Our trustees

Andy Haldane is the Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). He joined the RSA as Chief Executive in 2021 after more than 30 years at the Bank of England, latterly as the Bank’s Chief Economist and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee. Among other positions, he is Honorary Professor at the Universities of Nottingham, Manchester and Exeter, Visiting Professor at King’s College, London, a Visiting Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Academy of Social Sciences.

Andy co-founded PBE with fellow economist Martin Brookes in 2009 and became the organisation’s President in 2022, having previously served as a Trustee. He is also Vice-Chair of charity National Numeracy and Chair of the National Numeracy Leadership Council. Andy served as Permanent Secretary for Levelling Up at the Cabinet Office from September 2021 to March 2022 and chairs the Government’s Levelling Up Advisory Council. He has authored around 200 articles and four books.

Lord Gus O’Donnell is a former British senior civil servant and economist, who between 2005 and 2011 served as the Cabinet Secretary, the highest official in the British Civil Service. From joining the Treasury as an economist, and serving in the British Embassy in Washington, involved with the IMF and World Bank, he became Permanent Secretary of the Treasury in 2002.

Since leaving the Civil Service in 2011, and being appointed a Life Peer in 2012, he has been involved in many areas: the chair of Frontier Economics, a visiting professor to the London School of Economics and University College London, a trustee of the Economist Group, a strategic adviser to the Chief Executive of Toronto Dominion Bank, on the main board of Brookfield Asset Management, President of the Council of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, and Chair of Trustees of Pro Bono Economics.

Dr Rubina Ahmed is the Director of Research, Policy and Services at Blood Cancer UK, where she is accountable for the delivery of the charity’s mission-focused programmes. 

Rubina holds a PhD in Immunology and an MSc in Management and has a background in scientific research funding, policy and public affairs, organisational strategy and change management.

She has worked in both the public and charity sector for a number of years, including with the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and the Stroke Association. Alongside her work at Blood Cancer UK, she is a Council Member (Trustee) of the British Science Association – a charity focused on the engagement of the public in science.

Matthew Brumsen works as an independent consultant in the wealth management industry, offering strategic advice to institutions and individuals. He previously worked at UBS as head of UK wealth management and was a member of their Group Managing Board. Prior to that, Matthew spent nine years at Goldman Sachs having started his career as an economist at the Bank of England.

David is Co-founder of #BeeWell (which seeks to improve the wellbeing of young people across England); Chair of the Gregson Family Foundation;  Trustee of The Institute for Fiscal Studies, PBE (formerly Pro Bono Economics) and Windsor Leadership Trust; an Advisor to The Productivity Institute and the recent Keep Britain Working review; and a member of the Advisory Board of Alliance Manchester Business School. Previously, David was co-founder and Chair of Phoenix Equity Partners, a leading mid-market private equity group. Over his career, he has been a director or Chair of some thirty-five companies or charities. 

In recent years, David has been Chair of the LTA, which is responsible for tennis in Britain; Chair of CGL, the UK’s largest social and health care charity; a Director of The Barclays Women’s Super League; and a Director of LLDC, which has transformed East London following the 2012 London Olympics.

David has an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School and an MA in Maths and Physics from Cambridge University. David is based in The Hague in The Netherlands, and commutes backwards and forwards to the UK regularly. He is married to Renee, with three grown-up children, and one grandson. 

Akiko works as the Interim Director of Liberty, an advocacy group and membership organisation which challenges unjust laws, protects civil liberties, and promotes human rights. She was previously CEO of the National Survivor User Network (NSUN), a mental health charity led by and for people with lived experience. 

Akiko’s previous roles include Director of NGO Mental Health Europe, as well as leading a service at Mind in Camden for people who hear voices, working in the community, youth services, forensic settings, and Immigration Removal Centres. Akiko is a Professor in Practice at the Institute of Medical Humanities at the University of Durham, and has been a trustee on a number of charity boards, most recently National Voices and ISPS UK.  

Ed Humpherson is Director General for Regulation and head of the Office for Statistics Regulation, the UK’s regulator for government data and statistics. He is responsible for ensuring that government departments and agencies produce and use data to serve the public good across all aspects of policy, including health, care and the pandemic; the economy; crime and justice; the environment; transport, housing and communities; and all other policy areas. He is also Vice Chair of the charity Motability, which supports the transport needs of disabled people, and a trustee of the Regulatory Policy Institute. Before taking on his current roles, he was a Board Member and Executive Leader for Economic Affairs at the National Audit Office.

Jonathan Loynes is an experienced economist who spent 18 years at economic consultancy Capital Economics. He helped to build the organisation into one of the world’s leading independent research firms and, as Chief Economist, oversaw the output of over 50 economists around the world. He was also the main point of contact for the company’s many clients and was widely quoted in the media on a range of economic issues. Previously, he was Chief UK Economist at HSBC. He holds degrees in Economics and International Finance. 

Belinda Phipps graduated with a BSc Hons in Microbiology. She joined Glaxo Pharmaceuticals becoming UK Marketing Manager. Whilst completing an MBA at Ashridge Management College she joined the Blood Transfusion Service as Chief Executive with a view to leading a merger. After a period managing a Medical Publishing company she became Chief Executive of an NHS Trust. Belinda joined the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) as Chief Executive in 1999. She became Chief Executive of the Science Council in 2015 was Chair of the Fawcett Society and Chair of the NMC Appointments Board and a PipUK Patron. Since then has had a spell at the BMA as interim CEO and is now interim CEO for the drug alcohol and mental health charity WithYou. She has also been a local councillor and runs the  local Transition Town group.

Damien Régent is an experienced board-level leader with a finance and risk-analysis background. He has worked in multiple industries ranging from banking and capital markets to internet start-ups, domestic and international charities, healthcare and social housing. After an initial career in the City, he now works mostly as a non-executive director.

Damien has significant board experience in the UK charity sector. Since 2011, he has been a trustee and board treasurer for homelessness, human rights and medical aid organisations. His experience covers charities of all sizes, including at the international level. Separately, he has board-level responsibilities in large not-for-profit housing associations and with two NHS trusts. He joined the board of PBE in 2018.

Jenny Scott is a founder partner at Apella Advisors and a senior advisor to North Star Transition. Jenny began her career as an economist at the Bank of England before becoming an economic journalist for a number of years, first with Reuters and then with the BBC where she was a regular correspondent across television and radio. Jenny then returned to the Bank of England as Executive Director for communications throughout the financial crisis and Brexit referendum. Jenny is a Non-Executive Board Member at HM Treasury.