Welcome to the members of the UCL School of Management’s first Advisory Board. The Board's purpose is to help support the School’s vision with the members sharing their expertise to provide strategic external advice and support to the School Director and Senior Management Team.
The Advisory Board consists of 12 external members representing a cross-section of industry, geography, and graduation year. All board members are leading figures in business or public service and bring their wealth of knowledge and experience in business and higher education.
What the board will do
Board members will meet in person twice a year with a primary function to act in positive ways to help the School raise its profile and achieve its vision for the future. The board will support the strategic development of new programmes and growth to ensure that industry and academia come together producing world-class research and talent to enable key industries to flourish. Board members will also act as ambassadors to the UCL School of Management and support in building the school’s corporate, institutional and governmental network. Members will help drive UCL School for Management's new philanthropic plans to widen participation and help in the promotion of ground-breaking research produced at the school to inform and innovate the world of business.
Hear from the board
Speaking to the launch of the board UCL School of Management Director Davide Ravasi said:
"As the UCL School of Management enters a new phase in its life, we trust our Advisory Board to help our educational offer remain relevant for business and society, and help our school maintain a strong connection with industry, finance, and the third sector, at home and internationally."
Meet the Board
The board is made up of 12 external members and five internal members.
External members
Sara Berkai Founder & CEO at Ambessa Play
Sara Berkai is the founder of Ambessa Play, a social enterprise designing science educational kits for children globally. Sara studied BSc Information Management for Business at the UCL School of Management (2018) on the London Opportunity Scholarship and Provost Excellence Awards. With a background in technology, charity and education, Sara also obtained an MSc in Education at the University of Oxford. She has been awarded Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation award, Young ICT Leader by the UN's International Telecommunications Union, AnitaB.org ‘Pass It On’, The Conduit's 'Young Innovator' award and is an RSA Fellow. Ambessa Play has won awards from UnLtd, the Design Museum and Havas
Craig Blazey Vice President, Business Manager at Jefferies
Craig Blazey is the Business Manager to UK & Ireland Investment Banking at Jefferies, one of the world’s leading full-service investment banking and capital markets firms. Prior to Jefferies, Craig spent over 8 years at Credit Suisse in a variety of roles, latterly in the European, Middle East and Africa, Chief Operating Officer function, within the Investment Banking and Capital Markets division. Craig studied Information Management for Business BSc at UCL School of Management, obtaining first class honours and was an active committee member of the UCLU Football Club. Since graduating, Craig has coached the UCLU women’s and men’s football teams in his spare time.
Anna Freeman Founder CEO at ZavFit
Anna Freeman, Founder and CEO, ZavFit has been described as exceptional, driven and personable. Anna gained her Bachelor from UCL in Technology & Management and then went on to enjoy a successful career in the FinTech space. She worked on multiple start-ups including a role in the founding leadership team at Calastone. Calastone was identified by the UK government as a ‘Future Fifty’ company and is now the largest global funds network, connecting the world’s leading financial organisations. Anna began to investigate how the health and finance sectors were addressing this global crisis. After she discovered it was consistently being overlooked, she made it her mission to help people think differently about their money and the role it plays in their health and wellness. This saw the launch of ZavFit in 2019. ZavFit is a health app for money stress. Her vision is to use tech in an entirely innovative way to help people change the behaviours that cause money stress. Described as a pioneer in the GWI trends report 2021, ZavFit’s health-based approach to money stress has flipped the paradigm and goes against industry convention by focusing on the health of the individual as an outcome.
Spencer Gore CEO at EMJ
A multiple award winner, including the Queens Award, voted Entrepreneur of the Year at the BDA's 50th annual awards night. Listed in The Times by LDC as one of the 50 most ambitious business leaders. Spencer founded the European Medical Journal (EMJ) in 2012. The company is now regarded as one of Europe's leading digital health communication companies with a database of well over a million healthcare professionals and relationships with all of the top 20 pharma companies in the World. EMJ is listed as 60th on The Times 100 list of the fastest-growing businesses in the UK and listed in the Financial Times 1,000 fastest-growing businesses in Europe. Over 20+ years Spencer has launched 7 different businesses. Working in television, travel, publishing, recruitment, sport & healthcare Spencer possesses a range of well-rounded leadership skills.
