Evie Aspinall – Director Evie Aspinall is the Director of the British Foreign Policy Group. Her primary research interests are domestic consent for foreign policy, the UK’s role in the world and challenges posed by the UK’s strategic rivals. Evie holds a BA from the University of Cambridge and an MSc from King’s College London. She has previously worked at UN Women UK and the Future Leaders Network and was formerly the UK Head Delegate to the Youth7, the G7’s official youth engagement group. She also served as President of Cambridge University Students’ Union. She is a regular commentator in the media on issues pertinent to UK foreign policy. Contact: evie.aspinall@bfpg.co.uk

David Landsman – Senior Advisor David is a Senior Adviser at the British Foreign Policy Group. David is also Chief Executive of British Expertise International, and Senior Advisor at The D Group, two of BFPG’s sister organisations. He is a former British diplomat and senior executive whose main area of interest now is the interface between business, government and geopolitics. His diplomatic career included serving as British Ambassador to Albania and Greece and working on defence and proliferation. He has had executive roles at De La Rue plc and the Tata Group’s holding company in Europe. His other current positions include Chair of Digital Cognate, a deep tech company, and of the British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce; Partner at Circklo, which supports early-stage tech businesses; and member of the International Advisory Board of the London Institute of Banking and Finance.  He has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Cambridge and is a Chartered Director.

Eliza Keogh  – Researcher and Programmes Manager Eliza is a BFPG Researcher and Programmes Manager, supporting BFPG’s research output and external relationships, and managing the BFPG’s programme of events and activities. After studying Political Science at the University of Exeter and the University of Sydney, she went on to join the charity sector in both Communications and Policy and Research positions. Her primary research interests are climate change, aid and international development, and UK soft power. Contact: eliza.keogh@bfpg.co.uk

Mohamed Cassimjee is a geopolitical analyst and consultant. Mohamed was a senior diplomat for South Africa for over 26 years. He served as Deputy Ambassador to Germany from 2016-2020, and prior to that served abroad in Washington DC, Uganda and Senegal. He has served in various positions in South Africa’s Department of International Relations including: Director of the African Union; German Speaking Countries/Nordics/Baltics; Latin America/Caribbean and the European Union. Prior to joining the foreign service, he was an Advocate (Barrister) in South Africa. He is a mentor at the Blavatnik School of Government and a Research Associate at the Centre for African Studies at Oxford University. He is also a Director at the SA Chamber of Commerce UK. He has consulted and presented on geopolitics to government, business chambers, risk consultancies and academia in the UK.

Dr Mafalda Dâmaso is a Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute and Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London. Her work focuses on EU cultural and media policy and its intersection with diplomacy. Currently, she works as Principal Investigator for Erasmus University Rotterdam on REBOOT, a Horizon Europe project focused on the competitiveness of the European film industry. She is also a Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute. Previously, among other experiences, Mafalda worked with or for the Centre on Public Diplomacy of the University of Southern California, the German Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, the European Parliament, and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.  Based in London, she is also a Member of the UK Council of Creative UK, Senior Media Policy Advisor of the UK Coalition for Cultural Diversity, and a Member of the Scientific Council of the Portuguese Association of Researchers and Students in the UK.

James Jennion is the Co-director of the Labour Campaign for Human Rights and works in transnational campaign strategy at a leading international human rights organisation. He previously worked as an adviser to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, where he managed the Committee’s inquiries into human rights violations in Xinjiang and Myanmar, and worked as a senior political affairs adviser to UNICEF UK, where he managed political advocacy around the UK’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He is Chair of the China Working Group of the Labour Foreign Policy Group, and his foreign policy analysis has been published in various outlets and cited in parliamentary, congressional, and governmental reports. He is an incoming part-time PhD candidate at the University of Leeds, where his project will focus on the UK and China’s human rights diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific.

Michael Martins is a founding partner at Overton Advisory, a public affairs, communications, and geostrategy company. Prior to founding Overton, Michael spent six years working for the State Department at the US Embassy in London, translating UK domestic and foreign policy into their effect on US interests while implementing the foreign policy priorities of Presidents Trump and Biden. He has spent nearly a decade writing for The Economist’s forecasting arm, the Economist Intelligence Unit, covering the UK, US, Russian, EU, and Chinese foreign and domestic policy. Prior to these roles, he worked for the Institute of Directors’ Policy Unit and for politicians in the UK, US, and Canada. He holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and an MA and BA from York University.

