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 United Kingdom based Founder operating in the Association space. If you think a Founder 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.
Rodney Aldridge
Founder of The Aldridge Foundation
As the founder of the Capita Group in 1984 until his retirement in 2006, Sir Rodney Aldridge led the company from start-up to becoming a FTSE 100 company, with Capita thus becoming the market leader in the provision of support and professional services to the government and private sector in the UK. Capital Group is now the 50th ranked company on the FTSE 100, with a market capitalisation of over £8 billion. Prior to Capita, Sir Rodney worked in local government for ten years with East Essex County Council, Brighton Borough Council, Crawley District Group and West Sussex Council, becoming a qualified accountant with CIPFA in 1970, joining CIPFA in 1974, and ultimately becoming its Technical Director. Rodney was awarded an OBE in the 1994 New Years Honours List and was given the Freedom of the City of London in 1996. In 2006 he was elected fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and in 2012 he received a Knighthood. In addition, Sir Rodney is Chair of the Lowry Arts and Entertainment venue in Salford; Chair of Acorn Care and Education, Patron and former Trustee of the Prince’s Trust; and founding member of the Prince’s Charities Council.
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About The Aldridge Foundation, The Prince’s Trust: Aldridge Foundation is an educational charity that helps young people reach their potential through the sponsorship of entrepreneurial
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Benoy Berry
CEO & Founder of Contec Global Inc.
As CEO and managing director of Continental Transfer Technique Limited (Contec Global), Benoy Berry leads a Chicago firm that engages in ventures around the globe in hospitality, secure technologies, infrastructure, and research and development. In recent years, Benoy Berry has emphasized investments in the energy sector, and his firm maintains a longstanding presence in the African oil, gas, and power markets. His company also pursues alternative technology projects, including the development of an electric automobile in China and an ammonia-powered vehicle. Benoy Berry has a degree in economics from Delhi University along with an MA in finance from the same institution. He pursued doctoral studies in communication arts at the World Open University. His professional accomplishments include earning the Nigeria Association of Science’s Outstanding Achievement in Technology Award in 2011. Benoy Berry supports a number of humanitarian causes, and he also received an award for sponsoring the National Anti-Human Trafficking Campaign.
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About Contec Global Inc.: Continental Transfer Technique Limited (CONTEC), a biometric technology and secured system organization.
Harry ‘Tomi Davies
Co-Founder and President of African Business Angel Network
Harry Tomi Davies (TD) is a versatile technology business leader, keynote speaker and advisor with over two decades of outstanding experience building large-scale, national and regionwide IT infrastructure projects across Africa. He has held a variety of executive and non-executive leadership roles with influential global brands like Ernst & Young, Marks & Spencer, Elf, Sapient and the One Laptop Per Child project. Over the last decade TD has looked after a growing portfolio of Africabased tech-enabled early stage businesses and is the Founder of the Lagos Angel Network (LAN). He is also President of the African Business Angel Network (ABAN). He is a seasoned technology strategist and project development expert with significant market intelligence, research and project management skills. Author and regular keynote speaker with a substantial network of connections globally including on most major social media platforms. He is an inspiring thought leader TD is a volunteer to a number of non-profit organizations and Guest lecturer at the Pan Atlantic University’s Enterprise Development Centre. His rich and varied experience has been leveraged by organisations for advisory services, speaking engagements and nonexecutive board roles at companies like MBO Capital Limited (Private Equity), TextNigeria Limited (Telecoms) and Sproxil Nigeria (Anti-Counterfeit Technologies)
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About African Business Angel Network: ABAN is a non-profit association that seeks to promote a culture of Angel investing across Africa.
Sherry Coutu
Founder & Executive Chairman of Founders4Schools
Sherry Coutu is an angel investor and serves on the boards of companies, charities and universities.As an entrepreneur, Sherry established and successfully sold two businesses in the financial services industry. The first (acquired by Euromoney plc) has operations in more than 70 countries. The second was floated in 2000 on London and Nasdaq and the company was valued at more than $1 billion before being acquired (by AMP plc). Sherry is active in early stage investing and has raised several rounds of venture capital and public equity totaling more than $200 million. Sherry has decades of experience serving companies which range from fast growth private early stage to public and boards with turnover of more than £ 1 bn.She is a frequent public speaker, a national judge of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards, and presents regularly at the top business schools. She specialises in consumer, internet, information services and clean energy. Current university affiliations include Cambridge University and Harvard Business School. Charitable / Government affiliations include the Prince’s Trust, Cancer Research UK and NESTA.
