Who are we?
Founding Advisory Board
Founding Advisory Board
We are a team of multidisciplinary experts who help lead and deliver ambitious, impactful programmes with dozens of partners across sectors. We also support and collaborate with a broader community of hundreds of professionals across industry, government, non-profits and academia in the IB1 Constellation. IB1 is an independent, neutral, public-benefit company headquartered in the UK. You can learn more about what we do, and why, at ib1.org/what-we-do.
Advisory Board and leadership
Advisory Board Members include independent, neutral experts who volunteer their time to help advise Icebreaker One in the delivery of its mission. Members are encouraged to act as a ‘critical friend’ to IB1, and to bring their knowledge and expertise to help deliver its mission to:
- Provide strategic guidance and direction based on their expertise and market insights
- Actively facilitate connections with senior leaders
- Where appropriate, represent IB1 in public forums
Gavin Starks
Founder and CEO of Icebreaker One, Gavin has founded, funded and run over a dozen organisations including as founding CEO of the Open Data Institute, Co-Chair of the Open Banking Standard and CEO of global environmental intelligence company, AMEE. He has been formally appointed to public office as Co-Chair of the UK Smart Data Council.
Celeste Connors
Celeste has twenty years experience working at the intersection of economic, environment, energy, and international development policy. She previously served as the Director for Environment and Climate Change at the National Security Council and National Economic Council in the White House where she helped shape the Administration’s climate and energy policies.
John Elkington
John Elkington is an award-winning world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable capitalism, a bestselling author and a serial entrepreneur. John is the founder and chief pollinator of Volans, which works with leaders to make sense of the emergent future to unlock the potential of their organisation.
Irene Graham
Irene is the CEO of the ScaleUp Institute. She is a former senior banker at Standard Chartered Bank and was the Managing Director at the BBA responsible for Commercial Banking.
Volker Buscher
Founder and CEO of ds30, Volker is experienced in developing and implementing data and digital strategies. He supports organisations as a non-executive director. He was one of 53 Arup Fellows (out of a global staff of 16,000) and the global Chief Data Officer prior to launching ds30.
Baroness Bryony Worthington
A life peer in the House of Lords, Baroness Worthington is a leading expert on climate change and energy policy, and was instrumental to the adoption of the UK Climate Change Act. She was Executive Director for Environmental Defense Fund, Europe and many other initiatives. Baroness Worthington was part of our founding Advisory Board and a collaborator in the design of Icebreaker One.
Reference: Terms of Reference for the IB1 Advisory Board
Leadership & core functions
Rob Young – Officer and Head of Finance
Rob is a legal co-director of Icebreaker One Ltd, alongside Gavin. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales (ICAEW). As well as Managing Director of the LYA accountancy practice, he is a Responsible Individual for audits, he has also held multiple voluntary roles including School Governor, Charity Secretary and vice-treasurer for an investment club.
Michelle Prescott – People Development
With extensive experience in building teams and delivering people management and organisation development services, Michelle believes that people and organisations accomplish so much more if workplaces are collaborative, open, ethical, safe, supportive and enjoyable places for everyone.
Gea Mikic – Co-founder and Head of Bids, Programme and Policy
Gea leads projects focused on systems-level interventions that reduce vulnerability to disasters and protect livelihoods from climate change by changing the cultural mechanics of data sharing. She has a background in disasters, urban resilience, and languages with a particular interest in how we view and communicate risk.
Emily Judson – Head of Energy
Emily has a background in R&D with experience across the UK energy system spanning smart systems, data infrastructure, renewable power and heat, governance, and societal engagement. She has a PhD which explored governance of the digital energy revolution for net zero by 2050.
Laura Townshend – Head of Communications
Laura has 12 years of strategic communications experience with a focus on digital. She specialises in translating technical complexity into human language and using technology to scale up the impact of campaigns.
Ned Chappell – Account Manager
Ned works with members and partners to unlock collaboration, innovation, and creating data-driven use cases with real-world impact. His experience across New Zealand, Australia, and the UK spans the built environment and sustainability.
Jack Hardinges – Philanthropic Fundraising
Jack helps to build new data products, infrastructure and organisations. At IB1, he’s evolving how we talk about our work to philanthropic audiences and identify new funding opportunities. Previously he spent nine years at the Open Data Institute.
Jenna Ilic – Executive Assistant and HR Coordinator
Jenna has experience in administration, executive and business support, previously playing an integral part within senior management on building and growing a small-scale charity. She has 12 years’ experience within the Charity/Third sector.
Zoe Swiderski – Head of Project Management
With a background in Computer Science focused on user experience, Zoe has worked in a variety of software development and test roles. For the last 12 years, she worked as a project manager on public sector projects and she is particularly interested in leading initiatives that can make a positive influence on everyday life.
Toby Staveley – Perseus Project Manager
Toby is a 4x founder with over 25 years of leadership experience overseeing start-ups and supporting purpose-driven organisations to maximise their impact. A technophile and enthusiast for clarity as the most effective way to solve problems.
Charlotte Horler – Project Manager
Caroline Fraser – Programme and Policy Manager
With experience in non-profits, government agencies, and the private sector, Caroline works on projects delivering net-zero and addressing resilience, environmental policy, and planning. She focuses on stakeholder-driven innovative approaches to socio-environmental challenges.
Janice Holloway – Senior Administrator
Janice has 35 years experience in administration and business support with extensive knowledge of implementing systems and processes. Working mainly within education and the charitable sector.
Trust Services
Frank Wales – CTO and Delivery Manager
Frank has over 25 years of software development, management and innovation experience. He has developed products for many organisations including Hewlett-Packard, Oxford University Press, and the BBC. He co-founded one of the UK’s first Internet companies, Limitless, and is a founding partner at data protection consultancy Corrick, Wales and Partners.
Chris Pointon – Product Manager
An internet entrepreneur and technologist, Chris has led the design and development of large-scale data products in areas including marketing, social media, cybersecurity and personal data management. He has been technical co-founder of six companies. Chris has a BEng in Computer and Electronic Engineering and is a Fellow of the RSA.
Kip Parker – API/Back-end Developer
Kip is a software developer who has built a wide range of web platforms and other digital things, from ecommerce sites to streaming platforms to social networks. He likes finding simple ways to do complex things.
Ben Summers – Solutions Architect
Ben is an entrepreneur and technologist. He founded a software company where he designed and delivered research administration software for universities until the company was acquired. He is a non-executive director of the Welsh Government’s Centre for Digital Public Services, and a trustee of the Centre for Alternative Technology.
Richard Atkins – Front End Developer
Rich is a tech lead and solution architect operating across multiple sectors including Technology, Digital Media, Retail, Automotive, Telecommunications, Financial Services, Education and the Public sector. Focused on delivering fluid, user-centric solutions from ideation through development to final production.
Constellation
Julia Higginbottom – Head of Community
Julia is a digital specialist with passion for community, open source data, and working in the open. She has experience of data and digital development, communications through technology, and event management. She has also worked to disrupt storytelling over the past 2 decades as a TV and film producer.
Ross Crear – Comms and Content Production
Ross is an experienced Financial Journalist and Digital Creative specialist with a focus on sustainability, finance, energy and agriculture. Skilled in simplifying complex topics like open data and net zero for diverse audiences.
The Icebreaker One Constellation
They include dozens of peer-recommended domain experts in disaster risk modelling, insurance, investment, financial instruments, ecosystems, risk analysis, communications, design innovation, urban infrastructure and systems design. If you would like to get involved, please contact us. Collectively they are the Icebreaker One Constellation.