CPAG - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fundraising Team
- Business Marketing Officer
Job Titles:
- Member of the Governing Body of St Chad 's College Durham
Alan was Chair of CPAG from 2016 to 2021. During 2014 and 2015 he was a full time advisor to the Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition, during which time he did policy work on Low Pay. He was Deputy Chair and Chief Executive of KPMG International until 2013, during which time he worked in more than 50 countries and advised a range of international companies and governments. He was also a trustee and Deputy Chair of the British Council.
Alan is a member of the governing body of St Chad's College Durham and a trustee of the Tax Justice Network. He is an enthusiastic, though declining, middle distance runner.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fundraising Team
- Trust and Legacy Fundraiser
Alicia Tew is a barrister practising in civil and commercial law at Hailsham Chambers. Alicia represents clients pro bono via Advocate and the Centre for Women's Justice, speaks at outreach events with the Chancery Bar Association and Inner Temple, supervises trainee (pupil) barristers, and mentors barristers and aspiring barristers from under-recognised groups in partnership with Bridging the Bar and the Social Mobility Foundation. She is also an active member of a local charity, Westminster House Youth Club. Previously, she worked for the Law Commission, UK Trade & Investment and the Nursing & Midwifery Council. Alicia holds a BA in Jurisprudence from Oxford University. She has a young child and enjoys playing the piano and creative writing.
Job Titles:
- Information Officer ( Scotland )
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive
- Member of the Leadership Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Alison Inglis-Jones has experience with a range of anti-poverty charities as well as on the ground experience with social pantries and food banks. She was previously a trustee of the Trussell Trust and is now a trustee at Magic Breakfast, Traidcraft and two London based foodbanks. She will bring a depth of governance experience, sector knowledge and understanding of both public affairs and campaigning strategies.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Ann started her civil service career as a Supplementary Benefits Supervisor in the Department for Health and Social Security in April 1987, before transferring to the Scottish Office in 1996. She retired from the Scottish Government in March 2021, having led the Social Security Policy Division through the devolution of specified social security powers from the Department for Work and Pensions. This included taking the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 through the Scottish Parliament and setting up the Scottish Welfare Fund in 2012.
Ann received an OBE for public service in January 2021.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer of the Brilliant Club
- Trustee of the Education Policy Institute
Anne-Marie Canning MBE is from Doncaster, was the first in her family to go to university and has dedicated her career to opening up educational opportunity to the next generation.
Anne-Marie is the Chief Executive Officer of The Brilliant Club, a UK-wide university access charity focused on increasing the number of less advantaged students accessing the most competitive universities and supporting them to succeed when they get there. In 2018 she was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to higher education.
In recent years Anne-Marie was the independent chair of the Department for Education's Bradford Opportunity Area. Opportunity Areas supported social mobility in the 12 areas of the country where it is most challenged. She now leads a broad-based coalition of organisations in Bradford who are working together to improve opportunities for young people in the city - the Education Alliance for Life Chances.
Between 2012 and 2019 Anne-Marie was the Director of Social Mobility and Student Success at King's College London. In this role she founded an award-winning parental engagement endeavor called Parent Power. Anne-Marie has previously worked at University College Oxford and holds a University of Oxford Teaching Award. She studied at the University of York and served a sabbatical term as the president of the students' union.
Anne-Marie is also a trustee of the Education Policy Institute.
"Now more than ever the issue of poverty in Britain is forefront in everyone's minds. I'm keen to do as much as I can to highlight what positive efforts can be done to address and hopefully alleviate childhood poverty and the stigma attached to it, so that everyone can grow up with the same opportunities to flourish in the UK."
