Team
Founder & CEO
Dame Hayaatun Sillem DBE PhD
Dame Hayaatun Sillem is one of the UK’s most respected not for profit leaders, known for guiding the Royal Academy of Engineering through a decade of transformational change. Recognised as one of the most influential women in engineering and technology in Europe, she has played a leading role in international engineering and innovation initiatives, including overseeing the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering – the most prestigious engineering award globally – and co-founding the Academy’s Enterprise Hub, ranked by the Financial Times as a top European Startup Hub. She is a trusted voice on innovation, inclusion and leadership, advising governments, contributing to policy development, and hosting What We Don’t Know, the podcast on better leadership in a chaotic world.
Hayaatun has made significant impacts in philanthropy and mission driven investment. She was instrumental in securing a £150 million endowment-style fund for climate innovation fellowships and served as Chair of Judges for the St Andrews Prize for the Environment. Hayaatun also supported F1 driver Sir Lewis Hamilton to design and execute his philanthropic strategy, serving as Co Chair of The Hamilton Commission and founding trustee of his foundation, Mission 44.
Her experience spans CEO, trustee and advisory roles across multiple charities, alongside board roles in the public and private sectors. She has extensive experience of grantmaking, governance and strategy across a wide range of domains, from research and innovation, to culture and heritage, to education and the environment.
As Founder and CEO of Argentic, Hayaatun brings a wealth of experience, outstanding networks and a passion for driving positive change to the realms of philanthropy.
Founder & CFO
Chris Boyle
Chris Boyle has extensive experience of leading operational and financial strategy in private equity, global franchises and charitable institutions, including through senior leadership roles in founder-owned global commercial SMEs and as COO at the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Chris has extensive international start up and scale up experience including identifying and working with professional advisors in 15+ countries. As CFO of a global founder-owned franchise business with $200m+ turnover and 200 franchisees in 12 countries, he was a business partner to franchisees creating 50+ start ups, significant franchise network growth and 50+ business exits. He worked closely with banks across a range of geographies to ensure the franchise business model was endorsed to enable debt financing for new and existing franchisees which enabled the business to grow.
He has been a trusted advisor to founders, boards, private equity principals and private offices working with professional advisors to ensure the founder and family office objectives are met. He has been a trustee of UK charities and a director of UK charity trading subsidiaries and private companies in several countries.
As Co-founder & CFO of Argentic, Chris has a proven ability to deliver transformation, stability and growth in complex environments and deep experience in governance, investment oversight and operational excellence.
Operations Manager
Liz Hollenberg
Liz Hollenberg has nearly 20 years’ experience leading complex international programmes and strengthening the systems that enable organisations to deliver effectively.
Born and raised in low- and middle-income countries, Liz brings a personal as well as professional perspective to her international work. Her career spans non-profit, academic and policy environments, with a particular focus on global health. She has led multi-country programmes and partnerships involving funders, researchers and implementers across Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. At Imperial College London, Liz managed a portfolio of more than £5 million supporting health interventions that reached over 10 million children each year.
At the International League of Dermatological Societies, Liz led global health policy and programme initiatives in collaboration with the World Health Organization, professional societies, NGOs and academic partners. She contributed to the international advocacy that culminated in the World Health Assembly’s 2025 resolution recognising skin diseases as a global public health priority.
As Operations Manager at Argentic, Liz brings a strong systems mindset and a practical focus on translating strategy into coordinated delivery. She leads the firm’s operations, planning and communications, helping ensure its work is delivered with clarity, rigour and care.
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