Our people

Simon is an academic with a career long interest in HIV, sexual health, gender and sexualities, with a particular focus on the role of education in prevention. He is currently a Professor in the Sociology Department and the Principal of the College of St Hild and St Bede. He has written for both academic and general audiences on all these issues.

Emily Hughes has worked in the UK voluntary sector since 2005, focused on strategic volunteer management. She currently leads the Volunteer Experience team at Girlguiding, supporting over 80,000 volunteers to support girls and young women to have adventures. Emily joined Avert after returning from a year with VSO in Zambia supporting a grassroots organisations delivering peer education to reduce HIV transmissions. Emily is also a trustee of the Directory of Social Change (DSC).

Andrew is a partner at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors specialising in corporate restructuring and insolvency matters. Andrew has a keen interest in providing support to young people lacking the knowledge to effectively combat the HIV epidemic. Andrew regularly advises charities facing financial challenges assisting them in successfully restructuring or re-organising in order to continue to provide their vision on a financially sustainable basis. He has been a Charity Trustee for nearly 30 years including two Arts Charities in Yorkshire.

Carole is a writer and editor with over 30 years’ experience in the field of HIV. She has substantive experience in sub-Saharan Africa and a specialism in maternal and child health. She has consulted for organisations including Comic Relief, John Snow Inc. and UNICEF. Carole holds a Master of Public Health and has been writing news for Aidsmap since 2009.

Anna has over 15 years’ experience developing donor engagement strategies, successful funding proposals, and managing strategic relationships with institutional funders in the health and HIV sectors. She is currently Director of Institutional Funding at Sightsavers and plays a role in overall organisational management through membership of the Management Team.

Carol has over 25 years’ experience as a senior director in large scale non-governmental programmes in complex emergencies and low income countries. She has worked across MENA, Asia, Africa, Pacific and the Balkans. Carol has kept gender analysis, child protection and safeguarding, local partnerships and local ownership, central to all initiatives. She now works as a coach and international development consultant.

Max is passionate about how technology and local innovation can address global challenges. He currently leads Mobile for Development (M4D) at GSMA, a team working to improve access to basic services for local populations through technology. M4D partners with bilateral donors, private foundations, mobile operators, entrepreneurs, investors, governments and international NGOs across Africa, Asia-Pacific and beyond.