Leanne joined One World Media in 2010. As Deputy Director, she works with the Director and Board to lead the strategic development and growth of the organisation, as well as fundraising and managing finances, the office and staff. She also produces One World Media’s flagship event, the One World Media Awards, and the organisation’s year-round events programme.

Originally from Canada, Leanne studied Anthropology with a specialisation in Journalism and Communications at the University of Victoria, then progressed to an MA in Art History with a specialisation in globalisation at UCL in London. She began her career at the Royal BC Museum and since then has worked in the non-profit, arts and public sectors in the UK and abroad, including at the Canadian Space Agency, the Camden Arts Centre and the International Institute for Environment and Development. She is also Co-Director and Curator of the Gustav Metzger Foundation, an organisation dedicated to stimulating social change through art.

John Willis joined Mentorn and Tinopolis in November 2006 and is one of the best-known figures in the television industry. He recently completed two years as Chairman of BAFTA, where he remains Deputy Chairman, and has served a long list of high-profile roles, including Director of Programmes at Channel 4, Managing Director of LWT and United Productions, Vice President of National Programmes at WGBH and, most recently, the BBC’s Director of Factual and Learning.

John began his career at Yorkshire Television, where he won a string of awards for his hard-hitting documentary programmes, such as Johnny Go Home. He later became Controller of Documentaries and Current Affairs, where he started the acclaimed documentary series First Tuesday. In 1988, he joined Channel 4 as Controller of Factual Programmes, introducing new documentary strands like Cutting Edge, True Stories and Secret History. Later promoted to Director of Programmes, he oversaw a number of successful programmes and films in several genres.

Benjamin Chance was educated at Eton College and graduated from the University of Durham with an honours degree in Economics. During his time at Durham, Ben helped found the History of Art Society and was Treasurer and President of the Ski & Snowboard Club. Between 2006 and 2013 Ben worked at Morgan Stanley as an Investment Adviser for wealthy individuals, families, charities, trusts and companies before moving to a similar role at Credit Suisse. He has been named as one of the Top 30 Under 30 Wealth Managers in the UK by Citywire. Ben maintains a strong interest in the media and has published articles in national and student newspapers.

Monica Garnsey is an Executive Producer in TV Current Affairs, specialising in international and hostile environment projects, currently working on films for October Films, BBC Current Affairs and PBS Frontline. She has directed numerous observational documentaries and current affairs films for the BBC and Channel 4 in the UK, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza and elsewhere. She was awarded an Emmy for BBC’s Death in Tehran, an Amnesty International Media Award for Execution of a Teenage Girl (BBC) and a RTS Award for Help Me Love My Baby for C4.

Christopher Hird is a graduate of Oxford University, where he studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He worked as an investment analyst in the City before becoming a journalist, working on the Economist, New Statesman and Sunday Times. He had a career in television as a reporter and producer before establishing Dartmouth Films, an independent documentary company. A leading figure in the UK documentary community, he was Chair of the Sheffield International Documentary Festival and the founding chair of the Channel Four BRITDOC Foundation. A former trustee of Index on Censorship, he is currently also a trustee of the Grierson Trust, the Wincott Foundation and the Centre for Investigative Journalism.

Liliane Landor is the Head of Foreign News at Channel 4, responsible for maintaining and developing the programme’s foreign coverage. Liliane previously worked as Language Services Controller for BBC Global News – editorially and managerially responsible for all 28 language services on radio, TV and Online and 1400 staff in England and internationally. She started at the BBC as a producer/presenter in the French service. She was appointed Head of BBC World Service News and Current Affairs in 2006 responsible for all the daily and weekly journalism of the World Service in English. Under her leadership in 2008 her department won 10 Sony Awards – 4 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze – a singular achievement recognising the breadth and excellence of its journalism. She was born in Lebanon, educated in France and Switzerland. She speaks five languages.

