Oxford, England, United Kingdom
I am a Philosophy, Politics and Economics graduate of the University of Oxford, currently serving simultaneously as President for Communities and Common Rooms at Oxford SU, Chair of its Board of Trustees, and Director of its trading subsidiary. Across these roles I hold elected representative responsibility for over 26,000 students, fiduciary accountability for an organisation with annual turnover exceeding £1 million, and legal directorial responsibility for its commercial operations. My work sits at the intersection of policy, governance, and representation. As President, I sit on nearly 20 senior University bodies, spanning institutional strategy, academic governance, AI policy, mental health frameworks, free speech implementation, and access and participation. I co-led a cross-sector public safety campaign with Oxford City Council and county councils that secured permanent infrastructure change. I built and funded a grassroots grant programme from scratch and lobbied successfully to embed it as a permanent institutional commitment. I led the creation of a digital platform that democratised access to college-level data for student representatives across the University. As Chair of Trustees, I have led the full cycle of board governance for a £1 million-plus charity: chairing the scrutiny and approval of a three-year financial plan, steering the annual audit sign-off, and leading a contested CEO remuneration review. I led the board through a revised block grant settlement that reversed the University's cash-flat directive, securing £228,123 in additional funding across three years, alongside a near-50% uplift to college contributions that ended a 13-year freeze. I have also served as a Local Governor at a secondary school of 1,400 pupils, engaging with attainment data, SEND provision, and statutory compliance. Earlier, as JCR President at University College Oxford, I led a post-pandemic mission to rebuild institutional community life, managing a £40,000 budget, sitting on the College Governing Body, and delivering the college's first formal governance framework for its flag policy in collaboration with senior academic leadership. I am interested in roles and opportunities in politics, public affairs, policy, diplomacy, and public service where rigorous governance, credible representation, and the ability to operate across complex institutions are valued.
As Chair of the Trustee Board, I lead board-level governance for an organisation with annual turnover exceeding £1 million, across the full range of the board's business, including financial planning, audit, risk, HR policy, and organisational strategy. Key contributions this year include: leading the board's interrogation and approval of the 2026–2029 three-year financial plan; chairing the annual audit sign-off (producing a £43k surplus); sitting on the HR Task and Finish Group, which brought forward policies on paternity, international remote working, and performance management for board approval; and substantive input into the 2026–2029 Strategic Plan, including shaping language on common room representation and financial governance to protect common room budgets from any increases in SU funding. I led the board through a revised block grant settlement that reversed the University's cash-flat directive, securing a 2.5% annual inflationary uplift and reduced Exam Schools venue hire, worth £228,123 across the three-year period and safeguarding the SU's delivery of Freshers' Fair. I have also navigated genuinely difficult board discussions, including the CEO's remuneration review, where the board approved a Cost of Living Adjustment as a deliberate leadership retention strategy.
As President for Communities and Common Rooms, I represent over 26,000 students across Oxford's collegiate university, sitting on nearly 20 strategic university bodies spanning institutional strategy, academic governance, digital policy, and student welfare. I helped secure a circa 45% increase in annual college funding through the Estates Bursars' Committee, raising the contribution from £99k to £144k and ending a 13-year funding freeze, with funds ringfenced for a new Common Room Support Coordinator post. I facilitated a Conference of Common Rooms mandate for an all-student referendum on the SU's continued NUS membership, the first such vote since 2023, safeguarding the decision for the full student body. I helped secure formal University assurance that course fee increases for continuing international cohorts would remain capped at 6% or CPI, protecting postgraduate students from uncapped rises. I facilitated the presentation the Oxford SU's ChatGPT Edu Rollout Report to the University's AI Governance Group, generating committee-level actions on student communications and escalating an SU motion on AI provider ethics to the CDIO's AI Strategy Group. I co-led the "Think Twice" water safety campaign with the University, Oxford City Council, and county councils, generating over 20,000 digital views and securing permanent warning signage at key waterway locations. I launched the Community Fund, distributing ~£6,000 across nearly 50 student societies in its first year and lobbying successfully to embed it as a permanent annual allocation in the SU's 2026–2029 financial plan. I led the creation of the College Information Tool, a digital comparison platform giving JCR and MCR teams a statistical evidence base to identify and challenge under-provision across colleges.
Member of the Local Governing Body at a secondary school of approximately 1,400 pupils within The Charter Schools Educational Trust, with 25% of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium and 18% with SEND needs. My scrutiny role spans educational quality, safeguarding, pupil outcomes, and statutory compliance. This includes reviewing termly attainment and attendance data with particular focus on disadvantaged and SEND pupil groups, scrutinising the School Development Plan, and approving statutory policies, including the RSE Policy ahead of new DfE guidance coming into effect, the updated Uniform Policy under revised DfE requirements, and the CEIAG Provider Access Statement. I engage directly with the Headteacher's reports and SEND provision updates, asking challenge questions on areas such as the persistent attainment gap between Pupil Premium and non-PP cohorts, and the school's strategies to reduce persistent absenteeism among disadvantaged students.
The Curators of the University Parks are the statutory body responsible under Oxford University's Council Regulations for governance of the University Parks, the Fishery in the Cherwell, and Mesopotamia Walk. The committee of twelve reports to the Buildings and Estates Subcommittee and meets termly. As one of twelve voting members, I contribute to governance across land management, financial oversight, ecology, and public engagement. This has included participating in the approval of the 2025–2030 Management Plan, engaging with the committee's approach to the structural underfunding of the operational estate, and contributing to the approval of the Genetic Garden Redevelopment and its public communications strategy. I have also engaged with live stakeholder issues requiring careful judgement about competing community interests, and contributed to discussions on how the Parks can better communicate its charitable and environmental impact, including through the Arboretum Explorer digital platform and the Parks' major public events programme.
OSSL is the Students' Union's trading subsidiary, through which commercial income and expenditure are processed. As one of three appointed directors, I hold legal responsibility for ensuring the company operates in compliance with UK company law and HMRC regulations, with annual accounts and confirmation statements filed on time with Companies House. In practice, this has included participating in the approval of commercial contracts at director level, including the sign-off of a renegotiated contract with a commercial partner, reviewed against the figures approved within the SU's three-year budget, and engaging with the audit planning process as part of the board's oversight of the subsidiary's accounts.
Over three consecutive summers, I supported the delivery of an intensive six-week study abroad programme at University College Oxford for undergraduate students from Southern Methodist University, Dallas. Acting as the operational bridge between the two institutions, I managed academic facilities and housing for around 50 students each year, coordinated logistics for a guest lecture series featuring senior civil servants and the Executive Editor of The Economist, and assumed increasing responsibility for domestic transport and educational excursions each year.