Fellows' programme

What is the Fellows' Programme? 

Westminster Abbey Institute’s annual Fellows’ Programme aims to nurture and revitalise moral and spiritual values in public life and service. Geared at public servants in, or moving into senior leadership roles, it offers participants time and space to pause, to reflect deeply on the ethical challenges of public service, and to attend to the moral muscles required for public service leadership in a changing and demanding world.  

Through a mix of seminars, residentials and mentoring, the programme explores the moral heart of public service from a wide range of perspectives.  

Over the course of its first ten years, the programme has established a connected community of public servants committed to the public good, to leading with integrity, and to supporting each other, and those around them, in this endeavour.  

This wider Fellowship community comes together at events throughout the year, and at the Institute’s biennial Congress. This work continues to grow and develop with the support of a Fellows’ Council, made up of representatives from across different cohorts.  

Institute Fellows

Find out more

Criteria for membership of the Fellows’ Programme are  
 

  • a passion for public service, showing itself as a belief that one’s life and work are for others and the common good 
  • a willingness to respond to the call to public office in order to effect that service 
  • a hunger to examine the ethical dimensions of public service 
  • a readiness to engage deeply and make use of the learning from the programme 
  • the ability to attend all programme components.  

Applications for our next Fellows’ Programme will open in January 2026. For enquiries please contact [email protected].   

Fellows' Programme: current members (2024-25)

Name  Current Role 
The Revd Tom Mumford  Vicar, St Mary le Tower Ipswich, Church of England
Miriam Lorie Rabbi, Kehillat Nashira
Connor Moore  Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships, Turn2us
Ugbana Oyet  Serjeant at Arms, House of Commons 
Lt Col Jennifer Painting  Educational and Training Services Management, British Army/MOD
Helen Hitching  Deputy Director, Digital, Data and Technology, Chief Data Office, National Crime Agency 
Sarah Helferty Director of Operations, Private Secretary's Office, Royal Household 
Sarah Brader  Director of Culture Change, Head of Business Improvement & Change Team, House of Lords 
Peter Walker  Acting Deputy Political Editor, The Guardian 
Sarah Butters  Senior Manager, Prudential Regulation Authority, Bank of England 
Theo Clarke  Former MP for Stafford 
Nabeela Rasul  Formerly Deputy Director, Leadership, Talent & Inclusion, DEFRA
Councillor Fred Grindford  Principal Official Campaigns and Communications, NASUWT
 Julie Black  Director of Discovery and Sustainability, UK Space Agency  
 Alice Adamson  Deputy Director, Rehabilitation Strategy and Interventions, HMPPS 
Dr Gareth Conway  Chief, Fellow and Ethics Champion, Defence Science & technology Laboratory, Ministry of Defence
Rupert Littlewood  Head of Geography Department, The Grey Coat Hospital School

 

