COMMITTEE 2021/2022

George Stokes

Executive Director

I am excited to lead TWS over the course of this year, alongside my outstanding committee. I look forward to continuing our fine traditions of published policy work and high-profile events with leading speakers, whilst seeking to innovate. Previously I was Head of Conference for TWS, and co-organised the 2021 Conference: ‘Politics Reshaped: Navigating the Age of Populism’. My first involvement was as a first-year rep with the conference team just after starting at Cambridge.

Eunice Chong

Deputy Director

I first joined TWS as a Conference First Year Representative, contributing to the panel on climate change and populism in particular. I was also a writer for the Green Finance Paper, in collaboration with European Horizons Cambridge. My specific interests within Politics and International Relations are environmental policy-making, resource conflicts and international organisations.

Vishaal Ravi

Head of Policy

I'm a second-year undergraduate studying law at St. Catharines' College and am very excited to serve as the Head of Policy for the next year. My previous work with the Wilberforce Society was First-Year Representative for the Policy team last year. My other experience with public policy involved working on the Covid19 Task Force for the Ministry of Health in Singapore in addition to working in a Staff Office in the Singapore Army

David Quan

Deputy Head of Policy: GSPA Liaison

We have extraordinary partnerships with Think Tanks – from the Universities of Chicago, Edinburgh, and Cornell – through The Global Student Policy Alliance, which we endeavour to strengthen for further collaborative efforts and contributions. 

For The Wilberforce Society, I co-edited the soon-to-be-published The Future of Online Education paper. Beyond this community, I serve as The Cambridge Union’s Equalities Officer-elect, lead Cambridge’s SDG Hub, play University basketball, and study Education (Policy and International Development) at Clare. Please do reach out for a discussion.

Bence Borbely

Deputy Head of Policy

Besides acting as Deputy Head of Policy at TWS, Bence also leads the Cambridge chapter of the European Horizons policy network. His further areas of interest are management consultancy and exotic languages.

Maya Beney

Deputy Head of Policy: Digital Journal

I'm Maya, a finalist at Caius reading History. I'm interested in development, as well as policy and academic research on refugees and forced migration and how this can be examined through an interdisciplinary angle. I look forward to expanding the Society's Digital Journal as part of my role this year.

Olivia Jacklin

Deputy Head of Policy: Projects

Being new to TWS this year, I’m excited to get involved and learn more about Society’s work. I study HSPS at St Catherine’s and would like to use my skills to help facilitate policy writing, particularly with an anthropological lens. I have always found policy interesting, mainly how best to conduct policy globally, and I look forward to exploring this more.

Liam Fung

Treasurer

Hi! I'm Liam, and I'm a second year student at Peterhouse studying Human, Social & Political Sciences, and I'm this year's Treasurer. My interests within the social sciences include American politics, political psychology, and social justice movements. I'm ecstatic to have the opportunity to serve as Treasurer and I hope to facilitate the smooth running of our events and to provide value to our members.

Zhi Kai Yeo

Head of Alumni Relations & Sponsorship

Hey everyone, my name is Kai and I’m a second year studying law at Sidney Sussex. I’m running point on Alumni Relations and Sponsorship. Antitrust regulation, the universality (or not) of human rights, and management science are my academic interests. But really, I enjoy playing football and trying as many varieties of food as possible, much more.

Dylan Evans

Secretary

Hi, I'm Dylan, a second-year studying History & Politics at Robinson. Within my subject, my interests lie primarily in modern Western political, social, and cultural history and on the role of memory within contemporary politics. I'm excited to be involved in the society and am looking forward to working with the rest of the committee.

Clara Chen

Head of Conference

Hi, I’m Clara, a first year medic at Sidney Sussex College and I am Co-Head of Conference in this year’s committee. Whilst my background is slightly different to most, studying medicine allows me to have a unique insight into the scientific rationale behind policy, particularly surrounding public health. I look forward to working with the rest of the committee and to organising the conference for later this year!

Juliette Odolant

Head of Conference

Juliette Odolant has just completed her second year of Chinese studies (AMES) at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Invested in geopolitics, through her studies and research she focuses on geopolitics, particularly regional dynamics in the Indo-Pacific and issues including the Korean nuclear conflict, US-China strategic competition and the role of middle powers like Japan and the UK.

Scott Elgersma

Deputy Head of Conference

Hi, I’m Scott, a second year PhD student in student in chemical engineering at Churchill. Given my background, I’m particularly interested in energy policy, and the associated technological, ecological, and societal factors that constrain policies. I’m excited to be involved in organizing the society’s annual conference this year.

Som Bagchi

Head of Events (Speakers)

I’m a second year undergraduate studying Mathematics at Trinity College and will be serving as the Head of Events (Speakers) over the next year. I hope to organise a term card of exciting high quality speaker events that will draw people towards important areas of policy making and change the way they see the world around them. Personally, my interests lie in economic and environmental policy making.

Joshua Tyler

Head of Events (Social)

My name is Joshua and I’m going into my 3rd year at Cambridge. Outside of my interests in public policy I’ve been Vice President of my College’s History society, rugby club and I am also a member of the University Rugby team. Having gained work experience at multiple think tanks outside of Cambridge, I look forward to helping the Wilberforce Society in the upcoming year!

Adam Bradley

Head of Publicity

I'm a history student at Sidney Sussex College with an interest in international relations and politics. After attending Wilberforce Society events in second year, I am excited to be involved in publicising the society's policy papers and conferences.

Zoe Lynch

Head of Publicity

Hi! I’m Zoe, a first year geographer from Newnham, and I am excited to serve as one of the Heads of Publicity for the coming year! I was first involved with TWS through writing a paper on green finance in collaboration with European Horizons, which motivated me to join the committee. Just like geography which is pretty broad, my academic interests are quite varied (like, from culture to ice sheets) though I’m particularly interested in the power of language and responsibility of government in societal change.

Dr Cristina Peñasco

Senior Treasurer

Dr Cristina Peñasco is a University Lecturer at POLIS and the current Director of the MPhil in Public Policy. She is also a Fellow at Queens' College, a Centre Fellow at Centre for the Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG)and an associate researcher of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy. She holds a PhD in Economics and her research lines bring together environmental economics, innovation policy and energy economics with a focus on the policy instruments enabling the transition to low-carbon economies.