Board of Governors
The Board of Governors is the University of East London’s governing body. It carries the ultimate responsibility for the determination of the educational character and mission of the University and for the management of the financial sustainability and viability of the University.
Members of the Board of Governors
Independent Members
Steve Armstrong (Chair of the Board)
Steve has had a career within the auto industry for over 40 years, 35 of which were within Ford Motor Company's global operations. Having left school at 16 to take on an apprenticeship, he lived and worked in the United Kingdom, United States, Sweden, Germany, Brazil and China in a variety of senior management and purchasing positions for Jaguar, Mazda, Volvo, and Ford. On January 1, 2014 he was elected a corporate officer and Group Vice President of Ford Motor Company.
Steve retired from Ford at the end of 2022 when he held the position of Vice President and Transformation Officer, Ford South America and India. Prior to this position he was President, Changan Ford, in China, where he led Changan Ford's successful turnaround. Previous to that role Steve was Chairman, President and CEO, Ford of Europe, where he transformed and led Ford's Europe, Middle East and Africa business units. During this time, he served on the boards of directors of Ford Sollers and Ford Otosan.
Steve has served as President, Ford South America responsible for all Ford's South American operations and previously at Volvo Cars as SVP Purchasing and ultimately Chief Operating Officer, prior to overseeing the divestiture of Volvo Cars to Geely Automotive Holdings Ltd. Steve also helo the position of Chief Operating Officer, Getrag-Ford Transmissions, a Ford joint venture and tier 1 supplier to the auto industry. Since retirement from Ford, in addition to his role at UEL Steve has continued as a non executive director on company boards and has provided leadership consultancy to a number of high profile businesses.
He has been recognised with several awards, including being named a Eurostar by Automotive News in 2005, and "Most Influential Brit in the Global Auto Industry" in the Auto Express "Top 50 Brit List", 2020. Steve was born in Luton in the UK, he is married to Kay and they have two grown up children. In his free time he enjoys cycling, motorsports and he and Kay have a passion for wine!
Sarah Fahy (Deputy Chair of the Board)
Sarah is a chartered accountant and member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and spent over 30 years in senior International Finance roles in large multinational organisations including Sony and Pepsi. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Birmingham.
Sarah brings a wealth of experience in risk management and governance procedures, as well as a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. She was head of the Sony Pictures Gender Equality Group, is a Trustee of the Sony Music Pension Fund, and acts as a mentor under various programmes including the University of Birmingham's Alumni Leadership Mentoring Programme, Cancer Research's Women of Influence Programme, and UEL’s own Career Mentoring Programme. She ran a highly successful student internship programme for many years and is particularly interested in strengthening links between the University and business, and ensuring students are supported and prepared as well as they can be as they transition into the world of work.
In her spare time, Sarah loves exploring the great outdoors and cooking for family and friends.
Amanjit Jhund
Amanjit is currently the CEO of Whipps Cross University Hospital in East London. He is a fully qualified and General Medical Council licensed medical doctor having studied medicine (MBChB) and physiology (BSc) at Edinburgh University. Amanjit has worked in hospitals in both Scotland and England as a front line medical doctor and he completed his postgraduate studies (MPH-EPI) in epidemiology and public health at Harvard University.
He has served on the board of several NHS Trusts including Croydon University Health Services NHS Trust and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.
Amanjit is also an award winning entrepreneur, having previously won awards from Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Business Gateway for his ventures. He has advised some of the largest healthcare institutions in both the UK and Internationally on their strategic issues while working as an expert on healthcare systems and services for the international management consultancy McKinsey and Company.
Amanjit is also passionate about politics having stood for the UK Labour Party at both the 2010 and 2015 General elections. In 2015 Amanjit was the candidate for Scottish Labour's number one target seat and his home town seat in Glasgow. Although he is originally from Glasgow, Amanjit has lived in East London for the past eight years and is particularly passionate about the role of education in improving not just the economic prospects but also the health and wellbeing of the local population.
Ben Buckton
Ben is Chief Marketing & People Officer (Partner and group board member) at professional services group Ampa LLP, a board member at law firm Shakespeare Martineau, and has extensive experience across financial, professional & technology services (B2B & B2C) having worked across EMEA, North America and Asia.