Graduated Fellows

  • Rosanna Barry SCS1 - Team Leader of the Committees Scrutiny Unit, House of Lords
  • Dr Harrison Carter - Chief of Staff, Office of Steve Russell, National Director for Vaccinations and Screening, NHS England
  • Dr Tagore Charles - Consultant paediatrician, Imperial College Healthcare Trust, NHS
  • Sophie Duncan - Business and Strategy, NCPPE (National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement, Bristol University)
  • Jonathan Finlay - Implementation Manager – Policy, Research and Analysis Community (grade A2), House of Commons
  • Colonel James Greaves - Lt Col, British Army
  • The Revd Guy Hewitt Director of Racial Justice, Church of England, Lambeth Palace, London
  • Dr Neil Hudson MP - House of Commons
  • Detective Superintendent Christina Jessah - CID & Tasking, Roads and Transport Policing Command
  • Dr Siobhán Jolley - Howard and Roberta Ahmanson Research Fellow in Art & Religion, The National Gallery
  • Professor Yseult Marique - Deputy Research Director (International), Essex Law School
  • Gillian McFarland Deputy Director – Strategic Policy Directorate, Department for Education
  • Paul Morgan-Bentley - Head of Investigations, The Times
  • Nicole Nicholls - T/Director Intelligence, National Crime Agency
  • Kyla Owen - Ceremonial Events, Lord Chamberlain’s Office, The Royal Household
  • Lydia Urquhart - Head of Campaigns, Communications, Home Office
  • Lieutenant Colonel James Ashworth - Military Assistant to Commander Home Command and Standing Joint Commander (UK)
  • Tammy Banks - CEO Taye Training; Lay Member of Parliamentary Committee on Standards
  • Becky Barrow - News Editor, The Sunday Times
  • Chris Chipchase - Senior HR Business Partner, Home Office
  • Dr Richard Douglas - Senior Analyst, National Audit Office; part-time Research Fellow of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), University of Surrey
  • Rosie Duffield – MP, Labour, Canterbury
  • Alison Groves - Clerk, House of Commons
  • Kate Newton – UN World Food Programme
  • Leila Pilgrim - Deputy Director/Secretary to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry
  • Lewis Pugh OIG - UN Patron of the Oceans
  • Superintendent Dr Richard Smith – Metropolitan Police
  • Dr Tristan Stubbs - Secretary, House of Lords Commission
  • Dr Mehrunisha Suleman - Director of Medical Ethics and Law Education, Ethox Centre, University of Oxford
  • Commander Anne Sullivan MVO - Deputy Private Secretary to HRH Princess Anne, The Royal Household
  • Professor Holly Bridge - Professor of Neuroscience, University of Oxford
  • The Revd Ben Cahill-Nicholls - Chief Executive, Clergy Support Trust
  • Miriam Cates – MP, Conservative, Penistone and Stocksbridge
  • Chloe Challender - Senior Clerk, House of Commons
  • The Revd James Cruddas OBE - Deputy Director, Northern Ireland Strategy, Department for
  • Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
  • Chris Farrimond - Director, Threat Leadership, National Crime Agency
  • Dr Natasha Hall - Head of Special Projects Team, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
  • Dr Eleanor James - Consultant Clinical Oncologist City Hospital, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Sharon Maddix - Deputy Director, Local Transport, Department for Transport
  • Rabbi David Mitchell - Co-Senior Rabbi, West London Synagogue
  • Andrew Paterson - Deputy Director, Organised Immigration Crime, Home Office
  • Anthony Perks - Station Officer, London Fire Brigade
  • Commander Victoria Shirvill - Officer Commanding the Royal Navy Air Engineering and Survival Equipment School
  • Dr Edward Stevens – Impact & Knowledge Exchange Manager, King’s College London
  • Colonel Hannah Stoy - Personnel Lead, Headquarters Field Army
  • Dr Alison Wood - Fellow and Academic Director Homerton Changemakers, Homerton College, University of Cambridge
  • Commander Caroline Dix - Air Engineer, Royal Navy
  • Elizabeth Gilmore - Director, Hastings Contemporary
  • Rebecca Hackett - Deputy Director, DG Net Zero Head of Office and Strategic Support, The Scottish Government
  • Oliver Higgins - Head of Tasking, National Crime Agency
  • Dr Andrew Hines - Lecturer, World Philosophies, SOAS, University of London
