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.
Dijana Spasenoska
Dijana currently studies MSc in Global Population Health at the LSE, and she has a particular research interest in the negative impact of environmental changes on the population health. Previously, she has obtained a BSc in Biochemistry from Imperial College London where she was an active member of the Imperial College Student Union serving as the Ethics and Environment Officer. She worked on expanding the environmental society, and initiated several campaigns. Furthermore, she is involved in projects focusing on youth involvement in decision making, especially on topics such as climate change and sustainable development.
Papatya O'Reilly
Papatya has recently graduated from the University of Bristol (UoB) with a BA in English and Philosophy. She has been involved with People & Planet since joining UoB’s Fossil Free society in 2016, and became President in her final year. Since then, she has been active within the network as a Regional Organiser for the South West (of England) and Wales and, currently, as a Regional Co-ordinator for the South-East. Outside People & Planet, Papatya has been involved both in organisations like Shakespeare’s Globe and The Hackney Pirates, and in campaigns like ‘Support our Services’, a student-led mental health campaign. She is also an avid herbal tea-drinker, cat-lover and cyclist.
Raj Chada
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
Adam Ramsay is UK editor of openDemocracy, where he writes about and investigates the unfolding crisis of British democracy.
Lara Bloch
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.
Angus Satow
Angus is a recent languages graduate of Cambridge University, where he has been a core organiser with Cambridge Zero Carbon Society in their fossil fuel divestment campaign since its inception in 2015. Otherwise, he has campaigned on rent and free education campaigns at University, and in the Labour Party and for migrant rights more broadly. More broadly, his interests lie in dogs, TV & film, political theory and building worldwide communism. He is a long-time People & Planet member, and was elected to the trustee board in March 2018.
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.
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.
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 below.