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Our Board of Directors

Veg Power was founded by an extraordinary group of people, and thanks to the support and guidance of our board, we continue to go from strength to strength.

Andy Porteous

Chair of the Board: Andy has over 30 years of brand & marketing expertise. He built his career in the global food and drinks industry, working in a range of marketing roles for Unilever across the world, including running household names such as Hellmann’s. His last role at Unilever was as Senior Vice President of Digital for Global Foods.

He is currently Chief Strategy Officer at Mavens of London, a leading digital consulting company.  In addition, Andy is a Non-Exec Director of the brand and design agency, Coley Porter Bell; a Trustee of VegPower; and an angel investor/mentor in a range of food and digital start-ups.

Baroness Rosie Boycott

Baroness Rosie Boycott is a member of the House of Lords and has a long and distinguished career as a journalist, publisher and author, including having been the editor of several national newspapers in the UK. In 2008 she was appointed as Chair of the London Food Board to advise the Mayor of London on sustainable food policy implementation in the capital.

In October 2016, the new Mayor of London Sadiq Khan asked Rosie to lead the development of a new London Food Strategy to help the food system to work better to meet the needs of everyone who lives and works in London.

In 2018 Rosie became a member of the House of Lords after leaving the London Food Board and she continues to write regularly and speak all over the world about the role of cities, and the importance of food in combating hunger and food insecurity, improving health, tackling childhood obesity and helping to reduce carbon emissions contributing to climate change.

Sir John Hegarty

John Hegarty has been central to the global advertising scene over six decades. He was a founding partner of Saatchi and Saatchi in 1970.  And then TBWA in 1973.  He founded Bartle Bogle Hegarty in 1982 with John Bartle and Nigel Bogle. The agency now has 7 offices around the world. He has been given the D&AD President’s Award for outstanding achievement and in 2014 was admitted to the US AAF Hall of Fame.  John was awarded a Knighthood by the Queen in 2007 and was the recipient of the first Lion of St Mark award at the Cannes Festival of Creativity in 2011. 

Jack Ward

Jack Ward joined British Growers as CEO in April 2014. British Growers is an association of organisations involved in fresh produce and ornamental production. It comprises crop associations, producer organisations, marketing and promotion bodies and membership organisations. Jack’s main role is the promotion of the fresh produce sector which has taken on increasing significance following the UK’s departure from the EU and the growing interest in diet and health and healthy eating.

Jack is a Trustee of the research organisation PGRO and a Director of the vegetable promotion campaign Veg Power. Prior to joining British Growers Jack worked for the NFU and was involved in every agricultural crisis for a generation. He then took over as CEO of NPTC before moving to British Growers. He is a Nuffield Scholar and former Chair of the Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust. When not working Jack is a keen rower.

Katie Palmer

Katie is Programme Manager for Food Sense Wales.  Katie has an MSc in Nutrition from Kings College London and in Food Policy from City University. She has worked in the world of food for over 20 years with experience in both the private sector (Volac International), and third and public sector (including 6 years on Food Standards Agency’s Welsh Food Advisory Committee).

Katie is currently a member of the Food and Drink Wales Industry Board and is a founding member of the Veg Power Board.  She also sits on the WLGA’s School Holiday Enrichment Programme Advisory Group and was one of the team of four who created the multi award winning Food and Fun programme in Cardiff in 2015.

Anne Heughan

Anne Heughan is a public health nutritionist with over 40 years experience as a State Registered Dietitian, who has worked in both the public and private sector on food, nutrition and health policy at global, European and UK level. Anne worked for Unilever as Global External Affairs Director. She was responsible for ensuring that Unilever commitments on over and under nutrition were relevant to the dynamic external agenda.

In the late 90s Anne was Deputy Director of the Coronary Prevention Group, a UK charity, concerned with putting the prevention of coronary heart disease onto the public agenda. She worked with international academics, government and non-governmental organisations to develop campaigns around school meals, workplace wellness; children and heart disease and graphical nutrition labelling based on nutrient profiles.

Anne is a trustee of the Royal Society of Public Health and an Honorary Member of the British Nutrition Foundation. She is also a member of the British Dietetic Association, the Nutrition Society and the Guild of Food Writers.  She has written a number of books including Eat For Life Diet.

Jo Ralling

Jo is Head of Communications at The Food Foundation, with over 20 years experience working across all areas of broadcast, digital and print media. Jo has held leadership positions in the Jamie Oliver Group, overseeing all television production, creating the global digital strategy and setting up the hugely successful Food and Drinks Tube. She launched the Sugar Smart campaign for the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation and played a pivotal role in delivering the UK and global advocacy campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of sugar to long term public health. Jo runs Rising Tide Films and the Brighton Production Hub to connect production talent and broadcasters across the city.

Anna Taylor OBE

Anna joined The Food Foundation as its first Executive Director at the beginning of June 2015 after 5 years at the Department for International Development. At DFID Anna led the policy team on nutrition and supported the delivery of the UK’s global commitments to tackle undernutrition.

Before joining DFID Anna worked for a number of international organisations including Save the Children and UNICEF and has been at the forefront of international leadership on nutrition for several years, supporting programmes in a wide range of contexts in Africa and South Asia. Anna has also worked for the UK Department of Health. In 2014 she was awarded an OBE for her work to address the global burden of undernutrition. She did an MSc in Human Nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1994. In May 2017 Anna became a member of the London Food Board to advise the Mayor of London and the GLA on the food matters that affect Londoners. She is a Board member for Veg Power and an advisor to the International Food Policy Research Institute. She served as Chief Independent Adviser to Henry Dimbleby for the development of the National Food Strategy published in 2021.

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Special Advisers

We wouldn’t get far without excellent advice. Our advisers support the team and board in helping Veg Power to fulfil its ambitious goals.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Hugh is a multi-award winning writer and broadcaster known for his uncompromising commitment to seasonal, ethically-produced food and his concern for the environment. He has earned a huge following through his River Cottage TV series and books, as well as campaigns such as Hugh’s War on Waste, Britain’s Fat Fight and his War on Plastic with Hugh and Anita.

www.rivercottage.net/

Louise Holland

Louise Holland

Louise Holland is Deputy to Jamie Oliver. Starting her career as a chef, she later moved into publishing and television production. After a chance meeting with the then 23-year-old Jamie, she took on a role with him that now over 22 years has covered every aspect of the food and media industries. Louise continues to support all of Jamie’s endeavors, helping to guide and manage him, his businesses and his initiatives. She sits on Jamie’s main board and helps to drive his commercial business and campaigns around the world.

Karen Schenstrom

Karen Schenstrom

Karen is currently Business Development Director with Evesham Vale growers, a council member of the Rural Policy group, and acts as an advisor to a number of food businesses. She has a wealth of experience in the food supply chain having spent the vast majority of her career in the food retail sector.