  • William Humphrey-Jones - Manager/Editor, Hansard, House of Lords
  • The Revd Canon Dr Simon Jones - Higher Education Chaplaincy, Merton College, Oxford
  • Laura Marjason-Smyth – Director, Metropolitan Police
  • Lucy McCormick - Barrister, Henderson Chambers
  • Dr Cathy Miller - Deputy Director, Roads Planning and Environment, Department for Transport
  • James Mirza-Davies - Senior Library Clerk, House of Commons Library
  • Anthony Pickles - Director, The Blakeney Group
  • Mario Pisani - Deputy Director, HM Treasury
  • Elizabeth Rawlinson - Religious Studies Teacher, Bishop Luffa School, Chichester
  • Nadine Smith – Director of Government and Enterprise, Social Finance
  • Adam Smyth – Interim Director, BBC Northern Ireland
  • Paul Brummell - His Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador, Latvia
  • Davina Cameron Gale - History teacher, The Greycoat Hospital
  • Damien Dacey - Deputy Director, English Devolution and Institutions, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
  • Rachel Davies Teka – Advocacy Director, Transparency International UK
  • David Fugurally - Head of Efficiency and Capability, Department for Education
  • Libby Kurien - Director of Business Change, Transforming Digital Programme, UK Parliament
  • Julia Lopez - MP, Conservative, Hornchurch and Upminster                                                           
  • Charlie MacDermot-Roe LVO – Independent HR Consultant
  • The Revd Canon Anna Macham - Canon Precentor, Salisbury Cathedral
  • Rebecca Mitchell - Barrister, 1GC
  • Noel Murphy - Lawyer, Financial Conduct Authority
  • Aidan Naughton - Head of Portfolio and Programmes (Applications and Information Management) and Technology Command/Portfolio and Programmes, National Crime Agency, NCA
  • Roya Nikkhah - Royal Editor, The Sunday Times
  • Chris Porter - Director of Forensic Services, Metropolitan Police Service
  • Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Pritchard MBE - Royal Navy, Royal Marines
  • Jonathan Smith - Head of Finance, House of Lords
  • Alasdair Tait - Chief Executive & Artistic Director, Young Classical Artists Trust
  • Dr Elizabeth Tunbridge - Director of Translational Neuroscience, Boehringer Ingelheim
  • Alison Wragg - Older Adults Service Director for the Boroughs of Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea,
  • Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL); Founder and Director Leone Centre, Individual & Couple Therapy and Family Therapy Services
  • Xenia Angevin - Principal Consulting Psychologist, OD and L&D Specialist, Res Claritas Consulting, Germany
  • Steve Bennett - Director, Shoreline Consultants Ltd
  • Captain Stuart Finn - Royal Navy, Royal College of Defence Studies
  • Dr Emma Fosbury - Consultant in Paediatric Haematology, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital,
    Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
  • Marcus Fysh – MP, Conservative, Yeovil: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Exports in the Department for International Trade
  • Daniel Hobbs - Director Asylum, Protection and Enforcement, Home Office
  • Sarah Jones - Clerk, House of Lords
  • Jack Palmer-White - Anglican Communion Permanent Representative to the United Nations
  • Dr Lorenzo Pasculli - Principal Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the UCL Dawes Centre for Future Crime, University College London
  • Daniel Pearl - Vice President, Unscripted UK Originals, Paramount+ at Paramount Global
  • The Revd Canon Malcolm Rogers MBE - Vicar of Huyton Quarry, Area Dean of Huyton and The Bishop of Liverpool's Canon For Reconciliation
  • Commander Catherine Roper - Central Specialist Crime, Metropolitan Police Service
  • Barbara Speed – Deputy Opinion Editor, The Guardian
  • Tristan Stone - Head of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Ewell Castle School
  • Fay Tennet - Deputy Director of Security, The Royal Household
  • Fleur Thomas – His Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador, Luxembourg
  • Jonathan Tod - Barrister, 29 Bedford Row Chambers
  • Carl Warner - Principal Curator, Narrative, Imperial War Museums
  • Polly Williams - Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Royal Academy of Engineering                          
