Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top London based Director operating in the Association space. If you think a Director is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Stephen Bonner
Executive Director, Regulatory Futures of Information Commissioner’s Office
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About Information Commissioner’s Office: The ICO is a U.K.-based independent body set up to uphold information rights.
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Ben Ladkin
Managing Director, MLB Europe of Major League Baseball
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About Major League Baseball: Major League Baseball is a professional baseball organization.
Margaret Burgess
Director of Finance of Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
Margaret joined the Foundation in 2011, bringing experience as Head of Finance and Company Secretary with SME and UK charity expertise. Margaret is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.
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About Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA): The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women is a charity that supports women entrepreneurs in developing and emerging markets
Allison Kahn
Mentoring Programme Director of Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
Allison joined the Mentoring Women in Business team in 2011. She has helped to develop the Foundation’s pioneering online mentoring model, expand its reach to over 55 countries and ensure the programme has an impact on the women entrepreneurs we support. Allison’s work focuses on programmatic strategy and management, monitoring and evaluation, development of our knowledge-sharing and networking platform, partnerships and communications. She previously worked in project management and institutional advancement roles in the post-conflict reconciliation and peacebuilding sectors. She obtained a BA from Macalester College and an MSc from the London School of Economics.
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About Cherie Blair Foundation for Women: The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women is a charity that supports women entrepreneurs in developing and emerging markets
Margaret Burgess
Director of Finance of Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
Margaret joined the Foundation in 2011, bringing experience as Head of Finance and Company Secretary with SME and UK charity expertise. Margaret is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.
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About Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA): The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women is a charity that supports women entrepreneurs in developing and emerging markets
Marian Gazdik
Director, Europe of Startup Grind
Marian has over twenty years of business experience, having worked in different marketing and product management roles with fast growing technology businesses. He is Director at Startup Grind Europe, world’s largest organisation for entrepreneurs, based in 150 countries. Marian is a founding partner at IPM Growth, a venture capital company that invests in high growth companies from Central and Eastern Europe with world class technology. In 2015 he co-founded Braintrust, a think-tank of top entrepreneurs based in the Central & Eastern Europe region. Marian is an advisory board member at Tachyum and is a member of Acquisition Committee (REEAC) at TATE Gallery. He was featured in New Europe 100 (organised by the Financial Times, Google, Respublica and Visegrad Strategy), a list of outstanding leaders in world class innovation from Central and Eastern Europe. Marian holds an MBA from ESCP, the oldest business school in the world.
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About BrainTrust, InfraPartners Management, IPM Growth, Startup Grind, Tate: Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs.
Lewis Hamilton
eCommerce Director of Soho House
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About Soho House: Soho House is a private members’ club for people in the creative industries.
Adam Cull
Senior Director of Financial Policy & Operations of British Bankers Association
Adam is responsible for the BBA’s work relating to financial stability, including: recovery and resolution, macro-prudential oversight and banking union. He also supports the BBA’s engagement with the international standard setters and acts as the secretariat for the International Banking Federation.
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About British Bankers Association: The BBA is the leading trade association for the UK banking sector with more than 230 member banks headquartered in over 50 countries
Justine Walker
Director Financial Crime of British Bankers Association
Justine Walker has extensive experience in government, regulatory and international organisations. During her time in HM Treasury’s counter terrorist financing branch and the FSA’s financial crime division she was a long standing member to the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force. Justine has acted as a national expert on global financial sanction issues and has been engaged in numerous international expert groupings, including a 12 month European Commission global study on proliferation financing. Formerly based in Central Asia with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime she dealt with issues surrounding weapons/drugs trafficking, corruption and money laundering. On behalf of the IMF, Justine’s been a regular visitor to Nigeria in support of financial crime regulatory capacity building.She acted as a good governance advisor to the OSCE and financial crime expert to Transparency International. In the BBA, Justine works on all aspects related to sanctions, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption. She holds a PhD from the University of St Andrews in International Relations and an MSC from the University of Edinburgh.