Derren Lawford is currently Creative Director at Woodcut Media. He was previously at London Live, where as commissioner he oversaw a dozen documentaries working with the industry’s brightest new directing talent. He was also responsible for creating, commissioning and acquiring shows for Raw, an experimental late-night zone which gave TV debuts to a host of YouTube stars. Prior to that, as Head of Content at Livity he worked with Channel 4, Google and the Department of Health, and has also been an advisor to multi-millionaire YouTuber, Jamal Edwards. As Head of Programming & Scheduling at BBC Worldwide’s Global iPlayer, he helped launch in 16 territories, and in a distinguished decade at the BBC he worked as a digital executive producer on the award-winning documentary series Our War for BBC Three, was Panorama’s first multiplatform editor, and as a development producer helped to secure a raft of commissions for BBC Three Current Affairs.

David Lloyd currently teaches TV Journalism at City University. Previously he was Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4, where he was widely acknowledged as one of the most influential figures in British news and current affairs. Over his 17 years at Channel 4 he was responsible for creating its flagship current affairs series Dispatches and the critically acclaimed international current affairs series Unreported World. He steered Channel 4 News to its current position and winner of two International Emmys. Lloyd joined Channel 4 from the BBC where he had already enjoyed a distinguished career in current affairs. He began there as a general trainee in 1967 and over the following 18-years he was editor of Newsnight, Breakfast Time and The Money Programme.

Jane is a leading multi-media professional who is currently developing TV projects in Uganda and Ghana. She was recently Launch Programme Director for the Evening Standard’s London LIve TV station. Before that she was Interim SVP Programming for BBC Worldwide’s global channels, a consultant at Discovery in Moscow and at The Africa Channel. Jane was UK Managing Director for Al Gore’s Current TV and before that Director of six Factual and Lifestyle channels at UKTV. She started her career in print journalism before joining the BBC, where she created and ran the their first tri-media news operation BBC London. She was also Controller of the Community Channel. Opening up media to new voices is a passion in all her roles. Jane is co-founder of UAMA – Uganda Arts and Media Academy – and a non-exec director for the short film community.

Sunil Sheth is a partner at London solicitors Fladgate LLP. He leads the firm’s India team, which has established a market reputation as the leading adviser to Indian companies, both here and in the Subcontinent. In 2011, he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of Asian Lawyers, an organisation of which he was Founder and Chair. Sunil is a trustee of Sense International, a charity supporting children who have the double disability of being deaf and blind. For six years, he was a trustee, Vice-chair and Chair of Audit Committee of Victim Support, a UK national charity assisting people who are victims or witnesses of crime. He has also been a member of an Advisory Panel to the Bank of England.

Jennifer joined One World Media in January 2017 as a Creative Access trainee Comms Officer. She is now responsible for all digital communications, including website maintenance and social media content.

Jennifer has a BA in Creative Writing and Journalism from Middlesex University. She is interested in the stories that don’t get told, the reasons why, and the media’s role in how things are perceived. She is an avid script writer and poet and will be starting an MA in Screenwriting at the LCC in Autumn 2018. 

With over 30 years’ experience in broadcasting and many awards under her belt, Flora is always on a mission to uncover and mentor new talent, and to bring stories made by local filmmakers around the world to an international audience. She conceived and ran Channel 4’s long running Unreported World, and was the founding commissioning editor of Witness, Al Jazeera English’s flagship documentary strand which transmitted to 280 million homes worldwide. Since leaving, she has run workshops for BBC Media Action with Libyan filmmakers, and acted as a mentor for IDFA Academy, East Doc platform, EsoDoc, Docs in Thessaloniki (with the EDN) and Medimed in Sitges. She is the Director of Global Short Docs Forum, and an Executive Producer and a mentor for the One World Media Fellowship.

Lisya has worked with One World Media in various capacities since 2013. She is currently responsible for One World Media programmes for nurturing new talent, including the Fellowship, Global Short Docs Forum, and the training workshops.

