Dame Fiona is Chair of the National Audit Office and Chair of the Governing Council of the Royal Agricultural University (RAU). Prior to this, Fiona was Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, from 2012 to 2021, having previously served as Director-General of the National Trust from 2001 to 2012. During her time as DG she made the Trust warmer and more welcoming, bringing the houses to life and raising the profile of the Trust’s work in the countryside.

Before joining the Trust, she was Director of the Women’s Unit in the Cabinet Office (1998 to 2000), Director of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (now Campaign to Protect Rural England) (1987 to 1998), and Secretary to the Council for National Parks (now Campaign to Protect National Parks) (1980 to 1987). 

Fiona holds a number of non-Executive roles. She is Chair of the International National Trusts Organisation, the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden, and Cambridge’s Bennett Institute for Public Policy. She is also a Trustee of the Grosvenor Estate and Green Alliance; and a non-Executive Director of Wessex Water. Her book The Fight for Beauty was published in 2016.

Alongside her role as FFCC Chair, Fiona is also an FFCC Trustee, a member of the People and Culture Committee, chairs the Land Use National Group and co-chairs FFCC Cambridgeshire.

Sir Ian is Chair of Channel 4 and a Non-executive Director of BT. Former Chair of Barclays UK and Debenhams, and former Lead non-executive director for the government, he has won a number of awards including lifetime contributions to retailing, green business and the Fortune WEF award for leadership in the circular economy.

He was appointed Group Chief Executive of Kingfisher plc from January 2008 and left the group in early 2015. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of B&Q. His previous roles at Kingfisher from 1998 onwards include Chief Executive of International and Development, Chief Executive of e-Kingfisher and Group Director of Strategy and Development.

Sir Ian was knighted in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to Business, Sustainability and the Environment and is a Chevalier of the Ordre National du Merite of France. Other current principal external appointments: Chairman, Maisons du monde; Chairman, Menhaden plc.

Judith is Deputy Chair of the Environment Agency, and has worked in the food and drink industry for over 35 years, starting her life in manufacturing before moving into retail at Marks and Spencer. From 2004 to 2021 she worked for Sainsbury’s as Director of Sainsbury’s Brand with responsible for all aspects of Sainsbury’s product offer, from Policy formation on aspects such as Ethical and Sustainable Sourcing, through to Product Technology, Development, Safety, and Packaging along with Corporate Responsibility and Public Affairs, driving the Quality and Innovation agendas whilst protecting and enhancing the reputation of Sainsbury’s Brand.

She is a Biochemist, nutritionist, has an Honorary Doctorate in Agriculture from Harper Adams University, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST), and the Royal Society of Arts and Manufactures (RSA). From 2013 to 2018 she was Chair of the Governments’ AgriTech Council, and now sits on both the Food and Drink Sector, and Natural Environment Research Councils. Judith is also Chair of the Rugby Players Association and is a Trustee of The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Accounting for Sustainability and The Matt Hampson Foundation, as well as an ambassador for the Woodland Trust.

She was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to Farming and the Food Industry.

Helen has a mixed organic farm in Wiltshire, with dairy, beef, pigs, cereals, and is now also experimenting with agroforestry. Her products are sold through the Helen Browning’s Organic brand in retailers big and small, as well as through her mini hotel and restaurant/pub on the farm, and through her restaurant in Swindon. She is Chief Executive of the Soil Association, a member of the Food Ethics Council, trustee of the RSPB. Prior to rejoining the Soil Association, Helen was Director of External Affairs for the National Trust. She has had a number of roles in agri-politics over the years, including the Government’s Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food (‘the Curry Commission’) and chaired the England Animal Health and Welfare Implementation Group. Helen was awarded an OBE in 1998 for her services to organic farming.

David is a qualified rural chartered surveyor with a background in private practice and consultancy for both large and small farms and Estates. Currently Chairman of Dyson Farming. and on the Trustee Board of the National Trust, he is interested in the interaction between commercial farming and the environment.

