Aegis Trust

The Pears Foundation

Patrons:

Romeo Dallaire

Bob Geldof

Richard Goldstone

Clare Short

Marcus Storch

Desmond Tutu

Elie Wiesel

Governing Body:

John Montgomery (Chair & Trustee)

When John Montgomery founded Bridgeway Capital Management in 1993 he gave the company a mission embracing the objective to “support charitable services, nurture educational services, improve the quality of community life, and oppose and alleviate the effects of genocide and oppression.” To facilitate the fulfillment of this mission, Bridgeway Foundation was created in December 2000. John is a board member of the Foundation, through which he carries out some of his most important life goals. These include giving back to the community, investing in future generations and building on the efforts of others for reconciliation, human rights and the fight against genocide. John joined the Board of Aegis as Chairman in September 2010. In January 2011, he served as an international election observer with the Carter Center in Juba, South Sudan.

Dr James M Smith (CEO)

Founding the UK Holocaust Centre in 1995, James Smith initiated the East Midlands Kosovo Appeal in 1999 and worked in Albania as a volunteer physician, becoming an area coordinator with the International Medical Corps (having qualified as a medical doctor in Leeds, 1993). James founded the Aegis Trust in 2000, and with the UK Foreign Office in 2002 staged the first major international conference on genocide prevention (held at The Holocaust Centre). In 2004, working with the Rwandan Government and Kigali City Council, he was responsible for establishing the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda’s capital, at a site where some 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide lie buried. It receives tens of thousands of visitors each year, world leaders among them. James visited Darfur in 2004 and was the first NGO head to call for its referral to the International Criminal Court. He has subsequently revisited both Sudan and South Sudan. James is an author, editor and contributor to multiple films and publications on the Holocaust and genocide.

John Petrie MBE (Trustee)

CEO of England Golf until September 2012, John Petrie previously served as Executive Director for Aegis in 2007. An officer in the British Army from 1985 to 2003, he achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During his service he held a series of command and international army staff appointments involving operations in East Timor, Iraq and the Balkans. He was awarded the MBE for leading a strategic planning and policy unit for international policing operations in the Balkans and the Queens Commendation for Bravery for action in East Timor. He also served as Chief of Legal Operations at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. John Petrie has special responsibility for financial and organisational oversight as part of the Aegis Trust’s senior team.

Maxine Marcus (Trustee)

Maxine Marcus is a senior trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). An experienced international criminal attorney and investigator, she has nine years international humanitarian law experience in Darfur, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Bosnia, Kosovo, Croatia, Chechnya, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Gambella, Ethiopia. Maxine has written and lectured on international humanitarian law and human rights law. She has also provided formal and informal technical support, training and guidance to prosecutors, police, military, international and local IGOs and NGOs, and community-based organizations in the fields of international humanitarian and human rights law, investigation and prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence, international criminal tribunals, and international criminal investigations.

Glen Ford (Director)

MBA qualified and with 25+ years management experience, Glen Ford is a Director and Board Member overseeing all aspects of Aegis’ operations, finance and general management. First joining Aegis in 2003 as Trustee, he was part of the project team that established the Kigali Genocide Memorial in 2004, a $1.5m project completed on time and to budget. He has worked with Aegis since July 2009 in a management capacity, restructuring the UK Holocaust Centre as a separately-run charity, setting up Aegis Communities – a social enterprise company in the UK – and developing a new strategic plan for Aegis in Rwanda.

Peter Whittle (Advisor)

Peter Whittle has a 30+ years management experience in industry working at board level, holding positions in business leadership, strategy, marketing and leading transformational change programmes with a number of major companies. He presently works as Director of Strategy and Marketing for a leading UK construction company. Joining Aegis as an advisor on strategy in January 2010, Peter led a strategic review of Aegis’ operations in Rwanda and has helped to shape the formation of a new ten-year strategy for Aegis.

Aegis Team:

Dr Mukesh Kapila CBE (Special Representative on Crimes Against Humanity)

As a UK civil servant in 1994 Mukesh was one of the first British officials to enter Kigali at the end of the Rwandan Genocide. Deputy Director of the National UK AIDS programme during the 1990s, he was Head of the Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs unit at DFID from 1998 to 2002. From 2002-2003, he was a Special Adviser to the United Nations and from 2003-2004 he was the UN Resident Coordinator for the Sudan. In that role, he was responsible for first bringing the Darfur crisis to worldwide attention. Mukesh was a Director in the Department of Health Action in Crises of the World Health Organization from 2004 to 2006. He was also an Advisor to the World Bank on climate change issues, to the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR), and to the International Labour Organization. Before joining Aegis, Mukesh served as Under Secretary General of National Society and Knowledge Development at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). He is also Professor of Global Health and Humanitarian Affairs at the University of Manchester, and Chair of the Council of Minority Rights Group International. For more biographical information, see www.mukeshkapila.org.

