BRITISH FUTURE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Director of External Affairs
- Chairman of British Future 's Board of Trustees
Alasdair Murray, Chair of British Future's Board of trustees, is Director of External Affairs at KPMG UK, the professional services firm. He was previously a director at Quiller Consultants, providing high level strategic communications advice to leading businesses, government, NGOs and campaign groups; Director of CentreForum, the liberal think tank; and Deputy Director of the leading EU think tank, the Centre for European Reform. Alasdair started his career as a journalist serving as Economics correspondent and then as Brussels correspondent for The Times. He is a director of the RAMP parliamentary migration project, and an advisor to the Democracy Fund.
Andrea Als is a senior solicitor within PricewaterhouseCoopers' UK Legal practice and a Government Liaison Lead within the Immigration department. Andrea is a Government Liaison Lead within the Immigration department. As a result she works closely with the Home Office on consultations to assess the impact of the frequent changes on clients. Andrea advises on the ‘live' tiers of the Points Based System, Immigration and Nationality matters and provides specific advice on the mechanics and architecture of the Points Based System. She is an active member of ILPA, and regularly delivers training to other lawyers within the industry. She also writes for a number of legal publications including Butterworths and Getting the Deal Through as well as being on the editorial board of Lexis Nexis for Business Immigration.
Avaes Mohammad is a teacher at Eden Girls School Waltham Forest, a Muslim secondary school in East London. He has written publicly about race, identity and Muslim inclusion and integration. Avaes brings a range of experience to the team, from his current role in education to his background in the chemical sciences and practice as a professional playwright and poet. He was formerly a staff member at British Future, managing the 'Unknown and Untold' project which sought to raise public awareness during the First World War Centenary of the 400,000 Muslims from undivided India who served in the British Army in WW1
Job Titles:
- Vice Chair
- Vice - Chair of British Future 's Board of Trustees
Ayesha Saran, Vice-Chair of British Future's Board of trustees, works for the Barrow Cadbury Trust, an independent charitable trust based in London. She is the Trust's Migration and Europe Programme Manager, managing and actively contributing to the Trust's research and policy work as well as its grant-making in the UK and internationally. Prior to joining the Trust in 2008, Ayesha worked for intergovernmental organisations for eight years, firstly at the International Organisation for Migration in London. She then became a Foreign and Commonwealth Office secondee to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Albania. Her work there involved political analysis and reporting on issues including elections, trafficking and human rights. By the time she left Albania six years later, Ayesha was managing a network of regional project offices and part of the senior management team. Ayesha also spent some time working as a freelance journalist in London. She currently works in a non-executive capacity for Minority Rights Group International, an international human rights organisation
Job Titles:
- Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute at King's
Bobby Duffy is Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute at King's. Prior to joining King's, Bobby was Managing Director of the Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute, which is a team of around 230 researchers in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Brussels, and Global Director of the Ipsos Social Research Institute, across around 30 countries. He has worked across most public policy areas in his career of 25 years in policy research and evaluation, and has been seconded to the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the LSE. Bobby also sits on several advisory boards for think tanks and universities, as well as the Campaign for Social Science. His book, ‘The Perils of Perception - why we're wrong about nearly everything', was published by Atlantic books in September, drawing on a unique set of global studies on how people misperceive things like immigration levels, crime rates, obesity levels and many more key social realities.
Cameron Pannell-Rae is the Windrush 75 Coordinator at British Future. He grew up in South East London before moving to Leeds to study for his undergraduate degree in Politics at the University of Leeds, where he focused his dissertation on indicators of voting behaviour in the EU referendum. Since graduating in 2019, he has worked as a Teaching Assistant in an SEN school before starting at British Future last year. Outside of the office, Cameron loves football and is a huge Charlton Athletic fan - travelling up and down the country in hope of an away win. Since recovering from ankle ligament surgery, he is back to enjoying his main passion of playing 11 a-side football too.
Ed Greig is the Chief Disruptor at Deloitte. The Disruption Team he leads works with new technologies to deliver tangible benefits as quickly as possible to Deloitte's clients and within the firm itself. Despite working with the coolest tech around, from digital realities to robotics, the team's strict mantra is "Fall in Love with the Problem, not the Solution". They do this by focusing on creating a coherent end to end user experience, by thinking big, starting small and testing often, recognising that the real problem is bringing about cultural change enabled by technology, never about just implementing a technology solution. Ed was a farmer and butcher before he joined Deloitte in 2009 as a graduate and has since worked across every industry and with clients ranging from global multi-nationals to start-up social enterprises. He has recently returned from four months parental leave after the arrival of an awesome Mini-Disruptor.
Job Titles:
- Director of Research
- Director of Research and Relationships
- Partner With Us
Heather Rolfe is Director of Research and Relationships. She was previously Head of Research at Demos. Prior to that she led the social policy team at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research where her work focused on the economic and social impact of migration, including public attitudes. Heather was born in Bradford but grew up in Bristol and Hertfordshire. She went to university in Sheffield and Southampton, where she wrote her PhD on the experience of workplace automation. She lives in South London with her husband Simon, and close to her two grown up daughters. Heather loves London, especially its galleries, museums and restaurants. She loves it so much that she gets homesick on holiday.
"British Future's research into public attitudes on issues such as immigration, integration, race and identity helps us develop effective messages that reach and persuade new audiences. We offer constructive policy solutions and find common ground that can bring people together. We work with partners in civic society and business to help them communicate more effectively. And we project our findings publicly to inform national debate, shift attitudes and influence decision-makers."