His own commercial experience comes from running his own diversified family business in Devon and as a Director on various Boards such as the Crown Estate. He has championed new entrants in agriculture, chairing the Government sponsored 'Future of Farming' Review and is interested in the improvement of skills and training, chairing the Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH). He was President of the CLA 2005 – 07 and served on the Affordable Rural Housing Commission.

David is an FFCC Trustee, a member of the Audit and Risk Committee, chairs the Devon Inquiry and co-Chairs the Farming Leadership Group.

Andrew has spent 21 years with the Bidfood business (formerly Bidvest Foodservice), primarily developing the food logistics business in the UK, as well as the businesses in Turkey, the Middle East, the Baltics and Spain. He became Chief Executive of Bidfood UK in 2014, and also sits on the global leadership Foodservice Group within Bidcorp, Bidfood’s ultimate parent company. Bidfood is the UK’s leading provider of food, beverages and packaging to the hospitality industry. In 2020 Andrew also inherited responsibility for Bidfresh – the UK based business specialising in fresh meat, fresh fish and fruit and vegetable sales to the hospitality industry.

After serving as a Council Member for three years, Andrew was also appointed Chairman of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors in January 2017, through to January 2020, the industry body representing the interests of wholesale and cash & carry in the UK. As well as being a commissioner, Andrew also sits on the advisory body for the National Food Strategy.

The wider Bidfood business employs more than 6,000 people in the UK and has focus on food innovation, service excellence, sustainability, and delivering great value. Prior to joining Bidfood Andrew’s career began at Coca-Cola Enterprises, where he worked his way up from Graduate Trainee to Trading Director of the wholesale division.

In May 2020, Shirley stood down from her role as Chief Executive of the Royal Society for Public Health, after 7 years at the helm. She has been a voluntary sector leader in both the UK and USA and also a non- executive in both countries. She was previously CEO of the National Centre for Learning Disabilities in New York and in the UK she was Chief Executive of Dyslexia Action for over a decade.

She is currently Chair of the think-tank, British Future and Chair of the Rare Dementia Support Groups Advisory Board at University College London. She is a trustee of Alzheimer’s Research UK and a member of the Advisory Board on health and care at the Institute of Public Policy Research. She is also an advisor to Breaking Barriers Innovations consultancy group.

David is Chairman and founding owner of The Environment Bank Ltd which brokers funding from developments to create new, and enhance existing, wildlife habitats. He promotes the importance of environmental markets to restoring nature at scale. He established one of the first environmental consultancies in the UK, which he subsequently merged with a plc. He has a strong professional and personal interest in biodiversity conservation and has worked in the planning and development control sector for over 25 years, advising corporates and developers on the environmental impacts of their projects. David was a founding member of Natural England, the Government's statutory advisers on the natural heritage, its Deputy Chair 2011 - 2016, and a member of the Board of the UK government’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee. He was a member of the Government’s Ecosystem Markets Taskforce and is currently Chair of the Northern Upland Nature Partnership. David is Chairman of Plantlife, which promotes the conservation of plants, a Board Trustee of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and co-founder of the NatureSpace Partnership Ltd. He is passionate about nature conservation and enjoys bird watching and wildlife photography. David was awarded a CBE in the 2015 Queens Birthday Honours for services to nature conservation and the economy.

David is a UK trained doctor and was the founder Director of the Sustainable Development Unit [SDU] for NHS England and Public Health England, established in 2007. He left the SDU on 1st January 2018 and is an Honorary Professor and an Associate at the Medical School in the University of Exeter, UK, and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. David was previously Director of the Public Health Observatory in Cambridge from 2001 to 2007. He has worked as a clinical doctor in the NHS, a joint Director of Public Health in North Cambridgeshire, a Public Health Training Director, with the NHS R&D programme, and in rural China in the early 1990s with Save the Children Fund (UK). He has honorary chairs at University College London and University of Exeter, a visiting professorship at the University of Surrey, and was awarded the OBE in the 2012 New Year’s Honours List for services to public health and to the NHS.

