Membership of the Performance and Strategic Planning Committee

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

Emir is a Chartered Accountant and a specialist in transformational change. The majority of his career was spent at the Sunday Times as Associate Managing Editor for this leading Sunday Paper.

He is a Commissioner for the Judicial Appointments Commission, which selects candidates for judicial office in Courts and tribunals. He is at present also a Board member and Audit Chair of the Serious Fraud Office, the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency, The Pension Ombudsman, the Honours Committee, and is a trustee of The Henry Smith Charity, one of the largest grant makers in the UK. He is involved in a number of initiatives in the diversity and inclusion arena.

He has held non executive board member positions with Lambeth Clinical Commission group, London Metropolitan University, 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 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 is a Trustee and Board member of Trauma Treatment International.