Aryan Sanghrajka is an award-winning young leader for refugees, migration and human rights. At the age of 14, he founded Forced To Flee, a global non-profit organisation advocating for the rights of refugees around the world. Aryan was named best Human Rights & Refugee Organisation Managing Director at the SME News Awards 2023. He is also a UNHCR Young Champion for Refugees and awarded the 2023 UNHCR Advocacy Award for his efforts. Aryan also was Alternatives to Detention Specialist at the UN Major Group for Children & Youth Migration Constituency, and now serves as an elected member of the Executive Team and GCM Lead. Aryan has represented youth at the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, 2023 SDG Summit and Global Refugee Forum, giving interventions in front of Heads of State & Government. On a domestic level, he is a member of the UN Association – United Kingdom’s Finance & Governance Committee. 

Denisa Delić is the Director of Advocacy at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) UK. Denisa has worked on UK foreign policy and conflict and humanitarian issues for almost a decade. Prior to joining the IRC, Denisa was the Head of UK Influencing at Save the Children UK and a parliamentary researcher for a Member of Parliament. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre and has published blogs and reports on UK foreign policy and conflict and humanitarian issues.  She holds two Masters Degrees in Global Politics and International Business studies.

Fergus Drake OBE is Chief Executive of Crown Agents, a not-for-profit international development company, established in 1833. Crown Agents work reaches over 71 million people a year in 86 countries, with expertise in Health and Humanitarian programmes, Procurement Reform, Last Mile Supply Chain, Public Sector Transformation and Training & Professional Development. In particular the response to the global COVID19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine has showcased the organisations ability to inspect, procure, freight and deliver critical lifesaving drugs and equipment to the last mile in fragile states. Prior to Crown Agents, Fergus was Executive Director of Global Programmes at Save the Children UK from 2009 to 2017. He has also worked at the centre of government, including roles with HM Treasury in the UK, Deloitte in their Public Sector practice and was embedded in the Government of Rwanda with Tony Blair’s Africa Governance Initiative. Fergus was awarded an OBE in the 2023 New Year’s Honours List for services to UK/Ukraine relations in the Health sector.

Lovejit Dhaliwal is an award winning journalist who has covered international affairs for over 20 years for the BBC, serving audiences of up to 130 million. Her work includes covering the revolutions in central Asia to the Arab spring, the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa to the global pandemic as well as climate change, the Ukraine Russia war and the conflict in Sudan. She has produced documentaries, presented podcasts, lectured at universities, moderated events and has also been invited to speak at events concerning diversity.

Juliet Dryden is the CEO and Director of the British International Studies Association (BISA), a membership organisation representing and supporting the scholarly community of academics and students working in International Studies and related disciplines in the UK and abroad. She is responsible for the overall direction and management of the Association, including furthering the research of BISA’s 30 research groups, its publications and increasing and diversifying its membership. Prior to this, Juliet worked for the United Nations (UNRWA, UNOCHA and UNOHCHR) in postings in Gaza, Jerusalem and Amman, specialising in programme and research management and donor relations. She has also worked for LSE IDEAS, Chatham House, the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the West-Asia –North-Africa Institute (WANA) and is a current member of Chatham House’s Governing Council.

Daniel El-Gamry is Head of Engagement, for the leader of the opposition, the Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP. Daniel was formerly Kemi Badenoch’s Senior Special Adviser, during her time as the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities, the Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP. During that time, he worked on the UK’s accession to the £12 trillion trade bloc the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Global Investment Summit 2023 which attracted £30 billion of new inward investment to the UK and led on business engagement for the Secretary of State. Prior to this role, he worked in the Number 10 Policy Unit run by Dr Munira Mirza where he was responsible for equalities issues and faith engagement, receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. One of his most important achievements in post was coordinating the first-ever cross-government action plan to promote racial equality. He was also a Special Adviser in the former Ministry for Housing Communities & Local Government after working in the Conservative Research Department.