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About British Bankers Association: The BBA is the leading trade association for the UK banking sector with more than 230 member banks headquartered in over 50 countries
Paul Chisnall
Executive Director, Financial Policy & Operations of British Bankers Association
Paul’s responsibilities include banking reform, financial reporting, tax and corporate governance. Paul prepared industry responses to the Independent Commission on Banking, the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards and various financial stability related UK government consultations. He is currently working on issues arising from the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013, including its provisions on ring-fencing and measures arising from the Government and regulatory response to the PCBS recommendations.
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About British Bankers Association: The BBA is the leading trade association for the UK banking sector with more than 230 member banks headquartered in over 50 countries
Andrew Rogan
Policy Director, Capital Markets and Infrastructure of British Bankers Association
Since joining the BBA as a policy director in 2010, Andrew Rogan has been responsible for the BBA’s post-trade policy. Alongside his focus on clearing, settlement, custody, client assets and infrastructure, Andrew is also responsible for business continuity matters, representing the BBA and its members on a number of important industry and government forums designed to protect customers, clients and the wider wholesale markets. Andrew has extensive public sector experience in both the UK and Australia. Prior to joining the BBA Andrew worked at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Security Industry Authority and the Office for Fair Trading.
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About British Bankers Association: The BBA is the leading trade association for the UK banking sector with more than 230 member banks headquartered in over 50 countries
Irene Graham
Executive Director of Business Finance of British Bankers Association
At the BBA Irene leads the overall policy work across SME and corporate businesses, including key industrial sectors. This includes running Better Business Finance and strategic initiatives across products such as export finance and capital markets. Prior to joining the BBA Irene was a senior banker at Standard Chartered Bank, undertaking executive roles across its international footprint. This included heading its Corporate and Institutional business, and transaction bank in Europe, co-heading SCB’s European wholesale bank and leading international regulatory affairs. She sits on the board of the UK Business Angel Association.
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About British Bankers Association: The BBA is the leading trade association for the UK banking sector with more than 230 member banks headquartered in over 50 countries
Victoria Powell
Policy Director, Capital Markets of British Bankers Association
Victoria joined the BBA in June 2013, following many years at the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and its predecessor the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR), following a secondment from the FSA where she worked in international policy and prudential policy. Victoria is responsible for market abuse regulation, shadow banking and works jointly with Sally on MiFID.
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About British Bankers Association: The BBA is the leading trade association for the UK banking sector with more than 230 member banks headquartered in over 50 countries
Chris Michaels
Digital Director of The National Gallery
Chris Michaels is Digital Director at The National Gallery. Previously he was Head of Digital and Publishing at the British Museum. His mission there was to help the world’s first national museum achieve its founding goal of being the Museum of and for the world. He did this by fully embracing the potential of mobile, social media and big data to transform visitors’ experiences of the Museum’s programmes and collection. Chris was previously CEO at children’s education mobile startup Mindshapes. Backed by Index Ventures and some of the world’s greatest gaming entrepreneurs, Mindshapes released over 40 apps with partners including the BBC and the Jim Henson Company, winning multiple awards and delighting children and families around the world. Chris has previously been an SVP at international media company Chorion; Digital Publisher at HarperCollins; and started professional life in advertising. He has a PhD in American Literature from the University of Bristol.
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About The National Gallery: The National Gallery houses the nation’s collection of Western European painting from the 13th century to 1900.
James Arroyo
Director of Ditchley Foundation
Standing at the crossroads of government, technology and finance, Ditchley brings together global leaders to brainstorm big international problems, including sustaining a global Internet (www.ditchley.co.uk). Previously, James was chief data officer for the Foreign Office, leading transformation in response to the impact of technology. In addition to his work at Ditchley he advises government, major companies and technology startups and is rewriting Machiavelli’s The Prince for the digital age.
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About Ditchley Foundation: Ditchley Foundation brings together practitioners and experts from around the world to help shape policy on the international issues.
Tim Kay
Deputy Director – Technology of Department for International Trade
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About Department for International Trade: DIT is responsible for promoting UK trade across the world and ensuring the UK takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us.
Alexander Milne
Head of Financial Services and Director, Kenya of Department for International Trade
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About Department for International Trade: DIT is responsible for promoting UK trade across the world and ensuring the UK takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us.
Mark Norris
Assistant Director of Department for International Trade
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About Department for International Trade: DIT is responsible for promoting UK trade across the world and ensuring the UK takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us.
