Minouche Shafik, Chair
Appointed 1 January 2025.
Minouche Shafik is an economist, policymaker, and higher education leader who has spent over three decades in leadership roles across a range of prominent international, national and academic institutions. She was the youngest-ever Vice President of the World Bank at the age of 36 where she worked on its first ever report on the environment, led work on infrastructure and the private sector and advised governments in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. She has been Deputy Governor of the Bank of England responsible for markets and banking, and Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund leading work on the Eurozone. Her tenure as Permanent Secretary of the UK's Department for International Development coincided with the department being ranked the best performing in government and helped secure the UK's commitment to giving 0.7% of GDP to fight poverty in the poorest countries in the world.
Minouche is currently chairing a major review of international development for the UK government. Previously, she was President of Columbia University and of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) where she drove academic excellence, improved student experience and raised substantial philanthropic support.
Minouche Shafik received her BA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, an MSc from LSE, and a DPhil from St Antony's College, Oxford. She holds a life peerage and is a crossbench member of the House of Lords. She received a damehood for services to the global economy, was Deputy Chair and a Trustee of the British Museum, currently serves on the Board of the Gates Foundation, is a distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research and is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and the Bretton Woods Committee. She is an honorary Fellow of the British Academy and of St. Antony's College, Oxford University and has six honorary doctorates. Her recently published book, What We Owe Each Other has been translated into twelve languages.
Jonathan Anderson
Reappointed for a four year term from 1 February 2023 – 31 January 2027
With a curatorial approach to fashion, making and brand building, Jonathan Anderson has earned both critical acclaim and commercial success through his collections designed as Creative Director for LOEWE since 2013, and his eponymous label, JW Anderson, since 2008. In 2024 he earned a place in Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2024.
An alumnus of London College of Fashion, Anderson has created collections and products collaborating with brands such as Uniqlo and Moncler, and in 2015 became the first fashion designer to be awarded both Menswear and Womenswear Designer of the Year by the British Fashion Council.
In 2016 he founded the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize – the world's first international award for contemporary craft – and a year later curated the Disobedient Bodies exhibition at The Hepworth, Wakefield. In 2020 he was named an Honouree of the Creativity Fashion Award by the British Fashion Council.
Most recently, Anderson has been awarded both the International Designer of the Year Award by the CDFA and the Designer of the Year Award by the British Fashion Council. He also received an Honorary Doctor of the Arts from the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) in July 2024.
C. Allegra Berman
Reappointed from 1 March 2024 – 29 February 2028; appointed Senior Trustee July 2024
Allegra is Global Head of Institutional Sales, responsible for the sales of all markets products, covering FX & EM Rates, equities, securities financing, global debt markets and securities services. Allegra is a member of the Markets and Securities Executive Committee.
Prior to this role, she was Co-Head of Securities Services, leading a business including custody, clearing, fund administration and securities lending. Previously, Allegra was Head of the Financial Institutions Group, EMEA and Global Head of the Public Sector Group in Global Banking. She was responsible for delivering the full range of financial products and solutions across this client base. Before joining HSBC in 2013, she spent 12 years at UBS, where she latterly co-led UBS's Debt Capital Markets business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and was Global Head of Public Sector Fixed Income. This was in addition to her role as Vice Chair of Global Capital Markets.
Allegra was a Non-Executive Director of HSBC Asset Management UK (2016 – 2018) and a Board Member of the International Capital Market Association (2011 – 2013). She served on the Board of Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery (2011 – 2019) where she was Chair of both the Gallery's Investment and Finance Committees. In October 2021, Allegra was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Wolfson Foundation and is Chair of the Risk and Audit Committee.
Allegra has an MA in Modern Languages from Magdalen College, Oxford, where she was a Trustee of the Development Board (2014 – 2023).
