Gary Briggs
Formerly CMO of eBay and Facebook, Gary now sits on the boards of Etsy, Petco and Combe. He is a Senior Advisor, Marketing, at OpenAI. Gary has been a Director since 2025.
Meet The Leadership Team
Co-founder and CEO
Matt Pohlson
Matt is the Co-Founder and CEO of Omaze. An entrepreneur, global business leader and storyteller, he has led Omaze to become one of the fastest-growing companies in UK history. His unconventional career journey—including a near-death experience—has shaped his belief that businesses can be a force for good, delivering profit and purpose together.
Under Matt’s leadership, Omaze has raised over $250M for charity, helping fund paediatric cancer units, ambulances, pioneering research teams, education centres and much more.
Matt’s passion has always been using storytelling to drive change. Before Omaze, he was a filmmaker. He wrote and produced documentaries, television shows and global concerts that included luminaries like Bono, Oprah, Bill Gates, Jay-Z and many more. He holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University and has an MBA from Wharton.
VP Growth
Amit Lakhani
Amit is VP of Growth at Omaze, overseeing strategy and execution across customer acquisition, CRM, analytics and insights. He joined Omaze in 2021, serving as VP of Finance and Interim CFO before being appointed VP of Growth in 2025.
Previously, Amit spent five years at Zeal Network SE, where he led M&A and strategy and served as Investment Director, managing Zeal Ventures. He has also served as a Non-Executive Director at DAYMADE, Pick Media and Omni Pet, bringing experience in digital lotteries, prize-led marketing, and mission-driven consumer brands.
He holds a degree in Economics and Statistics from University College London.
Chief Legal Officer
Katherine Minarik
Katherine joined Omaze in 2025 as Chief Legal Officer. Prior to Omaze, she served as Chief Legal Officer at Uniswap Labs, VP and Deputy General Counsel at Coinbase, General Counsel Americas at Dyson, and Chief Administrative Officer and Global General Counsel at Cleverbridge. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade as an equity partner at Bartlit Beck, managing major litigations and investigations, and worked at the US Court of Appeals.
A former McKinsey consultant, Katherine holds a JD and BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MSc from the London School of Economics, where she was a Thouron Scholar.
She serves on the Board of Directors of ChIPs, is a founding member of the US Soccer Development Council, an elected member of the American Law Institute, and a former director of the Blockchain Association.
President
James Oakes
James is the President of Omaze. His journey with the company began in 2017 as an investor and board observer, before hatching a plan with CEO Matt Pohlson to bring Omaze to the UK and launch the Omaze Million Pound House Draw.
Between 2019 and 2025, James launched and led Omaze’s UK business as it became one of the fastest-growing startups in UK history, delivering over £100M to UK charities and redefining large-scale charitable fundraising. In 2025, he moved to spearhead Omaze’s global expansion—launching Germany and laying the foundations for the company’s next international markets.
Before Omaze, James was an economist, entrepreneur, and the founder of Zeal Ventures. He holds an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Driven by a belief that businesses can be forces for good, James is passionate about building ventures that combine ingenuity, vision, and purpose.
Chief Financial Officer
Tim Stone
Tim joined Omaze in 2025 to help lead the next phase of global growth and build the best business for our customers and charity partners.
He spent over 20 years at Amazon, including as CFO of AWS, helping scale the company from a US book business with 250 employees and $150 Million in revenue to a $200 Billion global technology leader. Since Amazon, he has held CFO roles at public companies including Snap Inc., Ford Motor Company and Farfetch, bringing experience that spans technology, automotive and luxury fashion.
Tim holds a degree in accounting from the University of Southern California and now calls London home.
Chief People Officer
Kweku Yankson
Kweku joined Omaze in 2025 as Chief People Officer to help scale the business globally, and build the talent engine to drive business growth.
He previously served as Group Chief People Officer in the clean energy industry at BBOXX Ltd, and most recently led the People function across Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA) in the commercial real estate advisory industry at Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. He’s also worked in a variety of People leadership roles in the telecoms and digital lifestyle industry with Millicom International Cellular, and in commercial roles in the bio-pharmaceutical industry.
A trained scientist, Kweku holds MS and BS degrees from the University of North Carolina and Jacobs University Bremen, respectively, and a post-graduate certificate in Economics & Finance from the University of London.
Meet the Board
Wyc Grousbeck
Lead Owner and Governor of the Boston Celtics and Co-Founder and Partner of Causeway Media Partners, Wyc has been a Director since 2020.
Rick Heitzmann
Founder and Managing Director of FirstMark Capital, Rick has been a Director since 2015.
James McIntyre
Former Managing Director at Moore Strategic Ventures, James has been a Director since 2021
Hilary Schneider
Having served as CEO of Shutterfly and Lifelock and sitting on the boards of Getty Images, Shutterfly, Vail Resorts and the American Journalism Project, Hilary has been a Director since 2025.
Faryar Shirzad
Following roles in the White House, Department of Commerce and International Trade Counsel, Faryar is Chief Policy Officer at Coinbase. Prior to this, he was Global Co-Head of Government Affairs at Goldman Sachs. Faryar has been a Director since 2025.
About Omaze
At Omaze, we offer our community in the UK and Germany the chance to win luxury homes and life-changing prizes while supporting the causes they love.
An entertainment company with a social purpose, we’ve given millions of people the chance to follow their dreams and, through the Omaze Million Pound House Draw, over 50 have become millionaires.
And the best part? Thanks to our Omaze Community, we’ve raised hundreds of millions of dollars for charities worldwide, helping people and the planet thrive.
Our Impact
Since 2012, the Omaze Community has raised more than $250M for some of the biggest and best-loved charities in the US, UK and Germany, including Make-A-Wish, Feeding America, Teenage Cancer Trust, British Heart Foundation, Age UK, the RSPCA and SOS Children’s Villages. Funding everything from children’s cancer care to protecting threatened wildlife, together, we’re making a real difference.
Great news for great causes, too. In the UK, we’re proud to pledge over $50M a year to help our charity partners continue their life-changing work.