British Future has developed an in-depth understanding of public attitudes on issues, like immigration, integration and national identity, which can seem difficult and divisive. We conducted the National Conversation on Immigration, the biggest-ever public consultation on immigration, in which over 19,000 people took part via meetings of citizens and stakeholders in every nation and region of the UK, together with an open online survey and nationally representative research by ICM.
We use that knowledge to help immigration and refugee protection advocates, from civic society and business, to communicate more effectively.
We project our findings publicly to inform national debates on issues including immigration policy, the status of EU citizens in the UK, refugee protection, integration, citizenship, combating racism and xenophobia, international student migration and national identities.
Job Titles:
- Events and Engagement
- Events and Engagement Manager
Heena Khaled is the Events and Engagement Manager at British Future. She runs and develops British Future's event programme.
Howard Jackson is a chartered accountant with experience in the profession, commerce and not-for-profit sectors and has held executive roles since the early 90s. These roles included Partner of an audit firm and Finance Director for Charities and companies in the construction, financial and professional services industries. Howard has worked with large and small businesses as well as start-ups and has delivered strategic and financial advice to boards of trustees, directors and owner managers through all stages of the business life cycle. From 2016 to 2023. Howard acted as the Finance Director of Toynbee Hall, a charity that supports people and communities to break down the barriers that keep them in poverty. In addition, since 2015, he has run his own financial consulting company to help businesses improve their financial management.
Jake Puddle is a Researcher at British Future. He grew up in Canterbury before moving to London, where he completed a Master's in Global Governance and Ethics at University College London. Jake's work has involved co-delivering Talk Together, the UK's biggest conversation about what divides us and what action is needed to create a more socially connected society. He has also co-authored multiple reports on the role of sport, history, volunteering and major events to build ‘bridging connections' between people from different backgrounds. Outside of work, Jake is a keen cook and can usually be found experimenting with curry recipes. He also enjoys playing five-a-side football at his local league, albeit with a famed talent for scoring own goals.
Jill Rutter's Associate Fellowship is focused on integration. She currently works as Head of Policy at the Learning and Work Institute and was formerly Director of Strategy and Relationships at British Future. Jill helped set up the Together Coalition and led Talk Together, the UK's biggest conversation about what divides us and what brings us together in the wake of COVID-19. Jill also led the National Conversation on Immigration, which engaged more than 20,000 people. Jill has previously worked in academia, for the Refugee Council and at the Institute for Public Policy Research; she also helped set up the Migration Museum, which tells the long story of movement into and out of the UK. She is the author of many books and articles on immigration and integration, including Moving Up and Getting On (Policy Press, 2015).
Patrick Vernon has led the campaign for a national Windrush Day since 2010 and in 2018 kick-started the campaign for an amnesty for the Windrush Generation in response to the Windrush Scandal. He is a writer and broadcaster for national and international media on healthcare, cultural heritage and race, and co-authored ‘100 Great Black Britons'. Patrick is Associate Director at the Centre for Ageing Better, Independent non-executive Director of Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System, Chair of the Citizenship Partnership for HSIB and non-executive Director for Hertfordshire NHS Trust. In August 2021 he was appointed Honorary Professor of cultural heritage and community leadership for the Department of Community Development at Wolverhampton University. Patrick was awarded an OBE in 2012 for his work on tackling health inequalities in ethnic minority communities.
Job Titles:
- Trustee of the Arts Depot
Sam Jacobs was born and grew up in London, studying English Literature at Cambridge University. Sam has been a trustee of the Arts Depot, London and led a national student union and served on Trade Union and Anti-Racism committees. He has worked in the high technology sector since 1983 working for a Silicon Valley data company for the last 15 years, and has mentored startups. Sam has also worked with a technology which enables internet access for students in developing countries. Sam is a member of the IT livery charity company working on developing skills and enabling youth in London.
Job Titles:
- Vice Chair
- Vice Chair of British Future 's Board of Trustees
Shailesh R Solanki, Vice Chair of British Future's Board of trustees, is the Executive Editor of Asian Media Group, (AMG), Britain's biggest Asian publishing house. Established in 1968, AMG publishes a stable of consumer and business titles in the UK and USA aimed at the Asian community. Shailesh graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Economics from University College, London and has over 25 years' experience in consumer and business journalism. He has chronicled the progress of the Asian community in the group's various publications which include Eastern Eye newspaper, Garavi Gujarat newsweekly, Asian Trader, Pharmacy Business, The Asian Rich List and GG2 Power List. Shailesh is responsible for the editorial direction of the group's titles, the group's events division and its US business which is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Job Titles:
- Director of Communications
- Media Contact
- Media Enquiries
Steve Ballinger is Director of Communications. Over the last 20 years he has worked in media and communications roles at Amnesty International UK, Shelter, VSO and the Advertising Standards Authority before joining British Future. Steve grew up in Leamington Spa in the West Midlands and went to university in Leeds. He describes himself as an enthusiastic but unsuccessful golfer, poker player and Nottingham Forest supporter, but a decent cook. He lives with his partner Sara in east London.
Sunder Katwala is the director of British Future. He has previously worked as a journalist. He was general secretary of the Fabian Society thinktank from 2003 to 2011, and was previously a leader writer and internet editor at the Observer, a research director of the Foreign Policy Centre and commissioning editor for politics and economics at the publisher Macmillan. He celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary with his wife, Stacy, in 2011, and is the proud father of four children, Zarina, Jay, Sonny and Indira. His support for Everton and Southend United football clubs reflects an upbringing in Cheshire and Essex, though he was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, to parents who came to Britain from India and Ireland, to work for the NHS.