Ann and her husband run a beef and sheep farm and a property letting business in the foothills of the Cambrian mountains in Llanddewi Brefi with their family. Ann was brought up on a dairy farm in Carmarthenshire and was an active member of the Young Farmers movement. She moved to Ceredigion and immediately joined Llanddewi Brefi WI. Ann has been a very active member of the WI at local, federation and national level. She was Chairman of Ceredigion federation from 2010 to 2013. Wales Chairman from 2013 to 2017, National Vice Chairman 2016 to date and National Public Affairs Chairman 2017 to date. Ann has been an Eco Team leader for the WI and named on the first green list awarded by the Welsh Assembly. Ann plays an active role in her community having been a Chairman and secretary of Llanddewi Show, community councillor and school governor.

Denise Bentley is a respected government advisor, who advised on the National Food Strategy document. Denise is Co-Founder and CEO of First Love Foundation, a charity supporting individuals facing crisis, within Tower Hamlets & the City of London, by tackling social injustice and the root causes of poverty. Denise previously worked for a number of investment banks in Forex.

Tim is Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey, and Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP). CUSP builds on Tim’s vision over three decades to explore the moral, economic and social dimensions of prosperity on a finite planet. He’s served as an advisor on sustainability to numerous commercial, government and intergovernmental organisations. During five years at the Stockholm Environment Institute in the early 1990s, he pioneered the concept of preventative environmental management—a core principle of the circular economy framework—outlined in his 1996 book Material Concerns: Pollution Profit and Quality of life. From 2004 to 2011, Tim was Economics Commissioner on the UK Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), where he led the Commission’s work on redefining prosperity. His work for the SDC culminated in the publication of his ground-breaking book, Prosperity Without Growth, which has subsequently been translated into 17 foreign languages. A substantially revised second edition has been published recently. In 2016, he was awarded the Hillary Laureate for exceptional international leadership. In addition to his academic work, Tim is an award-winning dramatist with numerous radio-writing credits for the BBC.

Barbara, Baroness Young of Old Scone, is a Member of the House of Lords with special interests, among others, in the environment, agriculture, natural resources and climate change. She has been Chairman of the Woodland Trust since 2016 and was appointed the Chairman of Council at the Royal Veterinary College in July 2019.

Her other voluntary positions include Honorary President of the South Georgia Heritage Trust; Patron of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Management; and Vice President of RSPB, Bird Life International and Flora and Fauna International. She has formerly held a variety of environmental leadership roles, including Chief Executive of RSPB, Chairman of English Nature and Chief Executive of the Environment Agency.

Baroness Young has a number of honorary designations and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2017.

Ufi is a strategic business leader with over 25 years experience in the hospitality, leisure, travel, and tourism industry. She is recognised for her success in cultivating mutually beneficial partnerships with businesses, associations, and governments, particularly as Chief Executive, British Hospitality Association and Chief Operations Officer, World Travel & Tourism Council.

Ufi was instrumental in the creation of the Government-led UK Tourism Industry Council, the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Visitor Economy, and the establishment of the International Competitiveness Monitor for Travel & Tourism, which is now operated by the World Economic Forum and recognised as the global benchmark for policy makers and investors. Ufi has also authored many destination strategies for the development of tourism economies including Croatia, Botswana and the State of Santa Catarina in Brazil, advising on policy reform to secure greater levels of Foreign Direct Investment, Exports and Competitiveness in domestic and international markets.

Sue is the Chief Executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. Sue leads the organisation in its mission to bring people together to act on the climate, nature and health crises, through fairer and more sustainable food systems, and a just transition for rural communities and the countryside.

Sue’s background is in combined research and practice in leadership and organisation development for systems change, working with leaders across public, private and not for profit organisations, especially on complex partnership projects.

