author and academic
Dr Joanna Williams is the founder and director of Cieo. Joanna taught at the University of Kent for over ten years and was the director of Kent’s Centre for the Study of Higher Education. Most recently, she worked as Head of Education and Culture at Policy Exchange. Joanna is the author of Women vs Feminism; Academic Freedom in an Age of Conformity and Consuming Higher Education Why Learning Can’t Be Bought. Joanna is associate editor of the online magazine Spiked and a regular news reviewer for Sky News.
philosopher
Dr Emily Ryall is a Reader in Applied Philosophy at the University of Gloucestershire. Emily has appeared on and written for national, local and international media such as The Moral Maze, BBC News 24, BBC Radio 4’s Today, The World Tonight and World at One programmes, ABC news, The New York Times, The Guardian and BBC World Service.
She has given talks on issues related to sport, games and play to international audiences around the world. She is also the author of Philosophy of Sport: Key Questions (2016), Philosophy of Play as Life (ed.) (2017) Philosophical Perspectives on Play (ed.) (2015) The Philosophy of Play (ed.) (2013) and Critical Thinking for Sports Students (2010) as well as a number of book chapters and peer reviewed journal articles.
chief executive officer, F-star Therapeutics
Dr Eliot Forster is CEO of F-star, a clinical-stage, NASDAQ-listed biopharmaceutical company focused on transforming the lives of patients with cancer. Eliot has over 30 years’ experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors. He was formerly CEO of Immunocore, where he successfully steered the company’s $320 million Series A fundraising.
In addition to his day-job, he is a non-executive chairman of Avacta plc; and was formerly executive chairman of MedCity. He is also a Board member of OSCHR (Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research) and the National Genomics Board.
Eliot is an honorary visiting professor of molecular and clinical cancer medicine at the University of Liverpool and honorary visiting professor at the University of Pavia, Italy. Eliot received his PhD from the University of Liverpool and an MBA from Henley Management College.
educationalist & historian
An educationalist and historian, Nicola gained a First in Independent Studies from the University of Lancaster specialising in the politics and history of the Middle East. Nicola continued her studies at Lancaster completing an MA in Historical Research. She then went on to pursue a successful career in education., working as an history teacher and Senior Leader at both Secondary and Primary schools. During the course of her career Nicola gained an MSC in Educational Research from the University of Oxford. She is currently working in the FE Sector.
author, academic & senior lecturer
Nikos Sotirakopoulos is a Senior Lecturer of Social Sciences at York St John University. He is the author of the books ‘The Rise of Lifestyle Activism: from New Left to Occupy’ and of the upcoming ‘Identity Politics & Tribalism: the New Culture Wars’. He has been a member of the organizing team of the Battle of Ideas festival for 10 years, and he is an Academic Advisor to the Ayn Rand Centre UK.
law student, University of Oxford
Born and raised in Warsaw, Kaja is currently finishing her law degree at the University of Oxford, after which she will continue to study privacy and data protection law.
musician, writer, and arts producer
Jonny Best has worked in arts and culture for almost thirty years, in arts festivals, classical music, theatre, opera and silent film. He has produced debates, theatre productions, concerts, exhibitions and participatory arts projects. Now, he focuses on working with silent film as a musician and producer and is a resident pianist at BFI Southbank, and the director of Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. He is the former artistic director of the UK’s first LGBT arts festival, Queer Up North, with whom he commissioned the UK’s first nationwide anti-LGBT bullying project for secondary schools. Jonny writes on contemporary issues, including freedom of speech and LGBT politics.
political advisor, commentator and columnist
Calvin Robinson is a political advisor and commentator. He has been published widely in the UK media, including in the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, the Spectator, and the Daily Express among others. He is a former assistant principal and currently consults for the Department for Education, supporting school leaders across the South East.
futurist and author
Tracey is a professional futurist, and runs Futuremade, the strategic foresight and futures consultancy, helping global companies understand their future consumer and the trends over time. A writer and regular keynote speaker, she has spoken at UN HQ in New York and closed at events such as Think With Google. Listed in Forbes as one of the top 50 female futurists in the world. She is the author of the recently published The Future of You.
She tweets @traceyfutures
senior lecturer, Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, University of Northumbria
Jane is a registered nurse with a long clinical experience in Intensive Care. She works in undergraduate and post graduate nursing, medical education, and carries out research in a number of areas relating to the care of acute illness. She is currently exploring the experiences of carers of people with a learning disability and autism seeking medical review in primary care in the context of the CV-19 pandemic. She has three children, Alice (23), Tom (19) and Daisy (9). She enjoys reading, long walks and daydreaming.
