Born on 5th September 1957, Martina Milburn’s full life has now led her to be the Chief Executive of The Princes Trust. Formerly Chief Executive of the BBC Children in Need Appeal since 2000, she oversaw nine regional offices, and sat on the trading subsidiary Children in Need Ltd. She was also a member of the BBC's Corporate Social Responsibility Board.

Martina trained and began her career as a journalist, established the Press and Communications function for the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development (CAFOD) and worked on a freelance basis for a range of charities.

She then held the post of Chief Executive of the Association of Spinal Injury Research, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (ASPIRE) - a service delivery charity - for seven years, growing the staff from five to 100. In this role Martina was responsible for the development of Europe's first integrated arts, sports and rehabilitation centre.