She is a Trustee of CoFarm Foundation and is an independent Governor at Royal Agricultural University. Living on an organic farm in Wales, Sue and her family raise livestock and farm for conservation.

Sue is the Chief Executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. Sue leads the organisation in its mission to bring people together to act on the climate, nature and health crises, through fairer and more sustainable food systems, and a just transition for rural communities and the countryside.

Sue’s background is in combined research and practice in leadership and organisation development for systems change, working with leaders across public, private and not for profit organisations, especially on complex partnership projects.

She is a Trustee of CoFarm Foundation and is an independent Governor at Royal Agricultural University. Living on an organic farm in Wales, Sue and her family raise livestock and farm for conservation.

David has a distinguished career working with farmers, policy makers and stakeholders to advance food systems transformation both in the UK and internationally.

He joins FFCC from WWF-UK where he was Director of Food Strategy, also serving on WWF International’s Food Practice Leadership team. Before that, David was the Assistant Director in the Prince of Wales’ International Sustainability Unit, working to advance sustainable agriculture and urban food policy, including helping to set up the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact in 2015

Before gaining his Masters in the Practice of Sustainable Development and working as a development consultant in Liberia, Kenya and Malawi, David's early career was spent providing market insight to major food and drinks brands in the UK as key account manager for Kantar.

David is also a proud Trustee of both The Food Foundation and SUSTAIN.

He lives in Dorking with his wife Elizabeth and two boys, and can usually be found either tending his vegetable patch, or cycling up and down the Surrey Hills.

Tom is Professor of Rural Policy & Strategy at the Royal Agricultural University, where his focus is on informing national and international policy relating to the land-based sector, the environment and food. He has a particular interest in developing policy to support farmer-led innovation. He is a director of the new Centre for Effective Innovation in Agriculture, alongside colleagues from our partners at Reading, Warwick, Newcastle and Harper Adams universities and also supports FFCC as an advisor.

Tom was previously Director of Innovation at the Soil Association, where he founded the Innovative Farmers network, which supports practical ‘field labs’ by farmers, and led an overhaul of organic standards.

From 2003-2011 he was Executive Director of the Food Ethics Council, which received the BBC Food & Farming Derek Cooper Award for its Food & Fairness Inquiry. He has served on various advisory groups and boards, including for the Cabinet Office’s Food Matters report, ScienceWise, the BBSRC, Sustain and the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership.

He has a PhD in geography from the University of Manchester, where he investigated the use and abuse of science in food regulation.

Rebecca is a stakeholder, marketing and communications specialist with experience across the creative industries, higher education, arts, and charity sectors. She began her career in public relations, but has specialised over the years into developing brand narratives, advocacy and communications strategies for purpose-led organisations. She worked for many years at Channel 4 and then moved to working in higher education and for a range of charities including the Dartington Trust. She is particularly interested in how to build a community around an organisation so that they develop a shared purpose and mission.

Mhairi is a Registered Nutritionist specialising in public health and food policy who is passionate about creating healthy food systems that support the health of people and the planet. She leads food and health work for the Commission, including the Food Conversation. Prior to joining FFCC, she led policy and international workstreams at Consensus Action on Salt, Sugar and Health. There, she developed and advocated for policy proposals to reduce excess and unnecessary levels of salt and sugar from foods and drinks sold in the UK, and collaborated with stakeholders in Malaysia, Morocco, China and Peru to translate this work globally.

Mhairi holds a BSc in Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh and a Masters in International Public Health Nutrition at the University of Westminster. She is now a PhD candidate with Queen Mary University of London, evaluating food and health policies in the UK.

Outside of work, Mhairi can often be found hiking, gardening, and dedicating a disproportionate amount of time to preventing her cats from interrupting work calls.