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About Cambridge Angels group, Founders4Schools, London Stock Exchange, PrimeLocation.com, Raspberry Pi Foundation, Silicon Valley Comes to the UK, The Digital Property Group, University of Cambridge, Workfinder: Founders4Schools is a free service that enables teachers to invite founders of successful, businesses to visit schools, to inspire learners.
John David
CEO and Founder of Amnick
John is the Chair for the Telegraph newspaper Tech and Innovation task force, and also chair for the Industrial Internet of Things for Central and South Europe Council. Current initiatives John is leading on: Buying and selling best technologies and solutions from solution providers across the world – including IoT, Digital, Blockchain, Cyber, AI. Creation of a Digital University for 2020 with Tech and solution providers helping to train industry specialist as part of Amnick certificate/degrees International Collaboration team made up of city leaders, mayors, 110 tech companies, municipalities and universities from across the world (www.amnick.com). This initiative focuses on city challenges – digital inclusion, commercialisation – bringing in more money, connecting smaller cities, social mobility and intelligent transportation systems. Smart Cities magazine – where city leaders/tech sector/universities can all contribute at www.bpmm.co.uk John is also being appointed onto the Scientific Advisory Board for the Chinese Government. And is also working with the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development.
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About Amnick: Amnick is a collection of senior ex-local authority staff, as well a consortium of local authority and private sector-partnering org.
Benjamin Todd
CEO, Co Founder & Executive Director of 80,000 Hours
In under three years with Ben’s leadership, 80,000 Hours has grown from a student society, to an Oxford affiliated charity, featured on TED, the Washington Post, the BBC Today Programme and more. Ben has a 1st from Oxford in Physics and Philosophy, has published in Climate Physics and speaks Chinese. Before 80,000 Hours, he was the first undergraduate to intern as an analyst at a top investment fund. Rather than taking the job, he persuaded the Chairman to donate £60,000 to 80,000 Hours.
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About 80,000 Hours: 80,000 Hours is an evidence-based advice on careers that make a difference.
Greg Lawton
Co-Founder and CEO of Nodes & Links
Greg Lawton is an Astrophysicist who spent the last 7 years of his career in BAE Systems (UK). He managed large defence programmes (£100M+), advised the Board of DIrectors on International Strategy, and owned key relationships with the UK Government and MoD.
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About Nodes & Links: Nodes & Links empowers organizations across all domains to tame project complexity.
Christos Ellinas
Co-Founder and CTO of Nodes & Links
Dr. Christos Ellinas holds a doctorate in Complex Systems from Bristol University (UK), where he was a faculty member, and was a Visiting Professor at Stevens Institute (USA). His research is award winning, has been published in leading scientific journals and industry guides, has attracted EU and industry funding and has been piloted across several large-scale projects.
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About Nodes & Links: Nodes & Links empowers organizations across all domains to tame project complexity.
Robert Courtneidge
Past Chairman and Founder of Prepaid International Forum
Robert Courtneidge is the Firm’s Global Head of Cards & Payments. Robert is noted for his knowledge and experience in the e-money area, where he has acted on matters for major financial institutions around the world, as well as for internationally well-known technology providers. He has more than 26 years of experience in the cards and payment systems and is skilled in all aspects of consumer finance issues, including consumer protection, banking regulation and compliance and data protection. Robert works closely with The Payments Services Regulator, HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Association and other compliance and industry bodies to ensure compliance for his clients. He places special emphasis on working with high tech industries and products in the financial services industry, embracing new technological and legislative/regulatory developments. Many of his clients have new products, and he is able to guide them in the process of bringing them to the market.
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About Locke Lord, Prepaid International Forum: The Prepaid International Forum (PIF) is a principal trade association for the prepaid industry.
Jeanette Carlsson
Founder & CEO of Tech Nordic Advocates
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About newmedia2.0, Tech Nordic Advocates: Tech Nordic Advocates is Northern Europe’s largest and only pan-Nordic/Baltic tech/startup community.
Jolyon Ralph
Founder of Mindat.org
Jolyon is the founder of mindat.org. He started mindat as a personal mineral information database in 1993, which was later launched as a web site in October 2000. He also runs the gemdat.org website with his wife Katya. They have a young son, Roman, born in 2014.
