Our Patron and Trustees

Our Patron

Lord St John of Blesto Our Patron, Lord St John of Bletso, has been an independent crossbencher in the House of Lords since 1978. Lord St John qualified as a solicitor and then completed his Masters in Chinese Law. He was the Global Business Development Director of Globix Corporation, which built and managed data centres, and has served as a director and adviser to several UK listed and unlisted companies. Lord St John also worked as a consultant to Merrill Lynch from 1991 to 2008. Lord St John is currently a Member of the House of Lords Communications Select Committee as well as the Information Committee and was appointed an Extra Lord-in-Waiting to HM The Queen in 1998. He is a spokesman on African affairs, financial services and information technology. As well as being Patron of Citizens Online, he is a Trustee and Chairman of nine other charities.

Our trustees

	Charles Lowe Charles is Chair of our trustees. He completed his education at Cambridge and the London Business School and has has extensive experience successfully delivering health management applications. Charles has both PRINCE2 and MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) accreditation at Practitioner level. He ran the LB Newham Assistive Technology programme for four years during which time some 3000 people had telecare installed in their homes and the Borough began telehealth implementation, following Charles winning Whole System Demonstrator status from the Department of Health. In 2008 Charles joined Telehealth Solutions Ltd. as product manager, where he played a significant role in initiating new products and improving the effectiveness of the remainder. In December 2011 he was recruited by Surrey County Council to manage their telehealth and telecare implementations in conjunction with NHS organisations across the county. Charles is an acknowledged industry expert on telehealth: he chairs the TAHI Assistive Living Working Group and is an active member of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Telemedicine and eHealth Council.
	Tristan Wilkinson Tristan is the Director for Public Sector, EMEA for Intel Corporation and UK press spokesperson. He leads the engagement with several Government initiatives across the region focusing on how technology can transform the public agenda and create economic stimulus and job opportunities. In recent years Tristan has been a passionate advocate for Digital Inclusion and the issues relating to demographic change, particularly in the Telehealth arena, speaking regularly on the issues and challenges facing policy makers and providers today. Prior to Intel, Tristan was the Head of Marketing for PSINet a Global corporate ISP and Marketing Manager for Conduit Business Information, a supplier of database solutions. He is also representing Digital Europe. Tristan holds an honors degree in Architecture from the University of Portsmouth and is married with two children.
	David Cushman David is a dad and husband with 25 years experience in the media industry. He is author the The Power of The Network and the forthcoming Platform Thinking: How The Web Changes The Organisation of Business and the Business of Organisation. His work explores a future which is less dictated by its digital nature and more by the extreme low cost of self-organisation which emerges with the widespread use of communication technologies. As co-founder and UK Managing Director of 90:10 Group, he helps brands and organisations adapt to the changes being wrought by this by applying the principals of Open Business; the art of making partners of customers. His digital experience extends back 15 years. He has been working with digital communities for all of that and blogging since 1999. His current blog, fasterfuture.blogspot.com, is ranked among the UK’s Top 20 Marketing Blogs by Adage.com David is regularly invited to speak around the world but you’ll find him most regularly on twitter (@davidcushman) and Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/davidcushman
	Alison Johnson Alison is both a media specialist and Family Mediator and runs the Family Mediation division at Grower Freeman, a London law practice. Known for her calm, practical, pro-active approach and strong listening skills, Alison specialises in negotiating human and media relations. In her capacity as media specialist, Alison was Chief Publicist with HRH The Queen’s Royal Household and Creative Director for PR giants Burson-Marsteller, part of the Young and Rubicam Group. Prior to this, Alison managed the press offices for the Royal Academy of Arts and the Victoria and Albert Museum and also set up and ran the London Press office for brand identity leaders Landor Associates. More recently, Alison worked for the European Union, promoting the use of e-technology across Europe, particularly amongst charitable and health related organisations, hospitals and NGO’s. A co-founder of a children’s charity, Alison sits on various professional boards and is involved in lecturing; mentoring and on-going training to develop and further enhance her family mediation skills.
	Caroline Sands Caroline is a Consultant within the Technology, Entertainment & Communications Practice of Odgers Berndtson, the global executive search firm. Building on her keen interest in emerging technologies she focuses on senior strategic IT management appointments and Board level appointments where the requirement is to appoint a candidate with specific information technology experience or is within the technology vendor sector. She also has a particular interest in cyber security. Prior to joining Odgers Berndtson, Caroline focused on search within the IT services and management consultancy space where she recruited Senior Manager through to Partner level executives particularly within the financial services industry. On graduation from Sheffield Hallam University in 2000, she joined a boutique technology executive search firm as a Trainee Researcher. In this role she was engaged in pan-European, sales, marketing and consultancy appointments for the application software industry.
	Tuli Faas Tuli Faas is an international technology lawyer with expertise in commercial law and the protection of intellectual property as a corporate asset. Following legal roles at MasterCard and Thales, Tuli joined SITA, the world’s largest provider of communications and IT services to over 500 airlines. While at SITA, Tuli was one of the creators of Aviareto, a first-of-its-kind international registry of aviation assets. With a passion for technology, Tuli is committed to promoting the wider benefits of technology in all areas of society. She is also an energetic contributor of time to voluntary organisations and is currently a business mentor at The Prince’s Trust, supporting young people setting up in business.
	Zack Young Zack is an entrepreneur and digital marketing consultant. After completing a degree in Psychology & Marketing Communications he went on to complete a Graduate Diploma in Law. During and since his studies, Zack has worked with various clients as a consultant, helping businesses make the best use of technology and also supporting their growth through a strong digital marketing strategy. In addition to working with Citizens Online, Zack holds various directorships and works closely with various charities.