Patrons and Trustees

Patron

Jon Snow
Channel 4 journalist and broadcaster Jon Snow is a former international volunteer and actively supports our work, most notably by presenting our annual Human Rights Awards.

President

Baroness Haleh Afshar OBE
Haleh teaches Politics and Women's Studies at the University of York and serves as a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords. In 2005 she was awarded an OBE for services to equal opportunities. She is also the Visiting Professor of Islamic Law at the Faculté Internationale de Droit Comparée at Strasbourg.

Trustees

Hugh Bayley MP has been MP for the City of York since 1992.
He has been a member of the international development committee since July 2001.

Phil Brining (Treasurer) has had a long career in the football sector, most recently as Head of Partnerships at Everton FC. He was previously Commercial Manager at Leeds United. Phil is also a Managing Partner of Absolute Data.

Marika Freris is Founder and Managing Director of Galliard Healthcare Communications. She was previously Managing Director at OCC where she set up a PR division. She also spent time at Churchill Communications as Managing Director of Europe, and was also Director of the healthcare board at Hill and Knowlton UK.

Malcolm Harper (Chairperson) worked for OXFAM for 18 years before becoming Director of the United Nations Association (UK) in 1982, a post he held for almost 23 years.

Peter Hogarth is now retired from the University of York but continues to be a Visiting Fellow. He specialises in mangrove ecology, and has undertaken a number of international research consultancies for the United Nations. He has been a Justice of the Peace for over 30 years, and was recently appointed as a member of the Council of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society.

Val Lewis worked for British Telecom for 38 years where her roles included Acting Director of Business Engagement for BT OpenReach, and Programme & Delivery Manager for Information & Knowledge Management Systems. She specialises in people management and change management.

Michele Miller is an independent consultant, delivering projects for clients such as The Pacific Institute, the University of Bradford, and the National Learning and Skills Council. Formerly Regional Director for Common Purpose, she has managed leadership programmes across Yorkshire. She spent four years with Coca Cola Schweppes, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Cornelius Murombedzi is a Principal Consultant at INTRAC, and has ten years’ experience in the development sector in Africa as a facilitator, trainer, and organisational development specialist. He worked on the London Borough of Sutton’s Regeneration Programme to support the voluntary sector, and successfully contributed to setting up community social enterprises as a strategy for poverty alleviation.

Alan Richardson holds the Chair of Science in Enterprise at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. An alumnus of Cranfield University’s MBA programme, he is a Visiting Fellow in Entrepreneurship at The Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurial Performance & Economics, Cranfield University. He recently contributed to McGraw-Hill’s Book on Skills Training in Research Degree Programmes (2007), and has also written a book on Co-Venturing and Coaching.

Bryan Sanderson CBE spent two years as an international volunteer with the United Nations Association in Peru in the 1960s. He joined BP in 1964 holding a variety of positions before his appointment as Chief Executive Officer in 1990, and Managing Director in 1992.
Bryan has also been Chairman of the Learning and Skills Council, Chairman of BUPA, and Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank, and has acted as an advisor to the Labour Party