Lisya is a producer and project manager, working on film and event production for over ten years. She has worked with the Rory Peck Trust, Barbican Centre, Open City Documentary Festival, and DocumentarIst Istanbul Documentary Days, among others, managing a range of film, event and training programmes. She also has experience in video production, and her latest short films are touring festivals worldwide. She has an MA in Film Studies, and a background in Political Science.

Saleh’s role at the DEC is to provide strategic leadership and management to ensure that the charity is run to UK legal and best practice standards.  He is responsible for reporting to the Board of Trustees and enacting their decisions – while also representing the DEC with major partners, at key events and meetings.

Prior to joining DEC in 2012, Saleh’s work in the NGO sector included heading Programmes, Fundraising and Communication teams.   

Saleh also has valuable NGO experience in disaster response interventions – and with the DEC he has led appeals for Syria, the Philippines, Gaza, Nepal and around the Ebola crisis.

Outside the charity sector, Saleh led in the management of Microsoft’s major digital inclusion projects and has also worked for the West Midlands Regional Assembly and local government authorities.  He currently sits on the Boards of the RSA and One World Media Trust, is a member of the Humanitarian Memorial Steering Committee, and acted as Chair of the Emergency Appeals Alliance in 2016.

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Indy Vidyalankara is the founder of boutique music PR company Indypendent PR and currently Head Of Strategic Communications at music charities Help Musicians UK and Urban Development. She is a seasoned and accomplished former Sony Music Director Of Communications, Saatchi & Saatchi ad exec and PR specialist. With a career spanning two decades in comms in some of the most high profile companies including eleven years in publicity across BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1Xtra with some of the biggest names in TV and radio, across some of the most loved television shows on the BBC, such as Strictly Come Dancing, The Voice UK, Children In Need, Eurovision, Comic Relief and The One Show.

Joel Kibazo, is the founding partner of JK Associates, a London based consultancy whose main focus is African business, finance and government relations.

His wide experience spans the world of journalism and broadcasting, diplomacy, and business & finance. 

Joel was Managing Director-Africa at FTI Consulting – the global services group, and prior to that he was Director of Communications and External Relations at the African Development Bank – the continent’s premier financial and economic development institution.

Joel was previously the Director of Communications & Public Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat. Before his move into diplomacy, Joel worked as a journalist at the Financial Times for 12 years covering financial markets and the African business and financial sector. He also worked extensively in broadcasting, reporting and presenting business, education and cultural programmes for BBC World Service, Radio 4 and BBC World television as well as other broadcasters.

Joel has a BA in Social Sciences, an MA in International Economics and Economic development, and an MBA.

Shereener is a Barrister at Garden Court Chambers. Her career started at the Human Rights set of Sibghat Kadri QC where she completed a general common law pupillage with an emphasis on criminal defence.

Shereener has regularly appeared in Crown Courts across the country. In 2009 she specialised in employment law – spending three months, unpaid, working in the Employment Department at Leigh Day Solicitors. She worked as legal adviser to the Guardian complaints Review Panel until 2017. Shereener also libel reads for The Times, The Sunday Times & The Sun newspapers. In 2011 Shereener won the Sidney Elland Goldsmith Bar Pro Bono Award. She was an advocacy teacher for the Inner Temple from 2010 to 2016. She was Chair of Trustees at New Cross Gate Trust until 2017.

Shereener recently started an acting career and has appeared in several fringe theatre productions.

Juan is a Managing Director at Barclays, responsible for the Risk Solutions business in EMEA since June 2015. Prior to this he was co-head of the Debt Capital Markets and Risk Solutions Group for Southern Europe, having previously worked as Head of Risk Solutions Group Iberia.

Juan joined Barclays in 2010 from Goldman Sachs, where he spent 11 years as a member of the Financing Group, within the Investment Banking Division. During this time he held different roles working for Iberian clients (corporates, public sector and financial institutions) such as Debt Capital Markets, Risk Management (primarily interest rates and foreign exchange), and Structured Finance solutions.