He has previously held senior positions at global firms including Experian, Axa, Allianz and RSA. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), and a Leadership Fellow at the Society of Leadership Fellows, St George's House, Windsor Castle. Ben studied Business Economics (BSc) at Manchester Metropolitan University, followed by post-graduate qualifications with the Chartered Institute of Insurance (ACII), Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM), and a Masters in Marketing & Communications Leadership from Schulich School of Business (York University, Toronto).
A passionate leader with over 20 years' experience in marketing, people and transformation strategy; he leads growth for the Ampa group of companies - delivering this through brands, clients, markets, people and culture. As the first in its sector to seek B Corp accreditation, Ben is driving the groups' responsible business ambitions to ensure inclusion for all stakeholders - their people, communities, environment and investors.
Ben lived in Tower Hamlets (Bow) for over a decade and is a passionate advocate for East London communities. He is also an Advisory Board Member for the Vulnerability Registrations Service, an NFP data provider that helps vulnerable consumers protect themselves against debt and financial problems. He is a Business Mentor for Ingenuity Impact supporting social impact entrepreneurs and a Mentor for the Managing Partners Forum.
Fiona Bolton
Fiona is a Human Resources Managing Director with 30 years of experience working at Accenture. As a trusted HR Business Partner operating at C-suite level, Fiona is responsible for defining and implementing global talent strategies and strategic people programmes which enable profitable and responsible business growth whilst ensuring maximum positive impact to people, performance and culture.
Over her long career Fiona has gained experience in all aspects of people management, talent strategy and leadership development, holding numerous senior HR leadership roles including Chief Talent Officer for Accenture Song and, before that, Accenture Digital. She is currently partnering with Accenture’s HR Exco as a strategic programme lead. Fiona has worked extensively in a cross-cultural, global context and spent two years living and working in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Whilst Fiona’s experience has been gained in a large corporate environment what she enjoys most is working with emerging businesses and differentiated talent, where traditional ways of working need to be challenged and changed. Fiona believes that nothing is more important than creating a truly inclusive environment where everyone, regardless of their background, can thrive.
Fiona has family roots in East London and now lives in the beautiful Essex countryside with her husband Andrew. Together they enjoy keeping active, travelling and have a passion for food and wine.
Gavin Poole
Gavin Poole is the CEO of Here East, a dedicated campus for the technology and creative communities which is now home to over 6,000 people – 4,000 who work for businesses on site and over 2,000 who study – and are regularly based on the 1.2 million sq ft campus.
Built out of a bid to transform the former international press and broadcast centre used during the 2012 London Olympic games, the vision for the campus has positioned it as one of the most successful Olympic re-developments and one of the fastest growing business clusters in London.
Gavin is also a Director of Plexal, the innovation centre at Here East which is focused on utilising technology to deliver national security and prosperity - the flagship being its cyber security programmes for the UK government. Plexal was a key component to the original bid that won the rights to the buildings from the government. He also sits on the Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates advisory board for Russ Shaw CBE and until Sept 2023, was a global board member for the International Association of Science Parks (and Areas of Innovation).
Before starting Here East, Gavin served for over twenty years in the Royal Air Force, starting as an aircraft engineering apprentice and retiring aged 40 as a Wing Commander. After finishing his military career, Gavin ran the Centre for Social Justice, a think tank in Westminster, where he launched several major policy initiatives, most notably one which led to a change in law and the introduction of the Modern Day Slavery Act.
Gavin is married, with two daughters, and lives in London.
Jackie Craissati
Jackie Craissati is a consultant clinical and forensic psychologist and director of Psychological Approaches, a community interest company working with individuals with complex mental health needs.
She has 30 years' experience of working in the NHS and with the criminal justice system and was clinical director of a forensic mental health service in south-east London for many years.
Jazz Bhogal
Jazz has spent her career in the health and care sector, working at all levels from managing a busy A&E department in a major London hospital, right through to working at an international level overseeing the UK’s Overseas Territories preparations for Brexit. Having spent the last decade working as part of the UK Government on health and care policy and led the UK Government’s strategy to create a more diverse and inclusive Civil Service.
