Non-Trustee Committee Members

As part of our governance structure we have a number of non-Trustee committee members who bring a wide range of experience and skills to our Committees.

John Armah 

 
Appointed 2021. John is a Non-Trustee Member of the Fundraising and Marketing Committee. John has over 20 years broad and varied experience in Innovation, Strategy and Digital Transformation as an Executive, Entrepreneur and Adviser across Europe, North America and Asia. He specialises in devising strategies and implementing programmes that engage and acquire audiences and transform culture, customer experience and revenue streams. Most recently he served as Chief Client Officer at Konekt Group, the innovation strategy, technology and transformation firm. He was launch COO of culture streaming service, Marquee TV and as an entrepreneur, director of an award-winning social content firm and Europe's first facebook marketing technology group, devising world first-innovations. He is a former executive at the Financial Times (FT.com) and NBC Universal. He currently sits on the boards of the Almeida Theatre and The Big Draw. 

Professor Stephen Blyth 

 
Appointed 2021. Stephen Blyth is a Non-Trustee Member of the Finance Committee. He is the Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford. He was previously Professor of the Practice of Statistics at Harvard University. He graduated from Christ’s College Cambridge as 3rd Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos and obtained his PhD in Statistics from Harvard. He began his career as a Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London before moving to the financial industry where he held senior positions at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank. In 2006 he returned to Harvard to take a leadership role at the Harvard Management Company (HMC), working directly to support and advance higher education. In 2014 he was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of HMC, responsible for the management of the University’s endowment of approximately $41 billion (c. £30 billion), the world’s largest. Professor Blyth has been on the faculty of the Department of Statistics at Harvard since 2006 and was appointed Professor of the Practice of Statistics in 2012. Professor Blyth’s dedication to his students has been recognised by several awards for excellence in teaching. As endowment chief, professor, and alumni leader, he has been committed to reducing barriers to higher education, increasing access, and developing academic talent regardless of background. 

Liesl Elder

Appointed 2023. Liesl is the Chief Development Officer at the University of Oxford, overseeing philanthropic fundraising for the University across the academic divisions, museums and libraries. Her teams work worldwide, including the University's offices in New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Liesl serves as one of the University's lead fundraisers, working directly with philanthropists on transformational projects such as Reuben College and the INEOS Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Resistance. Liesl managed the Oxford Thinking Campaign, which concluded in 2019 having raised £3.34 billion for Oxford and its colleges. Liesl came to Oxford in 2011, having previously worked for the University of Edinburgh, Durham University, and liberal arts colleges in the USA.

Teye Mkushi  

 
Appointed 2022. Teye is a Non-Trustee Member of the Finance Committee. Teye is an experienced Finance Director with over 15 years of experience. Teye is known for being authentic and energetic. She enjoys translating strategy to action with a view to maximising returns and positive impact. Teye started her career at EY, where she gained experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Valuations and Transaction Due Diligence. Teye has worked at Diageo in a range of senior finance roles including Group Financial Planning and Analysis Director, Guinness Ghana Finance Director and most recently Global Finance ESG and Sustainability Director. Teye is a Chartered Accountant with a Master’s Degree in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Cambridge. 

Janet Ryan
  

Appointed 2023. Janet is a Non-Trustee Member of the Audit Committee. She is a qualified accountant with broad international experience working for global chemical and food processing businesses. She has held roles in finance, business leadership and strategy and has led a number of business transformations. Originally from the North West of England she has also lived in Asia, USA, Latin America, and Belgium. Her most recent role was CFO for AB Sugar, a £2bn turnover business, during a period of rapid upheaval in the sugar markets.  

She has been Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee for Illovo Africa, a Director of Cabot’s office of compliance and a Director of Cabot’s charitable foundation. She is currently a ‘Women of Influence’ mentor for Cancer Research UK and a mentor for the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.     

Jazz Thind 

 
Appointed 2023. Jazz is a Non-Trustee Member of the Audit Committee. She is a qualified accountant and joined the NHS in 1993 in a junior finance role. Since then, Jazz has taken up a number of NHS leadership roles covering the breadth of the finance function across both NHS provider and commissioning organisations. Post-graduation and prior to joining the NHS, Jazz worked in retail and (as was then) Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise. Jazz was first appointed as a Director of Finance in 2016 and is a currently the Chief Financial Officer at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, a post she has held since January 2020.