Chris is a retired corporate finance lawyer and business leader who was for fifteen years either Chief Executive or Executive Chairman of Osborne Clarke. In addition he has been Chairman or a Non-executive Director of several listed and private companies. He is a Vice President of Quartet Community Foundation and has held a wide range of other voluntary positions including Chair of the cycling and walking charity Sustrans, and Chair of the Governors of Merchants' Academy in Withywood. Chris is a past Master of The Society of Merchant Venturers and currently Chair of its Education committee.

Professor Judith Squires is Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students at the University of Bristol, a post she has held since 2013. Prior to this she was Dean of Social Sciences and Law at the University of Bristol. Judith is a member of the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council and was the Director of the ESRC South West Doctoral Training Centre 2010-13. She is Chair of the Bristol Cultural Development Partnership Board and a member of Bristol's Festival of Ideas Advisory Board. Judith is a founding member of the Bristol Learning City Partnership Board. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the Royal Society for the Arts.

Katharine is an audit partner in PwC’s audit practice and until recently was the Regional Leader of their West and Wales practice. She has a wide range of experience working with clients from many different sectors, but has particular experience in working with listed companies and with regulated companies across the financial services and utilities sector. Katharine has a portfolio of interests in both Bristol and Cardiff. She is a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers and sits on their education committee. She is the deputy chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and the Cardiff City Chair for TheCityUK. She is a Trustee of Avon Wildlife Trust and has previously been the Prince of Wales’ Ambassador for Responsible business in the South West.

Michael Bothamley is a retired development lawyer and former partner of international law firm DAC Beachcroft LLP, where he was Head of Real Estate and a member of the firm’s Executive Board, leading on strategy. He has been a governor of Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital and Montpelier High School and a trustee of Bristol Zoo, the Tobacco Factory Arts Trust and Clifton RFC. He is a former President of Bristol Chamber of Commerce, chairing the West of England Initiative during the period when, working with the four local authorities, it led the creation of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership. He was High Sheriff of Bristol in 2014/15. Michael is now Vice-President of St Monica Trust, chairing the Property, Audit and Nominations Committees; a trustee of the Anchor Society and Bristol and Anchor Almshouse Charity; and a trustee of the Nisbet Trust, a major charity funder focused on supporting disadvantaged children and young people, promoting community and social inclusion, tackling homelessness and supporting arts and performance venues and groups across Bristol. He is also a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers, leads the fundraising effort for the proposed St Mary Redcliffe heritage visitation centre and is churchwarden of his local church.

Gail was appointed Chair of Venturers Trust in February 2019. Gail has lived in and around Bristol since 1994. She was brought up in Oxfordshire and read Engineering at Cambridge. Following a couple of years working as a production engineer, Gail switched to Financial Services, initially working in Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). Following that, she worked for a series of large Financial Services organisations, in change and operational management. Gail specialises in corporate re-structuring to achieve financial returns whilst continuing to deliver operational results. Gail now works as a non-executive director and committee chair, and is a long term supporter of Quartet Community Foundation. Gail was Chair of Governors at Barton Hill Academy from 2016. She stepped down from this local governing body at the end of 2018. Gail was Vice Chair of Venturers Trust for six months in 2018.

Caroline became Treasurer (de facto Chief Executive) of The Society of Merchant Venturers in November 2015.Caroline spent the previous 18 years working in the Charitable Sector, most recently as CEO of Quartet Community Foundation and prior to that as Managing Director of Common Purpose UK. Caroline started her career, following a degree at Aberdeen University, by joining Habitat as a graduate management trainee. Caroline also held retail operational management roles with Lewis’s Ltd and Maples Stores Plc. Caroline is a Governor of Wycliffe College.

John was educated at Broxbourne Comprehensive School in Hertfordshire and at Bristol University. After University he qualified as a Chartered Accountant with one of the large accountancy firms. For many years John has worked in Bristol as a Finance Director in the retail sector. John is interested in, and plays an active part in a range of sports. He considers sport and other co-curricular activities to be a very important part of school life. John is Chair of Venturers Trust Finance Committee.

Gillian Camm started her working life in business and was a partner in a Hay Group world wide management consultancy. She was then on the Board of Clerical Medical Investment Group. Following a full time executive career Gillian has developed a portfolio of non executive roles in the private, public and third sectors. She is currently senior independent director at Wessex Water and was for one year Chair of the Board of Governors of the University of the West of England. Gillian holds Honorary Doctorates from the Bristol University and the University of the West of England.

Lucy is the Director of Home Recruitment and Conversion at the University of Bristol. Lucy has always worked in education; on graduating from the University of Bristol she worked for a young people’s educational charity promoting active citizenship, before moving into higher education. Lucy has been a school governor for over 15 years at schools in North and South Bristol, most recently Merchants’ Academy. She led the team responsible for the development of bespoke outreach programmes for post-16 students at the Academy as well as city-wide interventions such as Access to Bristol and Bristol Scholars.

A qualified solicitor, David has been a partner with local law firm Osborne Clarke LLP since 2007, where he specialises in residential development. David is the current chair of the Property and Estates Committee for Venturers Trust and he has been a trustee of The Park Community Centre since 2009. Previously he was president of the Grateful Society in 2018 and a director of Bristol Rugby Club between 2003 and 2009.

Richard has spent many years working at Executive and Board level in both private and public sector organisations. For the majority of his career, he has worked in the water industry, leading front-line operational delivery teams and also running complex business-to-business commercial service delivery contracts as Finance Director. More recently Richard spent a period of time as Finance Director for a Multi Academy Schools Trust. He is currently appointed Director of Finance and Resources at a charity researching into sustainable methods of food production. Richard has experience of the corporate shared services sector where, as Chief Operating Officer, he led a large business services centre providing Finance and HR services to a Government Department and its associated operating functions. Richard is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and an Associate Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. Richard has served as a Governor at the University of the West of England for the since 2014 where he sits on the Audit Committee and the Strategic Planning and Performance Committees. Richard is a keen volunteer for The Scout Association and spends any spare time he has left restoring his classic mini cars.

Sarah is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students) and the former Head of Bristol Medical School at University of Bristol. Sarah is also a Professor of Primary Care at the University of Bristol. Her research focuses on reducing the number of avoidable hospital admissions. Sarah was appointed as Consultant Senior Lecturer in Bristol in October 2006 and became a Professor in 2014. Prior to coming to Bristol she worked at Hull York Medical School and the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Sarah has a MD from the University of London and a Masters in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London and Edinburgh. Sarah completed an executive education programme at INSEAD. She was a visiting fellow at Harvard University from 1995 -1997. She works clinically as a general practitioner at Sea Mills Surgery in Bristol.

Ruth Bailey is Teacher Education Portfolio Director at the University of Bristol’s School of Education. She co-directs the PGCE teacher training programme and is a tutor to student teachers in Modern Foreign Languages. She worked for many years as a teacher of Spanish and French and as Head of Department in schools in London, before becoming a languages teaching adviser and teacher trainer at Goldsmiths, University of London. She took up the post at the University of Bristol six years ago and has developed research interests in the Science of Learning and it’s place in initial teacher education.