Richard Izard is Chief Executive of Organic Leadership, a niche leadership development and executive coaching consultancy, and he has a passion for individual, team and organisational transformation.

Previously Richard has been Managing Director of a retail business and held board positions in sales, marketing, commercial and finance. His commercial experience spans sectors including banking, retail, music, film, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and engineering, and he is also a qualified accountant.

Richard joined the Board of World Vision UK in May 2011 and was appointed Chair of the Board in March 2018. Richard is also a member of the Board Development Committee and Public Engagement Committee.

Linda Emery is a senior HR leader with extensive experience in Talent Management, Recruitment and Diversity. She is currently Head of Student Recruitment at KPMG and recent roles have included Global Head of Talent Attraction, Diversity & Inclusion Director and Talent Director for BP and Unilever. She has also provided Human Resources consultancy to Save the Children.

Linda joined the Board of World Vision UK in February 2011 and was appointed Vice Chair of the Board in March 2015. Linda is also Chair of the Organisational Effectiveness and Remuneration Committee.

Linda is an active member of St Mary's Church of England Horsham, where she sings in the choir and serves as Stewardship coordinator.

Serena Brown leads KPMG’s Sustainable Development Goal work, within KPMG International’s Global Corporate Citizenship strategy. Serena is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, previously leading audit and advisory engagements for listed financial services companies in the UK, Australia, Hong Kong and Laos. She has also held leadership roles in the not-for-profit sector as Chief Executive of Trade Aid operating in Tanzania and then Country Director for Tearfund based in South Sudan and Kenya.

Serena joined the Board of World Vision UK in March 2016 and is a member of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and Board Development Committee.

Simon Burne is a fundraising and marketing specialist. Recent roles have included Fundraising Director at Kidney Research UK and a Sue Ryder Hospice and consultancy work with MHA. Simon’s previous roles include Director of Fundraising and Marketing at The Children’s Society, Senior Consultant with THINK Consulting Solutions, Director of Marketing and Fundraising at NCH and Director of Fundraising and Communications at Acorns Children’s Hospice. In addition, Simon has been involved in voluntary sector management, strategy and marketing for 26 years at Intermediate Technology, Relate and The Children’s Society.

Simon is qualified in Business Studies and Development Economics and has worked in the UK and extensively in Africa and Asia. He was Chair of the Institute of Fundraising from 2002 to 2005 and has written and talked extensively on marketing, PR and fundraising issues.

Simon is an active Christian, an elder and lay preacher in the United Reformed Church, a Street Pastor and a volunteer in a homeless shelter.

Simon joined the Board of World Vision UK in March 2016 and is a member of the Public Engagement Committee and Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.

Jennifer Collins has held a variety of leadership and management roles in the charitable and public health sectors and in development consultancy in Asia and Africa. Currently, Jennifer is working as a Consultant for a number of development organisations and companies.

Jennifer's previous roles inlude Executive Director of SERVE Afghanistan, Executive Director of the United Mission to Nepal (both international Christian development organisations), International Director at Tearfund UK and Director of Therapy Services at Royal Free Hospital, London. Jennifer also acts as Trustee for a number of organisations, including the International Nepal Fellowship.

Jennifer joined the Board of World Vision UK in February 2011 and is the chair of the Policy and Programmes Committee and a member of the Organisational Effectiveness and Remuneration Committee and Board Development Committee.

Marie-Eve joined the Board of World Vision UK in November 2013 as World Vision International’s President’s representative. Before joining World Vision International in 2013 as Regional Leader for European Markets, Marie-Eve was Chief Executive of World Vision France (2005-2013). She was also responsible for leading the creation of World Vision France in 2003, as Marketing and Donor Relations Manager.

Marie-Eve has worked in various marketing and communication leadership roles – for both non-profit and for-profit organisations – where she been responsible for growth strategies across a number of European markets as well as developing multicultural projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Marcus Manuel has worked in international development for twenty years. He is currently a Senior Research Associate at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues. Prior to this he was a regional director at the UK Government’s Department for International Development, responsible for range of country programmes in Africa and Asia. He has also lived overseas, working as an adviser in Uganda and Fiji.