Nick Burns
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Capita Employee Benefits
Nick has been a pioneer in the Employee Benefits industry for over 25 years. He created and led Bluefin Corporate Consulting, a new challenger brand in the sector. He then led the merger of Bluefin with Capita Hartshead to create Capita Employee Benefits which is now the world’s largest UK–owned Employee Benefits organisation.
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About : Capita Employee Benefits which is now the world’s largest UK–owned Employee Benefits organisation.
Martine Parnell
Director of Members, Marketing and Digital of Royal Horticultural Society
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About Royal Horticultural Society: The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening.
Bleddyn Rees
Deputy Chair and Founding Director of Echalliance
Bleddyn is an experienced commercial and international healthcare lawyer with 30 years legal experience.He spent almost 4 years on secondment as General Counsel of the Commercial Directorate of the UK Department of Health. He is the Deputy Chair of the European Connected Health Alliance ( www.echalliance.com), a Director of the Digital Health Society, a member of the Commercial Committee of Guy’s and St.Thomas’ NHS Hospital in London and a member of the European Commission’s eHealth Stakeholders Group.He is on the Industry Advisory Board of a range of health and care organisations including Digital Health.London and a Non Executive Director for health startups. He has worked across Europe and the Middle East in healthcare and has a special interest in digital health as well as health technology, healthcare contracting, outcomes, health data, analytics and innovation and startups. Bleddyn advises Governments, Hospitals and businesses working across the health and social care sectors. The European Connected Health Alliance facilitates the transformation of health and care systems by creating permanent geographic multi stakeholders Ecosystems which transfer best practice ,innovation and lessons learned from one country and region to another. There are 32 International Ecosystems already in existence. Bleddyn is the MC for the Digital Health and Wellness Summit at 4YFN ( 4 Years from Now) now in its seventh year at Mobile World Congress the annual Conference for telecommunications and technology businesses which attracts 92,000 people in Barcelona in February each year.
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About Echalliance: The European Connected Health Alliance (ECHAlliance) brings people and organisations in the health and wellbeing industry together.
Belinda Goldsmith
Global Media Director of Save the Children International
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About Save the Children International: Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children.
Catherine Sermon
Employability Director of Business in the Community
Catherine joined Business in the Community in 1998, after completing a Master of Arts in Marketing. She has held various posts including campaigning, research and development, and advisory services work predominantly across community and workplace teams. This has included establishing the Business Action on Health campaign in 2005 and leading the strategic direction of all community campaigns from 2008 to 2012. Two maternity leaves later, Catherine is Employment Director, leading BITC’s work to increase access to quality & sustainable work for people facing disadvantage, including the flagship Ready for Work programme. She is also a trustee of the Batten Disease Family Association.
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About Business in the Community, Business in the Community: Business in the Community is a business-led, issue-focused charity with more than 30 years’ experience of mobilising business.
Paddy O’Clery
Business Development Director of Amber Energy
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About Amber Energy: AMBER is a for profit cooperative with the goal of growing community based green energy generation in Ontario by engaging residents.
Craig Jones
Director of Communications of Advertising Standards Authority – ASA
Craig Jones is a Director of Communications at Advertising Standards Authority,
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About Advertising Standards Authority – ASA: Advertising Standards Authority – ASA is the jury that decides whether advertisements have broken the Advertising Codes.
Deshini Newman
Managing Director – EMEA of (ISC)2
As Managing Director for EMEA, Deshini Newman leads the (ISC)² team across the region. Her responsibilities include developing and implementing strategy for the EMEA region and supporting the (ISC)² global vision and mission. Before Joining (ISC)2, Deshini held several education leadership roles, at Edexcel International, Pearson Group, and most recently Cambridge Assessment English, where she held positions as Global Manager of Strategy, Assistant Director, Global Business Development and Global Head of Higher Education and Adult Sector. Cambridge Assessment English has provided English language assessments and qualifications since 1913, and is part of Cambridge Assessment Group, Cambridge University (UK).
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About (ISC)2: (ISC)2 is the official organization that maintains and administers the CISSP certification exam.
Mary-Jo de Leeuw
Director of Cybersecurity Advocacy for Europe Middle East and Africa of (ISC)2
Mary-Jo de Leeuw honored as a Cybersecurity Excellence Award in 2018.
