Judges

Carolina is Vice-President at global agency FINN Partners, in the London office.

She has over 12 years of experience in public affairs, both in the UK and EU, strategic communications, and stakeholder and media engagement. Carolina has worked in agencies as well as in-house across highly regulated sectors, including energy, tech, and legal services. She has advised global companies at the most senior level. She has recently completed the Business Sustainability Management Course, at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Clova has over 25 years’ experience of working in public affairs and corporate reputation.

She has extensive experience of advising senior business leaders on their engagement with politicians and policy makers across a range of sectors including telecoms, health tech, sustainability, science and tech and health and diagnostics.

She currently leads the Public Affairs Practice at the UK’s leading tech PR agency Brands2life, where she advises a range of leading brands on how to build their political reputation and shape the policy environment.

Prior to joining Brands2life, she spent over 10 years leading the BT Group’s relationship with political stakeholders in Westminster, Whitehall and the devolved parliaments

Ella is Head of Public Affairs UK at Weber Shandwick and previously led political and government outreach for Northern Europe at Meta.

She is Co-Founder of the Women in Public Affairs Network, launched in 2012 to provide women in the PA industry with a space to network, learn and develop their careers. She lives in Bedford with her husband and two young sons.

Emily advises clients on UK political strategy, campaigns and communications. In her seven years at Hanbury she has helped build the public affairs practice, and last year was named one of the 100 most influential and inspirational women in Westminster. She is Chair of the PRCA Public Affairs Professional Board, which upholds ethical standards in the industry, and sits on the Design Museum’s External Affairs Committee where she advises the Board on reputation and politics. She is a former councillor, parliamentary candidate, and adviser to the Liberal Democrat Leader on three general election campaigns.

Jack Cousens is head of roads policy at The AA.

Jack has been with the AA since 2012 and is responsible for the AA’s motoring policy, government relations and public affairs campaigns. With over a decade of experience in political and public policy campaigns, Jack is frequently seen in the press talking about issues that affect road users including; road safety, electric cars, charging infrastructure, potholes and smart motorways.

Jennifer Crisp is UK Public Affairs Manager at Barnardo’s, one of the country’s leading children’s charities. She leads the team responsible for engaging with politicians and decision-makers across all four UK nations, campaigning for policy change to enable children and young people to be safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful.

Previously, Jennifer served as Head of Public Affairs and Stakeholder Relations at the University of Birmingham. She also has experience in local government, including her role as Policy and Public Affairs Officer for the Local Government Association’s Brussels office, where she engaged with the EU institutions on behalf of local government in England.

Jess Lister is an Associate Director at policy and strategy consultancy Public First, focusing primarily on education policy both nationally and internationally. Since joining the education practice at Public First in 2021, she has worked with some of the biggest names in the education sector and established a reputation for creating public affairs strategies that combine sharp policy analysis, political awareness, and public opinion.

She was previously public affairs coordinator at the University of Cambridge, and helped the university navigate the small matter of Brexit, a general election, and a global pandemic.

Leon has more than 20 years international experience as a government relations and corporate communications specialist, having worked for three of the biggest global agencies, been seconded to two national oil companies, and worked inhouse for the likes of SONY and Anglo American.

Leon has led multi-functional cross-border teams in the UK and across Europe and Middle East to develop bespoke reputation, government affairs and communications strategies for pressure groups, foreign governments and large multinationals across multiple sectors. Leon is responsible for overall strategy and client campaign development across Atticus’ client base.

Marc is a Founding Partner at WA Communications, with over 20 years’ experience of leading award-winning strategic communications and public affairs campaigns, delivering policy wins and commercial results.  Having worked across most regulated sectors, he now focuses mainly in the transport and infrastructure sectors, working with investors and executive teams to minimise political and policy risk and enhance reputational impact.

Megan is PR and Public Affairs Manager at Slimming World, the UK’s leading weight-management organisation supporting 700,000 members each week via its 13,000 community-based groups across the UK and Ireland and digital service. She leads an in-house team to engage a range of stakeholders including journalists, health professionals and politicians.

Having worked at Slimming World for the past 15 years, Megan has a vast experience in food and consumer PR with a passion for sharing the life-changing stories of real successful slimmers, as well as showcasing the organisation’s expertise and research. After working closely with the Public Affairs team for many years, she has recently taken responsibility for this area of the business’s communications activity too.

Paul is a Director at Tendo Consulting, where he leads on aviation, road transport, housing and infrastructure. He began his career in Parliament working for a senior frontbencher and has also worked for The FA and led the strategy and public affairs team at a major housing provider.

Simon is a vastly experienced consultant, having worked in public affairs and communications for fifteen years.

Simon leads PLMR’s public affairs practice, advising clients on how to navigate the policy, political and regulatory environment impacting their business and helping them engage with policymakers and wider stakeholders. Simon has an extensive track record of delivering successful public affairs and PR programmes for clients to help them achieve their objectives.

He is responsible for setting the strategic direction of our work for clients and leading account teams to ensure the delivery of high-quality campaigns. During his career, Simon has worked with clients across a range of sectors. Notably, this has included organisations within the health, housing, tech, skills, infrastructure and professional services sectors as well as across wider public service markets.

Simon works with organisations seeking to engage at a national (Westminster), devolved, regional and local government level. He has led numerous award-winning campaigns and was recognised as the PRCA’s 2022 Public Affairs Consultant of the Year.

Stephen Edwards is Head of External Affairs and Campaigns at Which?, the UK’s not for profit consumer champion. He has enjoyed a long and varied career in public affairs and strategic communications in the private and not-for-profit sector, previously as Director of Policy and Communications and CEO of Living Streets, and as Deputy Managing Partner of Interel UK.

Tim has over a decade’s worth of experience in policy and public affairs. He has been a trusted advisor to major companies and trade associations, specialising in sustainability, technology and public procurement. He has a track record of success in delivering public policy and fiscal change, directing high level campaigns, and advising decision makers on crises and sensitive corporate issues. Former clients have included Uber, Fujitsu, Hitachi, ABB, Stena Line, National Grid, International Game Technology, Calor and Callsign, working on a range of issues from major public sector bids to tax, regulation and industrial policy. Prior to joining the public affairs industry,

Tim worked in high-profile areas of government, ranging from international climate change negotiations to business policy. Tim graduated in Law from Oxford University and holds a master’s degree in Public Policy.

Verity leads Cavendish’s national corporate communications team and is an award-winning corporate communications and PR specialist, passionate about engaging audiences and driving change through impactful and influential communications.

Working across both the public and private sectors, she has 20 years’ experience of developing and delivering integrated strategic and creative campaigns that directly meet business objectives and deliver measurable results.