In 2019 Jazz moved to regional government at the Greater London Authority, as the Assistant Director for the Health and Education Unit, responsible for the development and implementation of policy and strategy relating to the Mayor’s priorities on health inequalities and health improvement, the health and social care system, early years, education, and young people.
Tackling inequalities and discrimination has underpinned Jazz’s career and drives her passion to support our public services to become the inclusive and diverse organisations we need to improve outcomes for all.
Kieren Mayers
Starting from a childhood interest in nature and conservation, Kieren has almost thirty years of experience working on solutions to the most pressing environmental, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability issues within the electronics sector.
Professor Kieren Mayers is Vice President of Environmental, Social, and Governance at Sony Interactive Entertainment (the division responsible for PlayStation. He is responsible for addressing climate change, materials and hazardous substances use, sustainable supply chains, accessible products and services, ensuring safe and inclusive play, and using gaming to inspire change. Kieran has worked in environment and sustainability at IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Sony. He has commercial experience establishing national recycling systems for Geodis/the European Recycling Platform.
He helped found the European Recycling Platform, the EU Self Regulatory Initiative on Games Consoles, and the United Nations Playing for the Planet Alliance (which he currently Chairs). Kieren remains an academic practitioner, publishing scholarly articles as an Associate Scholar at the University of Oxford, a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey in Guildford, UK, and an Executive in Residence at INSEAD Business School in Fontainebleau, France. He has also sponsored and supervised five doctoral students. He has a degree in Environmental Science from the University of Bradford (1992) and an Engineering Doctorate in Environmental Technology from Brunel University (2001).
Kieren, who has three adult children and a grandson and lives with his partner in Buckinghamshire, grew up in a single-parent family in Salford and Anfield, parts of the UK facing severe poverty. He faced significant racism as one of the very few mixed-race children in this environment. Despite his school being reported as 'the UK's second worst' in national media, he qualified for university and became the UK's second-ever Black and Ethnic Minorities Officer at the University of Bradford Student Union. Kieren also has dyslexia and has a brother with Muscular Dystrophy who loves to game, which inspired him to push for more accessible PlayStation experiences. He is keen to help every UEL student find the opportunity to grow, learn, and lead a fulfilling life.
Professor Sir Leslie Colin Ebdon CBE DL (Senior Independent Governor)
BSc PhD DSc (Hons) DUniv ARCS DIC MCIWEM C.WEM FRSA CChem FRSC
Professor Sir Les Ebdon CBE DL is a widely recognised leader in the fields of social mobility, higher education and analytical chemistry.
As Director of Fair Access to Higher Education from 2012 to 2018, he enabled the number of disadvantaged students in Higher Education to rise to the highest level ever, including a 53 per cent increase at the most selective universities. An award-winning analytical chemist, he has published over 260 refereed publications. He has enjoyed highly successful periods as Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Plymouth and as Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Bedfordshire.
From 2003 - 2012 he transformed the reputation of the University and increased student numbers to over 25,000 and the income from £38m to £134m. He has played various national roles in higher education including chairing the university group Million+, for five years, served as a board member of Universities UK and the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association, as well as chairing the Association of Universities of the East of England for five years.
He was awarded a CBE in 2009 for services to national and local higher education and in 2018 was knighted for services to social mobility and higher education. In 2011 he was appointed HM Deputy Lieutenant of Bedfordshire. Currently he is Chair of the National Equal Opportunities Network (NEON), the Council of the University Centre Peterborough and is President Elect of the European Association of Professors Emeriti.
Lucy Millar
Lucy has over 35 years experience in the manufacturing industry in diverse roles across finance, strategy, risk, internal audit and pension management. She has lived and worked around the world including India, Spain and the USA, and was most recently General Auditor for Ford Motor Company. She is a qualified management accountant and internal auditor, and chaired the Trustee Board for Ford's Senior Staff Pension Scheme for 8 years.
Naureen Khan
Photography and biog
Steve Shaw
Photography and biography to follow.
Tommy MacDonnell
Tommy is a European Regional Director with Blue Hive, a global integrated marketing and communications company. The company is part of WPP Plc - the world's largest marketing group. He also worked with Saatchi & Saatchi International helping them expand and build their network in the Middle East. He has a particular interest in reputation management in the digital age and is seeking to build reputation models that reflects the complexity and challenges organisations face.