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About (ISC)2: (ISC)2 is the official organization that maintains and administers the CISSP certification exam.
Rob Harlow
Co-Founder & Director of G33K
Rob has been a dedicated geek ever since being given a ZX Spectrum at 8 years old and spending an entire summer copying the code for Hangman.
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About Colour Me Social, G33K, SoPro – Social Prospecting, SOTEQ: G33K Holdings is a UK based group of technology businesses providing marketing, technical and creative services to a progressive world.
Ben Russell
Deputy Director National Economic Crime Centre of National Crime Agency – NCA
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About National Crime Agency – NCA: The National Crime Agency (NCA) is a national law enforcement agency in the United Kingdom.
James Drinkwater
Director of World Green Building Council
James Drinkwater leads the work of World Green Business Council’s Europe Regional Network, a community of over 20 national Green Building Councils, 9 regional partners, and over 4.500 members from across the buildings sector – and is a regular adviser to the EU and UN on sustainable built environment issues He has spearheaded ground-breaking initiatives that have seen major banks agree an EU-wide definition for ‘green mortgages’, over 2,000 organizations come together to establish ambitious building renovation strategies across over half of Europe and is now taking on the challenge of mainstreaming life cycle assessment and circular construction.
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About World Green Building Council: The World Green Building Council is a non-profit organization and a coalition of national Green Building Councils.
Brendan Quinn
Fundraising Director of Connections Fota
Brendan Quinn has been involved in the mental healthcare and addiction sector for just over twenty years. After studying substance abuse in college and receiving on-site mental health training at two hospitals in London, Brendan decided to take a more business-oriented approach so that he could grow important organisations. Since then he’s focused on management, administrative work, and financial support for important initiatives across the board. Brendan has experience in various specialties in mental healthcare, including but not limited to care for elderly people, mental disorders and illnesses, and pharmaceutical products. Now Brendan is the Commercial Director of two large drug addiction recovery and rehabilitation organisations. He focuses on providing more options to individuals who want personalised care and treatment without the burden of relocating to an institution. As his proprietary mental health organisations continue to grow, Brendan hopes to raise more awareness about the importance of mental healthcare, all while diminishing the impacts of unfortunate stigmatisation that the public often places on it. Brendan is also active in a small organisation based on Fota Island, Ireland: Connections. He generally works on fundraising so that more therapists can get involved with the organisation, which provides much-needed financial resources and recreational opportunities for the families of individuals with profound learning disabilities.
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About Connections Fota: Connections Fota is a holistic care organisation based out of Fota Island, Ireland
Dylan Tanner
he Executive Director & Founder of InfluenceMap
Dylan Tanner currently works as the Executive Director and Founder for InfluenceMap.
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About InfluenceMap: InfluenceMap provides information and analysis on the impact of business and finance on the climate crisis.
Abigail Moss
Deputy Director of National Literacy Trust
Abigail was appointed Deputy Director of the National Literacy Trust in March 2010. Before that, she led a local government improvement programme at Museums, Libraries and Archives London and, from 1999 to 2009, was at Arts Council England, London, latterly as Director of Children and Young People’s Strategy. She has also worked as a secondary school English teacher, performer and local authority change manager.
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About National Literacy Trust: The National Literacy Trust is the only national charity dedicated to raising literacy levels in the UK.
Jonathan Douglas
Director of National Literacy Trust
Jonathan was appointed Director of the National Literacy Trust in January 2007. Previously he was Head of Policy Development at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, where he also worked as Head of Learning and Access. Prior to that, he was Professional Adviser for Youth and School Libraries at the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. He has also worked as a librarian and in children’s services for Westminster Libraries. Jonathan is on the Advisory Committee of the Man Booker Prize and is Chair of Governors at his local primary school.
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About National Literacy Trust: The National Literacy Trust is the only national charity dedicated to raising literacy levels in the UK.
Michael Wilkinson
Associate Director for Digital and Innovation of RNID
Michael is an experienced digital and technology leader, having worked in multiple sectors over the past 13 years.
He is Associate Director for Digital and Innovation at RNID and has been a director at the organisation since May 2019 where he has led on a digital-first strategy and introduced a product mindset and Agile working practices.