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About Mindat.org: Mindat.org is a mineralogy database and mineralogical reference website on the internet.
Germán Bencci
Founder & CEO of CodeYourFuture
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About CodeYourFuture: CodeYourFuture is a non-profit organisation supporting refugees with the dream of becoming developers.
Benedicta Banga
Founder of Leadher Initiative
Benedicta Banga is a Career Strategist, Coach and Author of How to land your perfect career after graduation. She runs career brand Leadher Initiative helping women design careers that they love and enjoy so they can progress in their career. She has coached and mentored hundreds of ambitious career women and has worked with a number of pretigious brands including Natwest, Google Digital Garage, MAC Cosmetics and Condé Nast College. Her writing and work has been featured in The Guardian, Metro, Fast Company, BBC and Thrive Global.
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About Leadher Initiative: Leadher Initiative
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.
Joslyn Ma
Co-Founder of World Law Forum
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About : An independent, non-partisan, international community of change-makers committed to transform the world through law.
Ivy Cavendish
CEO & Co-Founder of The Science Writing Revolution
Ivy Cavendish is the CEO and co-founder of The Science Writing Revolution.
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About The Science Writing Revolution: The Science Writing Revolution is an academic-led initiative to revolutionize scientific writing.
Algernon Bloom
CoO & Co-Founder of The Science Writing Revolution
Algernon Bloom is the CoO and co-founder of The Science Writing Revolution.
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About The Science Writing Revolution: The Science Writing Revolution is an academic-led initiative to revolutionize scientific writing.
Dr. Constantina Katsari-Muston
CoFounder and CEO of Startdoms
Tech Entrepreneur, Agile and Lean products, currently running Startdoms, a virtual accelerator for startups
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About Keyping, Startdoms: A community of startups, mentors, business advisors, investors and enthusiasts who support entrepreneurs in their new ventures.
Jacob Lief
CEO and Founder of Ubuntu Education Fund
Jacob Leif is the founder and CEO of Ubuntu Education Fund. Forming the nonprofit organization came to Jacob’s mind after visiting South Africa in 1999, when the country is still in transition to becoming a democratic nation. Since then, he has developed Ubuntu to become an institution that supports more than 2000 children in Africa. Jacob got his bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania.
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About Ubuntu Education Fund: Ubuntu Education Fund helps raise Port Elizabeth’s orphaned and vulnerable children by giving them what all children deserve—everything.
Daniel Ospina
Co-Founder and CEO of Conductal
Daniel is an Organization Designer. Through his company, Conductal, Daniel uses Social System Design to create incentives and processes that spark creativity and enable business agility at scale in startups and established organisations. Beyond Conductal, Daniel is a visiting lecturer on System Design at Oxford University, a Co-founder of Crossmodalism, an Associate Fellow of London University, and a Fellow of the RSA.
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About Conductal: Conductal help smaller organizations to scale and larger ones to manage communities and innovate.
Tom Chalky
Co-Founder of Inspiration Hut
Tom Chalky is Co-Founder at Inspiration Hut.
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About Inspiration Hut: Inspiration Hut provides daily inspiration from some of the world’s most creative portfolios for designers, photographers, and artists.
Abbie Davey
Co-Founder of Inspiration Hut
Abbie Davey is Co-Founder at Inspiration Hut.
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About Inspiration Hut: Inspiration Hut provides daily inspiration from some of the world’s most creative portfolios for designers, photographers, and artists.
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.
Malcolm Corbett
Founder and CEO of Independent Networks Cooperative Association
Malcolm Corbett is the founder and CEO of the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (www.inca.coop). INCA brings together the UK’s Altnets building the next generation fibre and wireless digital infrastructure in the UK, alongside supporters in the public and private sectors.Prior to setting up INCA, Malcolm ran the Community Broadband Network, founded in 2004 to support local broadband initiatives through mentoring, advice and consultancy.Malcolm has a background in the Internet industry. He was a director of one of the first UK ISPs, Poptel, and he co-invented the .coop global Internet domain. He has also been active in social enterprise and co-operative movements in the UK and internationally. Malcolm has a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Surrey.
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About Independent Networks Cooperative Association: Independent Networks Cooperative Association is building next generation broadband.
