Meet the AIUK Charitable Trust board members

The Amnesty International UK Charitable Trust is one part of Amnesty International Uk, along with the Amnesty International UK Section. It is governed by a board of trustees, all appointed by the Board of the Amnesty International UK Section. 

Board of Trustees

All Trustees are appointed by the AIUK Section Board and a minority serve on both Boards. All trustees have invaluable skills and experiences that they bring to the governance of the trust. 

Andrew Lines (Chair)

Andrew is part of the Anthony Nolan leukemia and stem cell transplantation charity, leading service improvement and change and transformation activity. Previously he was Chair of Oxfam’s Operational Management Group, Head of Continuous Improvement and Chair of Oxfam’s Business Continuity Group at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He brings operational leadership experience and strategic expertise; linking long and short term objectives to budgets, corporate measurement and evaluation. He has worked previously as a consultant for organisational development in the global finance sector, as well as building leadership frameworks for FTSE 100s.

Andrew first became involved with Amnesty during the Get Up Sign Up campaigns in the 1990s, he has a particular interest in the right to life and the corrosion of rights through climate change. He lives with his civil partner and their children and cats in Oxfordshire. 

Shirah Z Mansaray (Vice Chair)

Shirah is a PhD scholar at University College London (UCL) conducting academic and industry research on healthcare policies and architectures that promote mental health through design responsibility and sustainable environmental design. Shirah is passionate about advocating for mental health as a fundamental human right for populations in the global South and worldwide. She has a Master’s degree in Development, Technology and Innovation Policy from UCL and her thesis interrogated the efficacy of the World Food Program’s Blockchain based digital identification system and the data privacy rights of refugees.

Shirah is passionate about her legal career and is currently seconded to Bates Wells LLP where she advises charities, non-profits and civil society organisations in the UK and internationally on governance matters, commercial agreements, charity law and human rights law.

Shirah is also the CEO and founding trustee of the international charity “I am Somebody’s Child Soldier” which provides mental health support to former child victims of war in Uganda. Shirah has over 15 years’ experience working in the humanitarian field, with organisations ranging from the United Nations and the Human Rights and Economic Affairs Department at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg. Shirah is a longstanding supporter of Amnesty International and actively fundraised for the organisation throughout her time at university. 

Nisha De Silva

1st term 11 July 2020
Role: Grants Subcommittee

Nisha joined the board in July 2020. She is a civil servant and is currently the Interim Deputy Director in the Data and Analysis directorate at the Ministry of Justice. She has a PhD in Operational Research and has worked across a number of sectors including the public sector, academia, and the oil and gas industry. She was part of the founding team of the Global Disaster Information Network established under a United Nations resolution, a global network of technology and specialist resource that is mobilised when disasters occur around the world. As a scientist she has published her research discoveries on designing spatial decision support systems extensively and has implemented evacuation systems using this technology.

Nisha is passionate about social justice and has focused her recent efforts in central government to improving value for money in public sector investment in the delivery of justice. She has a keen interest in astronomy and space exploration, and a thirst for discovery and knowledge of the unknown. Nisha was born in Sri Lanka and has lived her life in several countries and considers herself a citizen of the world.

Helen Horton

Helen is a long-term grassroots member of the UK Section, having been chair for 7 years of her local group in Lancaster. She is currently a member of the Safeguarding Committee, the International Issues and Policy Group and chair of the Campaigns an Impact Sub Committee. She is also a school speaker. Helen spent many years as a teacher of teenagers with Special Needs and then as a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader (MA Education) in the School of Education at the University of Sunderland. After holding this role for 14 years she retired to take up a placement with the Voluntary Service Overseas. She is particularly passionate about Human Rights Education and strengthening campaigning with local groups.

Helen is currently a Vice-Chair of the AIUK Section Board, as well as a Board member of the Charitable Trust.

Ian Adams

Ian is an experienced executive director of national government agencies and the NHS, following an earlier career with the BBC, whose professional background is in communications and marketing. Today he is employed as Director of Policy, Strategy and Communications at NHS Resolution, the legal arm of the health service in England. 

Ian is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Leadership Fellow of St George’s House, Windsor.  He is a trustee of a number of charities which provide services to homeless people, and which promote inclusion and opportunity. 

Previously he served as a social housing non-executive director, a governor of a further education college and a local authority councillor for 20 years.  In 2017/18, Ian served as Lord Mayor of Westminster.  He holds two degrees, including an MBA awarded with Distinction from the University of Bradford. 

David Keen

David is a a Chartered Accountant with nearly 40 years’ experience in the Financial Services Industry, the majority at Deutsche Bank. Working primarily within the Finance function he has worked in many different countries and has extensive experience in shared services, change management and strategic transformation. Having gained considerable experience in Financial Accounting & Operations in a complex and regulated environment, David was appointed Global Head of Finance Service Centres, from 2010-15. His  responsibility was to efficiently deliver services to the entire global Finance function from offshore centres in Manila, India and Jacksonville, Florida.  From 2015 David led several highly complex programs which enabled and delivered transformational change to the technologies, processes, controls and organisation of Finance and Procurement.   He career retired in January 2023.

In recent years David has undertaken Non-Executive and Trustee roles outside of the financial sector leveraging his governance and financial control experiences. He is a Board Advisor to a primary healthcare provider, a trustee of a small social charity supporting disadvantaged young adults in Brixton and has recently been appointed as a Trustee to Amnesty International UK Section Board. David is  a lifelong advocate of Diversity & Inclusion and is eager to promote supporting initiatives both within his current non-Executive roles and more widely. David is a supporter and fund raiser for Cure Leukaemia, a blood cancer research Charity.

Mandeep Rupra 

Awaiting bio

Caroline Baker

Awaiting bio