Judging Panel 2021

After a career in insurance and banking culminating his position as CEO Prudential UK and Europe; Mark founded Paternoster the Pension Buy Out specialist subsequently acquired by Goldman Sachs‎.

Mark now divides his time between Stop MS Appeal, Brooklands Motor Museum and various Private Equity backed ventures.

Sarah joined the SMF, a charity working to make a practical difference to social mobility for young people across the UK, in January 2020 from the Charity Commission, where she had been Executive Director for Strategy, Policy and Communications since 2014. Her background is in corporate communications and policy, and before joining the Commission as head of corporate affairs she worked in the private sector, including roles with Nationwide Building Society and in public affairs consultancy.

Her non-executive experience includes membership of the Charity Tax Commission and board roles at Endometriosis UK, the Professional Association of Childcare and Early Years, and Womankind Worldwide. She is a panel member for the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise – Promoting Opportunity and in 2021 she was appointed a member of the City of London taskforce on socio-economic diversity in financial and professional services.

Board director, chairman and advisor in media, data science and not-for-profit sectors. Member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for AI; member of the Bias in AI Research Group at Durham University; Chair of the British Independent Film Awards Advisory Board; Advisor to the International Union of Cinemas; and Advisor to start-ups and family-owned businesses.

Monica is a board director, chairman and advisor in media, data science and not-for-profit sectors. The concentration of her career has been in transformation and taking companies from breakdown to breakthrough.

Currently Monica is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for AI; member of the Bias in AI Research Group at Durham University; Chair of the British Independent Film Awards Advisory Board; Advisor to the International Union of Cinemas; and Advisor to start-ups and family-owned businesses. She gets her energy from working on different missions with different people and has a deep interest in corporate ethics and competitiveness, and where the boundaries of acceptability lie linked to trusted stewardship and the mindset of the board.

She was recognised in the 2019 Female FTSE Board Report as one of the top 50 Women to Watch in the UK.

Claire has been a key player in the Voluntary, Charity and Social Enterprise (VCSE) movement since the 1980's and is the national Crown Representative for the VCSE Sector with the remit of supporting the sector to access government contracts.

Claire nationally and internationally is known for her work in the sector and for ten years chaired Social Enterprise UK. She worked with government and leaders from the sector to create the first strategy for the Social Enterprise movement. She has ensured that the sector has a voice within Westminster and Whitehall, this included working with the teams to introduce the Social Value Act which is now embedded into many local government frameworks and in the national Crown Commercial procurement service. After stepping down as chair of SEUK Claire was asked and accepted to become a patron to the organisation.

From its inception in the 80’s, Claire led the highly successful Blackburne House Group, until she retired in July 2020.

Claire has received many awards for her role within the sector, which includes an MBE, OBE and also the Queens Lifetime achievement award for Enterprise promotion. Claire was once again honoured in the 2020 New Year’s honours list with a CBE.

John leads the team which co-ordinates the CBI’s political engagement, the organisation’s work on EU affairs and trade, and communication with the media and external stakeholders.

John joined the CBI in 2015, holding a number of posts including the CBI’s Director of Campaigns and as Head of the “Great Business Debate”, the CBI’s campaign to increase confidence in business.

Prior to joining the CBI, John worked for four years as a Special Adviser in the Coalition Government, including in the Cabinet Office as the Deputy Prime Minister’s Director of Policy Implementation and Innovation and in HMT as Special Adviser to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

During his time in government, John worked on the 2013 Spending Review conducted by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and served as the Deputy Prime Minister’s lead adviser on wide areas of public policy, including the NHS, welfare support, and pensions reform.

Emma Howard Boyd has been the Chair of the Environment Agency since 2016. The Agency is a public body responsible for the protection and enhancement of the environment in England.

She’s also an Ex officio board member of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), an Advisor to the Board of Trade, and a Global Ambassador for Race to Zero and Race to Resilience ahead of COP26. Emma, with a background in finance, is a board member or advisor to many organisations which include The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project, the Green Finance Institute, the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment, the Centre for Greening Finance and Investment, the Council for Sustainable Business, the European Climate Foundation, and Menhaden PLC. Emma was the UK Commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation from 2018 until its sunset in January 2021.

