THE WILBERFORCE SOCIETY
COMMITTEE 2023/2024
Manuel Lara Aguado
3rd Year Land Economy
Executive Director
Manuel is a third-year Land Economy student from Pembroke College. He became involved in TWS as Head of Conference last year, which was focused on Governance in an Age of Crisis. His interests are interdisciplinary, but includes geopolitics, sustainable finance, and EU policy. He has written for pro-bono political advisory firm London Politica on the effects of declining fertility and the internal dynamics in ASEAN. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, playing tennis and hiking. He is excited to be Executive Director this year, working with TWS’ four primary branches: policy, events, conference and alumni to elevate the think-tank and maintain the great quality standard of its work.
Please do get in touch via the email below if you are interested in a partnership or in commissioning a paper.
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Clare Wong
3rd Year HSPS and Management
Deputy Director
Clare is a third-year HSPS and Management Studies student from Magdalene College. She became involved in TWS as a First Year Representative in the conference team, and was Head of Conference last year. She is excited to be Deputy Director this year, and looks forward to overseeing the running of the various branches of TWS alongside Manuel.
Eliška Hauferová
Head of Policy
2nd Year HSPS
Eliška is a second-year student reading human, social, and political sciences at Peterhouse. Her primary academic interest lies in international relations, especially public international law, and intergovernmental collaborative institutions such as the European Union.
She became involved in the society as a First Year Representative in the events team and later transitioned into policy paper writing on the topic “Populism and Democratic Backsliding: Protecting the Human Rights System in Europe”. Interest in policy papers has led to her current role as a co-head of policy in charge of publishing various public policy papers produced by the society.
In her spare time, she enjoys reading non-fiction, knitting, and learning languages.
Ben Brent
Head of Policy
3rd Year History and Politics
I'm a third-year undergraduate studying History and Politics and am honoured to be heading up the policy team alongside Eliska. I first became involved with the Wilberforce Society in my second year, when I co-authored a paper on autocratic disinformation in a digital age. The paper, analysing the intersection of a diverse array of geopolitical trends, best encapsulates my specific policy interests. In my free time I like to run, play football and cricket, and work at the college bar with friends.
Jessica Alder
Deputy Head of Policy
2nd Year Land Economy
Jessica is Deputy Head of Policy and is studying Land Economy at Lucy Cavendish College.
Leo Wang
Head of Conference
3rd Year HSPS
Leo is a third year HSPS student from Homerton and will be one of our Heads of Conference this year. In the policy world, he is interested in educational inequality, international development and financial crises.
Outside of policy, he enjoys playing basketball, flute and Minecraft, in no particular order.
Leonas Pausch
Head of Conference
2nd Year History and Politics
Leonas is a second-year History and Politics student at Homerton College, focusing on Modern European history and Geopolitics. He is involved in various committee positions for the German society, the CJPA and the Cambridge Union and has contributed to publications about Weimar and Nazi Germany.
In the Wilberforce society Leonas started out as a Conference first-year representative and has now continued to work on conferences as Co-Head. In his spare time, he enjoys practicing piano and organ, as well as playing a bit of Tennis. He is very excited about the events and policy papers lined up and looks forward to the annual conference in February.
Mathijs Clement
Head of Conference
PhD Classics
Mathijs Clement is studying a PhD in Classics at King's (first year), funded by the Gates Cambridge scholarships. Working on late antique identity and migration, his interests in modern policy are mainly international relations and politics. This year, he will help organise the conference together with Leo and Leonas.
Ashley Seto
Head of Events
2nd Year Law
Ashley is a second-year undergraduate student studying law in Trinity College. She enjoys organising fun and meaningful events that inspire people to think more. She hopes to create a term card with exciting speaker and social events that will attract students to join in on the discussion of policy making.
In her free time, she likes to watch movies and catch up with friends.
Suchir Salhan
Head of Events
4th Year Computer Science
Suchir is Head of Events and is a fourth-year undergraduate studying Part III of the Computer Science Tripos at Gonville and Caius College. With interests in media, technology and cybersecurity, Suchir was previously the Editor and co-writer for The Wilberforce Society's policy paper on cybersecurity and decentralised technologies, leading an interdisciplinary team of writers with academic backgrounds ranging from Engineering to HSPS and Education.
Alexandre Hahn
Deputy Head of Events
3rd Year HSPS
Alexandre is a 3rd-year HSPS student at Homerton College specialising in politics and international relations. He currently studies the Politics of the International Economy and Politics of the European Union papers and is writing a dissertation on French international policy leading to the War in Iraq. Some other topics he worked on over the past few years are environmental policy, US domestic and foreign policy, and the causes and consequences of Brexit.
Damsith Wimalasena
Deputy Head of Events
2nd Year Land Economy
Damsith Nimsara Wimalasena is a penultimate-year undergraduate student at the University of Cambridge, where he is reading Land Economy at Lucy Cavendish College. His academic journey is marked by a keen interest in the intersection of environmental issues and economic policies. In 2023, Damsith undertook a significant role as a research intern at the Prime Minister's Office in Colombo, Sri Lanka. During his tenure, he was deeply involved in two critical areas: the Human-Elephant Conflict in Sri Lanka and the National Digitisation Strategy. His work in these areas not only demonstrates his commitment to addressing pressing environmental challenges but also highlights his aptitude for integrating technology and policy for national development. Damsith's unique blend of interests and experiences positions him as a forward-thinking individual with a profound understanding of the complexities at the nexus of environment, economics, and technology.
Jacqueline Sin
Head of Publicity
2nd Year HSPS
Hi! I am Jacqueline, a 2nd year HSPS student at St. John’s College, and I am extremely excited to be serving as Head of Publicity this year! Attending the Wilberforce Society Conference last year, I am quite interested in the public policy publications and events organised by the society. I look forward to promoting these meaningful events to a larger audience and working with the committee in the coming year.
Catherine Wray
Head of Alumni Relations and Sponsorship
2nd Year MML
Catherine studies MML at Trinity. She has served on several committees around Cambridge in her first year as well as taking part in Cambridge theatre and her role with the European Youth Press. She is looking forward to serving as Head of Alumni and getting to know current and past members of TWS in 23/24.
Oscar Scott
Head of Alumni Relations and Sponsorship
MPhil Medieval History
Oscar is a MPhil Medieval History student from Lucy Cavendish College. He is excited to be taking on a committee role in his first year at Cambridge, having just graduated with a BA in History from Durham University. Oscar is also involved in TWS as a writer on the upcoming policy paper 'Asylum Inequalities: An Examination of Differential Refugee Treatment by Nationality in UK Society and Policy'. He is looking forward to building a strong alumni community for TWS and encourages any alumni keen to stay connected to get in touch!