Professor Rosalind Polly Blakesley
Appointed 5 September 2022
Rosalind Polly Blakesley, a prize-winning author and art historian, is Professor of Russian and European Art and a Fellow of Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge. She has served on the boards of the National Portrait Gallery, Fitzwilliam Museum, Hamilton Kerr Institute and Kettle's Yard, and is currently a Trustee of the Samuel Courtauld Trust.
An expert on the visual culture of imperial Russia and the Baltic region, Polly's books include Women Artists in the Reign of Catherine the Great, The Russian Canvas, The Arts and Crafts Movement, and the co-edited volumes Russian Art and the West and From Realism to the Silver Age. She has worked on exhibitions including An Imperial Collection at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC; International Arts and Crafts at the V&A; and Russia and the Arts, which she curated at the National Portrait Gallery as part of a pioneering exchange with the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. Awards include the Pushkin Medal, the Art Newspaper Russia Best Book Award, and the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize.
David Bomford
Reappointed for a four year term from 31 March 2023 – 30 March 2027
After studying chemistry at the University of Sussex, David Bomford went to the National Gallery, London, where he became Senior Restorer of paintings; during nearly four decades there he worked on many important paintings and organised an award-winning series of exhibitions and catalogues on the techniques of European painters, including early Italian artists, Rembrandt and the Impressionists.
In 2007, he moved to the J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, as Director of Collections and then as acting Director of the museum. In 2012, he moved to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, as Chair of Conservation and Head of European Art. While in Houston, he was in charge of the design and construction of a new state-of-the-art conservation building and curated exhibitions on subjects including Rubens, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Spanish Colonial painting, the Habsburgs and the British monarchy.
David Bomford has been the Secretary-General of the International Institute for Conservation; editor of the international journal Studies in Conservation; Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford; and has had visiting professorships in conservation and art history in Mexico City, in Sao Paolo, and at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts, National Gallery, Washington. He has many academic interests, including the study of unfinished art.
Rusty Elvidge
Appointed 5 September 2022
Rusty has been a collector since he was at Bristol University and used to buy antique silver and jewellery at auction rooms and fairs in the West Country. He has also collected Regency furniture, English watercolours and, over the last 20 years, paintings by the Bloomsbury set, Modern British artists, as well as Contemporary Art and Pottery.
Rusty has worked in finance all his career: at Salomon Brothers on the trading floor, then at Credit Suisse heading the global foreign exchange business, and over the last decade has been on the Private Banking side as financial adviser to some of the most successful UK based entrepreneurs.
Rusty has worked in Japan, Switzerland and the US, though predominantly in the UK, where he is based full time, working for UBS.
Mariella Frostrup
For or over four decades, Mariella has been at the forefront of UK media as a leading journalist, broadcaster, author, and cultural commentator; in particular covering the worlds of arts, culture and societal issues. She has tirelessly promoted the intrinsic value of arts and culture to wider society and the importance that they connect with and are accessible to all. Mariella’s name is synonymous with arts and literature (and their platforms and education), having presented the U.K.’s leading book programmes, cultural shows and judged its highest literary and arts awards. She was the first non-elected member of the Royal Academy’s Council sitting on their governing board for a full six-year term. As a broadcaster she has created, presented and produced flagship tv and radio shows/documentaries and been a lead columnist across arts, culture, and news. She has judged many prominent U.K. Arts’ Awards from the Booker to the BAFTA’S, RIBA to the Turner Prize and was awarded a Doctor of Arts from Nottingham University in 2009 for her lifelong work and achievement in arts and culture.
Mariella has shown a lifelong commitment to volunteering for the causes she feels passionate about and using her skills as a communicator and her understanding of PR to engage the public in creative endeavour and causes. She is a leading figure in the UK’s gender equality movement and a driving force behind gender equality in the workplace. She co-founded the annual Women in Work Summit (@WiWSummit, is the Government’s Menopause Employment Ambassador, chairs the advocacy group Menopause Mandate, and is a Save the Children Ambassador. Mariella is also a Trustee of the British Council, a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature Fellow and a BAFTA member.
