Our Board

Kathryn Stone OBE was Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards a post she held from January 2018 to December 2022. Before that she held the post of Chief Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales. She has also been a Commissioner with the Independent Police Complaints Commission and at Commission for Victims and Survivors Northern Ireland.

She is a Chartered Director, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and was formerly a Registered Social Worker.  She was made OBE in 2007 and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Derby in 2018.

Andrew Mitchell KC was called to the Bar in 1992 and took silk in 2011. He specialises in commercial and civil litigation and arbitration. His practice is predominantly in the fields of banking, financial services, professional negligence, professional and financial regulation, and (re)insurance law, with a significant international element. He is a member of the Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR), and also an accredited Mediator. He is a member of Fountain Court Chambers, and was formerly an experienced member of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Bar Standards Board, on which he sat from 2010.  He sits as a Deputy High Court Judge and as an arbitrator at the London Court of International Arbitration.

Gisela Abbam FRSA is a Senior Director for Government Affairs at Revvity, a global science and technology corporation. She is the Chair of the General Pharmaceutical Council, GB and former Chair of the British Science Association. She also serves on the Board of the Briyah Institute, USA. Gisela is the Founder and former Managing Director of OTGA Management Consultancy. Gisela is a Commissioner for the National Preparedness Commission in UK. She has worked in conjunction with the WHO, World Bank and the UN to improve health outcomes globally.

Gisela was named one of the 100 Women to Watch for FTSE 350 Boards. Gisela was the winner of the 2019 Black British Business Person of the Year Award. She was awarded Iconic Woman creating a better World for All by the Women Economic Forum. In 2018, Gisela was awarded Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce for her contribution to social change. Previously, she was the Director of Strategic Partnerships and a Company Officer for Abt Associates, one of the top 20 global research and evaluation companies.

Gisela was also previously the inaugural Global Executive Director for Government Affairs & Policy for General Electric Healthcare. She developed the global function. She was responsible for the strategic direction of government affairs and policy for GE Healthcare, the $18 billion business unit of GE that provides transformational medical technologies to health customers in over 100 countries. She was part of the leadership team that set up the Centre for Public Health Excellence at NICE.

Gisela has written over 50 white papers on various public policy issues

Jeff Chapman KC was called to the Bar in 1989 and took silk in 2010.  He specialises in commercial litigation and arbitration; especially in matters involving civil fraud, financial services and regulation (including sanctions) and banking.  Jeff is a member of the Commercial Bar Association, the Chancery Bar Association, JUSTICE and Fountain Court Chambers.  He was first appointed to the Complaints Committee of the BSB in 2007 and was a Barrister Vice-Chair of the Professional Conduct Committee of the BSB from 2015 to 2019.
 

Emir is a Chartered Accountant and a specialist in transformational change and Essential Resource Planning. The majority of his career was spent at the Sunday Times as Associate Managing Editor.

Emir is at present, a Board member of Companies House, Disclosure and Barring Services, Authority member of the British Transport Police, The Planning Inspectorate, the Honours Committee, and is a Governor of Wycombe Abbey School.

He has been a Commissioner for the Judicial Appointments Commission and held non executive board member positions with the Serious Fraud Office, the DVSA, St Georges University Hospital NHS Foundations Trust and the Bar Tribunal Adjudication Service, amongst others.

Ruby Hamid was called to the Bar in 2002.  She leads the Global Investigations and Corporate Crime practice at leading international law firm, Ashurst, where she has been a partner since 2019.  She spent the first 13 years of her career at the bar, prosecuting and defending criminal and regulatory cases, including acting for regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority, Environment Agency, the Health & Safety Executive, General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council.  She is a financial crime and investigations specialist, and spends much of her time advising Boards and senior management of large and listed companies on governance and compliance.

Ruby is a member of Lincoln's Inn, was a secondary school governor for 15 years, and sits on the City of London Law Society Corporate Crime & Corruption Committee and the Ashurst Board Audit and Risk sub-committee.

Tracey is a senior digital leader with experience growing and leading media, marketing and digital content businesses across multiple territories, owning significant and complex P&Ls. She worked at Audible (an Amazon company) for over 16 years and is passionate about customers, building high performing teams and creating a positive work culture. 

She has been a Trustee of the London Bubble Theatre Company since 2022 and is a Director of Pegasus Multi Academy Trust.  

Ruth is Managing Director of UncoverAI, a strategic consultancy focussed on ethical AI adoption.  Ruth has expertise in innovation, product development and strategy and co-founded an AI start-up in California.  Prior to that she was on the Board of BT Wholesale as Managing Director, Strategy and Portfolio where she managed innovation, strategic planning and execution of multi £billion product lines. 

Ruth has extensive Board experience spanning from media, technology and telecommunications to AI and her background covers both complex multinational organizations and early and mid-stage growth companies.  Throughout her career Ruth has championed diversity and inclusion.

Ruth is a member of the Forbes Women Forum, an invitation-only group of leading female executives which gathers to exchange dialogue and share ideas.  In September 2018, she was named to The Founders Index:  A rising generation of female entrepreneurs in the US.  She was one of the Global Telecoms Business Top 40 under 40 in 2010 and was shortlisted for ‘Woman of the Year in Technology in 2011. 

Irena Sabic KC was called to the Bar in October 2002 and took silk in 2023. She is a member of Garden Court Chambers and an established public law practitioner with a particular expertise in immigration and asylum, community care, housing and planning law. In recent years Irena has focussed on the representation of vulnerable children and adults subject to immigration control. Irena is regularly invited to deliver lectures and seminars to solicitors, public bodies and NGOs. She also sits as Deputy Master of the King’s Bench Division.

Leslie Thomas KC was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2014. A human rights practitioner, Leslie specialises in claims against the police, public authorities and corporate bodies. He is also a specialist in inquests and public inquiries. He is currently an independent member on the Standards Committee for public life for Lewisham Council. He is on the Council executive for the organisation JUSTICE. In 2016, Leslie won the Legal Aid Lawyers' (LALY) Award for work on the Hillsborough case and in 2017, he won the Chambers and Partners' UK Legal Diversity Lifetime achievement award. Between 2020 - 2024 he was Gresham Professor of Law. He is a Visiting Professor at Goldsmith, University of London. Leslie is a member of Garden Court Chambers and also an attorney in Antigua and Barbuda with a Caribbean practice - JC Legal Solutions.

Stephen's executive career was spent in the health sector where he has been chief executive of Cambridge & Huntingdon Health Authority, The NHS Confederation and The Health Foundation. His health sector non-executive roles have included The Healthcare Commission; Monitor (the independent regulator for NHS foundation trusts); the Eastern Academic Health Science Network; The Pathology Partnership; and the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

He also chaired the National Institute for Health Research's Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for the East of England. He has been a Member of the Board of Overseers for the International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Development, Duke University, North Carolina, USA; a Member of the Governing Council of the International Hospital Federation; and a Lay Adviser on the UK Board for Healthcare Chaplaincy.

He has also been a Member of the Governing Council of the Open University.

He is presently Chair of Cambridge City Food Bank.

He was, until recently, a volunteer generalist adviser at Cambridge and District Citizens' Advice Bureau and is an Elder of Downing Place United Reformed Church, Cambridge