THE RSA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Research Assistant
- Front of House Assistant / Research Assistant
Ahmed Shaal is a Front of House Assistant/Research Assistant.
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- Fellowship Services Coordinator
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- Head of Fellowship Development
- Head of Fellowship Development and Services
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- Senior Evaluation Manager
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- Fellowship Engagement Manager ( Scotland )
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- Chief Executive
- Member of the Leadership Team
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- Head of Innovation and Change
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- Historian in Residence / Business Operations
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- Fellowship Coordinator ( Engagement )
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- Head of News and Public Affairs
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- Project Manager ( Fellowship )
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- Recruitment and Partnerships Officer ( Fellowship )
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- Head of Regenerative Learning and Design
Charlie Cannon is a designer and educator based in Providence, Rhode Island where he is a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design.
His academic and professional work focuses on purposeful innovation for social initiatives, community development, sustainability, and enterprise.
Professionally, Charlie works to help organisations direct their efforts toward larger social benefit. Clients include: Apple, the Sandia National Laboratories, the Big Picture Company, American Express, the Council on Strategic Risk, the Nature Conservancy of Oahu, Relativity Media, the Municipality of Wood Buffalo, and the Moses Brown School, among others.
He is a frequent collaborator with the Altimeter Design Group, PopTech, and the Epic Decade.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chair
- Fellow
- Member of the RSA 's Nominations
Charlotte Oades is Deputy Chair of the RSA.
Charlotte has extensive experience of building brands, new business models and partnerships around the world. She has also been recognised for her pioneering work in women's empowerment as a growth driver for business and the economic development of local communities.
Now an independent Non-Executive Board Director and Advisor, Charlotte has previously held a variety of senior marketing and executive leadership roles with the Coca-Cola Company in the UK, Europe, the USA, Asia Pacific and globally. Former roles include leading one of the company's top five operating divisions as President of Coca-Cola Great Britain. Most recently, she held a global sustainability and business development role across more than 200 countries as Global Vice President for Women's Economic Empowerment. This included leadership of the ‘5by20' initiative to enable the economic empowerment of 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2020 across the Coca-Cola Company's global value chain.
Charlotte is former Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Women's Economic Empowerment and has served on Business in the Community's Global Goals Leadership Team. Listed in Marketing Week's "Vision 100"; Fast Company's "Most Creative People in Business "and "League of Extraordinary Women" and Newsweek's "150 Women Who Shake the World".
Charlotte is a Fellow of the RSA, The Marketing Society, and The Institute of Grocery Distribution, and a member of the Marketing Group of Great Britain and Women in Advertising & Communications London (WACL). She is a founder member of the Global Women's Leadership Council of The Coca-Cola Company.
Alongside her role as Deputy Chair of the RSA, Charlotte is a member of the RSA's Nominations and Governance Panel and of the RSA's People and Remuneration Committee.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- Board President, RSA US
- Vice Chair of Whole Education
Chris Padden is the Treasurer of RSA US.
Chris Padden is the Vice Chair of Whole Education, a partnership of organizations committed to redefining the education system. Whole Education facilitates collaboration between innovative schools; exposes educators to world-class thinking and approaches; and supports effective professional learning, moving beyond merely delivering the curriculum to building a stronger foundation for learning - a ‘whole education'.
He was the CEO of the Assessment Foundation, one of the UK's leading non-profit organizations supporting educational improvement, for 11 years. The Assessment Foundation develops programs and technology to harness what learners know, understand and can do to accelerate learning. Under Chris's leadership, it was commissioned by UK government to develop and implement the "baseline" assessment used to measure learner progress.
Chris is the author of "Progression through Skills", "Progression beyond Levels" and the "Assessment Effectiveness Framework" and a speaker at conferences including The Guardian's "Innovation in Education" conference and the INCERTS leadership conference.
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- Senior Trusts and Foundations Manager
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- Fellowship Coordinator ( Engagement )
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- Senior Service and Systems Designer
David D'Souza is an RSA Trustee.
David is the Director of Profession for the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development. He is responsible for ensuring the CIPD effectively supports and leads the profession. David also serves as a commissioner on the Digital Badging Commission.