Zewditu Gebreyohanes
Appointed 5 September 2022
Zewditu is a Senior Researcher at the think tank The Legatum Institute and Deputy Editor of the digital history publication History Reclaimed. She is a Young Ambassador of the International Churchill Society.
Zewditu was formerly the Director of the pressure group Restore Trust. Between 2021 and 2022 she worked at the think tank Policy Exchange, where she was Head of the History Matters Project: a policy unit focussing on the preservation of British history and heritage. In 2020 she served on the government commission on housing and architecture 'Building Better, Building Beautiful' as an assistant to its late Chair, Professor Sir Roger Scruton.
Zewditu has been passionate about art and design from a young age and enjoys drawing, painting and sewing. She is of British-Ethiopian descent and speaks Amharic and Tigrinya.
Vick Hope
Appointed 10 March 2025
Dubbed 'the voice of a generation' by the Sunday Times, Vick Hope is an award-winning TV and radio broadcaster, journalist and author.
Vick hosts BBC Radio One's drive time show Going Home, pulling in record listening figures amongst 15-24 year olds, as well as co-hosting the station's youth-focussed advice show Life Hacks and BBC Sounds podcast Songs To Live By, celebrating the history of Black music and culture in the UK and Diaspora.
On TV, she was recently named the newest presenter of BBC One’s Countryfile, and is known for fronting a range of programmes, including The One Show, Channel 4's Paralympic Games coverage and her own Sunday morning slot on ITV Vick Hope’s Breakfast Show.
Before beginning her television career reporting for ITN and MTV News, Vick lived and worked in Buenos Aires as the youngest ever journalist to write for the The Argentina Independent (formerly The Argentimes), covering Latin American politics, current affairs, arts & culture. She continues to contribute to publications including Marie Claire and The iPaper.
She is the author of two children's books and works closely with the Women’s Prize for Fiction, serving on the judging panel and proudly hosting the highly acclaimed weekly podcast Bookshelfie, interviewing incredible women about the books that have shaped them.
She has worked with Amnesty International since the age of 16, and in 2020 was named an official Ambassador, fronting campaigns to support women impacted by war, championing ethical fashion practices and running nationwide literacy projects. She volunteers weekly at local youth charities, mentors young people with the Duke Of Edinburgh Award, and is a Plan A Fashion Sustainability Ambassador for Marks & Spencer. Since 2024 she has worked on The Brit Awards' Breaking Barriers campaign to tackle accessibility issues in music and the creative industries.
Vick graduated from Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge in 2011, having read Modern Languages (French, Spanish and Portuguese).
Andrew Keith
Appointed on 10 March 2025
Andrew Keith is a seasoned luxury retail executive with over three decades of experience leading prominent international brands.
Andrew spent 19 years with Lane Crawford Joyce Group, holding a number of key positions including President of Joyce and Lane Crawford. Under his leadership, the group greatly expanded its footprint, introducing innovative retail formats and establishing a significant presence in Greater China. He oversaw the opening of flagship stores in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu, and launched the group’s online platform, catering to the burgeoning digital consumer base.
Andrew spent three years with Selfridges as Managing Director and later CEO, Andrew led Selfridges through the complexities of reopening post-COVID-19, implementing strategies to adapt to the new retail landscape. He played a pivotal role in the sale of Selfridges to new ownership, ensuring a seamless transition and positioning the brand for future growth.
In early 2025, he took on the role of leading the transformation of Edinburgh’s historic Jenners building. This multi-million-pound project aims to revitalise the iconic site into a premier destination, blending retail and hospitality elements. Andrew’s vision is to create a destination that delivers long-term commercial and social value by introducing innovative products that will excite customers and engage with the local community.
Andrew has served as a co-opted Member of the V&A’s Trustee Committee focused on Commerce, contributing his commercial expertise to enhance the museum’s engagement strategies.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, to Scottish parents, Andrew studied Fashion Design at Kingston University and maintains a deep connection to his Scottish heritage, often spending time at his home in the Highlands, reflecting his appreciation for nature and the environment.