Jez Taylor (Operations Director)

A graduate of Sheffield Hallam and Manchester Universities, and also a product of the UK Government’s ‘Cabinet Office Top Management Programme’, Jeremy Taylor (known to most simply as ‘Jez’) spent 30 years responsible for delivering major healthcare programmes within the English and Scottish NHS as well as overseas, in places such as Qingdao, China (where he was visiting Associate Professor at the Qingdao Medical School), and in the Middle East, based at the Riyadh Military Hospital, Saudi Arabia. He latterly developed new national high-security psychiatric services for the UK’s National Oversight Group, before moving to the private health and social care sector in 2006, launching Avier Healthcare, providing specialised treatment programmes for young people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders. A published author, qualified teacher for post-16s, and executive coach, Jez joined Aegis initially as a volunteer in January 2012. He took over the full time position of Operations Director for Aegis from July of that year.

Freddy Mutanguha, (Country Director, Rwanda)

Joining Aegis in 2004 during the construction of the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre as a team leader responsible for genocide documentation, Freddy is a teacher by profession with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the Kigali Institute of Education. Freddy survived Rwanda’s 1994 genocide as a teenager. As an orphan head of household, he worked his way through school to become a leading advocate for peace and human rights education, helping to found AERG, Rwanda’s student survivors association. He went on to become Secretary General of IBUKA, the national umbrella association for Rwandan genocide survivors, and was appointed Aegis Rwanda Country Director in 2006. Freddy is also an International Board member of the Centre for Justice and Reconciliation in Cambodia. He is presently completing his MBA with the Maastricht School of Management, and lectures internationally on the impact of the genocide and on post-conflict reconstruction.

Katie Thompson (Associate Director for Operations)

Katie Thompson works with Operations Director Jez Taylor on organisational coordination, governance, compliance and HR. Before joining Aegis, Katie held various positions in the financial sector focusing on governance, compliance and business law as well as dispute resolution and staff training and development. Katie became involved with Aegis through the 'Discover Rwanda' Professionals Trip, a programme that encourages links between international professionals from all backgrounds with business, industry and institutions in Rwanda. The trip inspired Katie to pursue a career in the third sector. She has a First Class Law degree from the University of Hull, a Diploma in European Legal Studies from the University of Utrecht and a Masters in International Humanitarian Law from the University of Nottingham.

David Brown 
(Head of Media and Communications)

In over ten years with the Aegis Trust, David Brown has worked on documentation, education and awareness campaigns with partner organisations from the UK Home Office to the United Nations. He has placed numerous stories and interviews with survivors and perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity into national and international print, broadcast and online media. From 2005-2009, he coordinated Aegis’ successful campaign to change UK policy on removal of Darfuri asylum seekers to Sudan. Editor of various publications for the UK Holocaust Centre and Aegis Trust, he has produced mobile exhibitions and multiple short films on issues relating to genocide and crimes against humanity. David has a degree in Literary Studies from Staffordshire University and studied film production at the Met Film School, London.

Rachel Cummings (Projects Coordinator)

Rachel Cummings is Projects Coordinator for the Aegis Trust, based in Kigali. In this role she supports Aegis Rwanda Director Freddy Mutanguha and coordinates Aegis’ work with a range of partners and funders. Before heading to Rwanda, Rachel worked on campaigns and policy for Aegis in London and previously led a coalition campaigning for improved civilian protection in Eastern Congo. She has a degree from Oxford University and studied International Humanitarian Law at the LSE.

Jo Henderson (Advocacy Coordinator)

Jo Henderson runs advocacy, campaign and research projects for the Aegis Trust. Jo's work involves campaign planning, research and liaising with British MPs and peers in the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. She also works closely with the Aegis Trust's Special Representative, Dr Mukesh Kapila. 
Jo has extensive experience in humanitarian and protection policy and in refugee resettlement. Before joining Aegis, she worked for the Australian Government in various policy and operational roles, most recently spending a number of years in Kenya managing refugee resettlement and migration programmes across Sub-Saharan and West Africa. She worked directly with refugees and victims of genocide and crimes against humanity in this role and brings this experience to Aegis' advocacy work. She holds an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and a Masters in International Law.

Andy Fearn (Aegis Students National Coordinator)

Andy Fearn is responsible for running Aegis Students in the UK. This involves devising and implementing educational and campaigning strategies to raise awareness of genocide and mass atrocities amongst young people, as well as furnishing them with the advocacy skills and confidence to become active in genocide prevention. Before joining Aegis, Andy was a campaigns organizer for Battersea Labour Party and helped produce literature for The Neda Foundation, an Iranian human rights/humanitarian aid NGO.

Sam Boarer (Social Enterprises Manager)

Now based in Kigali, Rwanda, Sam Boarer started his journey with Aegis as a gap-year student at the UK Holocaust Centre. The Aegis Social Enterprise Programme, set up to create self sustainability and providing training and career opportunities for beneficiaries of Aegis’ Rebuilding Lives Programme, includes the Discover Rwanda Youth Hostel, Audio Guide rentals at Kigali Genocide Memorial and the Museum Gift Shop and Cafe at the memorial. A graduate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Derby in 2009, Sam was one of the founding members of Aegis Students in 2005 and went on to launch Derby Aegis Society whilst on campus. Sam also continues to run the Discover Rwanda Programme – Aegis’ youth educational and volunteering trip – each year.