People & Planet Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is the team of people who oversee all the work that the People & Planet does and tries to keep the organisation working in the best interests of the network.
This is your portal to finding out all about the Board of Trustees (also known as the BoT) — who we are, what we’re currently doing, and how you can get involved. Check here regularly, and watch out for announcements, to find out about which consultations we’re currently running on our work, so that you, as part of the network, can continue to be involved in how People & Planet is run.
- Find out more about how the BoT is democratically involved in the network.
- Read the Meetings Minutes And Papers for past and upcoming meetings.
Student trustee elections
Elected student representatives make up over half our Board of Trustees. Elections take place every year in February. Nominations to be a student trustee are open all year round.
Current Trustees
People & Planet's trustees in random order.
Raj Chada
Lily Tomson
Lily was first involved with P&P as a 16-year-old attending UWC Atlantic College, and working on overfishing issues. She studied Social Anthropology and Politics at the University of Cambridge alongside working on topics as diverse as investment finance, food waste, and multi-generational housing. She has worked in everything from palliative care to NHS administration, and currently manages Cambridge Hub, working to engage students in social action by connecting projects, expertise and people in pursuit of a better world.
Olivia McLaughlin
Delphi Macpherson
Delphi has been involved in People & Planet at Edinburgh University (UoE) since starting there in 2014 and has been acting as President. She is also active in many social movement groups within the University as well as those in the city of Edinburgh. She is currently working on her dissertation that examines the funding process behind street theatre in the UK. She has been mostly involved in the Fossil Free Campaign at Edinburgh but also works on Undoing Borders and with other societies on human rights campaigning. She is currently the LGBT liberation convenor at UoE and is hoping to work towards making the environmental movement more inclusive of marginalised identities.
Mueez Abdurrahman
While People & Planet have existed as a society in the University of Bath for quite a long time, it wasn't until my second year at university that a couple of other passionate eco warriors and I got the society actively working towards its goals. It primarily focuses on the Fossil Free campaign, but also runs smaller campaigns alongside. Personally, I have planned and executed the campaigns to raise awareness and generate petition signatures in collaboration with other societies. I have also been involved in various Greenpeace campaigns outside university.
Adam Ramsay
PJ Cameron
I have been an active member of People & Planet Durham for two years, currently holding the role of President. During this time, I have collaboratively organised events and actions for the Fossil Free and Undoing Borders campaigns, working with other similar-minded student groups. I am also a hub member of Transition Durham, and have been the Environment Rep for my college, which involved leading a team, creating events, and communicating with a wide range of people to make student's voices heard.
Sarah Shoraka
I am an experienced campaigner and activist motivated by a strong commitment to social justice, human rights and environmental issues. I am currently employed by Platform as a campaigner, a role I have done for 4 years. During that time, I have worked mainly on solidarity work with communities and movements resisting Shell in the Niger Delta and I have run the organisation and fundraised for our work. Previously, I was employed by Greenpeace as a campaigner for 4 years working on unsustainable fishing, deforestation and oil; focussing on West and Central Africa, Brazil, Indonesia, the UK and the Arctic. As an activist I have been part of groups such as Reclaim the Power, Climate Camp, Plane Stupid and UKUncut.
Josh Robinson
I lecture in English and comparative literature and critical and cultural theory at Cardiff University, where I am also an active member of the University and College Union. My research focuses on contemporary poetry and its implications for critical theories of society: I am currently theorizing how examination of works of art and literature can help identify ways in which we can undo the domination over our lives of the commodity, abstract labour and the state. As an educator I specialize in transformative, emancipatory education, supporting students to reflect critically on the institutions and societies in which they learn, live and work, and and empowering them, individually and collectively, to change their worlds for the better. As a student I was an active member of Cambridge People and Planet, and as Regional Rep and student member of the Management Committee, the forerunner to the Board of Trustees.
Nat Shiers
Nat has been actively involved with Warwick People & Planet since 2009 and has helped organise actions against the fossil fuel industry, sweatshops, RBS and the arms industry. He’s been a charity trustee on the board of Warwick Students’ Union for several years. He has the experience of being part of student campaigning for many years and he’s driven by the need to take action against injustice. He has a research background, is good with numbers and loves to use these with campaigns. He'd like to see People & Planet work more closely with other climate and social justice movements, particularly those on the frontlines of climate change.
Dijana Spasenoska
Trustees: How We Work
Our Jobs
The Board of Trustees has a lot of responsibility for making sure People & Planet is fulfilling its aims: it approves our accounts and annual budgets, and comments on and approves staff plans, ensuring that the office is working on the best projects to support your campaigning.
It’s also involved democratically with the network: student members are elected every year to represent the student network on the Board of Trustees, and it works to be open with the network about the work it’s doing — both keeping the network informed about the decisions being made and providing spaces for the network to be involved in decision-making.
Our Membership
The Board of Trustees is made up of democratically elected student members and also non-student members drawn from other organisations such as Oxfam, Friends of the Earth or ActionAid, who are chosen for their areas of expertise. The elected student members always make up more than half of the Board of Trustees, and meetings are chaired by the student members in rotation.
Our Processes
The Board of Trustees currently meets four times a year, and all members try to attend. Office staff are also invited along to meetings in an advisory capacity when needed. You can find summaries of our meetings and important information about what we’re discussing on the Meetings, Minutes, Papers page.