Our people are experienced practitioners from the worlds of business and international development and are experts in business strategy, government policy, new technology, marketing and communications.

Zahid Torres-Rahman

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.

Michael Mowlam

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.

Yvette Torres-Rahman

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.

Richard Gilbert

Director. Richard has 18 years of communications experience, working in senior positions at Edelman, Weber Shandwick and Burson Marsteller, where he advised and led communications programmes for companies including Microsoft, The Coca-Cola Company, Cadbury Schweppes, Intel, SABMiller and Laing O’Rourke. He also developed expertise in coordinating and implementing programmes in Africa for clients including Celtel and SABMiller. Richard is Deputy Director of Business Action for Africa. He has an MSc in Responsible and Sustainable Business Practice from the University of Bath. 

Hester Le Roux

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.

Alexis Sampson

Associate, based in Washington DC.  Alexis is an experienced communications professional with expertise in responsible business engagement for development.  As part of her work for the World Bank Institute, Alexis has written and edited content for numerous World Bank print and online publications, including a magazine on business and poverty, a web portal on business fighting corruption, and a volume on investment climates in India, Brazil, and South Africa.  Alexis has a Masters in Public Administration in International Management from Monterey Institute of International Studies, California, USA.

Natasha Ncube

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.

Inspiris is also supported by the Inspiris Network, a diverse group of freelance practitioners and experts from the business and international development communities.