Tim is Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey, and Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP). CUSP builds on Tim’s vision over three decades to explore the moral, economic and social dimensions of prosperity on a finite planet. He’s served as an advisor on sustainability to numerous commercial, government and intergovernmental organisations. During five years at the Stockholm Environment Institute in the early 1990s, he pioneered the concept of preventative environmental management—a core principle of the circular economy framework—outlined in his 1996 book Material Concerns: Pollution Profit and Quality of life. From 2004 to 2011, Tim was Economics Commissioner on the UK Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), where he led the Commission’s work on redefining prosperity. His work for the SDC culminated in the publication of his ground-breaking book, Prosperity Without Growth, which has subsequently been translated into 17 foreign languages. A substantially revised second edition has been published recently. In 2016, he was awarded the Hillary Laureate for exceptional international leadership. In addition to his academic work, Tim is an award-winning dramatist with numerous radio-writing credits for the BBC.

Ian J. Bateman OBE, FRSA, FRSB, is Professor of Environmental Economics and Director of the Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute (LEEP) at the University of Exeter Business School, UK. Ian has been awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit award and is a Member of the Natural Capital Committee (reporting to the Chancellor of the Exchequer) and the Board of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. He led the economics team for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (UK-NEA) and leads NERC SWEEP programme bringing together business and policy decision makers with research experts to examine natural environment and economic issues.

Tim Benton leads the Energy, Environment and Resources programme at Chatham House. He joined Chatham House in 2016 as a distinguished visiting fellow, when he was also dean of strategic research initiatives at the University of Leeds, where he still remains a professor.

From 2011-2016 he was the “champion” of the UK’s Global Food Security programme which was a multi-agency partnership of the UK’s public bodies (government departments, devolved governments and research councils) with an interest in the challenges around food.

He has worked with UK governments, the EU and G20. He has been a global agenda steward of the World Economic Forum, and is an author of the IPCC’s Special Report on Food, Land and Climate (2019), and the UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment.

Tim Lang has been Professor of Food Policy at City University of London’s Centre for Food Policy since 2002. Hill farming in Lancashire UK in the 1970s formed his interest in the relationship between food, health, environment, culture and political economy. He is co-author of Sustainable Diets (2017), Food Wars (2015), Unmanageable Consumer (2015), Ecological Public Health (2012) and Food Policy (2009). He was policy lead on the EAT-Lancet Commission (The Lancet, 2019). His Feeding Britain (Pelican, 2020) explores the UK as a case study of a rich economy uncertain about food security. Probing the UK food system’s defences, supply, consumption and capacities, it concludes that, whichever risks are dissected, sustainability, health and social justice should be central to policy and planning, which they have not been.

Janet is Professor of Rural Policy at the University of Gloucestershire's Countryside and Community Research Institute, where she directs and undertakes research related to agriculture, the environment and rural development.

Her research expertise centres on European and UK rural development policy and practice, with particular interest in integrated approaches, environmental sustainability and institutional adaptation. Janet is well-known in policymaking circles in the UK and EU, has skills in facilitation and consensus-building, and is a regular speaker at international conferences.

Formerly Director of the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) for eight years, Janet previously worked for more than a decade in a government agency and an independent policy think-tank. She is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a founder and steering group member of the Uplands Alliance, a Director of Rural England CIC and an advisor to Green Alliance and DEFRA on rural and agricultural issues. Janet held the Presidency of the UK Agricultural Economics Society from 2021-2022.

Professor Monder Ram OBE is the Director of the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME). He is a leading authority on small business and ethnic minority entrepreneurship research and has published widely on the subjects and has extensive experience of working in and acting as a consultant to small and ethnic minority businesses. Monder is a regular keynote speaker at international conferences, and advises the government on the importance and value of ethnic minority businesses through his position on the APPG for BAME Business Owners. He also holds visiting positions at Warwick University and the University of Turku.

