Advisory Board

Dr Victoria Hurth works at the intersect of academia and hands-on business as her work centres around five core pillars for sustainability of purpose, governance, marketing, leadership and culture. 

Victoria co-led the five-year development of the first global ISO standard in Governance of Organizations, was Technical Author for the first national standard in Purpose-Driven Organisations and advised the UN on the development of a methodology for Sustainability Development Goals 12.6.1.   

Victoria is Head of the Sustainability Impact Advisory committee for UnaTerra, a member of SACE’s Impact Advisory Committee, a regular UNCTAD review panel member for ISAR Honors, and was a member of WBCSD’s working group on Governance. Victoria has over 20 years’ experience in marketing, management and sustainability, and of developing theory as an Associate Professor of Sustainable Business and Marketing. She has published various research papers and thought pieces in journals including New Scientist. 

Victoria is a Fellow of University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), Fellow of the Chartered Management Association, a Chartered Manager (and previous regional Board member), a Chartered Marketer and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dr Damitha Adikaari is Director for Climate Science and Energy Innovation, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero

Damitha is Director of Science and Innovation for Climate and Energy at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. He has responsibility for energy engineering, technical energy analysis, innovation policy and innovation delivery, civil nuclear R&D coordination and the climate science programme.

Damitha also represents the UK in international clean energy initiatives, including as a steering committee member of Mission Innovation where he helps shape global cooperation on clean energy missions. 

He works at the intersection of engineering, climate science and public policy, contributing to the UK’s efforts to decarbonise energy systems and accelerate net-zero technologies.

Dr Alan Brewin is Science and Engineering Director at the National Physics Laboratory (NPL). Alan is responsible for ensuring NPL’s science and engineering capability is both world-leading and future-proof for the UK as a scientific superpower. 

Alan facilitates technical innovation through diverse teams and developing new talent. He has previously held numerous roles within the Research Divisions of NPL and has overseen the formulation of NPL’s government research programme. He has operated within a policy environment within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to help establish a new ownership, governance and operating model for NPL. Before joining NPL, Alan worked in Product & Standards Development in the electronics assembly industry, and as Chief Chemist for Concoat Ltd. 

In April 2022 Alan was appointed chair of The National Laboratory Alliance. This collaborative group of Public Sector Research Establishments was established to strengthen government science capability and further the effectiveness of individual members and their collective value. 

Alan was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in June 2023. Alan has authored various scientific reports on lead-free electronics and was also represented on UK technical standards committees (including the IEC).

Mr Mark Cutifani is a mining engineer by training and has over 40 years’ experience, making him recognised as a major industry leader and innovator. Mark retired from his role as the Chief Executive Officer (CE) of Anglo American (AA) in April 2022 after acknowledged value creation through new and progressive social, technical, and commercial transformations. 

Mark was the CEO for AngloGold Ashanti and also held senior executive positions with the Inco and Vale, the Normandy Group, Sons of Gwalia, Western Mining Corporation, Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines and CRA (Rio Tinto). 

Mark has been honoured by both the Australian and South African mining industries, receiving the AusIMM Industry Award and the SAIMM Brigadier Stokes Awards. In 2019, Mark was recognised by Mines Metals as the leading Industry CEO and was awarded their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. He has been recognised by the Thomas Edison Global Innovation Awards for Collaborative Change through the Development Partner Institute for his work in sustainability and responsible social action.

Mark is currently a Non-Executive Director of TotalEnergies, Paris and is the Senior Independent Director for Laing O’Rourke, UK. 

Mark was President of the International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM) and the South African Chamber of Mines (now Minerals Council). In 2023, he was appointed Chair of Vale Base Metals.

Mr Mark Drewell is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of New Foundation Farms, a disruptor field-to-fork regenerative farming enterprise in the UK with a mission to transform the food system. 

Mark has combined business and social change throughout his career. He created the prototype of Peace Committees which managed end of Apartheid in South Africa. 

Mark also co-founded the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative, a UN-backed global coalition of business schools & business. He is also the author of several books. 

Mark has chaired international NGOs in children’s rights and conservation. Mark has served on the Executive team of a US$6bn revenue diversified industrial company for Oxford University. He has also consulted to large organisations on how to become relevant for protecting species in a sustainable manner.

Dr Robert C. Hanea is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Therme Group. Initially practicing law, Robert undertook the task of modernising the age-old tradition of thermal bathing. He established the creation of Therme Group, promoting urban wellbeing, globally. 

His vision is rooted in the intricate interplay between culture, nature, and technology. Robert has initiated more than forty companies and partnerships, fostering integration within the supply chain and forging valuable research and development collaborations across academia worldwide. 

Therme Group has emerged as a leading global technology company, renowned for its expertise in integrating health, sustainability and recreation. Therme Groups recognises the pivotal role of arts and culture in fostering a healthier and more sustainable society. In addition to his leadership role at Therme Group, he serves on the Boards of several investment companies, architecture firms, and law practices, and co-chairs Boards across education and the arts.