Armando Iannucci, award-winning writer and broadcaster, is CPAG's first Patron. Armando presented our BBC Radio 4 Appeal, raising over £35,000 towards our work making sure poverty isn't a barrier to any child's education. We are extremely grateful to him for all his support in raising awareness and funds for our work.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser - Early Warning System
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Director of Finance and Resources
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Lawyer
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fundraising Team
- Events and Training
Job Titles:
- Director of Policy and External Affairs and Deputy Chief Executive of Community Housing Cymru
Clarissa is Director of Policy and External Affairs and Deputy Chief Executive of Community Housing Cymru, the representative body for housing associations in Wales. Clarissa has a background in housing and local government, having worked for the National Housing Federation, the Local Government Association and for a number of local authorities. Clarissa is also a mentor for Leaders Plus, a social enterprise that supports parents in the workplace.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Head of Advice and Rights ( England, Wales & Northern Ireland )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fundraising Team
- Marketing Administrative Assistant
Job Titles:
- Development Manager ( Wales ) Rheolwr Datblygu ( Cymru )
Esther Kuku is a senior communications and engagement professional, with extensive NHS and charity sector experience. Her career has taken her all over the world covering global climate change summits, and international development projects with major news outlets. Esther currently works for one of the largest NHS acute trusts in the country, and has spent time working for NHS England and Improvement in their regional East of England communications team.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Job Titles:
- Senior Education Policy Officer ( England )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Senior Policy and Research Officer
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser - Foodbank Income Maximisation Service
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Press Officer
Jane Millar, OBE, FBA, FAcSS is Professor of Social Policy in the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath. Her research interests include the design, implementation and impact of social policy and comparative research on family policy, social security and employment policy, with particular reference to gender and changing family patterns. Her current research examines the impact of Universal Credit on couples, focusing on labour market decisions and family budgeting.
Jassa Ahluwalia is a British actor, writer and director. Owing to his mixed British-Indian heritage Jassa is a fluent Punjabi speaker and continued his passion for languages at University College London, studying Russian and Spanish. In 2019, he was elected to the Equity Minority Ethnic Members committee.
He has starred in various critically acclaimed projects, including Peaky Blinders, Ripper Street and Unforgotten. As a filmmaker, Jassa produced a segment of the world record breaking feature film 50 Kisses and award-winning short film Modern Man. His directorial debut Heart's Ease was completed in early 2018 and has screened at film festivals worldwide, including San Diego International Film Festival and London Short Film Festival. It also picked up two Best Film awards.
Jassa became an ambassador for Child Poverty Action Group in 2013 after attending an event at the House of Lords. The evening, hosted by fellow ambassador Simon Callow, explored the parallels that exist between the life and works of Charles Dickens and the activities of CPAG. In August 2018, Jassa completed a solo trek of the 96 mile West Highland Way in support of CPAG, raising over £2600.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser - Judicial Review Project
Job Titles:
- Marketing, Communications and Administrative Officer
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fundraising Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Director of CPAG in Scotland
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Head of Advice and Rights ( Scotland )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Digital Developer
Job Titles:
- Youth Participation Officer ( Wales ) Swyddog Cyfranogiad Ieuenctid ( Cymru )
Job Titles:
- Participation Officer ( Scotland )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Early Warning System Project Manager
Job Titles:
- Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics
Kitty Stewart is Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics (LSE) and Associate Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE). She has a PhD in Economics from the European University Institute in Florence and worked at the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in Florence before joining LSE in 2001. Her research focuses on children, disadvantage and inequality, with particular interests in early childhood, maternal employment trajectories, and the social security system.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fundraising Team
- Fundraising Assistant / Training and Marketing / England, Wales & Northern Ireland
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Communications and Campaigns Manager
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Solicitor
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Campaigns Officer
Job Titles:
- Chartered Accountant
- Treasurer
- Vice Chair
Mark Cooke is a Chartered Accountant with extensive experience across the private, public and third sectors. He was most recently Chief Operating Officer of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, and before then spent ten years as Director of Finance and Corporate Services at the Big Lottery Fund (now the National Lottery Community Fund). He is Treasurer of the cross-party organisation Compass, and has previously served as a London borough councillor.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser / Scotland
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser - Disabled Children and Families
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- PA to Chief Executive and Office Manager Policy and Advocacy Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Director of Business
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Programme Manager - Foodbank Income Maximisation Service
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Universal Credit Adviser
Job Titles:
- Honorary President
- Member of the ( Parliamentary ) Joint Committee for Human Rights
Ruth Lister CBE is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at Loughborough University and a Labour peer. She is a former Director of the Child Poverty Action Group and is now its Honorary President. She served on the Commission on Social Justice, the Opsahl Commission into the Future of Northern Ireland, the Commission on Poverty, Participation and Power, the Fabian Commission on Life Chances and Child Poverty and the National Equality Panel. She is a founding Academician of the Academy for Learned Societies for the Social Sciences and was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2009. She received a lifetime achievement award from the Social Policy Association in 2010.
