Director. Zahid has 16 years international development experience in Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean.  He conceptualised and is now Director of Business Action for Africa.  Zahid also founded Business Fights Poverty.  He was Special Adviser to the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee’s inquiry on Private Sector Development.  Zahid was lead author of the Commission for Africa’s Growth and Poverty Reduction chapter.  He has also worked for HM Treasury, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Guyanese Ministry of Finance. He has an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge. [Back to Top]

Director. Michael has 38 years experience, including a range of senior level positions in the private sector and government, most recently as UK trade Commissioner to South Africa.  While in South Africa, Michael was part of the Commission for Africa's team, and developed strategies to engage business in the Millennium Development Goals. Prior to this, Michael worked for 14 years with Royal Dutch Shell, with experience spanning sales, marketing, training, international product development and regional business development. Michael has worked with all of the countries of the Americas and lived in Africa for 10 years. [Back to Top]

Director. Yvette has 12 years marketing experience, including 8 with GlaxoSmithKline. She also worked for a major distributor in Guyana and for a UK government trade promotion agency in France. Yvette has led the development of Mentori, Inspiris' web-based initiative to facilitate business mentoring in developing countries. She leads Inspiris' marketing work. At GSK, she was a senior marketeer with an excellent track record in project management.  Her project experience included new product development that has been rolled out to over 20 countries.  She was the winner of the GSK European Enterprise Award 2005. [Back to Top]

Director. Richard has over 20 years of communications experience. He leads advocacy and communications activities for Business Action for Africa, and advises DFID, The Coca-Cola Company, Better Cotton Initiative, Gatsby Foundation, Colors Fruit and UNDP on stakeholder engagement and strategic communications. Richard specialises in connecting businesses and policy makers, and putting business at the heart of international development thinking and action. He also has a strong track record in developing robust thought leadership platforms and advocacy campaigns. Previously, Richard worked in senior positions at leading communications consulting firms including Edelman, Weber Shandwick, Burson Marsteller and GCI Group. He holds a Masters in Responsible Business Practice from the School of Management at the University of Bath. [Back to Top]

Director. Adrian, based in South Africa, has 15 years experience, including in Africa and Asia.  Adrian is Deputy Director of Business Action for Africa.  He is also an independent management consultant to The Coca-Cola Company’s International Government and Stakeholder Relations Team for three key cross sector partnership projects. He developed and advised on numerous private sector inclusive business and sustainability strategies and initiatives engaging a variety of government, development and private sector stakeholders through these processes. Previously, Adrian was the Group Head of Public Affairs and Communications for Coca-Cola Sabco, an Africa based bottler with coverage across 7 African and 5 Asian countries. He was the Founder of the Coca-Cola Sabco Community Foundation. He was also a Lecturer in Business Management and Researcher at Rhodes University. [Back to Top]

Principal Associate. Hester has 18 years experience in international development and business.  Hester is Deputy Director of Business Action for Africa.  Prior to joining Inspiris, she worked as a policy analyst for the Commission for Africa, as well as for the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit.  Originally trained as a lawyer in South Africa, Hester started her career in the mining sector, before moving to London where she worked as a commodities analyst for several years and served as director of a leading independent precious metals research consultancy.  She has an MSc in Economics with a focus on Africa, from the University of London's School of African and Oriental Studies. [Back to Top]

Associate. Programme Manager for Mentori Ghana.  Prior to joining Inspiris, Natasha worked in the Responsibile Business Solutions team at the International Business Leaders Forum. Natasha has worked with Business Action for Africa since its creation, including for one year as its Zambia-based co-ordinator. Natasha is an expert in event coordination and management. [Back to Top]