Richard Gott
Founder of The MemberWise Network
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About The MemberWise Network: The MemberWise Network the leading independent professional network of 3,800+ UK/EU membership and association professionals
Louise Campbell
Founder of Foodnation
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About Craft Nation, Foodnation: Discover your food community
Jax Metcalfe
Founder of Poaching Prevention
Jax has a degree in Ecology and a masters in Conservation & Biodiversity. She spent several years living and working in Central and Southern Africa, during which time she had the opportunity to assist with research on elephant demography and dehorning operations in Zimababwe’s Matusadona National Park. Jax has worked as a researcher and a Wildlife Information Services Assistant for Cornwall Wildlife Trust and has also undertaken research work for Natural England. Whilst working at the University of Exeter she helped to organise the world’s first international conference on the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Environmental Research and assisted with research using fixed wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) for monitoring hidden stores of soil water.
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About Poaching Prevention: committed to protecting elephants & rhinos by employing new, proven and effective technology.
Geeta Raj
President and Founder of The Global Sleepover
Geeta brings over 15 years of experience in international development and humanitarian assistance to The Global Sleepover, including over 9 years as a Senior Program Analyst with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Geeta’s experiences working and living in Afghanistan, South Sudan, South Africa, Colombia, the U.K., Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova influenced her as an entrepreneur to found and grow The Global Sleepover. Geeta’s experience ranges from: entrepreneurship, creative direction and design, interactive and multi-media technology, creative writing, international development project implementation and management, and cultural, global and literacy education. A 2003 graduate of the Presidential Management Fellowship program in Washington, DC and a 2011-2012 Innovation Fellow with ConvergeUS, Geeta is a two-time recipient of the Washington, DC Commission on the Arts Folk and Traditional Arts Grant and speaks Hindi, Urdu, and basic Spanish and Serbian. Geeta holds a BA in Creative Writing from University of Houston and a MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University in Washington, DC. Geeta learned about the unequivocal power of education through her father. A refugee from an ethnic partition in India in 1947, he overcame economic and social adversity through earning five higher education degrees – truly transformative education. This is Geeta’s motivation behind founding Global Sleepover – harnessing the power of technology to make education and literacy more accessible to children who have least access.
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About The Global Sleepover: The Global Sleepover improves literacy & global citizenship for young children through interactive and multi-media storytelling & the arts.
Sally Sfeir-Tait
Co-Founder & CEO of Regulations.gov
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About Regulations.gov: Regulations is an online web-based source and platform that enables its users to view and comment on federal government regulations.
Steve Millidge
Founder of Payara Services Limited
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About Payara Services Limited: Payara Server is an open source Java Application Server.
Richard Loat
CEO & Founder of Five Hole For Food
The intersection of creativity and disruption – that’s where you find Richard creating change. The MBA grad with a Silicon Valley upbringing is pioneering disruptive philanthropy worldwide. Richard is also a humanitarian aid worker deploying to disaster zones, an active mentor for young entrepreneurs, marathoner, and street art photographer.
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About Five Hole For Food: Five Hole For Food is organization which hosts hockey events to benefit food banks across Canada.
Alex Bradbury
CTO and Co-Founder of lowRISC
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About lowRISC: lowRISC is a non-profit community interest company
Ed Richards
Founder & Managing Partner of Flint
Ed Richards is a founder and Managing Partner of Flint. Ed advises clients who face regulatory challenges, and assists them in adapting to, and making the most of, competition and policy developments. He also leads client teams working on issues in the digital/tech sector and in a range of network industries, as well as on competition and regulatory issues in general. Before founding Flint, Ed spent more than eight years as the Chief Executive of Ofcom, the UK’s telecoms regulator. During this time, he worked closely with the European Commission and was Vice Chair of the Body of the European Regulators for Electronic Communications. Earlier in his career he worked as an adviser in 10 Downing St, and headed the corporate strategy team at the BBC. After leaving Ofcom, Ed led an independent review into financial services representation, which led to the merger of six financial services associations in the UK.
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About Flint, Ofcom: Flint provides advice to business and other organisations on policy, regulation and politics in European and global markets.
Mike Reardon
Co-Founder of Nexus Education
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About Nexus Education: Nexus Education operates an online platform that connects educators and education professionals with each other.