Ruth is a member of the (parliamentary) Joint Committee for Human Rights and is the chair of the Management Committee of Compass.
She has published widely around poverty and social exclusion, welfare state reform, gender and citizenship. Her books include Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives (2nd ed. Palgrave, 2003); Poverty (Polity Press, 2004); Gendering Citizenship in Western Europe (with F. Williams and others, The Policy Press, 2007) and Understanding Theories and Concepts in Social Policy (The Policy Press, 2010).
Job Titles:
- Office and Training Administrator
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Director of Policy, Rights and Advocacy
Job Titles:
- Project Manager ( Scotland )
Job Titles:
- Director of One Parent Families Scotland
Satwat Rehman is the Director of One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS), an organisation that works to support single parents and their families through the delivery of services, advice and information, influencing and policy work.
Satwat has more than 25 years' experience in the voluntary and public sector in Scotland and England, working in the fields of equalities, education, employability, economic development/regeneration and early years and childcare.
She has been a member of a number of commissions and advisory groups such as the Commission for Childcare Reform, Fairer Fife Commission, Dundee Fairness Commission, the Scottish Government's Ministerial Advisory Group on Child Poverty, and is currently a member of the Scottish Government's Early Learning and Childcare Strategic Forum and the First Minister's National Advisory Council for Women and Girls.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fundraising Team
- Training and Events Manager
Job Titles:
- Member of the Fundraising Team
- Marketing Administrative Assistant
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Job Titles:
- Education Project Manager ( Wales ) Rheolwr Prosiect Addysg ( Cymru )
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive of the Geological Society
Simon Thompson is Chief Executive of the Geological Society and formerly CEO of a medical charity. Prior to that he held senior roles in publishing and digital information in the private sector before working in non-profit organisations from 2014. He has professional experience in marketing, online development, publishing and general management and as a trustee.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Head of Policy
Steve is CEO of Mason Advisory, a specialist IT advisory firm providing strategic, technical and commercial advice to organisations across the private and public sector. The business was co-founded in 2014 with Datatec PLC who have taken a private equity style investment role.
Prior to Mason Advisory Steve co-founded Xantus, an industry-leading and respected IT consulting firm, which was sold to KPMG in 2011. Following the deal Steve became a Partner at KPMG and Head of CIO Advisory for the UK firm. During this time, Steve was a board member of the Management Consultancy Association (MCA) and latterly held the position of Vice President.
Steve maintains trusted relationships across the CIO community and across the IT industry. He has spent more than 35 years involved in Digital Transformation having spent the first ten years of his career at The Boots Company in a variety of IT Management roles.
Steve holds a BSc (Hons) and Meng from Brunel University (Special Engineering Programme) and an MBA from Loughborough University.
Steve has a young family and is a runner (5K to marathon), competing for Warrington AC, England and GB Masters.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Welfare Rights Adviser
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Senior Policy Analyst / Advice and Rights Team / England, Wales & Northern Ireland
Job Titles:
- Head of Fundraising
- Member of the Fundraising Team
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation
Torsten is the Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, a think tank that combines analytical rigour with policy prescriptions to improve the living standards of those in Britain on low to middle incomes. He has a background in economic policy, with his current research focuses including inequality, the labour market, tax and benefits, and housing and wealth. Prior to leading the Resolution Foundation, Torsten was Director of Policy for the Labour Party. He has also worked in HM Treasury, as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers during the financial crisis and as a civil servant.