Kevin Morgan is Professor of Governance and Development in the School of Geography and Planning at Cardiff University, where he is also Dean of Engagement. Kevin’s research interests revolve around multilevel governance, urban and regional development and sustainable food systems. He is the co-author of Worlds of Food: Place, Power and Provenance in the Food Chain (Oxford University Press) and The School Food Revolution: Public Food and the Challenge of Sustainable Development (Routledge). In addition to his academic work, Kevin is actively involved in the worlds of policy and practice, having been the founding chair of the Bristol Food Policy Council and a former member of the Food Ethics Council.

Professor Michael Lee is an expert in sustainable livestock systems, defining their role in securing global food security at the same time as protecting environmental health (Livestock’s role in human and planetary health). He graduated with first class honours in Animal Science from University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1997 and gained a PhD in ruminant nutrition (protein and energy metabolism) from the University of Aberdeen in 2001. Michael is currently Deputy Vice Chancellor of Harper Adams University. Previously, he held a joint appointment between Rothamsted Research and the University of Bristol as Head of Site at North Wyke and Chair in Sustainable Livestock Systems. He has published over 300 research articles and papers including recent articles in Nature and Science. He was awarded the Sir John Hammond Memorial Prize in 2015 for services to Animal Science. He is currently President of the European Federation of Animals Sciences Livestock Farming Systems commission and Vice President of the British Society of Animal Science.

Julia chairs FFCC Cumbria as Professor in Practice at the University of Cumbria. Other 'hats' include; Executive Director of the Foundation for Common Land, Chair of the Uplands Alliance and she is a practicing Rural Chartered Surveyor and Agricultural Valuer. Julia was a Board Member of Natural England from 2014 - 2019. She worked from 1993-2001 as an environmental economist on National Park projects in Indonesia and the Philippines. Julia has a keen interest in land tenure and her PhD was entitled Governance of Common Land in National Parks: Plurality and Purpose.

Julia lives in the Eden Valley, Cumbria with her family at Susan's Farm; an organic Care Farm of which she is a Trustee and where she enjoys working on the farm.

Our program in Cambridgeshire is co-chaired by FFCC Commissioner Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE. Fiona is Chair of the National Audit Office, coming to the role after a long career in the voluntary sector, latterly as Director-General of the National Trust from 2001 to 2012 and Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 2012 to 2022. During her time as DG she made the Trust warmer and more welcoming, bringing the houses to life and raising the profile of the Trust’s work in the countryside.

Before this, she was Director of the Women’s Unit in the Cabinet Office from 1998 to 2000, Director of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (now Campaign to Protect Rural England) from 1987 to 1998 and Secretary to the Council for National Parks (now Campaign to Protect National Parks) from 1980 to 1987.

Fiona also holds a number of non-Executive roles. She is a Trustee of the Grosvenor Estate, a Non-Executive Director of Wessex Water, Chair of the Green Alliance, the International National Trusts Organisation, the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England and Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden. A Member of the Advisory Panel for the Dasgupta Review of the Economics of Biodiversity. She was a Panel Member for the Glover Review of Protected Landscapes and Adviser to the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission.

Gavin has spent the last 25 years leading, developing and advising community-based organisations, NGO’s, social enterprises and sustainable development organisations around the world.

This has included leading adventurous and scientific youth expeditions to polar, desert, rainforest and mountainous environments and running cross-cultural youth exchange; outdoor education and community-based development programmes.

Much of Gavin’s career has been spent bringing together diverse groups of stakeholders to collaborate on solving seemingly intractable sustainable development challenges, such as biodiversity loss. At Fauna & Flora International, Gavin conceived and co-founded the first global, open online community dedicated to conservation technology - WILDLABS. For Raleigh International, Gavin established and led a new country operation in India, as Country Director.

Gavin is currently setting up a new charitable group - CoFarm - which aims to reposition agroecological food and farming at the heart of communities across the UK. The first ‘co-farming’ pilot farm is in Cambridge, where Gavin lives with his wife, two children and family dog, Wilf. He (Gavin!) is a Fellow of the RSA and of the Royal Geographical Society and chairs the Partnership Board of Cambridge Sustainable Food.