Prof Sajad Haq is an eminently qualified material scientist, who is also a Senior Fellow at Qinetiq. He continues to contribute significantly to the activities at the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) at the University of Surrey, with direct involvement in the strategic directions of the organisation. 

In the last few years he has instigated more funding for project studentships, PhD joint supervision and research grants via the extra mural funding scheme open to QinetiQ internal programmes. He has supported IAA activities, representing industry at EPSRC project reviews, and sitting on the University KTA Advisory Board. He is a key industry supporter of the £2.3M EPSRC Perovskite grant.

The expanding remit of Prof Haq in the liaison with QinetiQ Business units in outsourcing R&D contracts and the procurement of funding for future R&D research is key for the University business. Strategic joint programmes between the two research centres in bidding external research is planned, as well as funding via InnovateUK and internal resources for future nanotech projects. 

Sajad sits on the ATI Advisory Board and has been a strong industrial advocate of their teaching and research programmes. He is also a co-creator in our successful EPSRC bid in setting up the Nano-manufacturing Hub and Chairs the Steering Committee. He has also supported a Prosperity Partnership programme with Surrey in the current round.​

Ms Lorna Hinds-Sotomey is Executive Director of Nomura Investment Bank and has almost 30 years of experience within financial services across strategy, regulation and technology. 

Lorna currently sits on the Advisory Board for Women in Banking & Finance, the Finance & Audit Committee of the Chartered Management Institute, and a Chartered Companion. 

These roles commit to improving standards required to deliver a positive impact through knowledge sharing and to ensure a fairer future, aligned with inclusive leadership. 

Lorna is a member of the Executive Senior Leadership Diversity Equity & Inclusion (EMEA) committee in her current organisation. 

She passionately believes in equality for all and is the founder and Chair of the Race Equity ERG for Nomura, supporting and driving initiatives to improve inclusivity across the workplace. She previously held Non-Executive Director roles for small organisations utilising her financial, strategic and risk management expertise. 

She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Chartered Securities Institute, and Chartered Management Institute. She holds an Executive MBA from Manchester Business School. 

Ms Sarah Mukherjee MBE is the CEO of IEMA.  She was the BBC’s Environment Correspondent for many years, presenting on national and international BBC radio and television news. She also worked across the world, winning awards for her journalism. Since leaving the BBC, she has held leadership roles across the Utilities and Agricultural industries.  

Sarah was a panel member for the National Parks Review and sat on the National Food Strategy Advisory Panel.  She is also a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Environment Agency.  

Sarah was awarded an MBE for her services to agriculture and farmer well-being in 2021. 

Mr Jeremy Nicholls is the Assurance Framework lead for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Impact Standards. He is also an ambassador for the Capitals Coalition, a global collaboration to integrate sustainability into business decision making. Jeremy co-chairs the Value Commission and is researching the relationship between financial and non-financial reporting. 

Jeremy represents Social Value International and UNDP on different International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) technical committees and is also a non-executive director of the FRC Group, a social enterprise in Liverpool. He is a member of the Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) expert panel and also a member of the due process oversight committee for the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Jeremy contributes regularly to Pioneers Post on why financial accounting needs to change. 

Having originally qualified as a chartered accountant, including time as the Finance Director for Tanzania Railways, Jeremy then became involved in social enterprise, sustainability, and regeneration, and was a founder of Social Value International, and CEO at the time.

Mr Jules Peck is a social entrepreneur and sustainability advisor. He has worked in and advised non-governmental organisations (NGOs), multi-national companies, government in Westminster, the European Commission and the United Nations.

He is a Research Fellow of The Democracy Collaborative, and both a past Board member and current Fellow of the New Economics Foundation. Jules is the Founder of a new kind of inclusive and sustainable regional mutual bank, Avon Mutual Bank.

Professor Iain Stewart is the El Hassan bin Talal Research Chair in Sustainability at the Royal Scientific Society in Jordan, and Professor of Geoscience Communication at the University of Plymouth. 

At the University of Plymouth, he was Founding Director of its Sustainable Earth Institute which had research interests in disaster risk reduction and Earth science communication. 

His geo-communication work has built on a 15-year partnership with BBC Science presenting television documentaries about planet Earth. Between 2020 and 2021, he was Communication Lead and Evidence Chair for the Scottish Government’s citizen assembly on climate change. Currently, he leads the UNESCO International Geoscience Programme and holds the UNESCO Chair for Geoscience and Society. 

Ms Jo Swinson has been Director of Partners for a New Economy (P4NE) since 2020. This grant-making fund of seven philanthropic foundations seeks to catalyse transformational change in our economy so that nature and all people can flourish. 

Formerly Leader of the Liberal Democrats, she served for twelve years as a UK Member of Parliament, including as a business minister in the 2012 Coalition Government, where she secured landmark reforms including shared parental leave, tough penalties for breaking minimum wage law, and enhanced corporate transparency on gender pay gaps, modern slavery and beneficial ownership. 

Jo is also Visiting Professor at Cranfield University, and author of Equal Power: Gender Equality and How to Achieve It (Atlantic Books, 2018).