Amanda Levete CBE
Reappointed from 1 March 2024 – 29 February 2028
Amanda Levete is a Stirling Prize winning architect, and founder of the architect studio AL_A. Recently completed projects include the Victoria and Albert Museum Exhibition Road Quarter, MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon, Central Embassy in Bangkok; a headquarters building for Sky, Maggie's Cancer Centre in Southampton and two buildings for Wadham College, Oxford. Ongoing commissions include Paisley Museum in Scotland; D'Ieteren's HQ in Brussels and the Belgrade Philharmonic Concert Hall in Serbia. Amanda is a regular radio and TV broadcaster, writes for a number of publications and lectures throughout the world. In 2018 she was awarded the Jane Drew Prize, in 2019 she was elected an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and in 2021 she became a Royal Academician.
Professor Christoph Lindner, Ex-officio Trustee
Appointed 1 January 2024
Prof Lindner is the President and Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art where he also holds the title of Professor of Visual Culture. He previously served as Dean of the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment at University College London. Previously he was Dean of the College of Design at the University of Oregon, and Professor of Media and Culture at the University of Amsterdam where he created and led the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Analysis and directed the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis. His leadership work focuses on advancing educational access and equity, intercultural understanding, and environmental sustainability in the art and design fields. He is a fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and Royal Geographical Society.
Lindner is a leading international scholar of cities and visual culture and has published 15 books in the fields of art, architecture, media and urban geography, including Aesthetics of Gentrification, Deconstructing the High Line, Imagining New York City, Global Garbage, Cities Interrupted, and Paris-Amsterdam Underground.
Akshata Murty
Appointed 10 March 2025
Akshata Murty is passionate about education and the power of creativity to have positive effects for young people. During her time living in Downing Street, she launched ‘Lessons at 10’. This initiative provided children from schools across the United Kingdom with a unique opportunity to go behind the famous black door of Number 10 and learn important life lessons from special guests such as the National Theatre, the Young V&A, the Lawn Tennis Association, the London Zoological Society and Historic Royal Palaces.
With her husband, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Akshata is a co-founder of The Richmond Project, a charity focused on enabling social mobility by breaking down barriers to numeracy. She is also a keen supporter of the UK’s veteran community.
Akshata spent over a decade investing in early-stage consumer-focused British companies, from e-commerce to apparel to jewellery to heritage craftsmanship, providing funding and strategic advice. Previously, Akshata founded a fashion line that was inspired by and worked with Indian crafts and artisans.
Originally from Bangalore, Akshata obtained a B.A in Economics and French from Claremont McKenna College, an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business as well as an Associate degree from Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Los Angeles. She is on the board of Claremont McKenna College and was previously a Trustee of the San Francisco Exploratorium. Akshata is also a Trustee of The Murty Trust in India and a supporter of the Murty Classical Library of India.
Nigel Newton
Appointed 10 March 2025
Nigel Newton is the founder of Bloomsbury Publishing. He was born and raised in San Francisco. He read English at Selwyn College, Cambridge and after working at Macmillan Publishers, he joined Sidgwick & Jackson. He left Sidgwick in 1986 to start Bloomsbury Publishing. Bloomsbury floated on The London Stock Exchange in 1994 and has grown organically and through acquisitions. Nigel Newton was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to the publishing industry. He was appointed as President of the Publishers Association in April 2022.
He serves as a Member of the Advisory Committee of Cambridge University Library and President of Book Aid International. In 2020, he was awarded The LBF Lifetime Achievement Award 2020 and became an Honorary Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge. He has previously served as a member of the Booker Prize Advisory Committee, Chairman of the Charleston Trust, Chair of World Book Day, Board member of the US-UK Fulbright Commission, member of the Publishers Association Council, Trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Chairman of the British Library Trust.