Andrew Hawkins is Founder and CEO of Whitestone Insight, a Westminster-based polling and research consultancy he set up in 2022. Andrew studied Philosophy with International Relations at St Andrews University before being called to the Bar. In the 1990s he worked in Brussels and London before heading up the political research unit of a major polling firm, where his clients included John Major’s Conservative Party. One of the UK’s best-known figures in polling, Andrew established his previous business ComRes in 2003 and built it to become one of the UK’s best-known polling firms until its acquisition in 2019. At ComRes Andrew advised many clients on foreign policy-related issues including major projects for the UK and US Governments on domestic responses to military involvement in global conflicts. He has also worked with numerous embassies in the UK, as well as overseas politicians in Africa, Asia, Trans Caucasus and Europe.

Ruby Osman is a policy advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, where she leads the institute’s China work supporting senior leaders in developing effective China strategies. Her work focuses on how China’s shifting domestic dynamics will impact how China engages globally, including with the UK. Ruby has appeared on the BBC, Reuters and LBC, as well as writing for TIME, Newsweek and the South China Morning Post on China’s foreign and domestic policy. She also sits on the Institute of Directors’ China committee and previously co-founded the Oxford Silk Road Society think-tank.

Matthew Otubu is the Strategic Communications Lead for Africa in the international branch of the Government Communication Service at the Cabinet Office. He collaborates with partner and allied governments overseas to sustainably build the capacity and resilience they need to achieve their policy objectives and deliver for their people through better communications planning and delivery. His experience includes implementing aspects of the UK Government Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy in both bilateral and multilateral arenas. Previously, as Head of International Campaigns, he led the UK’s priority multilateral election bid for 2022: successfully securing a UK seat on the council of an important United Nations agency, for the first time in 20 years. In addition, Matthew is the Founder and Convener of Black Politicos, a new network to support and spotlight black professionals working in public policy and public affairs across the UK. He also serves as a Member of the Board of Trustees for Mission 44 – the charitable foundation launched by Sir Lewis Hamilton to transform the lives of young people from underserved communities through education, employment and empowerment. He also serves at Mission 44 as Chair of the Nominations Committee and as Interim Co-Chair of the Impact Committee.

Colin Smith is Vice President for Delivery at Integrity, an international development consultancy and service provider based in London.  He oversees the delivery of Integrity’s UK portfolio of projects, working with the UK government, World Bank, and others. Colin has over 25 years’ experience of international affairs in the UK’s diplomatic service, with postings to Istanbul, Brussels, Ottawa, New York, and Sofia. His career has focussed on national security issues, in particular addressing hybrid threats, as well as stabilisation in fragile and post-conflict environments. He has been seconded to both the European Commission (EC) and European External Action Service (EEAS), as well as to the Canadian Foreign Ministry.

David Thompson is the British Council’s Director UK and External Relations, championing the organisation’s commitments to each of the Four Nations and coordinating its interactions with the UK Government. David joined the British Council in 2020 from the Russell Group where he worked closely with Vice-Chancellors and senior representatives of the UK’s leading research-intensive universities on fees, funding and finance policy. Prior to this, he worked in various roles in Parliament and in the Civil Service between 2012 and 2018. In addition to his role at the British Council, David is a Director at the Great Britain-China Centre.

Cat Tully leads the School of International Futures (SOIF), a not-for-profit international collective of practitioners based in the UK who use futures thinking to inspire change at the local, national and global levels. SOIF has worked with organisations like the UN, Omidyar, NATO, the Royal Society and national governments to make the world fairer for current and future generations.  SOIF also supports a growing network of Next Generation Foresight Practitioners. Previously, Cat served as Strategy Project Director at the UK Foreign Office and as Policy Advisor in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. She is a non-resident fellow at the US Government Accountability Office’s Center for Strategic Foresight and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Chilean Council of Foresight and Strategy.

Internships and Work Experience The British Foreign Policy Group provides substantive paid internship and work experience placements, largely in the area of Research. Any opportunities will be posted here. We do accept applications to our intern database on a rolling basis and often use this database for recruitment. Please submit your CV and a one-page cover letter explaining your interest in working with the BFPG and any relevant research interests you hold, to hello@bfpg.co.uk. Please note that only successful applicants will be notified. We kindly request that you please do not contact individual members of the BFPG team with unsolicited applications.