Along with this- he is passionate about creating marketing effectiveness models that tangibly measure outputs and value for money. He is an economics and administration graduate of Trinity College Dublin, and postgraduate of the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium.
Reverend Trevor Critchlow
Trevor Critchlow is 52nd Rector of Stepney, an office stretching back to 1233. Trevor has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Ethics from Lancaster University and King's College London and has an interest in business ethics. Trevor was Chair of Governors at an East London secondary school that made rapid progress from being in Special Measures to Outstanding in record time.
He also has wide experience of charity governance at the board level. Trevor lives in East London and is the chair of numerous local charities.
Uzoamaka Nwamarah
Uzoamaka Nwamarah is a dynamic Climate Change Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat. In her role, she provides strategic leadership and technical expertise to drive the implementation of the Commonwealth Climate Change Programme, including its flagship Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH) and Commonwealth Living Lands Charter (CALL). Uzoamaka leads the Commonwealth NDC Programme, guiding member countries to expedite the attainment of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) also known as National Climate Plans, with on-the-ground technical support. She also champions the Secretariat’s Gender and Youth Climate Action Programmes, ensuring that the Secretariat’s climate initiatives are inclusive and effective for men, women, and young people alike.
Before joining the Commonwealth Secretariat, Uzoamaka excelled as a Principal Climate Finance Consultant with Atkins Realis UK, a Senior Climate Change Specialist with the African Development Bank in Tunisia and Ivory Coast, an Energy Policy Consultant with Camco UK and Sustainable Energy Officer with the East Midlands Regional Assembly UK. Her extensive experience spans collaboration with national governments, regional bodies, and international financial institutions. She is adept at advising and guiding them in designing and implementing low-carbon and climate-resilient policies, strategies, programmes, and projects, together with climate finance resource mobilisation and capacity building.
Uzoamaka Nwamarah has a Masters degree in Environmental Science and Technology - Energy Policy, from Imperial College London, United Kingdom, and a first degree in Geology from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. She is also a Certified Expert in Climate Adaptation Finance from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Germany. Uzoamaka is a vetted Climate Resilience Expert for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), an Associate Member of the Energy Institute and a Steering Committee Member for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) Climate Change Programme.
Recognised for her outstanding contributions, Uzoamaka was named a finalist in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) Senior Leader category of the Black British Business Awards (BBBAwards). She proudly serves as a member of the Court of Imperial College London and enjoys a fulfilling family life with her husband and three children.
Ex-Officio Member
Amanda Broderick
An eminent social scientist, Professor Amanda Broderick joined University of East London as Vice-Chancellor and President in September 2018.
Professor Broderick was previously Chief Executive Officer at Newcastle University London and has held Chairs in International Business and Marketing at multiple institutions in the UK, and Visiting Chairs internationally.
She has a strong leadership track record and rare insight into a cross-section of strategic groupings of universities. Before moving to Newcastle University, she was Pro-Vice Chancellor (International Priorities) and founding Executive Dean of the College of Business & Law, University of Salford; Principal of St. Cuthbert's Society (a Durham University College) and Deputy Dean of Durham Business School. She also led the development of the disruptive 'challenger institution' - University Academy '92, founded by the Class of '92 and Lancaster University and launched in September 2017.
Her leadership track record highlights her expertise in strategy development and execution; strong financial management and business planning; global education innovation; business partnership development; and, turn-around change management. She holds an entre- and intra-preneurial skills set and in-depth knowledge of alternative educational models and new business ventures in both charitable and for-profit environments.
An award-winning researcher, her expertise lies in the fields of international business, marketing psychology and strategic communications with particular application to the digital and social business agendas. Her research has appeared in many leading business journals and she has authored two seminal texts in her field.
Professor Broderick provides strategic and academic leadership for the University, with overall responsibility for 1,300 members of staff and 17,000 students, spread across campuses in London Docklands and Stratford.
Staff Members
Regina Everitt
Regina Everitt is Director of Library, Archives and Learning Services at the University of East London. She began her professional career as a technical author/trainer working with computer companies that developed bespoke software for the manufacturing, pharmaceutical and financial sectors in the US and UK. She later transitioned into the Higher Education sector developing and managing libraries, social learning spaces, and other learning resources.
