Board of Trustees
Marti Burgess
Board Chair
Since 1999, Marti has practised as a lawyer advising SMEs on corporate and commercial law. Her particular areas of specialism are company and business sales and purchases as well as providing companies with all the commercial contracts they need to run their businesses. She joined Bevan Brittan in September 2019 and is a partner in the Corporate team which is part of the Commercial and Infrastructure Department.
Marti is a chair of St Pauls Carnival and a director of several other social enterprises including 91 Ways, Bristol Cultural Development Partnership and chairs Bristol @ Night which is a representative body set up by Bristol City Council to ensure that the voice of the night time economy is heard at all levels of decision making across the city.
Marcus Walters
Board Vice-Chair
Marcus is a Senior Associate at Burges Salmon. He has extensive experience in advising both public and private sector clients across a range of specialist areas, including Defence, Education, Outsourcing, Rail and Highways and Road Transport. Marcus is also a member of the firm’s Infrastructure Sector Group.
Marcus is also the Co-Chair of BCultured - our social and support Network for Black and Minoritised employees.
Abdi Mohamed
Board Treasurer
Abdi has been the Director of the Bristol Cable since March 2016. He is also the Company Secretary and Director at Ashley Community Housing, and Project Manager at Bristol Somali Media Group. Absi is an active member of the Bristol Somali diaspora with an interest in International Development.
Dr. Foluke Adebisi
Dr Foluke Ifejola Adebisi is a Senior Lecturer at the Law School, University of Bristol. Her research, which is pedagogical as well as jurisprudential, examines what happens at the intersection of legal education, law, society and a history of changing ideas of what it means to be human. Foluke is particularly interested in academic concerns that arise from ensuring equality, inclusion and diversity in teaching.
In October 2018, Foluke was included in the Bristol BAME Powerlist 2018. She blogs about her research and interrelated ideas on her website ‘Foluke’s African Skies’ at https://FolukeAfrica.com
Barbara (Tunga) Witter
Tunga’s interests are grounded in social Justice particularly issues relating to Race and Racism. She would describe herself as a Pan-Africanist working towards local and global redress.
In her working life, Tunga has been a Youth worker, Social Worker, and Criminal Justice worker with a mission to address systemic changes and working practices to improve outcome for people of African heritage. She has also been involved in setting up and running supporting groups for women of African heritage groups such as W.A.C.H , Sojounertruth women’s Group and S.P.A.N.
Dr. Barbara Brown
Dr Barbara Brown is a diversity strategist with a strong portfolio of facilitating cultural change. With a doctorate exploring gender processes in patriarchal organisations, her experience spans the private, public, education and voluntary sectors. Barbara has spent the last 17 years working locally, regionally and nationally within the Fire Sector. A self-confessed, systems ‘agitator’ she has a strong foundation working with hierarchical cultures. Her work includes the development of equality policy, strategy and framework practice across the British Fire Service, where she has lead national work-streams.
Olumide (Lumi) Coker-Dickens
Lumi is a project management professional with over 10 years’ experience in project management and project controls. His interest and passion for military technology and has led to a long career in the defence industry where he has had the privilege of working on several multinational defence projects.
Lumi is a youth leader in his local church and is passionate about young people fulfilling and maximising their potential. He volunteers some of his time mentoring and coaching teenagers and young adults, particularly from BAME backgrounds. Lumi is also a trustee of the alumni association of his high school, International School Ibadan, Nigeria.
Ed Rowberry FCA, MBA, MCIOH, FRSA
Advisory Board Member
As founding Chief Executive of Bristol & Bath Regional Capital (BBRC), Ed focuses on organisational direction and delivery. He seeks to ensure that BBRC remains committed to serving local communities while retaining a commercial focus that a social enterprise like BBRC requires.
Mohammed Rashid
Mohammed is currently a trustee of CYN, AgeUK Bristol and a business mentor with the Princes Trust, where he was also a mentor young people who are looking to either start their own business or looking to take the next step back into employment. He was the CEO (and Founder) of Gamma Projects, an international software house. Prior to Gamma Projects he worked for Orange as IT Manager in the UK as well as helping to establish IT teams in Austria and Belgium.
Paul Kempster
Paul is Co-Head of Mid-Corporate UK for Barclays. He has been in the banking and accounting profession for over 30 years and has extensive experience with several globally recognised employers in a variety of roles including corporate client relationship management, business development, credit risk management, acquisition finance, project management, strategy and business management.
Afzal Shah
Afzal is the Deputy Chief Executive of Wellspring Settlement in Barton Hill. Afzal was previously Cabinet Member for Climate, Ecology, and Inclusive Growth
and Labour Councillor for Easton ward.