Our Trustees
The Manny Cohen Foundation is led by a small, dedicated team of trustees who bring a wealth of professional experience, personal commitment and genuine passion to our mission. They give their time freely in service of the communities we support.
Paul Braham
Co-Founder and Trustee
Paul is a trustee and co-founder of The Manny Cohen Foundation, alongside his role as Managing Partner of North London law firm Peter Brown and Co Solicitors. Since establishing the Foundation as a registered charity in 2022, he has shaped its mission to support Jewish and non-Jewish communities through targeted, community-led action.
Paul is especially passionate about the Foundation’s neurodiverse work, leading projects that help children and young adults access the education and support they need to thrive, working closely with several schools to grow this area.
Outside work, he has two children, a Spurs season ticket, and enjoys the odd dram of whisky.
Michael Waller
Co-Founder and Trustee
Mike is a co-founder of The Manny Cohen Foundation. A semi-retired solicitor, he specialised in litigation before moving into business, company and property matters, and has served as a director of three trading companies, chairing the board of two.
Mike’s connection to the Foundation is personal: he was solicitor to the late Manny Cohen, who died intestate with no dependants. Mike championed the rule change enabling Manny’s estate to be directed to charity, then proposed and oversaw the Foundation’s formation. Without his persistence, it simply would not exist.
Outside charitable work, Mike supports West Ham and Barnet, and enjoys bridge, cycling, and hill walking.
John Dresner
Trustee
John is a trustee of The Manny Cohen Foundation, alongside his role as Senior Partner of Peter Brown and Co Solicitors, serving North London and Ware.
John’s connection to the Foundation’s values runs deep. His late father was a Holocaust survivor and member of the 45 Aid Society, which supported “the Boys”, over 700 children given refuge in the UK after the war, and remains active in Holocaust education today.
With over twenty-five years in residential property law and firm management, John is also a Parish Councillor in Braughing and a trustee of the Braughing Old Boys School Community Trust.
He has two grown-up sons, one grandson, and is a committed Chelsea supporter.
Mike Harding
Trustee
Mike was born, brought up and educated in North London, where he still lives. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1974 and practised with his co-trustee Mike Waller until 2012, when they merged their practice with Peter Brown & Co. In recent years he has focused on private client work, including Wills and Trusts.
Mike is a founder member of a local Rotary Club, serving twice as President; Rotary’s core purpose is helping people in need and supporting charities at home and abroad.
A Spurs supporter, his greatest sporting love is cricket, and he has been an MCC member for over 40 years. He and his wife are enthusiastic amateur photographers, having travelled the world in pursuit of the hobby.