Anthony Impey MBE (Chair) CEO at BE the Business
Anthony is a serial entrepreneur and business leader who has spent his career starting and scaling several businesses (the first being while he was still at school), with a number of successful exits. He is Chief Executive of Be the Business – an independent charity that is the UK’s leading expert on small business productivity which has already added £500m to the productivity of the firms it has worked with. He is also chair of the City & Guilds Industry Skills Board and leads the Department of Education’s Apprenticeship Ambassador Network representing over 1,500 employers nationwide.
Shobi Khan CEO at Canary Wharf Group
Shobi Khan is the CEO of Canary Wharf Group (CWG). Previously, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of GGP Inc. (a S&P 500 REIT). Prior to GGP, he served as the U.S. chief investment officer at Bentall Kennedy. Mr. Khan spent 11 years at Equity Office Properties Trust (a S&P 500 REIT), where he was the Senior Vice President of Investments. Mr. Khan served on the board of Alliansce Shopping Centers (ALSO3, a public Brazilian mall owner) and the Chicago Public Library Foundation.
Alina Kim (as Chair of Alumni Advisory Council): Lecturer in Retail and Consumer Entrepreneurship
Alina Kim currently teaches the Retail and Consumer Entrepreneurship module at UCL School of Management. Prior to joining UCL MSc Entrepreneurship back in 2017, Alina spent six years working for the largest South Korean bank - Kookmin, completed her MBA and founded her fashion e-commerce start-up. For the past six years, Alina has taught and mentored graduate students across UCL. Her latest teaching topics were Global Entrepreneurship and Retail and Consumer Entrepreneurship. On the extracurricular side, Alina overviews the Enrichment Activities Programme at UCL School of Management and organises Pitch Days for student-founders as well as practical entrepreneurship workshops complementing the core curriculum. Alina also organises international treks for students to visit the most innovative cities in the world for start-ups and technology.
Magdalena Krön (Vice Chair): Rise Global FinTech Platform Director at Barclays
Magdalena Krön has 12+ years of experience with technology startups, innovation and venture building. Magdalena has a track record of building global networks, and innovation programmes and is continuously connecting entrepreneurs with opportunities that enable them to grow their ideas into successful ventures through her work at Rise, created by Barclays and as a co-founder of GeekGirl Meetup UK. In 2020 Magdalena won the Women in Finance 'Young Leader of the Year' award, she has repeatedly been featured on the Innovate Finance Powerlist and in 2018 she won the Women in Finance award for 'Finance Rising Star of the Year' and 'FinTech Champion of the Year'. Magdalena has a BSc in Information Management and a MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship from UCL.
Taryn Marella Senior Vice President Client Services at Flywheel
Taryn Marella is a 27 year blue chip consumer packaged goods veteran with a broad experience working in globally recognised organisations such as H J Heinz, Reckitts, GlaxoSmithKline and Revlon; and is currently SVP Client Services for Flywheel, a practice arm of Omnicom Media Group. Taryn holds two Master’s degrees, has recently completed the 'Women on Boards' program at Harvard Business School, is undertaking the Chief Executive Officer Programme at Columbia Business School and in her 'spare' time is three years into a Doctorate of Business Administration Programme. She was awarded '2023 Woman of the Year' by Business Intelligence Group and has been a member of 'Chief", the executive women's network, for four years. Taryn has worked with the UCL School of Executive Education, initially creating an industry-first executive mini-MBA programme endorsed by UCL, for GSK Consumer Healthcare employees, in digital commerce.