Ghela Boskovich
Founder and Global Ambassador of FemTechGlobal
Ghela Boskovich is active in the fintech industry, having spent the last ten years focused on business development for core insurance and banking system solutions, the last half of which has centered on financial services pricing governance functionality, which has leveraged her background in regulatory economics, cost modeling and rate of regulation pricing models. Ghela also founded FemTechGlobal to bridge the gender gap in fintech and the financial services industry. The network is built on the premise that diverse teams create better solutions, and embracing differences fosters creativity. Active in London, New York, Sydney and Singapore, FemTech partners with industry organizations to promote diversity and inclusion, and is a connecting platform for innovators and entrepreneurs. Boskovich is a regular contributor to fintech publications and discussions, specializing in dynamic pricing and customer centricity.
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About FemTechGlobal: FemTechGlobal is a community working towards inclusion, diversity, and supporting those invested in changing financial services.
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.
Alp Toker
Founder of Turkey Blocks
Alp Toker is the founder of Turkey Blocks, an organization that monitors real-time censorship data in Turkey.
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About Turkey Blocks: Turkey Blocks is an organization that monitors real-time internet censorship data in Turkey.
Charlene Laidley
Founder and Chairwoman of FutureProof Foundation
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About FutureProof Foundation: FutureProof Foundation is an award-winning not-for-profit volunteer-led organisation connecting young women and girls in schools.
Bonnie Chiu
Founder and Trustee of Lensational
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About Lensational: Lensational is a social enterprise which aims to empower women in developing countries economically and emotionally
Sharon Barboza
Founder of Guide To Be
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About Guide To Be: Guide To Be is providing the inside scoop on suppliers for couples and a unique digital marketing platform for businesses.
Peter Head
Founder & Chief Executive Officer of The Ecological Sequestration Trust
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About The Ecological Sequestration Trust: The Ecological Sequestration Trust establish low carbon development pathways to improved water, energy and food security.
Jeremy Gilley
Founder of Peace One Day
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About Peace One Day: Peace One Day is an organization that raises awareness for the global peace day.
Elizabeth H. Filippouli
Founder, Global Thinkers Forum/Athena40
Elizabeth H. Filippouli is a journalist, writer, and social entrepreneur. She is the Founder of London-based Global Thinkers Forum (GTF) an independent civil society agency incubated at the University of Oxford, founded under the patronage of Queen Rania of Jordan, and working through a global network of thought leaders to promote values-based decision leadership and support women and youth through mentoring programmes and other initiatives reaching more than 75 countries. Her early career in print and broadcast journalism in Greece and at CNN and Al Jazeera English, was prelude to now over a decade of activism and serial entrepreneurship.
Elizabeth has served on the Global Advisory Board of the Prince’s Trust International advising on supporting underprivileged youth through mentoring. She has studied Strategy and Innovation at Oxford’s Said Business School, Transnational Media, and Globalisation at London City University (MA) and Creative Writing at Harvard University. Her first book ‘The Invisible Reality’ was published in Greece in 2004. Her book ‘From Women to the World: Letters for a New Century’ was published by IB Tauris in July 2021.
In 2020 she co-authored with Dr Marc J. Ventresca a work on ‘Kindness in Leadership in Times of Crisis’, a publication based on international research that aspires to rethink the work of leaders.
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About Global Thinkers Forum MENA 2012: Global Thinkers Forum is a global platform that brings together a diverse network of visionary thought leaders.
Martin Smith
Chairman and Founder of The Security Awareness Special Interest Group
Martin gained his degree in behavioural psychology and spent 15 years as a commissioned officer in the Royal Air Force, employed in counter-espionage and counter-terrorism duties. After being awarded the MBE for this work, he joined Touche Ross Management Consultants before becoming the Senior Director of Corporate Security for Kroll Associates, moving on to Standard Chartered Bank as Head of Information Security and (in 1997) forming The Security Company International Limited. Martin is an internationally recognised author and speaker on his specialist subject of the human factor in security. He is a Fellow of The Security Institute, a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and Chairman and Founder of the Security Awareness Special Interest Group. He is an active member of ASIS International Europe and the Information Assurance Advisory Council, and a member of the Independent Advisory Panel of the Office for Nuclear Regulation. In March 2017, Martin was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural OSPAs ceremony for his work in information security, especially his championing of the human factor in security breaches and raising employee awareness of where threats lie.
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About The Security Awareness Special Interest Group: SASIG is a leading organisation for security professionals worldwide.