Prior to joining the CIPD, he worked as an independent consultant, following roles across a range of financial services and retail organisations.
David is a respected and in-demand speaker and writer on progressive HR and business practice, with his commentary regularly featuring in national media. He has expertise in a wide range of areas, including organisational development and culture, learning and development, corporate ethics and the future of work.
David is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, a Fellow of AHRI (the Australian HR Institute), a Fellow of the Centre For Evidence Based Management, and Fellow and Trustee Board member of the Royal Society of Arts.
Job Titles:
- Head of Fellowship Engagement ( Areas )
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- Cleaning and Maintenance Assistant
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- Senior Global Manager / Media and Communications
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- Media and Public Affairs Officer
Dr Kim Young-McLear is an educator, activist, designer, and futurist.
Through these lenses and the wisdoms passed on by her elders and teachers, she has made deep systems-level impact in a variety of diverse communities within academia, government, and the nonprofit sectors. Kim, a former State of the Union guest of honour and whistleblower, has also been an expert witness on Capitol Hill, advocating for justice and equity for some of our most marginalised communities. Kim has been featured on several outlets and bestselling books, including The Associated Press,
Job Titles:
- Fellowship Services Coordinator
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- Fellowship Coordinator ( Operations )
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- Head of Fellowship Engagement ( Products )
Erica Myers-Davis is an RSA Oceania Trustee
Originally from the UK, Erica has worked in financial services, telecommunications and in the not-for-profit sector. Currently she works as a fundraising consultant providing strategic advice and support to charities across Australia and New Zealand.
Outside of work she is a professional DJ having performed across the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia playing British dance music and hosting radio shows on both pirate and legal stations. Erica also sits on the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League and represents the interests of Jamaican veterans and the Jamaica Legion.
She is an alumna of Swinburne and Victoria Universities, holding a Master of Business (Marketing) degree and Doctor of Business Administration. Erica has been a Fellow since 2008.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Board Director for Help for Heroes Military Charity
- Ecommerce Director at the Retail Practice
Eva Pascoe was elected to the RSA Trustee Board as Fellowship Council Representative in January 2024.
Previous to this Eva was elected London Councillor to the RSA Fellowship Council in September 2022. In her first year, she led on improving on-site and hybrid engagement opportunities for Fellows and Young Fellows. She has contributed to the judging of Catalyst Awards funding and led on improving support for social enterprise initiatives by Fellows. Eva has a technology background and contributes to the Young Fellows programmes with new design challenge workshops with SOAS/UCL launched last year. She has initiated Fellows-led publishing projects supported by King's College, delivering two anthologies on the future of AI, crime and policing, and climate change. She has created the first hybrid art exhibition for UK and international Fellows, combining a virtual reality gallery with an exhibition in RSA House.
Eva was appointed a board director for Help for Heroes military charity in July 2013, leading on digital strategy for improving access for beneficiaries and developing the commercial arm of the organisation. She is also a chair of a think tank Cybersalon, which led to the development of GDPR legislation for the UK and EU, contributing to a new framework for digital education. She is also an advisor to Birkbeck College on employability and mentorship.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, she co-founded the Future of Work group for Tech London Advocates, providing technology guidance to organisations migrating to remote work.
In her professional career, Eva is an ecommerce director at The Retail Practice, with 20 years of experience in digital transformation for top consumer brands. She is a senior digital leader and a pioneer of internet technologies, having co-founded the world's first internet café Cyberia. Eva was the youngest director of a FTSE 200 company, serving on the board of Arcadia Group plc, driving digital transformation and direct-to-consumer proposition for leading high street retailers. Currently, she is advising international apparel retailers on emerging AI tools for business.
She is a broadcaster, a recipient of the Sunday Times Business Award for Innovation, and contributes to BBC as a retail analyst on ecommerce news.
Job Titles:
- Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager
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- Fionna Monk Is a Fellowship Officer ( Experience & Lifecycle Communications )
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- President and CEO of the Forbes Funds
- President and CEO, the Forbes Fund
Fred Brown is President and CEO of The Forbes Funds, a philanthropic organisation focused on strengthening the management capacity and impact of community nonprofits in the Pittsburgh area.