Marcus is a committed Christian. He has been a member of St James, Muswell Hill, London for the last seventeen years, where he has led a homegroup and been involved in children work for many years. Marcus joined the Board of Word Vision UK in March 2018 and is a member of the Policy & Programmes Committee and Organisational Effectiveness & Remuneration Committee.

Douglas is the Chief Executive of Scottish Water, a position he has held since 2013, having previously been Finance and Regulation Director for over ten years.

Douglas has been a member of St Paul’s & St George’s Church, Edinburgh for over 30 years and is a former Chair of the church Vestry.

Douglas joined the Board of World Vision UK in March 2017. He is Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and a member of the Organisational Effectiveness and Remuneration Committee.

Mark Parsons is Head of Regional Engagement, SME Banking at Natwest and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS). He has held a number of public affairs roles including Head of Corporate Banking Public Affairs at RBS and Public Affairs Policy Advisor at the London Stock Exchange Plc.? ?Prior to this, Mark was a Parliamentary Adviser to William Hague MP and Head of the Political Section at Conservative Central Office.

He has a background in International development policy having been an adviser to the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development between 1999-2001.

Mark joined the Board of World Vision UK in February 2012 and is a member of the Finance Audit and Risk Committee and Chair of the Board Development Committee.

David has been Rector of St Paul’s and St George’s Scottish Episcopal Church in Edinburgh since 2000, having joined the Church as Associate Rector in 1996. He was made an Honorary Canon in 2014. Before moving to Edinburgh, David worked as a curate in Solihull in Birmingham.

David was on the Board of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity for seven years and is currently a member of the UK Council for the Evangelical Alliance, the Scottish Executive for the Evangelical Alliance and Chair of Alpha Scotland.

David has many years’ experience of supporting World Vision, including two visits to our work in Kenya with people affected by HIV and Aids and, following these trips, he and his church created a DVD to help UK churches explore issues of justice, poverty and HIV.

David joined the Board of World Vision in September 2015. Alongside his usual Trustee duties, David has additional responsibilities to help the organisation network through the Christian community; express its Christian identity in word and action and encourage prayer, spiritual discernment, thinking and behaviour by the Board.

Julian Thomas is a director of Oxford Strategic Marketing, a consultancy specialising in marketing strategy and capability development for global multinationals and social marketing in the public sector.

He has worked as a consultant across a large number of industries, in particular healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Previously he worked in marketing for Procter & Gamble.

Julian joined the Board of World Vision UK in May 2011 and serves as Chair of the Public Engagement Committee. He is also a member of the Policy & Programmes Committee.

"I am Amanda Bausor and I live in Buckinghamshire. Our family’s 28 years of child sponsorship with World Vision have brought us friendships across the world."

"In 2007, with World Vision’s help, I visited our sponsored boy, Wasim, in his village in rural Bangladesh, where I witnessed the life-changing results of World Vision’s work. I saw how sustainable activities in farming, education, sanitation and health transform the lives of people in these poor communities."

"My respect for World Vision’s dedicated staff inspired me to become an Ambassador. I want to support all they achieve against all odds. I have enjoyed talking about World Vision to ‘Talking Books’, a nursery school and an on-line plant nursery, Plantify."

"My name is Evonne Porteous and I live on the west coast of Scotland in the county of Renfrewshire with my husband and two dogs! I have been a World Vision sponsor for 10 years, sponsoring a little boy in Kodumela, South Africa."

"I became a World Vision ambassador in 2012 and decided that my first port of call to spread the World Vision word would be through family and friends. At a family get together I showed a few videos and spoke about the difference sponsorship makes in children’s lives."

"I also encourage friends to look online at World Vision’s work on Twitter and Facebook. Within a month or so I had found sponsors for five children!  It is true what they say: charity does begin at home!"

"My name is Andrea Sims. I live in Swadlincote where I serve the people of south Derbyshire as a Methodist minister."

"In June 2012, World Vision UK invited me to become an ambassador. Have sponsored children for ten years and having visited one of them – Aurela in Albania – I was delighted to accept and do more for World Vision."

"Last November, we transformed one of our churches into a ‘chicken shed’ to promote and sell gifts from the ‘must have gifts’ catalogue and in spring 2013, my colleagues and I encouraged our local community to support the IF campaign in the run up to the G8 summit in June 2103."