Trustees

Neil Hawkins – Chair

Neil Hawkins is a committed humanist with a strong belief in the values of kindness, tolerance, and freedom. Neil has spent 32 years in education, first as a teacher then as a middle and senior manager and then served for 16 years as Principal of Concord College, Shropshire; he now works part-time with a brief to facilitate high-quality education internationally. Neil is also Chair of Befrienders Worldwide, the foremost global network of suicide prevention and emotional support centres.

He has long experience of leadership, change management, marketing, financial planning, the charitable sector and of governance.

Neil McKain – Vice Chair

Neil is a Head of Religious Studies with over ten years teaching experience. He graduated in Theology and RS from the University of Leeds and holds an MA in Philosophy and Religion from the University of London.

His work nationally in RE has been extensive. Neil is part of an advisory group to the Rt Hon Charles Clarke and Professor Linda Woodhead
in their work on a new legal settlement for RE. Neil has served on the executive of the National Association for Teachers of RE (NATRE) for the last six years and is a member of the RE working group at OFSTED. He is a published author of student textbooks as well as articles on RE more generally. Neil also serves as a primary school governor with responsibility for curriculum and standards.

Neil is a committed humanist and a firm advocate for RE which is objective, fair, and balanced.

Ann O’Connell – Treasurer

Ann is a committed humanist, sharing the Humanists UK vision of personal fulfilment found in our connections with others, and finding meaning in science, reason, compassion, and creativity.

Ann is a qualified treasurer and accountant with a particular interest in good governance. She has many years experience in banking, working in audit, finance, treasury, and risk. She has also worked as a non-executive Director of a Credit Union and a Building Society. She is currently working as a Director of Rhino Software Ltd., a company which develops innovative mobile apps for the SME market.

Ann is a trustee and treasurer of the Leicestershire and Rutland branch of Emmaus UK, a national charity which works to end homelessness. She is also a Director of Leicester Health Insight (LHI) a not for profit company which aims to facilitate improvements in health and social care for the population of Leicester city.

Tamar Ghosh

Tamar is the Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and previously ran the Longitude Prize for Nesta, a £10 million science prize working to combat antibiotic resistance. She is also a trustee of the charity Article 19, which focuses on the worldwide promotion of free expression and freedom of information.

Tamar has a strong track record in the voluntary sector. She was Director of the social action campaign ‘Give More’ on behalf of one of the Pears Foundation, promoting increased giving of money and time amongst the UK public. Prior to that, she spent 15 years developing and delivering funding strategies for international NGOs, including ActionAid and VSO. Separately, she founded and continues to run two social enterprises working in global and national healthcare.

Tamar has an MBA from Imperial College, London and Masters in Development Studies, following an undergraduate degree in Mathematics at Bristol University. She is also a trustee of Heart UK and BAAG, a consultant on fundraising and strategy development, and a guest speaker at Imperial College Business School on innovation and entrepreneurship as part of its MBA and Masters in Health programmes.

Iain Deboys

Iain studied geography and town planning at Queen’s University, Belfast and has worked in strategic planning and commissioning in housing and health authorities in Northern Ireland for 36 years. He has been the Commissioning Lead for Belfast in the NI health service for the past 10 years, working closely with local communities experiencing some of the deepest inequalities in the UK.

He has had various leadership roles in humanist organisations for 25 years and is a school speaker and the NI Humanists lead for Community Development. Iain worked closely with Andrew Copson and Boyd Sleator to set up the Northern Ireland Humanists in 2016 and is proud of the Northern Ireland Humanists team and the achievements it has had in a short time in the very challenging local environment of sectarian politics and religiosity.

Ruth Kaufman

Ruth spent much of her working life doing Operational Research (OR) – using scientific approaches to help organisations become more effective – in the public sector. This led to other senior management roles including pricing, strategy and change management.

She has been President of the OR Society and chair of its ‘Pro Bono OR’ support service; and in 2016 received an OBE for Services to OR. From 2009 to 2014 she chaired Woman’s Trust, a charity helping women affected by domestic violence reclaim their lives. She has been an atheist all her life, a SACRE member since 2010, and is an accredited Humanists UK school speaker.