Juan has a BA in Law (1998) and a BA in Economics (1999) from the University of ICADE in Madrid. He has participated in several NFP initiatives (e.g. Pilot Change program within Barclays) and charity events (e.g. CRIS cancer foundation). He is also a member of Institute Choiseul 100 Spain Economic Leaders for Tomorrow (2016), a think tank aimed at giving back/improving Spain’s positioning in the world.

His hobbies – in addition to spending as much as time as possible with family on the weekends – include sports (spinning, golf, tennis, skiing), travelling, cinema and reading.

Sloane joined One World Media in September 2018 as an intern, assisting with the Global Short Docs Forum, the Production Fund, and International Reporting Workshops. Sloane is in her third year at Syracuse University in Upstate New York, studying Political Science and Public Communications. She is interning with One World Media until the middle of December as part of her study abroad term in London. She has previously worked as a teaching assistant for a Policy Studies professor, and as a contributing writer for a student-run newspaper.

Gemma is the director of One World Media and is responsible for the growth and success of One World Media’s programmes, particularly focused on supporting new talent covering global stories. She is passionate about the power of media to open minds and create space for conversation and change. Before joining One World Media, Gemma was working in the US documentary film industry. Most recently as Director of Programs for the Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA), and prior to that as COO of San Francisco Green Film Festival.

Chloe joined One World Media in 2018 as the Digital Communications Officer. She is responsible for content creation and comms strategy across all social media, websites, print and digital content.

Chloe brings a varied background in design and communications to the team, having worked previously in the creative marketing and charity sectors, including the award-winning branding agency ALLGOOD and mental health charity, Camden Hub. She recently took a career break to complete an MA in Ethnographic and Documentary Film at UCL, and is passionate about working with emerging filmmakers and championing brave storytelling.

Carol Nahra is an American professor, journalist and producer based in London. She has been immersed in the world of documentary for more than twenty years, writing for industry publications such as Real Screen and International Documentary. She writes a popular industry blog www.docsonscreens.com.

As a producer Carol helped bring a number of human rights driven documentaries to fruition, including Jose Padilha’s Secrets of the Tribe, which highlighted the misbehaviour of anthropologists in the Amazon. She has regularly served as a judge for documentary awards, including the Griersons. She has been a longterm consultant for Sheffield Doc/Fest, and also consults for Bertha Dochouse and others.

As a professor Carol is committed to training emerging filmmakers on the rich history of British nonfiction storytelling. She teaches courses on documentaries, British media, and digital engagement at several American institutions in London, including Syracuse University. She has also taught for Picturehouse Cinemas, and is a regular guest speaker on documentaries.

Carol has earned a BA in English and Psychology from the University of Michigan, an MA in Anglo American studies from Sussex University, and an MA with distinction in International Journalism from City University, London.

Holly joined One World Media in January 2018 as the Events Assistant, assisting with the Global Short Docs Forum and the One World Media Awards. She began her career in Scotland, working for Hidden Door Arts as their Visual Artist Coordinator and subsequently Film Programme Assistant. Holly completed her MA in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh, where she specialised in Postcolonial Literatures and Contemporary Cinema, and spent a year abroad at the University of Copenhagen studying Danish Cinema, Postcolonial Theory and Sustainable Development. She has also freelanced as a Production Assistant, a Runner and a Film and Theatre Critic.

Victoria Bridges is an independent documentary producer and director and a partner in the production company Lotus Films. She has made a wide array of factual programmes, with an emphasis on social justice and the environment. Her work has won BAFTA Insight, Cable ACE, ECHO, Rory Peck (nominee) and Graz Humanitarian awards. She was the Founding Executive Director of GlobalGirl Media UK, a charity which develops the voices and digital storytelling skills of young disadvantaged women, and she continues to mentor emerging female filmmakers. She is a participatory video practitioner and an Associate of InsightShare UK.  She has a Masters in International Communications and Development from City University and a BA from Harvard University.

