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Before Synergos, Jamie held senior roles at the King’s Trust and the Elton John Aids Foundation. He brings a rare ability to connect the deeply personal motivations of family giving with the rigorous frameworks needed to create lasting impact at scale.
Within Charles Park Family Office, Jamie leads the philanthropy pillar with a conviction that the collective approach drawing on governance, reputation, next-generation and wealth expertise delivers something no individual adviser can match alone.