Ewan Main

Ewan qualified first in Linguistics (York) then in Community and Youth Work (Durham). He has worked in various youth, advice, and welfare services and was a founder trustee of two local charities. For twelve years he developed and ran the national online support services – internet communities and email helplines – for unpaid carers for a UK charity, at the same time as freelance design and consultancy work in web, film, print, and words.

He has been a humanist celebrant since 2012 and served a term on Humanists UK’s Ceremonies Board. As such, much of his year is spent focusing on non-religious ritual and the important role it can play in people’s lives.

Ewan lives with his wife in York, his home since 1997.

Stephanie Niven

Stephanie is a portfolio manager of global equities, having spent her career in finance, starting at Goldman Sachs.  She is currently based in London and over the last year has become a trustee of COIF Charity Funds, facilitating access to top class investment products to those in the charitable sector.  Through her work she has become an Ambassador for the Diversity Project and a keen mentor to broaden access to financial careers. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst and member of the CFA Institute.

Stephanie is a History graduate from Merton College, University of Oxford, and is the mother of three young children.  She has represented Great Britain in the World Championships for Age Group Long Distance Triathlon.

Sophy Robinson

Sophy has a science degree, and an early career producing science and medical programmes for BBC TV. She moved into the business world as an HR consultant, and then a leadership coach helping organisations develop and implement sound strategies.

Over the last 20 years Sophy has been involved in voluntary work: chair of two education charities in London and the New Forest; a business governor of a Further Education College; and currently on the board of New Forest Business Partnership. She is a mentor to entrepreneurs through a government-backed mentoring scheme, and is involved in various public sector panels, reviewing funding applications for business grants to develop sustainable businesses.

In her spare time she sings in a chamber choir, plays the piano, and is a keen walker and cyclist.

Charley Jarrett

Charley Jarrett is policy and public affairs manager for exam board and education charity AQA.  He has previously worked for a democratic reform think tank, as a parliamentary researcher and as a campaigns intern at Humanists UK.  He has a BA politics first from Sussex and an MRes in quantitative political science from the London School of Economics.

He is a governor of a local primary school, a trustee of his old youth club, a volunteer admissions assessor for his alma mater United World Colleges GB and the Humanist representative Lambeth SACRE.

A lifelong Londoner, his interests include urbanism, languages and improv. Charley believes Humanism and Humanists UK have an invaluable role to play in pursuing rational, secular policymaking – to improve society, promote freedoms, and enrich people’s lives.

Emma Shepherd

Emma has worked in marketing and communications within charities, the arts and education for two decades. Based in Cardiff, she currently leads on Communications and Events for an innovative programme working in communities across Wales.

Previously chair of Wales Humanists, Emma has been involved in humanist campaigns in Wales, particularly around education. Passionate about people and community, she regularly runs events to bring people together in her local area, and is a trustee of the local village hall.

In her spare time, Emma likes reading, baking, running, and being in nature.

Andrew Russell

Andrew is a public affairs, communications consultant, and investor specialising in the education and healthcare sectors. At present he is working with clients trying to tackle the care crisis across Europe. He has previously worked in similar roles for brands such as McDonald’s, Pearson, and social impact start-ups.

Passionate about rational, respectful dialogue, and debate, between 2015 and 2022 he served as a trustee of The Philosophy Foundation, a charity that promotes the teaching and practice of Philosophy across the UK.

Andrew also has an academic background in Philosophy and holds a BA and MA from the University of Cambridge and King’s College London, respectively. In his spare time he runs two book clubs with over 5,000 members and is forever trying to finish a book of his own.

Simon Walker-Samuel

Simon is Professor of Biophysics at University College London, where he leads a research group applying physics to cancer research, including developing medical imaging and machine learning (AI) methods.

He has always held beliefs consistent with humanism, and is a school speaker and humanist SACRE representative for Croydon. In his spare time, Simon enjoys spending time with his family, running, playing music, and creating digital art.