People

Crispin manages oXya UK, which provides technical IT support to companies running SAP business software. An ex-teacher, he also writes and speaks on the theory and philosophy of education, particularly with a view to making better use in the sector of digital technology and blogs on technology and education at www.EdTechNow.net.

chair, Earthwatch Europe; interim director of public affairs and communications, Oxford University

Before joining Earthwatch Europe and Oxford University, Lucian was director of communications at The Open University, and held top communications posts in four UK Government departments. He was also the UK government’s first-ever director of e-Communications and recently served as an independent expert, reviewing the communications capability at the Cabinet Office and No.10. After leaving the Civil Service, he was a partner and the first managing director of Cornerstone Global Associates, providing strategic consultancy to government, business, civil society, universities and business schools. In 17 years as a senior executive and television journalist with the BBC and ITV he helped establish the first international television channels as a joint venture between BBC and Discovery. As strand editor for BBC World, he led the transformation of breaking news and live events, which included producing the first six hours of television coverage on the death of Princess Diana. Since 1997, Lucian has also served as chairman of three non-profit organisations, including Liberal Judaism, Tavistock Institute of Human Relations and Rory Peck Trust.

student, The University of Oxford

William is currently studying theology and religion at Regent’s Park College, Oxford, where he also currently serves as the JCR President. He is a keen Westminster-watcher, and has written political comment pieces on Brexit and its ramifications for British democracy for Oxford student newspaper Cherwell and for The Spectator’s ‘Coffee House’ online blog.

He is particularly interested in the place of liberty in society and the necessity of its preservation. Consequently, much of his degree has become focused on the Enlightenment period in both Britain and on the continent; the religious history of liberty leading up to the modern age and the Reformation’s part in this story; and the intersections and interactions of religion with liberalism, rationalism and science in the West.

solicitor, David Isaacs Solicitors

David Isaacs is a solicitor who specialises in commercial law, employment law, IP, real property and civil litigation. He is interested in politics, history and literature. David is a member of the European Atlantic Group and Mid-Atlantic Club.

student, St. Hilda’s College, Oxford

Tom Gould is a Debating Matters alumnus. Having won the competition with Magdalen College School in its 2015-16 run, he spent a year as a debating coach at the school. He is in his second year of studying for a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at St. Hilda’s College of Oxford University and is a member of the Oxford Union, at which he has spoken on two occasions. His particular academic interests include political liberalism, the philosophy of feminism and the works of Wittgenstein. He is also an amateur playwright and will be directing his first play, Section Two, at the Burton Taylor Studio in the first term of next year. Otherwise, Tom is a lifelong Chelsea fan and can often be found despairing in the Matthew Harding stand at Stamford Bridge.

graduate student, St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

Grace is a taught graduate student reading International Health and Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford as a Weidenfeld and Hoffmann Scholar. She is a medical doctor from Malawi interested in designing and implementing solutions to challenges in global health and development. She is the health representative for UKANI Malawi where she works to improve access to education for women and girls in Malawi by addressing sanitation and hygiene challenges for young girls in Malawi and facilitating back to school programs for young mothers.
Grace loves historical fiction and travelling.

founder, Bao Advisory

Fenella has worked with China for over 20 years. First visiting when there were no cars, no mobile phones, and little to buy, the transformation is extraordinary. International and curious in outlook, she has lived and worked in New York, Beijing, Hangzhou and Hong Kong. For WPP, for an agency of the Economist Group, a festival of China, and the China-Britain Business Council, setting up her own China consultancy in 2017.  There is still very little understanding of China here in the UK. She encourages curiosity and wants a better exchange of ideas, understanding and trade between China and the UK.

Ed Butler is an award-winning BBC presenter, producer, and reporter of some 25 years’ experience, who’s covered business, arts, and news from around the world for both TV and radio. He has interviewed heads of state and business leaders from five continents, and has reported on conflicts from Bosnia to Iraq and the Caucasus. Most recently, he has hosted the BBC’s World Service flagship business show, “Business Daily,” and has produced and presented documentaries covering the Financial Crisis and the Arab Spring. Ed teaches and trains journalists, as well as reporting from the world’s hotspots.