Tim O’Brien, MA FCA, Chair 

Tim O’Brien qualified and worked as a chartered accountant before a career of over thirty years in the metals and petrochemicals industries. This involved a wide range of commercial and financial roles including at board level. In recent years, he developed and championed the transformation of governance and risk management in Shell’s Downstream business. His interests include both collecting art and trying to improve his own drawing skills, opera, theatre, Russian and running.

Ronald Amanze, Arts Practice & Dementia Ambassador

Ronald Amanze, the founder of Talk Dementia, is a Dementia Champion with the Alzheimer’s Society, a Dementia Diarist with DEEP and an Ambassador for The Stroke Association, working to ensure there is better provision for the wider sections of our communities in dementia service and dementia research. His background as a music producer and musician has led him to be passionate about the role of creativity in improving the quality of life experience for all those living with dementia.

Kate O’Neill, Dementia Operations

Kate O’Neill has nearly 30 years of experience of involvement in the voluntary sector, working at a national and local level to support the well-being of vulnerable people. Until she retired at the end of 2014, Kate had spent nine years with the Alzheimer’s Society, ultimately as Director of Operations for Greater London. She was a founding member of the London Dementia Action Alliance and is a Dementia Friend. More recently, Kate has continued to sing with a large local choir and is reviving her interest in the visual arts by studying part-time for a BA(Hons) in Fine Art with Brighton MET.

Liz Sawicka, MA, MD, FRCP, Medical

Liz Sawicka retired in 2015 after more than 25 years as a consultant physician in the NHS and has been involved in teaching, training and management, as well as patient care where she saw many people and families living with dementia. She has previously been a Trustee of a local hospice for several years. Her personal interests include opera, theatre, art and travel.

Imran Akram, Treasurer

Imran has over 25 years of experience in consulting, equity research and accounting. In this capacity he has worked on projects around the world, advising both companies and financial investors. He runs a leading cement consultancy and is a director of a freehold management company for a large apartment block in central London. Previously he worked in equity research in the construction sector, primarily at Deutsche Bank in London. He qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloitte and is a graduate of the London School of Economics.

Dr. Jina Swartz, MB BCh, MSc Med, PhD, MFPM, FMedSci

Jina is a Neurologist and Neuroscientist with expertise in drug development, encompassing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, cognitive dysfunction, stroke, pain, delirium and MS. She is currently Chief Medical Officer of Exciva, a biotech developing treatments for neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. 

Jina is interested in the interface between science and arts, particularly in the context of therapeutic approaches, by using dance and movement to treat patients with complex Neurological conditions. She has a Diploma in Dance and Movement Therapy from the Laban Institute of Contemporary Dance in London. 

Alan Merkel, BA, Legal

Alan Merkel was a partner in the solicitors firm of Edwin Coe, based in Lincoln’s Inn, in its litigation department.  He retired from practice in 2015 but continues to work there one day a week, doing internal auditing. He is a volunteer at the London office of War Memorials Trust and does outdoor conservation work on Hampstead Heath and at Kenwood for Heath Hands, of which he is currently a trustee. He also attends a monthly drop-in center for asylum seekers.

Peter Millett, CMG, Administration, Carer

Peter Millett is a retired British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to Libya from June 2015 to January 2018.  During that time he played a role in supporting the UN’s efforts to negotiate and then implement the Libya Political Agreement. He met and built relationships with all the key political, security and economic players in Libya and in the international community. He also managed the return of the British Embassy from Tunis to Tripoli. Before Libya, he was British Ambassador to Jordan from 2011 to 2015 and High Commissioner to Cyprus from 2005 to 2010. Earlier in his career, he had diplomatic postings in Venezuela, Qatar, Brussels and Athens. 

Marie Fortune, Arts Practice

Marie Fortune is an award-winning actor, puppeteer, writer, director and Co-Founder of Foan & Fortune Theatre Company. She works primarily in theatre and film, both nationally and internationally. Marie also works as a consultant, facilitator and workshop leader leading numerous workshops on a whole range of topics, from puppetry to Shakespeare. She volunteers regularly at Whittington Hospital and Age UK and has worked closely with Dementia Pathfinders delivering drama workshops for YOYO (a young onset dementia group in Crouch End), as well as delivering the best practice drama workshop for Arts 4 Dementia at the Barbican Centre.