Trustees

Formerly Vice President and Director, Global Journal Content Management, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

I have retired from academic publishing after 40 years in the industry. I was previously responsible for the operational management of approximately 1600 learned journals across all the major academic disciplines.

 As a Trustee, I contribute my knowledge of the corporate business environment and experience of running large, global teams. In my spare time, I also make handmade books which have been exhibited widely and are held in collections in the UK, US, Pakistan and Germany. I am a member of the Letter Exchange, a churchwarden and Vice-Chair of trustees of the Crafts Study Centre.

 I am a member of the Finance, Risk and Audit and Health and Safety and People Committees.

Hannah Bird is a Wellcome Trust Clore Fellow with 15 years’ experience of developing new programmes and strategy across cultural, educational and scientific organisations.

She is delighted to support Commonwork Trust in their strategic ambition to ensure visitors to Bore Place consider their relationship with and impact on the natural world. She brings experience of leading cross-disciplinary climate change expeditions in the Arctic and Andes for Cape Farewell - producing artworks, events and films with the BBC, Southbank Centre, Tate, Eden Project and Natural History Museum, directing the Culture & Climate Change Networked Residency Programme for Open University and University of Sheffield, and undertaking a residency at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab exploring the role of creativity in the pursuit of scientific knowledge.

Hannah has a keen interest in encouraging good governance and leadership across the Charity Sector. She sits on the steering group for Get Creative and her consultancy Bird & Gorton, in collaboration with Cornwall Museums Partnership was one of 13 organisations awarded DCMS funding in 2019 to devise and deliver a programme of activity building Digital Leadership capacity at board and senior management level. Other governance and leadership consultancy includes work with cities, large and small arts organisations, museums, universities, funders and creative businesses including National Theatre, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature, Midlands4Cities and Clore Leadership Programme. She enjoys working within a rich network of cultural leaders to bring the right people and ideas together to imagine new and better solutions to complex challenges.

Jas Rai is Head of People/HR at the British Library and she brings over 15 years’ experience in HR, Talent, Development and Resourcing. Prior to joining the British Library as the Global Head of Talent in Japan, Jas' background was mainly in Engineering, focusing on the future of engineering and skills in the UK.

Jas joined the British Library in August 2020, in the midst of the pandemic and at a time when the British Library had made a clear commitment to become an anti-racist organisation. HR has really been at the front line in the last year, having to become experts in mental health, wellbeing, diversity, inclusion, future ways of working, health and safety, technology, burnout and hybrid/ remote working, developing policies overnight to support people. The pace has been incredible, but what an incredible and opportune moment to drive change in what we do and how we do it.

I was born in London in 1932 and educated at Sherborne School for Girls and Somerville College, Oxford, where I read Classics. In 1955 I married Neil Wates, and we went on to have five children (of whom Edward is the eldest). I've worked in several voluntary organisations, and as a Juvenile Court magistrate in inner London, setting up projects such as a Family Day Care programme in Brixton. As a result of this work I became concerned about the powerlessness and waste of talent of ‘ordinary’ people, and Neil and I were also convinced that the exploitation of natural resources, unfair world trade and the materialism of our culture would lead to an environmental disaster unless our whole attitude changed.

This led to the setting up of Commonwork at Bore Place and we also became Quakers. In 1983-5, in order to better equip myself as a trustee, I took a second degree in Public Policy Studies at Bristol University’s School of Advanced Urban Studies, and received the qualification of Master of Science, which has proved useful and valuable. After Neil died, I acted as director of Commonwork for a short period, have been a Trustee since 1978 and have taken on the role of Trustee Emeritus since February 2017.

Former Director of Environment and Waste, Kent County Council (retired 2012)

Hailing from rural Norfolk originally I have lived and worked in Kent over the past 40 years. As a Trustee I contribute knowledge and senior experience of the public sector business, staff and project management environments, and local government political arena. I bring wide experience of ecology, environment and waste issues, services, contract management and 'public good' projects. Post retirement I have several other voluntary capacity roles, including as a conservation volunteer.

Dr Lindsay Pamphilon has worked in FE for over 25 years and as a senior manager for more than 12 years. Having previously worked as a Landbased Principal in Kent with over site of the College Farm, Horticultural unit and residential provision. Lindsay is now the Group Principal of an FE College in Surrey and South Croydon covering  Further & Higher Education and Apprenticeships. Lindsay originally trained as an Environmental Scientist and carried out her PhD in Biological Control.

Lindsay is the Vice Chair of the Trust.

In the first part of my career I held a number of senior positions at the Lloyds Banking Group. In 2007 I became the Group’s first Sustainable Development Director and then took on an expanded role where I was responsible for Group-wide initiatives including business ethics, vulnerable customers, ‘green economy’, third sector partnerships and social entrepreneurship. I worked closely with the Bank’s Board, investors, the Government, key suppliers as well as corporate clients. I was also interim CEO of the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales.

In addition to Commonwork Trust, I am also a Trustee of Oasis Community Learning which is one of the largest academy school groups in the UK. Other posts held include Senior Associate and Academic Tutor at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, the Deputy Chairman of the London Sustainable Development Commission and an elected member of the steering group of the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative. I am a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

I currently chair the Board and the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee.

I spent my early career in direct farm management both with the private farmers and also with the Co-operative Wholesale Society.

Since 1992 I have worked as a farm advisor and for the last 18 as an independent consultant. I specialise in providing advice to organic dairy and arable farming businesses, helping clients to develop their organic farms to remain profitable but deliver the wider benefits of organic farming in the form of high quality food, enhancing bio diversity and reducing the harmful effects of agriculture.

I have been involved at Bore Place as a technical advisor to the farm for over 10 years. More recently this has also included providing more strategic advice to the Farm Manager and Director.

I became a Trustee at Bore Place in 2017, and in addition to my professional role I am keen to see greater engagement between farmers and the general public, helping farmers to communicate the benefits of organic farming.

Away from work I am a keen walker and cyclist and have a passion for the natural environment and conservation of our landscape.