  • Dr Katharine Bailey - Consultant Haematologist, King’s College Hospital
  • Professor Andrew Blick - Head of the Department of Political Economy and Professor of Politics and Contemporary History, KCL
  • Ian Clarke KC - Selborne Chambers
  • Ben Cooper – Chief Content & Music Officer, Bauer Media Audio
  • John Fitzpatrick - Director, Covid-19 Public Inquiries Response Unit, Cabinet Office
  • Dt Sup Treena Fleming - Metropolitan Police Service
  • Charlotte Fox – PhD student in English Literature funded by AHRC at Royal Holloway, University of London
  • Martin John - Director, Science Hub Programme, UK Health Security Agency
  • The Rt Revd Dr Rosemarie Mallett – Bishop of Croydon
  • Jenny McCartney – Journalist and author  
  • Colonel Doug Pennefather – UK Ministry of Defence
  • Becky Purvis - Interim Director of Policy and Partnership, Health Research Authority
  • Talitha Rowland - Deputy Director, Security & Online Harms, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
  • Adam Thompson - Head of Border Threats, National Crime Agency
  • Dr Edge Watchorn – Deputy Director, Westminster Abbey Institute
  • Daniel Whiteley - Strategy & Change Directorate, National Crime Agency                  
  • Dr Chris Adams - Senior Consultant at Shearwater Global
  • Dr Emily Baldock - Director of Strategy and Business Planning, House of Commons
  • Dawn Butler - MP, Labour, Brent Central
  • Commander Stephen Clayman - Metropolitan Police Service
  • Antony Garvey – Head of Video, LBC, Global
  • Major Luke Hoare MBE - Company Commander, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst    
  • Jane Hough - Head of Business Planning & Performance, House of Commons
  • Adam Irwin - Director, Global Investigations, Arcanum
  • Charlie Lang - Deputy Director, Department for Education
  • Dr Lucian Leustean - Reader in Politics and International Relations, Aston University
  • The Revd Alexandra Lilley - Vicar, St George & All Saints Tufnell Park
  • Claire Macmillen - Deputy Director, Head of Climate Change and Renewable Energy, Government Legal Department
  • Zoë O'Sullivan KC - Serle Court
  • Dr Sarah Perkins - Director, GW4 Alliance
  • Victoria Prentis - MP, Conservative, North Oxfordshire, Attorney General
  • Shamailla Rashid – Head of HR, Government Actuary’s Department
  • Christopher Sandamas MVO – Operations Manager, Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Private Office at HM Treasury
  • Richard Sargeant - Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group
  • Tom Tolfree - Executive Director of Portfolio Oversight at Office of Projects Victoria (OPV), Australia
  • Emma Woods - Director of Policy, Natural History Museum    
  • The Ven Elizabeth Adekunle - Chaplain to His Majesty the King, Non-executive Director, Berkeley Group
  • Caroline Creer MVO- Secretariat Director, The Royal Household
  • Tom Dannatt - CEO & Founder, Street Child
  • Prof Adam Dinham - Professor of Faith & Public Policy, Goldsmiths, University of London
  • The Revd Josh Harris – Priest-in-Charge, The Guild Church of St Katharine Cree
  • Peter Howitt - Managing Director, Centre for Health Policy, IGHI, Imperial College London
  • Jessica Lee - Barrister, 1GC
  • Dr Chloë Reddaway - Research Fellow (Visual Commentary on Scripture) Arts and the Sacred at King's College London; McDonald Agape Theology and the Arts Research Associate, Duke University, North Carolina
  • Saira Salimi - Speaker's Counsel, House of Commons
  • Clare Salters - Panel Member, Judicial Appointments Commission; Trustee at the OHMI Trust, Music of Life Foundation, Constitutional Society and Hounslow Music Service and Music Tutor.
  • Dr Alison Thomas - Paediatric Haematology Consultant, St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Rebecca Vaughan - Communications adviser, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
  • Helen Whiteoak - Head of Programmes & Engagement, National Portrait Gallery
  • Ben Wilson - Head of Communications, National Infrastructure Commission
  • Caroline Winter - Deputy Director, Ukraine Humanitarian Taskforce, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
  • Rapela Zaman - Freelance Consultant on Science and Society
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