Who we are

MEET THE TEAM

Beyond Conflict’s trustees, management and board of advisors includes many leading figures in their respective field, each bringing expertise and contacts to support people in war-zones suffering from the psychological fallout of conflict, displacement and terrorism. Our team comprises of people from the Middle East, Europe and America. Beyond Conflict’s ethos is one that embraces people of all cultures and faiths, it is a meeting of East and West.

Board of trustees:

Gillian Dare OBe, Chair of the Board of Trustees

Gillian is a retired diplomat, with nearly 20 years in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Throughout her Foreign Office career, she has specialised in political and security policies in conflict-affected and fragile counties, focusing on conflict resolution, peace building, governance, rule of law and building stability. Her most recent role was as the lead FCO Senior Policy Officer for Women, Peace and Security. She has been awarded an OBE and the Cross of St Augustine by the Archbishop of Canterbury for her work.

Edna Fernandes, Co-Founder & Trustee

Edna is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Conflict, formed in January 2018 in response to testimony from Iraqi refugees whose mental health was impacted by war. Since 2018, she has run the operational side of the charity, which has supported projects in Iraq, Ukraine, the Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza, and Israel. She was a former foreign correspondent and journalist for the FT, Reuters and Associated Newspapers. Edna is author of the books Holy Warriors, The Last Jews of Kerala and The Hollow Kingdom; and is a patron of Stop Trafficking, an NGO which works to assist victims of human trafficking.

www.ednafernandes.com

www.stoptrafficking.co.uk

Dr Edmund Newell LVO, Co-Founder and Trustee

Ed was a founding trustee and the first Chair of Beyond Conflict. He is Leadership Development Director of the Windsor Leadership Trust. Before, he was Principal of Cumberland Lodge, the educational foundation that seeks to build more inclusive societies in Britain and globally by leading a dialogue on the biggest issues facing the world today, including freedom of religious belief and expression, security and inter-faith dialogue. He is former Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral and Sub-Dean of ChristChurch, Oxford.

Adam Perkins, Treasurer, Trustee

Adam is a chartered accountant and director at PwC specialising in risk management and governance.

He has delivered several roles in the UK, US and East Africa and has extensive experience in fiduciary risk management in the delivery of large international aid budgets in conflict affected states.

Dr Kishan Manocha, Trustee

Kishan is Head, Tolerance and Non-Discrimination at the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. He has extensive experience dealing with religious freedom issues around the world and is a former Visiting Research Fellow at the Carr Centre for Human Rights at Harvard University and Fellow of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies.

Dr Abda Mahmood, Trustee

Abda currently works as an epidemiologist in an industry environment. She completed her PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Prior to her PhD, Abda worked as an academic researcher at the University of Oxford, completed the MSc in Psychological Research at the University of Oxford, and was awarded a First Class Honours BSc in Applied Psychology at the University of Durham.

Sara Hunt, Trustee

Sara is an independent reputational risk management consultant and has worked across different sectors including development finance, banking, and reputation data. She advises on risk strategy, policy frameworks, governance and controls. She previously held roles at Standard Chartered and ABN AMRO. Sara is an advocate for diversity and inclusion and mental health, and has been a Samaritans listening volunteer for more than 20 years.

Operational Team:

Edna Fernandes, Director/Co-Founder

Edna is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Conflict, formed in January 2018 in response to testimony from Iraqi refugees whose mental health was impacted by war. Since 2018, she has run the operational side of the charity, which has supported projects in Iraq, Ukraine, the Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza, and Israel. She was a former foreign correspondent and journalist for the FT, Reuters and Associated Newspapers. Edna is author of the books Holy Warriors, The Last Jews of Kerala and The Hollow Kingdom; and is a patron of Stop Trafficking, an NGO which works to assist victims of human trafficking.

Golam Abbas, Advisor and
Partner on Bangladesh Project

Golam Abbas is Director of Global Development Consortium (GDC), BC’s partner on the ground in Bangladesh for the Rohingya Refugee project. He is a former UNHCR Country Director and has four decades of experience at UNHCR, in the field of global humanitarian work. He works alongside British Bangladeshi psychiatrist, Dr Abu Hussain Mohammad Saleh, GDC’s mental health consultant and a leading expert in trauma counselling.