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- Junior Audio - Visual Events and IT Support Technician
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- Senior Maintenance Assistant
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- Experience and Lifecycle Manager
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- Senior Fellowship Growth and Partnerships Manager
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- Chairman and Co - Founder of Open X Innovations LLC
- Hosseiny Is an RSA Trustee
- Senior Advisor at McKinsey and Company
Hosein Khajeh-Hosseiny is an RSA Trustee.
Hosein is Chairman and Co-Founder of Open X Innovations LLC, which is a unique investment management firm formed to empower enterprise technology entrepreneurs with distinctive artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies focused on enterprise technology simplification and corporate agility.
Hosein is a Senior Advisor at McKinsey and Company on Innovation, transformation, and change, and has been with the firm for over 24 years.
Alongside these eminent positions, he is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Trinity Natural Capital Group, with such a subsidiary as Trinity AgTech, with the mission of supporting the rapid transition of agriculture towards greater sustainability and profitability. Objectives include democratising access to credible, world-class, evidence-based science, technology, and practice; helping unleash the genius of the many farmers and industry stakeholders through new generation collaboration, cooperation, and innovation tools; and monetising environmental progress with the greatest gain and encouragement for all.
He also holds a variety of trustee positions, including at the Royal Albert Hall Trust, The Brookings Institution (Washington DC), and the UK Productivity Leadership Group. Hosein is a judge for the annual Cambridge University Prize on Social Entrepreneurship and continues on the investment committee of the social entrepreneurship charity, UnLtd, which he helped co-found in the year 2000. He holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics and Econometrics from Cambridge.
Ian Ailles is Co-Treasurer of the RSA.
Ian holds several non-executive and trustee roles across travel, housing, and health.
Ian is a qualified chartered accountant with an executive background in investment banking, travel, and digital industries, principally in the private sector and also in private equity. His most recent executive role was as the first Director General of the House of Commons.
Ian has previously worked extensively overseas and is a keen supporter of diversity of all kinds. He is married with two young adult daughters and plays sports in his spare time.
Alongside his role as Co-Treasurer of the RSA, Ian is a member of the RSA's Audit and Risk Committee.
Ian Short is an RSA Oceania trustee.
Ian Short has spent the last dozen years leading organisations focused on innovation for sustainable/smart cities, urban development and climate change. Before this he worked in senior roles in finance in Wellington, London and New York.
Currently based in Auckland, Ian is working with a broad range of organisations, developing and implementing strategies and business models that take a systems or integrated approach. These include an Iwi consortium, urban development organisations and a range of investors in NZ and internationally. He is also helping establish an investment partnership for climate and sustainable development goals in NZ and the South Pacific.
Until January 2017 Ian was CEO of Climate-KIC, the world's largest climate change innovation partnership with 18 offices across Europe. Prior to this Ian helped establish and lead a London based not-for-profit delivering sustainable city pilots and an urban development corporation leading the regeneration of east London.
Job Titles:
- Policy Engagement Manager
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- Strategic Partnerships Manager
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- Fellowship Engagement Manager ( North, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland )
Jayne Meyer Tucker is an RSA Oceania trustee.
Dr Jayne Meyer Tucker is an activist, author and alliance ‘whisperer'. Drawing on her global experience in social transformation and her PhD research, she has extensively explored systemic relationship tensions. This is best played out in the decisions that humans and organisations need to make particularly during times of extreme change and uncertainty.
Jayne has worked across the Australian not-for-profit sector in Executive Board/CEO and advisory roles, having served as a member of the National Child Health Community Council, Centre for Social Impact Advisory Group, Impact Investing Australia Outcomes Advisory Group and the NSW Health Professional Council Lay Member panel, among others.
Job Titles:
- Fellowship Engagement Manager ( South East )
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- Community Manager ( Global )
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- Member of the Leadership Team
- Director of Design and Innovation
- History towards Our Design for Life Mission
John Towers is an RSA Trustee.
John Towers has led successful schools in the state, independent, and international charity sectors. His career has included serving as head of one of the ‘most improved' schools in the country. John has also worked at scale, as a school improvement adviser in London and subsequently as Director of Education for Reach to Teach, establishing over 100 charitable schools in rural India. John has a wide experience of senior non-executive posts across school, exam board, and charity settings. He was previously the Chair of the Royal Society of the Arts Academies.