Previously he was Head of Digital Change at Young Lives vs Cancer and, prior to that, Head of Digital Content at the Liberal Democrats. He was previously a key player in the digital transformation of The Telegraph, where he was a digital editor and political correspondent.
At The Telegraph, he supported the rollout of the new Telegraph.co.uk, delivered digital coaching for 500 journalists and his own editorial content was viewed 105 million times.
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About RNID: RNID provides funding, assistance, and support to people with hearing loss.
Hamish MacLeod
Director of Mobile UK
Hamish MacLeod has served as the Director of Mobile UK since its formation in March 2016. Prior to this, he chaired for 14 years the Mobile Broadband Group, one of the cross industry bodies that was merged into Mobile UK, working across a broad range of public policy matters, including child protection, privacy and payments. He is an executive board member of the UK Council on Child Internet Safety and a director of the Committee for Advertising Practice. Hamish is a graduate of Aberdeen University, a qualified accountant and holds an MBA from Cass Business School.
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About Mobile UK: Mobile UK is the trade association for the UK’s mobile network operators.
Evelina Zemziulina
Divisional Director of Worldwide Business Research
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About Worldwide Business Research: Worldwide Business Research is an event management company that runs annual conferences with marketing solutions and events worldwide.
Margaret Cole
Director of Enforcement of Financial Services Authority
Margaret Cole, General Counsel, joined the FSA in July 2005 as Director of Enforcement. She is a graduate in Law from New Hall, Cambridge and is a solicitor with over 20 years’ experience in private practice, specialising in commercial litigation with an emphasis on financial services. She is also qualified as a Mediator with CEDR and the ADR Group. From 1990 to 1995 Margaret was a Partner with Stephenson Harwood, where she was responsible for the recovery actions in relation to the Maxwell Pension Funds on behalf of the Pension Funds Trustee. In 1995 she joined the London Office of international law firm White & Case to found and head its Dispute Resolution Department. In 2009 Margaret took over responsibility for the FSA’s Financial Crime Division which merged with the Enforcement Division. In 2010 she joined the FSA’s Board as Managing Director, Enforcement and Financial Crime. In April 2011 she assumed Interim responsibility for the new Conduct Business Unit which formed the core of the new Financial Conduct Authority. Until 2011 she also served as a Non Executive Director of the National Skills Academy Financial Services. Margaret joined PwC as a partner in September 2012 to take over the role of General Counsel on the Executive Board.
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About Financial Services Authority, Price Waterhouse, PwC: Regulator of all providers of financial services in the UK; Bank of England retains responsibility for systemic risk.
Marpin Kho
Managing Director of Advanced Retention Therapeutics & Research Ltd
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About Advanced Retention Therapeutics & Research Ltd: At ART Research, we are revolutionising the way medicines are delivered to patients in the fight to defeat medicine non-adherence.
Debrah Harding
Managing Director of The Market Research Society
Debrah is Managing Director of the Market Research Society (MRS), a Vice President of the European Research Federation EFAMRO and an Executive Board member of the Global Research Business Network (GRBN). Debrah leads MRS’ standards, policy and public affairs activities working extensively with government departments and European institutions on issues which affect research, insight and data. Debrah has a wealth of knowledge of ethical codes, guidelines, data protection and on the enforcement of professional & process standards and is co-author of the book, Quality in Market Research: from Theory to Practice. Prior to joining MRS Debrah worked in accountancy and publishing. Debrah is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the RSA; and a Trustee of the McDougall Trust, a charity which promotes public understanding of electoral democracy.
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About The Market Research Society: The Market Research Society (MRS) is the world’s leading authority for the research, insight, marketing science and data analytics sectors.
Michael Malen
Director of 6 Degrees Network
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About 6 Degrees Network: A hybrid networking company, for ordinary individuals to meet extraordinary people within their field of practice.
Ergys Peka
Founder / Director of 6 Degrees Network
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About : A hybrid networking company, for ordinary individuals to meet extraordinary people within their field of practice.
