After ten years building up CAF’s social investment fund, CAF Venturesome, John Kingston, its founder and director, announced he would depart to pursue a portfolio career effective from July 2011. 

John is currently a non-executive director of Big Society Capital.

In November 2011 it was announced that John would lead a pilot Investor Advisory Service at Social Finance, which would work with charitable trusts and foundations to identify where these organisations would benefit from supprot to engage with social investment.

John was introduced to the voluntary sector at 18 John via a Voluntary Services Overseas trip to Trinidad teaching maths to a secondary school. After achieving an MBA from Manchester Business School he then went on to work in southern Africa for two years with the Overseas Development Institute. 

In 1990 he became director of fundraising at Save the Children UK where he stayed until joining CAF in 2001. In 2009 he was awarded an OBE for services to the voluntary sector.