We have recently welcomed seven new trustees to our Council of Management:
Tim BennettTim farms with his wife Susan in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. The farm is mainly organic and grassland-based with some woodland. Tim is Chairman of CIEL the agri-tech centre for Livestock innovations and also of the Farmers Club in London. Tim is a former Chairman of the Food Standards Agency, former President of the NFU and of DairyCo (now AHDB Dairy). He has held many other roles in the Industry including governor of the Institute of Ggrassland and Environmental Research and is a member of the Welsh Land tribunal. He is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society and of the Institute of Grocery Distribution. |
Adrian BlackshawAdrian is Chairman of the Organic Trade Board (OTB). He is also a partner in a commercial organic apple and walnut business. He was previously Chairman of Herefordshire Food Partnership and Herefordshire Tourism Company. He has had Board involvement with Herefordshire-based organisations, including executive responsibility in Herefordshire for economic regeneration, and is a past Business Ambassador for the new emerging Hereford University. Adrian has had a varied business background in a number of industry sectors, including medical product development, electronic publishing and as an investment banker. He gained considerable City experience with the Financial Times and as a Director of two quoted companies. He was vice-Chairman of West Mercia/ Warwickshire joint Police Audit Committee, majoring on Treasury & Risk Management, scrutinising operational, financial and reputational risk. |
Donald PeckDonald is a retired emerging markets economist, who spent much of his career in South Asia and South America as a business adviser and investor. He worked for the World Bank Group in Washington DC, and then for CDC, the South Asia and Africa investment arm of DFID; later spending 12 years in India investing in businesses large and small. In 2005 he helped found Lok Capital, an initiative in India investing in social enterprise with funds under management totaling over £100m. He advises Paul Hamlyn Foundation on their India grants programme and other investors on social enterprise and impact investment in emerging markets. Since 1994 he has been a trustee and, since 2010, Chair of the UK Foundation Rachel & Pamela Schiele (FRPS), which runs a significant organic farming business in Argentina. He is also a treasurer (since 2009) of the Institute for Public Policy Research, and a trustee of St John’s Smith Square and ThinkAhead and a member of the board of an Indian infrastructure finance company, IDFC Ltd. |
Andrea StewartAndrea has 18 years experience working in advocacy, communications and marketing. At Berry Bros. & Rudd, Andrea promoted pioneering biodynamic and organic European wine producers. In India, Andrea worked on sustainable development and advocacy programmes in rural communities. Andrea worked with NGO’s including CARE and Oxfam on an innovative collaboration to improve disaster coordination, risk reduction and accountability practices. Andrea is currently Head of Advocacy & Communications for a large network at the Centre for Tropical Medicine & Global Health at Oxford University. Andrea studied International Relations, Politics and Economics and completed postgraduate studies with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). Andrea is a keen champion of organic principles and practice, and is delighted to support ORC’s communications and advocacy initiatives. |
Margaret WagnerMargaret has worked in marketing for more than 20 years. Her focus is on brand building and driving new revenue streams for large, multi-nationals, including. Samsung, Citibank and Jaguar Land Rover. Originally from Connecticut, she worked in the marketing field for 15 years before creating her own start up in the retail sector. Margaret moved to London 7 years ago to focus on corporate development, building up a European service offering for a large US-based marketing agency. She has a passion for Corporate Responsibility and has led programmes in sustainability, women in leadership and corporate recycling. She is a strong advocate of organic and local farming and is passionate about taking both her marketing and business skills to this community to drive more sustainable and profitable commercial relationships. |
Christine WatsonChristine is Professor of Agricultural Systems at SRUC and a Guest Researcher at the Department of Crop Production Ecology at SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences). Christine leads a team of soil scientists working across the biology, physics and chemistry of soils. Her own research focuses on the management of micro and macro nutrients in organic and conventional agricultural systems. From 2003-2010 she served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Organic Standards (ACOS) and also chaired their R&D Subcommittee. Christine is a member of the Scottish Organic Forum and helped develop Organic Ambitions (Scottish Organic Action Plan 2016). She is involved in managing and teaching the SRUC MSc in Organic Farming which is now delivered in partnership with ORC. Christine was President of the European Society for Agronomy (2014-2016), and is currently President of the Association of Applied Biologists and an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies. |
Ned WestawayNed is a specialist barrister who practices at Francis Taylor Building in London. He is rated as a leading junior by Chambers & Partners in three areas: planning, environment and agricultural & rural affairs. He is on the Attorney General’s Panel of London counsel, is a trustee of the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association and is standing counsel for the Campaign for National Parks. |
For full list, see: our Charity page