Carolyn Williams
Director of Corporate Relations of The Institute of Risk Management
Carolyn Williams is Director of Corporate Relations at the Institute of Risk Management. She is responsible for engaging with potential members, corporate partners, employers and others to communicate the importance of risk management, competency and professional development and the role of the IRM. In her 10 years at IRM she has also been responsible for technical development and thought leadership projects. Before joining IRM she was Head of Risk Management Training and Communication for Lloyd’s of London, during which time she took the IRM Diploma examinations. Carolyn represents IRM on various bodies including the Advisory Board of Nottingham University’s Centre for Risk, Banking and Financial Services. She studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University and is a Chartered Insurance Risk Manager and a full Member of the IRM.
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About The Institute of Risk Management: The Institute of Risk Management (IRM) was founded in April 1986 to meet growing demand for a diploma course in risk management.
Oscar Martí
Director of Catalonia Trade & Investment
Oscar Martí holds a BA in Political Science and International Relations from UAB (Barcelona). He completed further studies in International Politics and Economics at LSE (London) and PKU (Beijing). He spent time working for the European Institute of Public Administration and the United Nations Regional Information Centre in Brussels, before joining the Singapore office of Catalonia Trade & Investment in 2010. Since 2015 he has been the Director of Catalonia Trade & Investment in London.
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About Catalonia Trade & Investment: Helping international companies invest in catalonia since 1985.
Romuald Restout
Board Director of HR Open Standards
Market-driven product strategist focused on delivering innovative and profitable software solutions. Strong track record of building ambitious teams and turning business strategy into concise, executable product vision and plans. Valued member of the senior management team for a well-rounded, market-focused perspective that ensures faster time to market and accelerates revenue generation.
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About : Non-profit, volunteer-led organization dedicated to the development of standards to enable human resource related data exchanges
Adrian Cheok
Director of Imagineering Institute
Adrian David Cheok is a chair Professor of Pervasive Computing at City University London. He is Founder and Director of the Mixed Reality Lab, Singapore. He was formerly Full Professor at Keio University, Graduate School of Media Design and Associate Professor in the National University of Singapore. He has previously worked in real-time systems, soft computing, and embedded computing in Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs, Japan. He has been working on research covering mixed reality, human-computer interfaces, wearable computers and ubiquitous computing, fuzzy systems, embedded systems, power electronics. He has successfully obtained approximately $20 million dollars in funding for externally funded projects in the area of wearable computers and mixed reality from Media Development Authority, Nike, National Oilwell Varco, Defense Science Technology Agency, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Communications and Arts, National Arts Council, Singapore Science Center, and Hougang Primary School. The research output has included numerous high quality academic journal papers, research awards, keynote speeches, international exhibitions, numerous government demonstrations including to government President and Prime Ministers, broadcast television worldwide broadcasts on his research (such as CNN/CNBC/ABC/Discovery/National Geographic etc.), and hundreds of international press media articles. He has been a keynote and invited speaker at numerous international conferences and events. He was invited to exhibit for two years in the Ars Electronica Museum of the Future, launching in the Ars Electronica Festival 2003. His works “Human Pacman”, “Magic Land”, and “Metazoa Ludens”, were each selected as one of the worlds top inventions by Wired and invited to be exhibited in Wired NextFest 2005 and 2007. He was awarded the Hitachi Fellowship, the A-STAR Young Scientist of the Year Award, and the SCS Singapore Young Professional of the Year Award. He was invited to be the Singapore representative of the United Nations body IFIP SG 16 on Entertainment Computing and the founding Chairman of the Singapore Computer Society Special Interest Group on Entertainment Computing. He was awarded an Associate of the Arts award by the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Singapore. He was awarded as Fellow in Education, World Technology Network. He was awarded a Microsoft Research Award for Gaming and Graphics. He received the C4C Children Competition Prize for best interaction media for children, the Integrated Art Competition Prize by the Singapore Land Transport Authority, Creativity in Action Award, and a First Prize Nokia Mindtrek Award. He received a First Prize in the Milan International InventiON competition. He is winner of Keio University Gijyuju-sho award, awarded for the best research of the year in Keio University, Japan’s oldest university. He received an SIP Distinguished Fellow Award which honors legendary leaders whose illustrious lives have positively influenced lives across generations and communities around the globe. He was awarded Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. This honor is bestowed each year by the World Economic Forum to recognize and acknowledge the top young leaders from around the world for the professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world. He was awarded “Honorary Expert” by Telefonica and El Bulli, the number one restaurant in the world. In 2014, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), an organisation which is committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges. He is Editor in Chief of the academic journals: Transactions on Edutainment (Springer) and ACM Computers in Entertainment, and Lovotics: Academic Studies of Love and Friendship with Robots.He is of Associate Editor of Advances in Human Computer Interaction, International Journal of Arts and Technology (IJART), Journal of Recent Patents on Computer Science, The Open Electrical and Electronic Engineering Journal, International Journal of Entertainment Technology and Management (IJEntTM), Virtual Reality (Springer-Verlag), International Journal of Virtual Reality, and The Journal of Virtual Reality and Broadcasting. Adrian David Cheok, who was born and raised in Adelaide Australia, graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic) with First Class Honors in 1992 and an Engineering PhD in 1998.
