gentleman, scholar, acrobat
Simon is Chair of the Scotland Salon. He is an experienced Youth Work team leader and sleeps under the stars while supervising and assessing young people participating in Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions.
His PhD at the University of Strathclyde was in Education. His thesis focused on how past childhood experiences, freedoms and licences contribute to emerging selfhood in young people.
Simon organises charity open water swims off the Scottish coast in aid of the RNLI. Next year he is planning to raise money for the rescue efforts in the Mediterranean by swimming between Italy and Sicily. In what little spare time remains, Simon chases his 14 year old son and 11 year old daughter about, but has now retired from playing football.
associate professor, University of Leicester School of Business
Glynne is interested in the changing meaning of fairness and merit in working life. Recent research has included the impact of continuous performance management, the ‘Millennial’ employee in management thinking, and the unintended consequences of age equality legislation. He is currently writing about the resurgence in support for a ‘universal basic income’ on the left.
architecture, urban development, and town planning professional
With 35 years extensive, practical experience working between local authorities & businesses in the realms of architecture, urban development, town planning & construction, Shelagh McNerney is now also writing & undertaking the highly regarded MA in architectural history at Bartlett School at University College London. She is focussing on developing her engaging, provocative and open approach to personal, political and creative themes.
As well as leading the delivery of development & regeneration, Shelagh has undertaken research & written for think tanks, academic institutions, developers, construction & architecture companies & local authorities within the political & economic context. She is pro-development, actively involved in contemporary debate about the built environment & economic growth in the UK & believes how building comes about is “the ultimate form of human self-expression”.
She has led professional teams of property experts, developers, planners, architects, artists & businesses in many towns & cities alongside politicians working within Manchester & Salford City Councils along with over 10 years in the private sector. She is a fervent advocate for quality in architecture & socio-economic improvements for communities.
She trained as a town planner in the mid 1980’s at Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London gaining an M.Phil. & was the winner of the Holford Travel Award. She also has a postgraduate diploma in Built Environment Research from the University of Salford (2017) & continues academic interests, studying for the renowned M.A. in Architectural History at University College London. Shelagh is a design review panel member for RIBA “Places Matter” & occasionally teaches in Higher Education & also undertakes consultancy work as well as a regular judge on construction & property awards in North West England.
senior lecturer, Canterbury Christ Church University; associate, Centre for Parenting Culture Studies
Dr Jennie Bristow senior lecturer in Sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University, an associate of the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, and a writer and commentator on the ‘generation wars’. Her recent books include: The Corona Generation: Coming of age in a crisis (with Emma Gilland, Zero Books 2020); Generational Encounters with Higher Education: The Academic–Student Relationship and the University Experience (with Sarah Cant and Anwesa Chatterjee, Bristol University Press 2020); Stop Mugging Grandma: The ‘generation wars’ and why Boomer blaming won’t solve anything (Yale University Press 2019); and The Sociology of Generations: New directions and challenges (Palgrave Macmillan 2016).
SDP candidate for Mayor of London, managing director, Alphaprobe consultancy; Whistleblowers UK
Steve is a working class entrepreneur with 20 years experience in foreign exchange investment banking, and 15 years as in financial consulting. He is currently running for Mayor of London for the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Steve is a father of five, a school governor and a cricket coach, as well as being a political activist and the lead singer in a ‘dad band’
freelance journalist and editor
Michael has worked in the media since leaving school at 18 to train as a journalist on his local newspaper. In a 40-year career he has worked for everything from Heating & Ventilation News to Sky TV, and now works freelance for a variety of business-to-business magazines and websites, and has recently moved into book editing. Outside of work, he is happiest walking one of the UK’s long-distance footpaths, or at the opera.
head of public and youth engagement, Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law; lecturer in Law, London South Bank University
As Head of Public and Youth Engagement at the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, Michael leads an international programme teaching young people about human rights and democracy. He is also a Lecturer in Law at London South Bank University, where he teaches the Law of Torts.
An experienced community organiser, he has led voter registration projects that have successfully registered hundreds of thousands of voters. He was awarded a fee-waving membership of the Royal Society of the Arts for this success.
Michael has advised a number of public bodies in the education sector; he has worked for the Office for Students, HEFCE and the QAA. He was selected as a subject pilot panellist in Year 3 Pilot of the Teaching Excellence Framework, developing and refining metrics for the assessment of Business and Law programmes in higher education institutions. In his second year in that role, Michael was made the Chair of that Committee
Michael has been a trustee of four charities and is currently a board member of the Diana Award and Law for Life. Michael is an unregistered barrister and was called to the bar in 2021.
You can follow Michael on Twitter at @ab1odun
chief executive, Federation of Awarding Bodies
Tom Bewick is the Chief Executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies – the collective voice of the UK’s independent awarding and assessment sector. Members of the Federation, working nationally and internationally, are responsible for delivering a range of academic, vocational and technical qualifications below degree-level, including apprenticeship assessments.
Tom is Visiting Professor of Skills and Workforce Policy at Staffordshire University; and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has written and published extensively over two decades; and is an acknowledged expert on post-compulsory education and apprenticeship skills policy on both sides of the Atlantic, having worked extensively as a TVET consultant in the United States, the Middle East and Asia earlier on in his career.
entrepreneur, angel, advisor
Jessica Butcher MBE is a serial technology entrepreneur, angel investor and business advisor. She was the co-founding CMO of Blippar from 2011-2015 during it’s rapid ascent as one of the global tech pioneers in the field of Augmented Reality (a global CNBC ‘Top 50 Disruptor’ business in 2015/16/17 alongside the likes of Uber, AirBnB and Spotify).
Jessica is a passionate start-up/ scale-up mentor, public speaker and writer on a range of diverse subjects such as women in technology and entrepreneurship, work-life balance and humane technology. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the BBC’s Top 100 Women, Fortune’s Most Powerful Female Entrepreneurs, the Evening Standard’s ‘Progress 1000’ list of London influencers, and Europe’s Top 50 Inspiring Women in Tech. She was awarded an MBE for services to technology and entrepreneurship in the 2018 New Years Honours List.
She tweets @jessbutcher
chair, Positive News; writer and advisor on environment and sustainability
Martin has three decades of experience as a writer, editor, adviser and speaker on environmental solutions and sustainable futures. Martin is an award-winning journalist and photographer, with work in a range of publications including the Guardian, The Times, New Scientist, Newsweek and the Times of India. He has interviewed business and political leaders, including Paul Polman (CEO, Unilever), Terry Leahy (CEO, Tesco) and former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, among others. He has broadcast on major radio and TV networks, including the BBC, Sky, Al Jazeera and independent television.
Martin was editor in chief of Green Futures (now The Futures Centre) and editor at Tomorrow Magazine. He is now chair of Positive News, the new media initiative dedicated to uncovering and reporting on progress and possibility, rather than doom and gloom.
His awards include Science and Environment Journalist of the Year, the Global Green Future Leadership Award (unrelated to the magazine), and Wildlife Photographer of the Year (Highly Commended). Martin sits on a number of advisory boards and judging and assessment panels for a number of prestigious organisations, continues to advise and assess businesses and organisations on sustainability issues and projects, and is a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), Senior Affiliate of Forum for the Future and a Futerra Associate.
