Speaker Biographies Wednesday 5 th October Mr Rob Taylor, Deputy High Commission for New Zealand. Rob is a career diplomat with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has served in a number of overseas missions as well as various placements outside of the foreign ministry. Before his current role, he was the Director and Chief of Protocol with oversight for managing relations with all diplomatic missions accredited to New Zealand and high level visits. Following the devastating Christchurch earthquake of February 2011, Rob led the Ministry s response team and crisis centre during the rescue and recovery phase. Earlier assignments have included Consul-General to Los Angeles (April 04 Feb 08), High Commissioner to Vanuatu (Feb 1999 Sept 2001), as well as postings to Samoa, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Ms Claire Whitaker OBE, Chair, The Royal Commonwealth Society Claire Whitaker OBE is a Director of Serious, the award winning live music producers who create and curate over 600 different events annually across the UK and Internationally. Claire has worked with established and emerging musicians from the Commonwealth over the past 20 years and is passionate about enabling wide and diverse audiences to experience music, arts and culture. Prior to Serious she was a Director of Africa 95, a cross-arts nationwide festival celebrating the arts of Africa. Claire was elected as Chair of The Royal Commonwealth Society in 2013 having previously served as a Council member and Deputy Trustee. She is also a Trustee of The Caine Prize for African Writing and of the Magna Carta Trust, as well as an international mentor for the British Council. published in 2014. The Rt Hon the Lord Howell of Guildford PC, President, The Royal Commonwealth Society Lord Howell was previously Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with special responsibility for international energy issues and for the Commonwealth. He served as Northern Ireland Minister of State in the Edward Heath Government; Secretary of State for Energy, and later for Transport in Margaret Thatcher s first Cabinet (1979-83) and has held numerous other Government and Parliamentary posts. His most recent book, Old Links and New Ties: Power and Persuasion in the Network Age was
Mr Gary Dunn, Deputy Secretary General (Corporate) for the Commonwealth, Commonwealth Secretariat Gary Dunn assumed office as the Deputy Secretary-General (Corporate Affairs) on 19 May 2014. In this capacity Mr Dunn reports to the SecretaryGeneral on all corporate matters of the Commonwealth Secretariat, including strategic planning, organisational development and change. Mr Dunn has oversight responsibilities for the Commonwealth Secretariat s Corporate Services Division, Human Resources Division, Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division, Small States Offices, Legal and Quality Assurance. Mr Dunn joined the Commonwealth Secretariat from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade where he was Deputy Secretary responsible for development program design and policy and advising the senior executive on organisational change. Prior to this, Mr Dunn was Chief Operating Officer for AusAID, Australia s aid and development agency where he had executive oversight of Australia s multi-billion dollar international aid program. Michael Lake CBE, Director, The Royal Commonwealth Society Michael Lake joined the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry upon leaving the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. In 1996 he was appointed Director-General of Help the Aged, one of the leading charities in the UK with its roots in international disaster relief. He led the merger of the charity with Age Concern and took up an appointment as Deputy Director of the Prince s Charity Foundation. He subsequently worked with the English Speaking Union as Director-General through a strategic transition. In January 2013 he was appointed Director of The Royal Commonwealth Society with a brief to manage its transition. Michael has a broad experience of the charity sector and has past and current appointments as a trustee and chairman of a number of national bodies. He was Chairman of the International Longevity Centre, a policy research institution, from 2009 to 2012 and has a special interest in the role of charity in society and in mergers in the sector.
Thursday 6 th October High Commission of Nigeria Mr Ogah, Acting High Commissioner for Nigeria Adah Simon Ogah, erstwhile Head of the Information, Culture and Sports Section at the High Commission, assumed duty as the Acting High Commissioner on 21st December, 2015 He holds a Master Degree in International Law & Diplomacy obtained from the University of Lagos in 1991 and a Bachelor of Arts Degree obtained from the University of Jos in 1981. Mr. Ogah joined the Nigerian Foreign Service in August 1982 and has served at various times in Kampala, Uganda; Windhoek, Namibia; Brussels, Belgium. He attended a Diplomatic Training Course at the Malaysia Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, Kuala Lumpur in 1999. Mr. Ogah was the Deputy Chief of Protocol in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2007 2009. He is a member of the Nigeria Society of International Law and the Nigeria s Institute of International Affairs His Excellency Mr Norman Hamilton, High Commissioner for Malta Norman Hamilton was appointed as Malta s High Commissioner to the Court of St James s and took up his posting in London on 2 September 2013. He was received in private audience and presented his Letters of Credence to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 27 November 2013. In the run up to Malta s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2015, the High Commissioner has been serving as liaison between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the CHOGM Task Force in Malta and the Commonwealth Secretariat in London. Norman Hamilton is committed to furthering the existing excellent bilateral relations between Malta and the UK by promoting a number of political, cultural and economic initiatives. Ms Catherine (Kate) Knight-Sands, Deputy Head of International Organisations Department and Deputy Commonwealth Envoy, Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Kate Knight-Sands is currently the Foreign and Commonwealth Office s Deputy Head of International Organisations Department and Deputy Commonwealth Envoy. Kate was appointed as Her Majesty s British Ambassador to Montenegro in December 2009. Before this, she was the Political Counsellor in Baghdad, and from 2004 to 2007 she was the Deputy Head of Mission in Sarajevo. She was posted to Austria with the UK Delegation to the OSCE from 1999-2003.
