Richard Burden
Richard Haines Burden is a British Labour Party politician who was Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield (1992-2019). He served as Shadow Transport Minister (2013-2016) and (2016-2017).
Sir Vincent Fean, KCVO
Sir Vincent Fean was a member of the British Diplomatic Service (DS) 1975-2014. His last post was Consul-General, Jerusalem (2010-14). Prior to serving in Jerusalem, Fean was Ambassador to Libya, and previously High Commissioner to Malta.
Baron Frankal
Baron Frankal is the Chief Executive of The Portland Trust. Baron spent several years in the Sultanate of Oman, restructuring the aviation sector and launching Visit Oman. He then worked at the British Embassy Muscat for the Department of International Trade. He has served as an Honorary Consul and Non-Executive Board member of two NHS Trusts.
Frances Guy
Frances Guy is CEO of Scotland’s International Development Alliance, a network of members working on global sustainable development. She was previously Gender Team Leader for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regional office in the Arab states based in Jordan (2017-21) head of Christian Aid’s Middle East team in London (2014-17) and representative for UNWomen in Iraq (2012-2014). Between 1985- 2012 she worked in the British Foreign Service, serving as Ambassador to Yemen (2001-04) head of the FCO’s Engaging the Islamic World group (2004-2006) and Ambassador to Lebanon (2006-2011).
Dr Imad Karam
Dr Imad Karam is the Executive Director of Initiatives of Change International, a global network of people of diverse cultures and backgrounds, whose mission is to inspire, equip and accompany change makers in the pursuit of a just and peaceful world. Imad is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker.
Timothy Mattar – Treasurer
Timothy Mattar is a Chartered Accountant and has worked in the finance industry for nearly 40 years at Board level and as CEO of various institutions. His focus has been on private equity and other areas of private markets including real estate, hedge funds and private debt. He has worked at Investcorp both in the Middle East and globally (1995-2024), Banque Indosuez (1990-1995), Arthur Andersen (1988-1990) and Grant Thornton (1983-1988). He has a BA in History from London University.
Nicolas Pelham
Nicolas Pelham is The Economist’s Middle East correspondent. He started work in Cairo as editor of the Middle East Times and since then has spent 30 years studying, travelling and writing in the region. He is the author of A New Muslim Order (2008), A History of the Middle East with Peter Mansfield (2012) and Holy Lands (2016) which explores the region’s pluralist past. Taking occasional breaks from journalism, he has worked as a Middle East analyst for the International Crisis Group, the United Nations and the Royal Institute of International Affairs. In 2017 he won the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Journalism.
Mike Scott-Baumann
Mike Scott-Baumann is a graduate of Cambridge University and has an MA in Palestine Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He has thirty-five years’ experience as a history teacher and lecturer. He has written on the history of Israel/Palestine for students of GCSE and A Level and in 2021, ‘Palestinians and Israelis: A Short History of Conflict’, was published by The History Press. He has travelled widely in the region and has worked in the Jordan Valley under the auspices of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
Professor Roger Spooner OBE – Co-founder
Roger Spooner co-founded the Balfour Project in 2011 with his wife, Dr Monica Spooner, who served as the first Chair. Roger had an academic career in immunogenetics, during which he was awarded an OBE for services to animal breeding research and edited the journal Animal Genetics. He chaired British-Arab Exchanges for 12 years.
Dr Phyllis Starkey – Vice-Chair
Dr. Starkey was Member of the House of Commons for the Labour party (1997-2010). Over the course of her career, Dr. Starkey served as Chair of the Select Committee for Communities and Local Government (2005-2010); PPS to Denis MacShane (2002-2005); member of the Modernisation of the House of Commons Select Committee (1999-2001) and National Chair of the Local Government Information Unit (1993-1997). Before entering Parliament, Dr. Starkey had a double career as a research scientist, leading her own research group in Oxford, and as a politician in local and national politics.
Andrew Whitley – Chair
Andrew Whitley succeeded Sir Vincent Fean as Chair of the Balfour Project on 1 June 2022. He has been a Trustee since 2018. In 2017 he founded GeoPolitical Advisory Services, a conflict mediation consultancy working in the Middle East. A retired senior United Nations official, Andrew spent much of his working life in the Middle East, including seven years in Israel and Palestine. He is also a former journalist with the BBC and Financial Times.