Will joined One World Media in October 2019 as Events & Partnerships Manager. He is responsible for producing One World Media’s flagship event, the One World Media Awards, and the organisation’s year-round events programme.

Will has worked in events and festivals for over twenty years mainly in the UK and Africa. He founded the award winning Lake of Stars Festival in Malawi and has gone on to create other festivals in southern Africa including a Day of Ideas with the EU, the Children’s Future Festival with UNICEF and the Lilongwe Shorts Film Festival. He has organised a peace concert in South Sudan, music tours from South Africa to Mozambique and launched NGO Girl Effect’s youth brand across Malawi with a series of music videos, workshops, screenings and roadshows. Will’s career started in Liverpool in live events, he then moved to London and worked for brand agency RPM whilst developing the Lake of Stars Festival. Recently he’s worked with the first London Borough of Culture team, Waltham Forest, on various events including a Barbican curated film festival.

Flora has a background in fundraising and event management for higher education, with a specific focus on Africa, Asia and the Middle East. She has previously worked for food based startups and social enterprises, and recently completed an MA in Anthropology of Food at SOAS University, with a specific research interest in the role of nutrition, media and ‘post truth’ in the UK. Flora is also a freelance documentary producer and she joins One World Media with an interest in promoting high quality journalism and storytelling from around the world.

Samir Shah is the Chief Executive and Creative Director of Juniper, an independent television and radio production company.

Samir was awarded a CBE in the 2019 Birthday Honours list for services to Television and Heritage. He  has worked in broadcasting for over forty years.  Since 1998, Samir has been CEO and owner of Juniper which specialises in television and radio factual programmes from current affairs to dramatised documentaries for a range of broadcasters including the BBC, C4 and Nat Geo.  Before Juniper, Samir was head of current affairs television at the BBC and, later, responsible for the BBC’s political journalism across radio and television. Samir’s career started at the London Weekend Television in 1979.

In June 2014 Samir was made Chair of The Geffrye,  Museum of the Home, a position he currently holds.  From 2005 to 2014, he was a Trustee, then Deputy Chair, of the V&A. Samir was a Non-Executive Director on the BBC Board between 2007 and 2010. He is a former Chair of the Runnymede Trust (1999 to 2009) and is a Trustee of Reprieve.  He was former Chair of Screen West Midlands (2008-201). From 2004-2007, Samir was a Trustee of the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture.

Samir was awarded an OBE in 2000 New Year’s Honours list, elected a Fellow of the Royal Television Society in 2002 and, in 2019,  was appointed  Visiting Professor of Creative Media, Oxford University  (Faculty of English).  In August 2006 Samir was appointed a Special Professor in Post Conflict Studies in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Nottingham.

Samir was born In India and came to England in 1960. He was educated at Latymer Upper School in London, read Geography and Maths at the University of Hull and has a DPhil from St Catherine’s College, Oxford.

Muriel is currently Head of Business Development – Commercial, Operations and Philanthropic Partnerships at BBC World Service. In this role, she leads a multifunctional team working across editorial and philanthropic partnerships, commercial development and strategy, technical operations and communications.

Prior to this, Muriel worked in a number of business development and commercial strategy roles in the media and advertising industry, including Time Inc., Hearst and BBC Studios, working both in New York and London. She also completed training schemes in journalism at The Guardian, and media production at both Nickelodeon and CBBC. She has written and presented research papers on the impact of advertising on content consumption and cultural statistics for United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Through public speaking engagements and volunteer work, she has also contributed to discussions on sustainable monetisation opportunities for publishers in emerging markets.

Muriel holds an MSc with Distinction in Management from the University of Bristol and a BA in Media and Modern Literature from Goldsmiths College, University of London.