His Excellency The Rt Hon Sir Alexander Lockwood Smith KNZM, High Commissioner for New Zealand H.E. the Rt Hon Sir Lockwood Smith, KNZM, Ph.D. is the current High Commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom and a leading expert on New Zealand agriculture and trade policy. Sir Lockwood served as a Member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1984 until his retirement in early 2013 to pursue a diplomatic career. During his parliamentary career, Sir Lockwood served as a senior minister in various portfolios including; Agriculture, Trade and Education. Sir Lockwood also served as Deputy Minister of Finance, Minister of Forestry, Minister of Tourism, Minister Responsible for Contact Energy Ltd, Minister Responsible for the Education Review Office, and Minister Responsible for the National Library. Sir Lockwood was elected Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives in 2008 and three years later was unanimously re-elected to the role, a position he held until his retirement. A Commonwealth Scholar, he graduated from Adelaide University with a PhD in Animal Science in 1980. Ms Firhaana Bulbulia, Commonwealth Youth Gender and Equality Network (CYGEN) Member and Queen s Young Leader (2016), Barbados. Firhaana is the founder of Barbados Association of Muslim Ladies. In August she launched a project called Breaking Barriers which aims to overcome cultural and social barriers some girls face in accessing education and gaining employment. The project s campaigns include Educate Girls, which holds fundraising events to offer financial assistance to girls who want to enter a tertiary education. She was one of the founding members of the Commonwealth Youth, Gender and Equality Network, and represented the group at the Council of Commonwealth Education Ministers in June 2015. Mr Adam Askew, Comic Relief Adam is the Head of Funding Partnerships at Comic Relief and sits on the senior leadership team of the organisation. He oversees and supports all major partnerships with Trusts, Foundations and Government and companies for Comic Relief, which support the delivery of Comic Relief s Grants Programme s strategy. He is also responsible for the development of Comic Relief s innovation and development funds. Previous to Comic Relief Adam has worked for Oxfam GB and started life in the youth development sector. He is a Fellow of the RSA, Trustee at Sunscreen IT and is a school governor at Boxgrove Primary School in Guildford.
Mr Matt Little, Policy Officer, The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust Matt joined The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust as policy officer in January 2014. He focuses on monitoring and evaluation for the Trust s avoidable blindness and youth leadership programmes. He previously worked in development for a London-based charitable foundation supporting female grassroots leaders in India. His experience also includes working with organisations on governmental accountability in the UK and legal rights for communities in Africa. Before moving back to the UK in 2010, he spent several years working as an English teacher in Japan and Argentina. Friday 7 th October High Commission for Canada Sir Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive Officer, National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). Sir Stuart Etherington was appointed Chief Executive of NCVO in 1994. Previously he was Chief Executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, a major UK charity. Sir Stuart is chair of the trustees of the Patron's Fund and chaired a cross party review looking at the structure of the regulation of fundraising. He has chaired organisations including the BBC Appeals Advisory Committee, Guidestar UK, CIVICUS Europe. His government appointments have included the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit; he has served on the Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit's Advisory Board on the Voluntary Sector and HM Treasury's Cross Cutting Review on the role of the voluntary sector. Sir Stuart holds degrees in politics, social planning, international relations and an MBA from the London Business School. He was knighted in 2010 for services to the voluntary sector. Stephen De-Wint, Chief Operating Officer, The Duke of Edinburgh s International Award Foundation Steve joined The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation in 2010, to manage the One Award Alliance project and became Chief Operating Officer in February 2013. Between 2010 and 2013 he led the process to introduce the new visual identity and re-designed the business offer which he describes today as an ongoing and ever-developing task. Steve has a background in community sports development, within higher education, further education, local authority and charitable sectors. He has a Bachelor s degree in French and law, a Master s degree in sport and law, and an MBA focussed on third sector management. Alan Pottinger, Technical Director, Commonwealth Forestry Association Alan Pottinger is the Technical Director of the Commonwealth Forestry Association, a pan-commonwealth organisation dedicated to promoting the wise management of forests. He studied forestry in the UK and Canada and worked for the University of Oxford for 15 years on research projects investigating how trees can be used to alleviate poverty. For the past 15 years he has combined running the CFA with editing the scientific journal The International Forestry Review which publishes peer-reviewed research covering a wide range of forestry science.