The UK National Commission for UNESCO is governed by a Board of Non-Executive Directors, led by our Chair. Each Non-Executive Director is formally appointed by the FCDO and is a specialist in one of UNESCO’s core programme areas. The day-to-day operations of the Commission are undertaken by a Secretariat, led by our Chief Executive and Secretary-General.
The National Commission works in collaboration to the UK Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, including the UK Ambassador.
UK Permanent Delegation to UNESCO
Anna Nsubuga is the UK’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO. Appointed to the role in 2023, Anna is an experienced public and social policy professional having worked at community, national, regional and international levels across a range of policy areas. Anna’s areas of expertise include further education and adult learning, girls and women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, European affairs, and stakeholder engagement.
Max is the Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Kingdom’s Mission to UNESCO.
UK National Commission Board of Directors
Professor David Drewry is a world leading expert on the environment and study of the polar region, his experience includes Director of both the British Antarctic Survey and the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge University.
Dr Dan O’Connor is Head of Research Environment at Wellcome Trust. Dan has a PhD in the History of Medicine (University of Warwick) and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Bioethics and the History of Medicine (Johns Hopkins University), as well as considerable experience in the commercial sector.
Charlotte Joy is a social anthropologist who specialises in contested heritage and heritage protection. She is a lecturer in Cultural Heritage Management in the Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton. She is the author of two books, 'The Politics of Heritage Management in Mali' (Routledge, 2012) and 'Heritage Justice' (CUP, 2020). She chairs UK Blue Shield's Working Group on the protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage and is a member of UNESCO's Network of Facilitators of the 2003 Convention.
Professor Mike Robinson is a specialist in cultural heritage and sustainable tourism, with over 30 years’ experience working with projects spanning more than 40 countries. As Professor of Cultural Heritage at Nottingham Trent University, Mike is working to develop the University’s international, cross-disciplinary research portfolio in the heritage field.
UK National Commission Secretariat
Matt leads the UKNC’s policy, communications, and research. He manages the organisation's Theory of Change and Delivery Framework with the UK Government. He leads the organisation's fundraising, research and business development with the Secretary-General, and the Climate Change and UNESCO Heritage Project and the Local to Global Programme.
Andrea has responsibility for the financial management of the organisation, as well as managing office administration and HR.
Charlie is the lead contact for UK organisations and individuals to access UNESCO's programmes and activities and manages the UK's UNESCO accreditation processes. He also works with the UK Government and existing UNESCO designations to manage elements of UNESCO's policy areas.
Liam is responsible for leading the fundraising, research, development, and delivery of UKNC's strategic investment programme, Local to Global. Local to Global aims to build a more resilient and adaptive network of UNESCO-designated sites and ensure that UK society continues to feel the benefits of UNESCO membership.
Nushin supports the delivery of the approved purposes of the grant agreement with the National Lottery Heritage Fund by coordinating Local to Global 2.0 events and communications across the national network of natural, cultural, and built heritage sites.
Alison supports the Commission's policy and parliamentary work, including coordinating involvement at UNESCO General Conferences and Executive Board meetings, liaising with UNESCO experts, strategic mapping of UNESCO programmes with government policy priorities and other research.
Dave leads on the Climate Change & UNESCO Heritage project and works with colleagues at national and pilot site levels to test emerging practice relating to climate change impact on cultural & natural heritage, and to deliver shareable, reusable project outputs.
Aisling's work supports the overall project management function of Climate Change & UNESCO Heritage, Aisling works with colleagues across the project's governance groups, consultancy teams, and our three UNESCO pilot sites to provide a coordinated approach to delivery.
John oversees the marketing and communication outputs of the UKNC. He manages the website, newsletters, and social media output, leads on report and documentation design, media relations, and is the Commission's brand guardian. John also supports our internal project teams and the UK UNESCO site network in relation to communications.