John is a member of the RSA's Nominations and Governance Panel.
Job Titles:
- Fellowship Areas and Engagement Manager ( South West )
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- Senior Finance Business Partner
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- Area Communications Coordinator ( Family Leave )
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- Senior Salesforce Administrator
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- Member of the Leadership Team
- Director of Fellowship
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- Senior Resource and Traffic Manager
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- Business Systems Administrator
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- Fellowship Services Coordinator
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- Research and Learning Coordinator
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- Member of the Oceania Team
- Network Lead BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
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- Director of Finance
- Member of the Leadership Team
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- Senior Fellowship Services Manager
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- Chairman
- Chairman of the Board, RSA Oceania
Mark Strachan is Chair of RSA Oceania.
Mark is a passionate designer and educator, committed to interdisciplinary, collaborative design and strategic development. His expertise draws upon over 35 years in industry, academia and consultancy where he has extensive experience in systems, services and product design & development.
Mark's association with the RSA began in 1989 when he won a Royal Society of Arts Design Bursaries Competition. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1995 and has been actively involved with the RSA ever since, including the Victorian Chapter, serving on the RSA A+NZ Board for 10 years and presently as Chairman of RSA Oceania. Mark is engaged in social change issues and the means by which to bring about change. He is also Chair of Slavery Links, an organisation that highlights issues on modern day slavery through education, research and policy development.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Oceania Team
- Design & Marketing Coordinator MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
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- Marketing and Communications Officer ( Family Leave )
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- Fellow
- Commissioner at the Royal Commission
- Member of the RSA 's Nominations
Neil has been an RSA Fellow since 2003 and a Life Fellow since 2013. As a result, Neil has a strong operational knowledge of the RSA.
He was elected chair of the RSA Fellowship Council in January 2024 and is now in his second term on the council. During his first term as Area Fellowship Councillor for South West England, he worked in Fellowship Council sub-groups with RSA management and staff on developing the Fellows Festival, the online community Circle, and the review of Catalyst grant applications. In his second term, he served as Fellowship Council Deputy Chair. He has chaired the Salisbury and South Wiltshire RSA Network for the last five years.
Neil was appointed a Royal Commissioner at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales in 2017. He leads digital strategy for the board and serves on the Corporate Governance Sub-Committee. He is also a Trustee for the Turn End Trust, an architectural charity.
Neil's professional career has covered both the public and private sectors. In 2014, he was awarded a medal from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, in recognition of his long-term contributions to the research and implementation of strategies and solutions for digital preservation. His career achievements include founding and growing the Digital Preservation Coalition, a not-for-profit membership organisation, and starting the award-winning Digital Preservation Handbook as an online guide.
Neil is also a member of the RSA's Nominations and Governance Panel.
Job Titles:
- Senior Policy and Participation Researcher
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- Head of People / Research and Learning
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- Board and Governance Manager
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- Member of the Oceania Team
- Network Lead SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
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- Member of the Oceania Team
- Oceania Director BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
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- Community Manager ( Interventions ) Finance
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- Internal Communications Manager / CEO
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- Junior Content and Graphic Designer
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- Senior Delivery Manager / Design and Innovation
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- Social Media and Content Designer
Sam Lewis is an RSA trustee.
Sam has global business knowledge, having worked at US and UK investment banks before becoming co-founder of a leading alternative investment advisory firm, Albourne Partners. That firm now has 11 offices globally, 280 corporate clients, and $550 billion invested in alternative assets, making it the largest firm of its kind in the industry.
Sam has twice received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in International Trade (2006 and 2009). Sam also has wider Board experience, including trustee positions, and knowledge of social impact investment.
Sam is a member of the RSA's Audit and Risk Committee.
Job Titles:
- Senior Managing Director
- Sandra Boss Is an RSA Trustee
Sandra Boss, Senior Managing Director, is the Chair of BlackRock UK. In this role, she will work with the Head of BlackRock UK to engage with UK clients, corporates, and policy makers, working to support the UK business in delivering the best of BlackRock's global platform to serve the local market. In this role, she also acts as strategic advisor to the Head of the International Business, which spans Europe, the Middle East, India, and Asia Pacific. She is a member of BlackRock's Global Operating Committee and co-chair for the firm's Global DEI Committee.