Marg is currently Chief Executive of Mytime Active, a social enterprise focused on improving the health and wellbeing of local communities.

Marg has always been committed to social progress and supporting organisations to achieve their social objectives by applying commercial disciplines. She enjoys the challenge of managing both aspects to create a better world in a way that can be financially sustained.

Originally trained as a Chartered Accountant, her early career was as a finance professional, later Finance Director, for two leading Housing Associations during a decade of rapid growth in that sector. Marg then moved to the British Council as the Director of Finance and Resources globally. In 2008, Marg took up the role of Chief Executive of VSO, the international development NGO that works through volunteers.

Marg has held a range of non-executive board roles including Chair. She is currently Treasurer of Community Leisure UK as well being on the Board of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission.

Charlie is an experienced researcher and writer with a professional and personal background in food and farming.

He has a PhD in History from Birkbeck, University of London, specializing in food production, trade and consumption in the past. Before joining FFCC, he was a research fellow at Trinity College Dublin, part of an international project on the history of food and drink in Ireland. His first book, on London’s street food sellers, was published in 2023.

Previously, Charlie worked as a business and farming journalist. He was a reporter at Farmers Weekly, mainly covering the dairy, beef, sheep and pig industries, and his writing has appeared in a range of national and trade publications.

He was brought up on his family’s dairy farm in Devon, where they make very good ice cream. He now lives with his partner and son in North London.

Georgie leads the Land Use and Countryside programme at FFCC. She advocates for a Land Use Framework to help meet the UK’s climate, biodiversity, food and housing policy goals with limited land, and supports equitable and resilient rural development.

With a background in climate and food, she has campaigned at the intersection of Agriculture, Food and Land Use (AFOLU) and climate policy for many years. Prior to joining the FFCC, she worked at the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and the European Climate Foundation, focusing on the UN biodiversity and climate summits, as well as land use change in developing countries - particularly in Latin America, India and China.

Georgie has a master’s degree in Governance, Development and Public Policy from the Institute of Development Studies, where she focused on bottom-up approaches to climate policy and polycentric governance to tackle wicked problems. She lives in the West Country and spends as much time as possible walking moors, hills and coastal paths.

Emily works part time at FFCC, helping drive the work of the Farming Futures team with Dr Charlie Taverner.

Emily was awarded a Batchelor of Veterinary Science from the University of Bristol in 2006 and has over 15 years’ experience working as a farm animal veterinary surgeon. She also gained a certificate in cattle health and production from the University of Liverpool in 2015. Emily has developed strong working relationships with the farmers she visits on a regular basis and believes this first-hand experience will help her bring practical solutions to the challenges ahead. She continues to work 2 days a week as a practising farm vet throughout Devon and Cornwall.

In 2021, Emily was invited to join the Oxford Farming Conference’s Inspire programme which has allowed her to engage with a diverse group of people from across the farming sector. She thrives on motivating others and enjoys communicating with a wide range of stakeholders, believing all voices need to be heard and considered to bring about lasting and widespread change.

Emily lives with her husband and 2 young children on the Devon/Cornwall border and enjoys running the coastal paths and windsurfing whenever time and conditions allow. She is also trying to train her young Labrador to be a working gundog with variable success!

Ella has an MSc in Food Policy from City, University of London – her dissertation focused on whether urban food policy is adequately addressing issues of food justice.

She’s also a volunteer and cook at Sitopia Farm in south east London, a judge at The Great Taste Awards, and an occasional writer on food policy issues. She spends as much time as possible on the west coast of Cornwall and Ireland.

Kenny has a wealth of experience in managing complex projects and programmes, taking a systems thinking, collaborative, and embodied approach to delivering change. He works part-time for FFCC as Programme Manager of the Food Conversation - an exciting UK wide programme of citizen engagement exploring what citizens really want from food.