Pedro Pina
Appointed 10 March 2025
Pedro Pina is a senior executive with over three decades of experience in media, brand management, advertising, and all areas of the digital space. Pina has been at Google for over 12 years and currently serves as Head of YouTube, overseeing the platform’s business and strategic development within Europe, Middle East and Africa. His career includes roles at Google, McCann Worldgroup, PepsiCo, and Procter & Gamble.
Pina holds an MBA from INSEAD, Paris and previously served on the V&A Corporate Advisory Board. His expertise includes digital transformation, audience engagement, and strategic partnerships. He currently serves on the Board of OutRight International, and is an Ambassador of Stonewall, organizations that advocate for LGBTQ+ human rights globally and in the UK.
Kavita Puri
Appointed 2 July 2018, reappointed 26 January 2022
Kavita Puri is a multi award-winning journalist, executive producer and broadcaster at the BBC where she has worked for over 20 years. She presents documentaries on BBC Radio 4 and the World Service, including The Inquiry. She is the creator and host of the acclaimed Three Million on BBC Sounds which won Gold for Best New Podcast at the British Podcast Awards 2024. She devised and presented the landmark series Partition Voices for Radio 4, which won the Royal Historical Society's Radio and Podcast Award and its overall Public History Prize. She is the author of Partition Voices: Untold British Stories which was adapted at the Donmar Warehouse and on tour in 2024. She is the creator and presenter of Three Pounds in My Pocket for Radio 4, the first social history of British South Asians, which is on its fifth series. While editor of Our World, its foreign documentaries were recognised with awards including the Royal Television Society and the Foreign Press Association. Kavita was named Journalist of the Year by the Asian Media Awards, and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She worked for many years at Newsnight and studied Law at Cambridge University.
Amanda Spielman
Reappointed from 1 March 2024 – 29 February 2028
Amanda Spielman is a Visiting Professor in Practice at London School of Economics and chair of the Academic Advisory Council at GEMS Education. She has previously been His Majesty's Chief Inspector at Ofsted, the education and children's social care inspectorate and chair of Ofqual, the exam regulator.
Before this she was chair of Ofqual, the qualifications regulator, and research and policy director at the academy chain Ark Schools. Her early career was in strategy consulting, finance and investment at KPMG, Kleinwort Benson, Mercer Management Consulting and Nomura International.
She has also been a council member at Brunel University London and the Institute of Education, a director of the Wales Millennium Centre, and a school governor.
Marc St John
Reappointed for a four year term from 1 February 2023 – 31 January 2027
Marc is a former partner and head of investor relations at CVC Capital Partners (1999 – 2018). He also worked for Citicorp in New York, Paris and London (1985 – 98) and The Colorado Springs School, Colorado (1980 – 82).
He serves or has served as chair of the board at Power2 (a leading youth charity), London (2013 – 2021); Trustee and Executive Committee Member of Colorado College (2015 – 2020); St Antony's College Financial Advisory Committee, Oxford (2009 – 18); the Corporate Advisory Group to the British Academy (2018 – 2020); the European Venture Capital Association, Brussels (2002 – 08); and the American University of Paris, Paris (2000 – 05).
Marc has dual USA/UK citizenship, is married to Dr Julie Newton, a Research Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford University. He holds a Masters in International Relations from Columbia University and a BA from Colorado College.
Nigel Webb
Appointed 1 January 2017, reappointed 1 January 2021
Nigel is a Chartered Surveyor with over 39 years of experience in property investment and development. He is former Director and Head of Development at The British Land Company Plc, one of the country's leading property developers.
He has been responsible for over 15m sq ft of development including some of London's landmark buildings, including The Leadenhall Building ("Cheesegrater"), The Broadgate Tower, The Willis Building, the UBS headquarters at 5 Broadgate, Clarges, Mayfair, Ropemaker Place and development of the Regents' Place campus.
Nigel is a Non-Executive Director at Barratt Redrow PLC and Precede Capital Partners, and a non-exec Board Advisor to Sir Robert McAlpine.