In 2023, Sandy served as the Chief Operating Officer for BlackRock's Global Client Business (GCB). In that role, she was at the center of launching a firmwide initiative to serve clients locally and regionally while delivering the many capabilities of BlackRock's global platform. She was responsible for key elements of the firm's primary commercial businesses, including fostering strategic coordination across wealth, institutional, consultant, insurer, official institutions, and financial markets advisory teams.
From May 2020 through January 2023, Sandy was Global Head of Investment Stewardship for BlackRock. In that role, she was a member of the firm's Global Executive Committee and was responsible for leading BlackRock Investment Stewardship in all its activities, including launching the firm's pioneering Voting Choice program.
Job Titles:
- Personal Assistant to CEO
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- Marketing and Communications Manager
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- Chief Operating Officer
- Member of the Leadership Team
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- Trustee
- Honorary Fellow of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship
Scott Phillips is an RSA Oceania trustee.
Scott has 30 years' experience in public policy, academic and business sectors. He has worked with boards, executives and community groups to understand their needs and facilitate participatory planning, evaluation and business development. Scott is Director of Kershaw Phillips Consulting, which provides stakeholder engagement, service planning and evaluation research services to health, social sector, manufacturing and educational organisations. His expertise includes multicultural and youth policy; social impact assessment; community engagement; integrated community services; and program evaluation.
Scott is an Honorary Fellow of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, and a Delegate to the House of Laity of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia.
His doctorate, from Oxford University, looked at the changing nature of people's local identity and sense of belonging in the context of increasingly national and global connections.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Chairman of the Board, RSA US
Shaifali Puri is Chair of the Board, RSA US.
Shaifali Puri is currently a visiting scholar at New York University's journalism school, where she is researching how technology can be harnessed to benefit the developing world. She is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and on the Board of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. She was named in Crain's New York 40 Under-40 list and has written for publications including Fortune, The New York Times, Slate, and The World Policy Journal.
Previously, she was Executive Director for Global Innovation at the Nike Foundation. Her work with the Nike Foundation focused on the Girl Effect movement, which recognised the mission of empowering adolescent girls and their untapped potential. She helped to generate partnerships with both public and private sector players to move the needle on the eradication of global poverty. Prior to her role at the Nike Foundation, she was Executive Director of Scientists Without Borders between 2009 and 2013.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Vice Chancellor of the University of Fiji
Shaista Shameem is an RSA Oceania trustee.
Professor Shaista Shameem is the Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Fiji and Dean of the JDP School of Law. A lawyer by profession, she has worked in the areas of human rights, justice, social change and international law for the United Nations, as well as in the Fijian context. A graduate of the University of the South Pacific, she holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Waikato and a Masters in Law from the University of Auckland. She also holds a Doctorate in Juridical Science. Shaista has been a Fellow of the RSA for 4 years.
Job Titles:
- Head of Strategic Partnerships
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- Senior Corporate Partnerships Manager
Loyd is a broadcaster, entrepreneur and writer with a long-standing commitment to the arts and heritage. He has been an enthusiastic Fellow of the RSA continuously for 31 years.
He has served as Chair of The Royal Parks, Chair of Gresham College, Chairman of the Churches Conservation Trust, Chair of National Museums Liverpool and Vice Chairman of the Royal Drawing School.
Loyd's past appointments also include as a board member of English Heritage, The Museums and Galleries Commission, The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, The British Institute of Florence and as a member of the Council of the LSE where he is now an Emeritus Governor.
A keen guitarist, Loyd and his band made their eighth appearance at Glastonbury in 2019 and every December he performs with Jethro Tull in a series of concerts to benefit English cathedrals.
Loyd was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2015 and knighted in the 2025 New Year Honours list for services to heritage.
Job Titles:
- Junior Events Producer / Facilities
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- Senior Data and Insights Analyst
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- Head of Enterprise Design
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- Chief of Staff
- Member of the Leadership Team
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- Member of the Leadership Team
- Director of Content and Communications
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- Marketing Operations Officer
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- Digital Experience Coordinator / Events