Board of Trustees | British Council

The Board of Trustees are the guardians of the British Council’s purpose and are ultimately accountable for the organisation.

They hold the Senior Leadership Team responsible for the organisation’s performance, strategy and policy. The trustees meet six times a year. Edited minutes of their meetings are available to the public.

There are five formal sub-committees to the Board. Click on any to read the respective terms of reference:

Protocols (PDF 129kb) are in place to support the effective and consistent operation of the sub-committees. The Independent Members of the Sub-Committies are Lindsay Croisdale-Appleby who sits on the Remuneration & People Committee, Rajiv Garodia who sits on the Commercial Committee, and Nazim Girnary who sits on the Audit & Risk Committee.

We also publish annually the Register of Interests (PDF 128kb) of the Board of Trustees.

Trustees

Dr Paul Thompson

Dr Paul Thompson became Chair of the British Council Board of Trustees in January 2024.

Professor Wendy Alexander

Professor Wendy Alexander became Deputy Chair of the Board in December 2024.

Richard Hookway

Richard Hookway is an experienced international business executive. He is a also a NED at Royal Vopak, Parkland Corp and Chair of Swim England.

David Lefevre

David Lefevre is Professor or Practice (Digital Innovation) at the Imperial College Business School.

Rageh Omaar

Rageh Omaar is International Affairs Editor of ITV News and presents the channel's flagship News at Ten programme and current affairs programme 'On Assignment'.

Malcolm Press

Professor Malcolm Press is Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University, having worked previously at the Universities of Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester and UCL.

Dr Katy Radford MBE

Dr Katy Radford MBE is the Electoral Commissioner for Northern Ireland and is chair of the British Council Northern Ireland Committee.

Sushil Saluja

Sushil Saluja is an international business leader with 30 years’ experience of technology-led transformation and education. He is also a Governor of the University of Greenwich.

Fiona Salzen

Fiona is a finance professional with a strong interest in charity effectiveness who has been an independent member of two British Council Board Sub-Committees.

Dr Christian Turner CMG

Dr Christian Turner CMG is Political Director at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

Paul Woodgates

Paul Woodgates was formerly head of the global education practice of PA Consulting. He now holds various non-executive and advisory roles in the education sector.