He is an anthropologist and has over a decade of experience working in social change. He likes to work at the interface of personal, cultural and systemic change believing it's in the messy, human and complex in-between spaces where transformation lies. He is also a facilitator and UKCP trainee therapist. Outside of FFCC he facilitates citizen dialogues; is on the facilitation team for Healthy Human Culture; and holds a private Psychotherapy practice in Bristol.

When not working, he's figuring out how to be a Dad and find space for surfing.

Nigel Scollan is Director of The Institute for Global Food Security and Professor of Animal Science at Queens University, Belfast. The Institute addresses key challenges around paradigm shifts in agricultural practices. global food integrity and nutritional challenges of the twenty-first century.

Professor Scollan conducted his PhD at The University of Edinburgh, followed by a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada before joining Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Aberystwyth in 1993 and subsequently Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) Aberystwyth University in 2008. He held a numbers of posts at IBERS including Waitrose Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and Professor of Public Engagement with Science at Aberystwyth University, group leader Animal Systems and Director of Enterprise.

Professor Scollan’s research is primarily related to designing improved systems for ruminant livestock, through the use of improved nutrition and genetics to enhance the sustainability and efficiency of the production systems. Improving nutritional quality is an important aspect of the research. Professor Scollan works closely with producers and other key stakeholders across value chains.

Nigel is a Past President of the British Society of Animal Science, a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society in the UK and a Director of the Oxford Farming Conference.

Dawn Austwick OBE has been the Chief Executive of the National Lottery Community Fund since 2013, overseeing the distribution of £600 million of funding to communities across the UK each year, including the creation of the Fund’s £100 million Climate Action Fund. Prior to the National Lottery, she was the Chief Executive of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation from 2005, and, before that, had established her reputation in the museum sector having been the Deputy Director of the British Museum, led reviews of English Heritage, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery for government and as Project Director oversaw the creation of Tate Modern. She is currently on the board of a range of organisations including the Kiln Theatre, the National Lottery Forum, London Marathon, University of Bath Institute of Policy Research, and the Rand Foundation, among others.

Freya previously led the design and delivery of the Natural Capital Measurement Catalogue while working with the Food and Land Use team at Climateworks Centre in Australia.

By engaging with academic and industry experts, as well as decision-makers across government, financial institutions, and food supply chains, Freya worked to embed more consistent metrics to support the scaling of natural capital measurement across Australia.

Freya holds a Bachelor of Science majoring in Ecology and Conservation, and a Diploma of Languages; in Spanish and Latin American Studies. In her spare time, you'll find her hiking or on the lookout for local, sustainable eating recommendations!

Joanna provides support to the Chief Executive and to the Commission's Board, and is working with the team to assist the FFCC’s transition to an independent charitable organisation.

With a background in operations management, Joanna joined the FFCC from the Royal Household and has a wealth of experience in events and hospitality, alongside supporting senior executives.

Amanda joined FFCC as their Office Manager in March 2024.

Previously she’s worked in a broad range of roles with organisations creating and advocating for social change and education, including Social Investment Business, Big Issue Invest, the Healthcare Commission, CityLit, Morley College, and the RSA, where she supported the development of the project from which FFCC would one day be born.

Outside work, she loves live music, photography, and exploring new places.

Jess holds an MSc in Society, Politics and Climate Change from the University of Bristol. She is specifically interested in the role of social research methods in revealing interrelated environmental and social justice crises and tackling them where they intersect. Her MSc focused on the food system at multiple scales, the complex challenges facing the UK, and the relationship between food security, climate change, and social policy.

She recently conducted a research report for Rory’s Well, a charity empowering small-scale farming, local food production and agroforestry in Sierra Leone.

She loves teaching yoga, surfing and being in the sea.

Maki holds an MA in Ecology, Culture, and Society from the University of Goldsmiths, where they wrote about the politics and ethics of seaweed and octopus aquaculture.

Outside of work, Maki can be found facilitating creative nature-based workshops, writing multispecies SFF novels, and eating various spicy, soy-based dishes.