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Trustees

The Viva Board of Trustees is made up of 11 gifted and passionate individuals, all of whom are committed to seeing children set free from poverty and released into happy and healthy futures, fulfilling God's purposes for their lives. They act as a governing body for Viva, helping us to appropriately and relevantly focus our work and supporting and guiding us as we seek to improve the quality of care for vulnerable children.

Our Trustees are accountable to the UK Charity Commission and to Companies House.

		Simon Laver (Board Chair) Partner, The Perrett Laver Partnership, UK Simon is one of Perrett Laver’s co-founders. He previously worked for many years as a senior partner within one of the largest global search groups, where he was Secretariat with responsibility for supporting business development and international growth. He also founded and led the global life sciences practice group. His areas of expertise in senior level executive search include CEO and Board-level appointments in higher education, international development, the voluntary sector, life sciences and financial services. In 2008 Simon was named by BusinessWeek on its list of the 'World's 100 Most Influential Headhunters.' Simon holds a first class degree from the University of Oxford and an MBA from the London Business School (including a semester at the Tuck School, Dartmouth College). In addition to being a Trustee and Chair of Viva Simon is also a Trustee and Chair of the International and Advocacy Committee of Tearfund and an advisor to the University of Oxford’s McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life.
		Nicholas Bamber Head of Private Placements, RBS Global Banking and Markets Nicholas is the Head of the Private Placement Group at RBS Global Banking and Markets. He has been active in the unlisted private placement segment of the debt capital markets since 1996, during which time he has arranged financings for numerous large and medium-sized corporations across a broad spectrum of sectors and jurisdictions. He has been responsible for arranging many of the market's ground-breaking transactions and assisted in a number of complex corporate restructurings. Nicholas holds an MBA from the London Business School and a BA from Durham University. Nicholas is married with two children, is an active member of his church, and enjoys sports of all kinds.
		Miles Buttrick Former Trustee and Treasurer for Tearfund Miles is a qualified accountant and corporate treasurer with almost thirty-five years experience in business. He has worked for British Gas, Thomas Cook, Coopers and Lybrand Deloitte (now PWC) and Coventry Building Society. During this time he has lived and worked overseas in the Far East, the Middle East and Scandinavia and travelled extensively. The main focus of his experience has been in general management, finance, treasury, risk management and management consultancy. At the end of 2007 Miles retired to concentrate on working in the charity and voluntary sector. Between 1996 and 2006 he was a Trustee of Tearfund, being Treasurer for nine of those years. Miles is married with three sons and he and his family are all active members of Chipping Campden Baptist Church. His interests include football, running, cricket and travel.
		Adrian Cooper Chief Executive Officer, Oxford Economics, UK Adrian Cooper is Managing Director of Oxford Economics, one of the world's leading independent economic think tanks. Adrian is responsible for co-ordinating and managing its world economic forecasting and consultancy activities, and overseeing its team of economists based in Oxford, London, Belfast, and Philadelphia, USA. Adrian was educated at the University of Bristol, UK, where he gained a first class degree in Economics; and at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, where he achieved a distinction in the MSc in Economics and won the Ely Devons prize for outstanding performance in the degree examinations. Adrian spent the first seven years of his career with HM Treasury, UK. During this time, he worked on the analysis of tax and other economic policy changes as part of the preparations for the UK Budget. Adrian is also a warden of St. Aldate’s Church, Oxford, and he is married with three children.
		Daniel Ederer President, Ederer Investment Company, Seattle, USA Daniel Ederer is the president of Ederer Investment Company, a privately-held entity with investments in operating companies, real estate and venture capital. He lives in Seattle, Washington, and is married with three children. Dan is a graduate of the University of Washington and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, a Certificate in Commercial Real Estate, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration. In addition to serving on the Viva board in Oxford, Daniel also serves as Chair of the Viva North America board in the USA.
		Mary Hippsley Dean of Academic Studies, King's Bible College, UK American born, Mary completed her theological studies in London in 1980. She has since taught Religious Education at senior school level for a number of years and is currently coordinating the academic programme at a small independent theological college in Oxford. She was originally asked to join the Viva staff in a pastoral capacity approximately ten years ago and has served as a trustee for the last five years. Mary has travelled to both South America and Africa to observe the work that Viva is doing in these countries. Mary is married and has two children.
		Martin Hull (Company Secretary) Network Researcher, Viva, UK Martin was a member of the original team that established the International Office of Viva in 1996, and has continued to shape the organisation through its many transformations since that time. Joining Viva soon after graduating from Oxford University, Martin has focused on developing Viva's reputation for accurate and reliable information. He pioneered the international database that now feeds such publications as Viva Report, and currently oversees Viva's online monitoring and evaluation tools. Martin is married with one son.
		Patrick McDonald Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Viva, UK Patrick founded Viva Network in 1996 after working with street children in Bolivia. He has spent fourteen years researching Christian work with children and building contacts internationally. Patrick oversees Viva and represents the issue of children at risk to the wider world. He is Senior Associate for Children at Risk for Billy Graham's Lausanne Movement and has completed his MBA at the Saïd Business School, Oxford University. Originally from Denmark, he is married with three sons. His interests include sailing, flying, and mountaineering.
		Patsy Richardson Managing Partner, After the Rain Consulting Patsy founded After the Rain, a strategic consulting agency, in 2008. She has followed a classic career in marketing, starting with Unilever in South Africa and then the UK, rising to take overall responsibility for liquid detergent marketing and innovation in Europe. Building on this experience she moved to Cadbury Schweppes where she held several marketing and strategy positions, culminating in the role of Global Category Strategy Director for Chocolate. More recently she has followed her interest in international development, working as Global Sales and Marketing Director for Geneva Global in Philadelphia USA. Zimbabwean born, Patsy completed an honours degree in Business Science at the University of Cape Town before emigrating to UK.
		Andrew Tomkins Professor of International Child Health; OBE; MBBS; FRCP; FRCPCH; FFPHM; FMedSci Andrew trained in nutrition at the LSHTM and worked with the MRC in Nigeria and the Gambia. He developed a research team in Nutrition/Infection interactions with collaborations in Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Kenya, and Bangladesh. He is also researching the impact of different support mechanisms for orphaned children. He retired as head of the Centre for International Child Health (CICH) in September 2006 and continues research in the focused area of nutrition. He is a trustee of UNICEF UK and Tearfund and now supports the development of their policies and programmes. He chairs various committees in the UN including the World Bank SCN Working Group on Nutrition and HIV and is on several panels of grant-awarding committees. He also heads the International Health Training Project - jointly between the Royal Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH), the Wellcome Trust, and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH).
		David Westlake National Youth Director, Tearfund, UK David Westlake joined Tearfund in 1996 as Youth Director, responsible for the relief and development agencies work with children, young people, and students. In 2006, he became Innovations Director, developing new ways of engaging donors with beneficiaries, together with new methods of working. His work in mobilising and equipping grassroots faith groups to engage with their communities to identify issues and develop solutions resulted in the formation of the Integral Mission Project. David's background is as a professional youth worker and church leader. He studied at Jesus College, Oxford, UK, completed an MA in Applied Anthropology at Goldsmiths College, London and an MBA through the Open University. He is married with one daughter.
		Kurt Sørensen Head of Customer Relations, Christian Fagbevægelse Kurt is head of customer relations in Christian Fagbevægelse with responsibility for insurance in general insurance and availability, as well as responsible for a small subsidiary. Has since 1980 worked as a consultant, sales and marketing manager within hospital supply and within insurance. Kurt has, since June 2009 been chairman of the Danish Viva Organization.