Before becoming the Chair of the Environment Agency in September 2016, she has served as a Board member since 2009, was Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee until 2016, and served as Deputy Chair. Her other past roles include being the Chair of Trustees at ShareAction from 2015 to 2018, Vice-Chair of the Future Cities Capital from 2013 and 2018, and acting as a Non-Executive Director at the Aldersgate Group (2012 -2018) and Thrive Renewables (previously Triodos Renewables, 2004-2012). Before that, she held various executive roles at Jupiter Asset Management. She was also Chair of UKSIF (the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association), a member of the Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance, and the Green Finance Taskforce.

* Emma is only judging the Climate Change in Reporting award  

Sawan joined the Evenlode Investment team in 2017 after having previously worked as a Governance Analyst at Schroders and a Proxy Voting Analyst at Hermes EOS. He is responsible for overseeing the integration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors into the investment process and managing Evenlode’s voting and engagement activities. Through Evenlode's Foundation Programme, he is also responsible for encouraging better stewardship across the economy through our philanthropic, charitable giving and community-based activities."

Myriam Madden is a non-executive director and chairman of audit committees, including Ofgem and Home Group. Myriam has operated at board level across a range of regulated sectors, following a successful international and multi-sectoral career as a finance executive leading transformation programmes.

Highlights in the past have included roles as a board member of the International Ethical Standards Board for Accountants, the International Federation of Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Myriam was also global President and chairman of CIMA and included in Cranfield University’s 100 Women to Watch.

Kate is an Executive Director of the National Audit Office (NAO) and leads the NAO’s Financial Audit Service Line. A Chartered Accountant, Kate has many years’ experience auditing a wide range of public sector organisations. Kate sits on the Council and Board of ICAEW and is a charity trustee.

Stephen has lived in East London for many years. His great passion is for building the communities of East London through the provision of good healthcare, housing, education and employment. Sir Stephen O’Brien is convenor of the Second Curve Network of business leaders working to restore trust in business. He is Vice President of Business in the Community.

Previously Stephen was Chair of Barts Health NHS Trust, NHS Tower Hamlets, Unicorn Children’s Theatre, University of East London, International Health Partners, London First, Teach First and Charles Fulton and Co Ltd. He was the first Chief Executive of Business in the Community and London First. He has a special interest in mental health.

He holds Honorary Degrees or Fellowships from Liverpool University, Middlesex University, City University, University of East London and Queen Mary, University of London. He was appointed CBE in 1987 and was knighted in 2014 for services to London and the NHS.

Vicky joined HM Treasury in March 2011, this was followed by a short secondment at the British Business Bank, before returning to HMT in July 2015 to lead the Government Financial Reporting Team. Since January 2019 Vicky has been Director, Public Spending and Deputy Head of the Finance Function. She is a CIPFA qualified accountant.

Liz is a long-term campaigner on the importance of everyone realising the benefits of digital technology. She leads BT Group’s digital and social inclusion strategies and cross sector collaborations with government, civil society and other leading businesses, focusing on the needs of young people.

Liz is Chair of the Good Things Foundation and a trustee of the London Transport Museum. She sits on the Board of the Government’s Digital Skills Partnership, and is a member of the BCS Computer Science Curriculum and Assessment Committee. She was appointed as a Social Mobility Commissioner by the UK Government in 2019 and awarded an MBE in 2019 for services to digital literacy and social inclusion.

Freddie is an equities analyst on Jupiter’s award-winning Global Sustainable Equities fund. Before joining Jupiter, Freddie was Head of Responsible Investment and Stewardship and Merian Global Investors. Prior to that he was a Responsible Investment Analyst in Newton Investment Management's equity research team. Before that he led the UK stewardship team at Hermes EOS.

Freddie has a degree in Modern Languages and an MBA with distinction. He is also a Fellow of the RSA.

Responsible for all thought leadership and policy work from the institute, looking at matters such as trust in business and the profession, audit, corporate governance, taxation and public sector, technology, trade and the economy and sustainability.

Ben is a senior Portfolio Manager of Global Equities at RBC Global Asset Management. The Global Equities team has a deep interest in stewardship, sustainability, and long-term investment matters.
 

Ben sits as Chair of a Responsible Investment Advisory committee, advising a leading sustainable UK investment trust owned by Royal London Asset Management. In advisory capacities, Ben sits on the Investor Advisory Group to the UK’s Financial Reporting Council and on the Management Commentary Advisory group to the IASB, International Accounting Standards Board. Ben is also a playwright and chairs a theatre charity, Coney.