Brendan Plessis Executive Vice President at Sompo
Brendan Plessis is an accomplished insurance and reinsurance executive with nearly 30 years of experience in international business development. As the Executive Vice President - Strategic Distribution, Development and Client Management at Sompo, Brendan leads a talented team responsible for cultivating broker and client relationships across Global Markets. With a focus on maximising profitable growth and identifying new business opportunities, Brendan works to build long-term, productive partnerships that benefit all parties involved. Prior to his role at Sompo, Brendan held senior leadership positions at a number of other insurance and reinsurance companies. He spent five years at XL Catlin as Executive Vice President and Global Head of Emerging Markets, and also served as a Managing Director at Guy Carpenter in Singapore. He earned his degree from University College London and has been recognised as a thought leader in the insurance and reinsurance industry.
Chris Roebuck Founder at Simply Success
Chris Roebuck is a graduate of Economics and Geography from UCL. He served in the UCL Union and later became Union Chair, overseeing governance, elections, and UGMs. Since graduating, he has been a member of the Friends of UCL. Throughout his career, Chris has held military, business, and government roles, leading cultural transformations and enhancing senior leaders' performance. Notably, he served as Global Head of Leadership for UBS. Chris is an expert in leadership and has contributed to Government Expert panels. He is recognised for his report on leadership in the NHS. Chris has been named one of HR's Most Influential Thinkers ten times and is a Companion of The Chartered Management Institute. Currently, Chris assists leaders and organisations worldwide in accelerating their success. Learn more about Chris.
Florence San Chief Operating Officer at Ren San & Co.
Florence San is a business executive, consultant, and strategist who leverages her multifaceted expertise to transform the lives and businesses of her clients to thrive in competitive markets. Currently the COO and lead strategy consultant at Ren San and Co. She is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations and leading initiatives that empower HNIs, SMEs and multinationals to achieve peak performance. Florence has expert knowledge in navigating complex regulatory landscapes and driving impactful change in innovation and has provided strategic guidance to over 500 SME founders and trained over 2,000 staff members in capacity building and effectiveness in the workplace. Florence is the Director of ‘Thrive’ an annual capacity-building community dedicated to giving back and equipping young women with the tools and resources needed to overcome challenges and succeed in their personal and professional lives. Florence studied Project Management at UCL and also acquired a diploma in Management & Organisation Effectiveness from Cambridge Judge Business School. She also has a Strategy & Innovation diploma from Oxford Said Business School.
Yota Trom Founder of Together in Tech
Yota is a software engineer-turned-coach, and the founder of Together in Tech, a tech community with over 6,000 members. She has worked in tech for over 15 years, leading teams at Amazon and Yahoo before getting her MSc in Applied Positive Psychology & Coaching. Her pioneering research and resultant publications explore the intersection of coaching and positive psychology. As a UN Women UK Delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Yota is a powerful advocate for gender diversity and inclusion in the tech industry. Her mission to help people in tech unlock their inner confidence and become inspiring leaders has brought her to work with some of Europe's biggest tech companies, including Sky, Booking.com, Delivery Hero, Amazon, and Google.
Internal members
Davide Ravasi - School Director
Jackie Loveland - School Manager
Jean-Philippe (JP) Vergne - Faculty representative
Tim Ruthven – External Engagement Director
Shauna McDermott - Administrative lead for board
Latest news
On Tuesday 30 January 2024, the board met for the first time to set out their goals and ambitions for the upcoming year. Chair of the Board, Anthony Impey shared a summary of the first meeting.
The first-ever UCL School Advisory Board meeting provided an opportunity to introduce the ambitious plans for UCL School of Management’s growth in the next five years and to identify problem statements and key areas where the input from the board will add the most value. As the School enters a significant period of growth, a diverse perspective will be key to ensure that the direction that is taken stays in line with trends identified in the market across various industries. The Board members all shared their enthusiasm to be part of helping to shape the future of UCL School of Management's ambitions.
Interested in joining the board or learning more about similar opportunities at UCL School of Management? Contact Shauna McDermott for more information.