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About City University London, Imagineering Institute, RingU: The Imagineering Institute is a new research lab funded by the Malaysian government, with the vision “Invent the Future of Internet”.
Adrian Cheok
Director of Imagineering Institute
Adrian David Cheok is a chair Professor of Pervasive Computing at City University London. He is Founder and Director of the Mixed Reality Lab, Singapore. He was formerly Full Professor at Keio University, Graduate School of Media Design and Associate Professor in the National University of Singapore. He has previously worked in real-time systems, soft computing, and embedded computing in Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs, Japan. He has been working on research covering mixed reality, human-computer interfaces, wearable computers and ubiquitous computing, fuzzy systems, embedded systems, power electronics. He has successfully obtained approximately $20 million dollars in funding for externally funded projects in the area of wearable computers and mixed reality from Media Development Authority, Nike, National Oilwell Varco, Defense Science Technology Agency, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Communications and Arts, National Arts Council, Singapore Science Center, and Hougang Primary School. The research output has included numerous high quality academic journal papers, research awards, keynote speeches, international exhibitions, numerous government demonstrations including to government President and Prime Ministers, broadcast television worldwide broadcasts on his research (such as CNN/CNBC/ABC/Discovery/National Geographic etc.), and hundreds of international press media articles. He has been a keynote and invited speaker at numerous international conferences and events. He was invited to exhibit for two years in the Ars Electronica Museum of the Future, launching in the Ars Electronica Festival 2003. His works “Human Pacman”, “Magic Land”, and “Metazoa Ludens”, were each selected as one of the worlds top inventions by Wired and invited to be exhibited in Wired NextFest 2005 and 2007. He was awarded the Hitachi Fellowship, the A-STAR Young Scientist of the Year Award, and the SCS Singapore Young Professional of the Year Award. He was invited to be the Singapore representative of the United Nations body IFIP SG 16 on Entertainment Computing and the founding Chairman of the Singapore Computer Society Special Interest Group on Entertainment Computing. He was awarded an Associate of the Arts award by the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Singapore. He was awarded as Fellow in Education, World Technology Network. He was awarded a Microsoft Research Award for Gaming and Graphics. He received the C4C Children Competition Prize for best interaction media for children, the Integrated Art Competition Prize by the Singapore Land Transport Authority, Creativity in Action Award, and a First Prize Nokia Mindtrek Award. He received a First Prize in the Milan International InventiON competition. He is winner of Keio University Gijyuju-sho award, awarded for the best research of the year in Keio University, Japan’s oldest university. He received an SIP Distinguished Fellow Award which honors legendary leaders whose illustrious lives have positively influenced lives across generations and communities around the globe. He was awarded Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. This honor is bestowed each year by the World Economic Forum to recognize and acknowledge the top young leaders from around the world for the professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world. He was awarded “Honorary Expert” by Telefonica and El Bulli, the number one restaurant in the world. In 2014, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), an organisation which is committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges. He is Editor in Chief of the academic journals: Transactions on Edutainment (Springer) and ACM Computers in Entertainment, and Lovotics: Academic Studies of Love and Friendship with Robots.He is of Associate Editor of Advances in Human Computer Interaction, International Journal of Arts and Technology (IJART), Journal of Recent Patents on Computer Science, The Open Electrical and Electronic Engineering Journal, International Journal of Entertainment Technology and Management (IJEntTM), Virtual Reality (Springer-Verlag), International Journal of Virtual Reality, and The Journal of Virtual Reality and Broadcasting. Adrian David Cheok, who was born and raised in Adelaide Australia, graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic) with First Class Honors in 1992 and an Engineering PhD in 1998.