Luke Manning, Strategic Advisor

Luke is the Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange Group Foundation (LSEG) and leads the group’s community investment programme globally. Luke joined Beyond Conflict as a strategic advisor. He specialises in developing core business strategies with tangible commercial, reputational and social impact. Prior to his current role, Luke worked with a range of global organisations in senior leadership and consulting positions, including Thomson Reuters, Balfour Beatty, Barclays Bank, Refinitiv and Kier Group.

Simon Wright, Strategic Advisor

Simon is a seasoned entrepreneur and advisor in the creative services industry, having built several major businesses, including a communications consultancy which advised FTSE 100 companies. He joins Beyond Conflict as a strategic advisor. Simon works with leaders to help achieve maximum growth. In recent years he has been Chair of fast growth businesses in Europe, Africa and been Finance Director in positions in Denmark and the UK. He has been a trustee with numerous UK charities and voted CEO of the Year, with Freedom of the City of London.

Dr Sheikh Ramzy, Advisor

Born in the Middle East, Sheikh Ramzy has lived in Oxford for more than 30 years and is the founder of the Oxford Islamic Information Centre. He works with the Muslim Council of Britain to promote better understanding if Islam. He is Ambassador of the Universal Peace Foundation and a member of the United Nations Association UK. Dr Sheikh Ramzy is an Islamic scholar and a campaigner on humanitarian affairs.

Tom Wright, Head of Social Media

The head content lead at Burning River, a social media production agency based in London. Specialising in content production and podcast recordings, Tom works alongside the Beyond Conflict social media team, creating meaningful and impactful content for our social pages, helping support and further our mission and goals.

Robert Craig, Legal Counsel

Robert is a charity law specialist and consultant at Howard Kennedy, a leading law firm in London. Robert is a member of the Charity Law Association. While chairman of the trustees of one of London’s independent museums, Robert oversaw a major development project in the period 2005-10. He is now Vice President of the museum and trustee of a number of other charities.

Professor Mohammed Al-Uzri
Senior Advisor on Iraq and Mental Health

Mohammed is the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Presidential Lead for International Affairs and a 2020 recipient of the RCP Presidential medal of honor. Mohammed was Advisor on the Iraq Mental Health Survey, the first of its kind conducted by WHO and Iraqi authorities. He is Honorary Chair at the University of Leicester, Consultant Psychiatrist and Assistant Medical Director at the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.

Abi Ramsden, Volunteer

Abi is a philosophy graduate from the University of Sheffield. She recently discovered her passion for post conflict aid whilst traveling South East Asia. The damage inflicted during conflict succeeded multiple generations and it became apparent to her that in order for societies to develop they must first heal from their trauma. This is why support of mental health charities such as Beyond Conflict is necessary.

Oswald Almeida, Volunteer

Oswald is by day training as a solicitor and volunteers at Beyond Conflict as well as at a homeless charity in London. He has an interest in supporting innocent human beings caught up in those conflicts who become refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants through no fault of their own. He would like to use his legal knowledge to support Beyond Conflict, conflicts around the world and human beings caught up in those conflicts.

Yang-May Ooi, Podcaster

Yang-May Ooi is a bestselling author who has been blogging for over 10 years. Her cross-cultural blog Fusion View gained 10,000 unique views a month and was featured on the BBC. She is the co-author of the social media chapters of International Communications Strategy, published by Kogan Page and nominated for the FT Goldman Sachs Business Book Award. She currently runs Tiger Spirit, a multi-media blog on creativity. Www.TigerSpirit.co.uk

Patti McCarthy, Fundraising Advisor

Patti has more than 10 years of experience working in corporate sponsorship, including for Melbourne Theatre Company & Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She assessed proposals on behalf of potential corporate sponsors, designed and implemented fund-raising strategies, including developing corporate partnerships, setting up private giving programs and securing grant funding. In Melbourne, she was a volunteer English teacher to asylum seekers for 5 years. Currently she provides pro-bono fundraising consulting to Oxford Playhouse in the UK.

CONTACT

Can’t find what you’re looking for?

Get in touch for information and inquiries regarding
mental health, fundraising, or volunteering for Beyond Conflict.

Send a cheque to Beyond Conflict, c/o our Legal Counsel Robert Craig at:

Beyond Conflict
c/o RDC
Howard Kennedy LLP
1 London Bridge
SE1 9BG

General Enquires:
Contact our Co-Founder :
ednalouisa@gmail.com
0797 1667553

Fundraising:
Contact: ednalouisa@gmail.com

Podcast:
Contact: podcast@beyond-conflict.co.uk

Registered Charity Number: 1176499