Concerned about the low representation of BAME staff members in leadership positions in academic libraries, she co-project managed SCONUL research to document BAME staff experiences in LIS with a view to working with the sector to change the trend. She is also a member of a number of library boards and committees including the CILIP BAME Network Steering Group, M25 Consortium of Libraries Steering Group, Senate House Library Board and the British Library Council.
Matthew Almond
Dr Matthew Almond is Vice Dean of the School of Health, Sport and Bioscience at the University of East London. Dr Almond holds an undergraduate degree from Keele University and a PhD from Loughborough University. He has worked as the Director of the company Step into Health Ltd from 2005-2010, working with the public sector, private sector companies across England, Wales and Scotland.
Work during this time specialised in consultancy, design, delivery and evaluation of interventions to improve health predominantly in three areas; early years, the workplace and with older adults. His interest in this work continues most recently in the area of Healthy Longevity.
From 2010-2012 Dr Almond was at the Centre for Workplace Health. During his time as Director successful commissions were awarded to promote health and wellbeing in pan London workstreams. In 2011, the centre was recognised by the Royal Society of Public Health with a Health and Wellbeing Award. He has lectured nationally and internationally in areas such as physical activity and sedentary behaviour, population health, health inequalities, addictive behaviours and health and Global Health. Dr Almond is engaged in exploring the meaning of excellent teaching and teaching to excellence with particular focus on professional courses.
Sophia Bokhari
Dr Sophia Bokhari is Head of Psychological Sciences, School of Psychology at the University of East London. Having worked in Higher Education for over two decades, she is well versed with HE landscapes and can horizon scan. Holding a PhD in Education, she advocates for academic achievement; creatively designing targeted interventions addressing and leading to academic success, progression, employment and social mobility.
She has worked across Russell Group and Post '92 universities, holding both research and teaching positions. Moving into senior management, Sophia leads by example, staying grounded and connected to the student body. Prudent, pragmatic, data-driven and fiscally cautious as a leader, Sophia manages efficiently, resourcefully and equitably. This year she has created a talent pipeline model, with graduates returning to embark on their academic careers at UEL. Sophia is reflexive and known for her criticality and due diligence. She is a trained university investigating officer for complaints and misconduct cases.
Her tenacity has led her to win numerous HE awards in the past two decades. She recently led the winning team for the inaugural UK Pearson HE Innovate Most Innovative Approach to Supporting Students Award. Sophia is now a Pearson HE Judge and Collaborative Partner.
She has held Principal Investigator roles locally, nationally and internationally, successfully working with hard-to-reach/seldomly heard communities and influencing local and central government policies. Partners co-produced with include: Refugee/asylum seeker, Looked After Children and SEND. Most recently she sat on the British Psychological Society Expert Reference Group - From Poverty to Flourishing.
Student Members
Aswin Mathew
Aswin is this year’s Education Officer at East London Students’ Union. He is taking a break from his Master of Business Administration studies to serve as a student officer. He previously studied mechanical engineering in Kerala, India.
Aswin works to create a more equitable and enriched educational environment, advocating for students and working collaboration with student representatives at course and school level.
Aswin's priorities for this year relate to establishing an inclusive curriculum, widening access to academic advisors, and minimising the ethnicity awarding gap.
Stuti Sah
Photography and biography to follow.
Meeting Calendar for Board of Governors
| dAY | DATE |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 22 October 2024 Strategy session followed by board meeting. |
| Tuesday | 26 October 2024 |
| Tuesday | 3 December 2024 |
| Tuesday | 25 February 2025 |
| Tuesday/Wednesday | 25-26 March 2025 Strategy session and board meeting. |
| Tuesday | 20 May 2025 |
| Tuesday | 1 July 2025 |
Sub-Committees
The Board of Governors oversees various committees that provide reports on matters related to University governance. The following committees report into the Board of Governors:
Key Info
Legal Framework
Read our governing documents for the Board of Governance.
Read our governing documents
Remuneration Committee Annual Report
This report outlines the work of the Remuneration Committee for the 2022/23 academic year.
Read the report