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About City University London, Imagineering Institute, RingU: The Imagineering Institute is a new research lab funded by the Malaysian government, with the vision “Invent the Future of Internet”.
Jim Killock
Executive Director of Open Rights Group
Jim Killock is Executive Director of Open Rights Group.
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About Open Rights Group: Open Rights Group is a non-profit organization that exists to protect civil liberties.
Alex Pell
Strategy Director of SnapDonate
As the former technology editor of The Sunday Times and prior to that, the editor of Stuff Magazine, Alex genuinely understands what makes people want to engage with apps and gadgets – or not. He brings this knowledge to bear on everything SnapDonate does to ensure that it remains something people can relate to. Alex is also the driving force behind Dashboard Media, a London-based alliance of creative professionals.
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About SnapDonate: SnapDonate transforms your phone into a ‘magic lens’ able to recognise charity logos.
Alex Pell
Strategy Director of SnapDonate
As the former technology editor of The Sunday Times and prior to that, the editor of Stuff Magazine, Alex genuinely understands what makes people want to engage with apps and gadgets – or not. He brings this knowledge to bear on everything SnapDonate does to ensure that it remains something people can relate to. Alex is also the driving force behind Dashboard Media, a London-based alliance of creative professionals.
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About SnapDonate: SnapDonate transforms your phone into a ‘magic lens’ able to recognise charity logos.
Paul Taylor
Ast. Director, Organisational Development of NHS Employers
Paul Taylor created and leads Do OD, the expert Organisational Development resource for the NHS. Paul works across the NHS enabling OD practitioners to connect, share, learn and grow. Paul is a member of CIPD with a degree in Psychology, a Masters in HR Leadership and is currently working on his Doctorate in Organisational Development. Paul joined the NHS in 2003 following a range of successful roles in Local Government, the voluntary and private sectors. Pauls career encompasses roles in OD, HR, L&D and strategic workforce change. Paul’s work is motivated by a desire to unleash people’s full potential.
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About NHS Employers: The NHS Employers organisation is the voice of employers in the NHS, supporting them to put patients first.
Paul Taylor
Ast. Director, Organisational Development of NHS Employers
Paul Taylor created and leads Do OD, the expert Organisational Development resource for the NHS. Paul works across the NHS enabling OD practitioners to connect, share, learn and grow. Paul is a member of CIPD with a degree in Psychology, a Masters in HR Leadership and is currently working on his Doctorate in Organisational Development. Paul joined the NHS in 2003 following a range of successful roles in Local Government, the voluntary and private sectors. Pauls career encompasses roles in OD, HR, L&D and strategic workforce change. Paul’s work is motivated by a desire to unleash people’s full potential.
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About NHS Employers: The NHS Employers organisation is the voice of employers in the NHS, supporting them to put patients first.
Christine Payne
Boards of Directors of Creative & Cultural Skills
In November 2005 Christine was elected General Secretary of Equity. Christine joined Equity in 1979 as an Organising Assistant in the Film, TV and Radio (FTVR) department. In 1982 she became the Television Commercials Organiser and negotiated the first agreement covering the use of commercials on TVAM and Channel 4. In 1991 she took over as the Head of FTVR and negotiated the first collective agreements to cover the use of television programmes on UK cable and satellite channels. In 1999 she took over as Head of the Theatre and Variety department and led theatre negotiations covering west end, subsidised repertory, small scale and commercial theatre. Christine is a member of the Board of Creative & Cultural Skills. She is a board member of PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) and ERA (Educational Recording Agency) and is Vice-President and Treasurer of the FIA (International Federation of Actors). Equity represents performers and creative personnel across the entire spectrum of entertainment and the arts. Membership includes actors, singers, dancers, choreographers, variety and circus artists, stage management, theatre designers and directors, TV and radio presenters, walk-on and supporting artists, stunt performers and co-ordinators and theatre fight directors.
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About : We are Creative & Cultural Skills and the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural.
