Baroness Chapman was appointed Minister of State (International Development and Africa) in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in September 2025. Baroness Chapman has held previous senior roles in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. On 28 February 2025 she was appointed Minister of State (International Development, Latin America and Caribbean). Before that she was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Catherine Mayer, an author, journalist and activist, co-founded the Women’s Equality Party and served for a decade as its president. She also co-founded Primadonna Festival, an award-winning festival of ideas and literature that changes lives. She served as the elected President of the Foreign Press Association in London from 2003-2005. She is on the founding committee of WOW—the Women of the World festival, and of the Death Festival. She was a judge for the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction.
Haseena Farid is an established Leadership and Culture Consultant, Executive Coach, and Co-Founder of the Women of Colour Global Network (WOCGN), a pioneering platform supporting over 2,200 women of colour leaders globally, backed by a network of over 100 senior mentors.
Mylene joined the Guardian in 1998 and has played a key role in the organisation's most significant print and publishing milestones over the years. As Director of Publishing and e-Commerce, she focuses on ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Guardian's print products while supporting the transition from print to digital, safeguarding vital legacy products and developing new revenue streams. She is a trustee of two industry non-profits and co-founder of the Women of Colour Global Network.
Sarah Davis FRSA is an experienced General Counsel, Executive Coach, Board Trustee, and Non-Executive Director. She now works as a fractional General Counsel and a leadership Coach for executives in the legal, media and arts sectors. Sarah is currently on the board of the Women’s Prize, Vice Chair of UNICEF UK and a Non-Executive Director of the International Catalogue Raisonne Association. She previously served as Chair of Poet in the City, and as Vice Chair of The Media Trust.
Dr Salah Obayya is recognized internationally with fellowships of the most prestigious societies such as IOP, IEEE, TWAS, OPTICA, APS, SPIE, AAS, ACES, HEA, IET. He is the Vice Executive President for Research at Zewail City for Science, Technology and Innovation.
He spent 15 years in UK Universities. He was recently elected as an ambassador for the role of Reduced Inequality sustainable development goal (SDG) by Alumni UK, British Council. He received many national and international awards.
Andrew Chadwick is Director of the Chevening Secretariat. Andrew has worked for the British Council for over 15 years. Andrew led a portfolio of programmes focussed on international student mobility and scholarships, including leading the British Council's engagement with the Commonwealth Scholarship programme, Women in STEM scholarships and developing the Alumni UK programme. He has served as Country Director in Chile and Director of Programmes in France.
Pinyapa Somphong ("Pinyapa") is a qualified lawyer from Thailand, holding an LL.B. degree from Thammasat University, Thailand, and an LL.M. (Hons) in International Trade and Commercial Laws from Durham University, United Kingdom. As the Managing Partner of TWLS Company Limited, Pinyapa has played an important role in the business community. She has successfully contributed to numerous multi-million-dollar projects crossing multiple jurisdictions in Southeast Asia.
Rawan Taha (The Girl from LinkedIn) is a career coach, the British Council Ambassador for promoting decent work, and an entry-level employment expert with extensive experience in international development and working with UN agencies and global organizations across Africa. Through her employment advocacy, she empowers thousands of young professionals to build their careers and secure opportunities aligned with their passions, skills, and ambitions.
Aashraya is a Fulbright scholar, an award-winning social innovator, and the founder of Happy Periods and Impact91, a non-profit organisations working on menstrual equity, upskilling women and girls in STEM and climate education. He was the British Council's Future Leader from India. Aashraya is a Physicist by degree and has led several education, science and development projects of the British, Indian, and Australian governments.