Meet the Team

Oliver McTernan 

Co-Founder and Director

Oliver has an established background in conflict resolution and mediation. He was a Visiting Fellow of the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs at Harvard University 2000-2003. He was responsible for initiating the first post-Kosovo conflict talks between NATO and the Belgrade government. His book Violence in God’s Name explores the role of religion in an age of conflict. He broadcasts regularly on radio and television.

Jordan Morgan 

Director of Programmes

Jordan is Forward Thinking’s Director of Programmes which aim to deliver intensive and expansive processes of political dialogue and high level mediation in the region.

He previously managed Forward Thinking’s UK Programmes and was formerly a researcher at a think tank specialising in political violence. He currently serves as a trustee of the Drive Forward Foundation.

He read Geography at Aberystwyth University and holds an MA in Geopolitics, Territory and Security from King’s College London.

Cecily Bayliss

WSF Programme Manager

Cecily is the WSF Programme Manager. The WSF network facilitates dialogue between women parliamentarians, government officials, and relevant experts in the Gulf-MENA region and Europe to address challenges that disproportionately impact women’s livelihoods.

Prior to joining Forward Thinking, she studied Theology at the University of Edinburgh, where she developed particular interest in Islamic Theology and the role of religion in peacebuilding processes.

Harry Weeks

Programme Officer

Harry is the Middle East Programme Officer. He works with the Director of Programmes to support the Middle East Programme, which aims to build a strong network of high-level officials, parliamentarians, and religious leaders, in order to promote an inclusive Israeli-Palestinian peace process and facilitate dialogue between key political and religious leaders.

He studied History and Politics at Oxford University, where he developed a particular interest in the politics of the Middle East. After graduating, he lived in Cairo for one year to study Arabic.

Trustees

William Sieghart CBE

William Sieghart, Co- Founder and Chairman of Forward Thinking, has a distinguished career in publishing and the arts. He is the founder of National Poetry Day, the Forward Poetry Prize, The Big Arts Week and Bedtime Reading Week. He founded StreetSmart: Action for the Homeless, and is also a governor of the British Institute of Human Rights. He is chairman of the Arts Foundation and was a member of the Arts Council from 2000-2006 and chairman of its Lottery Panel.

Dympna Hayes

Dympna Hayes was a career diplomat in the Irish foreign service from 1986 until September 2020. During this time, she served in a range of bilateral and multilateral postings at home and overseas covering the European Union and United Nations. Dympna was Ireland’s Representative to the Palestinian Authority from 2012 -2014, and Ireland’s Ambassador to Sweden from 2017- 2020. Ms Hayes was also appointed by the Irish Government as Special Envoy for Ireland’s recent campaign for election as a Non-Permanent member of the UN Security Council, with a special focus on the Caribbean region. She joined Forward Thinking’s Board of Trustees in the summer of 2021.

Sir Jeremy Greenstock GCMG

Sir Jeremy was a career diplomat from 1969 to 2004, developing specialisations in the Middle East, Transatlantic Relations and the United Nations. His postings included Dubai, Washington, Saudi Arabia, Paris and New York. He served as Political Director in London from 1996 to 1998, as UK Ambassador to the UN in New York from 1998 to 2003 and as UK Special Envoy for Iraq, based in Baghdad, from 2003 to 2004. After retiring from government service, Sir Jeremy directed the Ditchley Foundation from 2004 to 2010 and was a Director of De La Rue plc from 2005 to 2013. He chaired the UN Association-UK from 2011 to 2016.

Justin Dowley

Justin Dowley is chairman of Melrose Industries plc and a director of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust plc and a number of private companies. He is a deputy chairman of the Takeover Panel, a steward of The Jockey Club and runs a farming business in East Suffolk. A chartered accountant, Justin qualified with Price Waterhouse and was latterly Vice Chairman of EMEA Investment Banking, a division of Nomura International PLC. He was also a founder partner of Tricorn Partners, Head of Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch Europe and a director of Morgan Grenfell.

Michael Holland

Michael Holland was raised in the Middle East and has long standing personal and professional contacts in the region. He has for many years been involved in the shipping markets and is a partner in Jubilee Ships which specialises in advising, building and trading tankers on behalf of a number of Arab Governments. He is a Trustee of Rackets Cubed which promotes STEM education and Tennis programs in underprivileged areas of the UK, and was the founder of OilAid which is a fundraising platform which supports a wide range of charities for children.

Chris Donnelly

Chris Donnelly is the Senior Fellow at The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. Between 1989-2003, as Special Adviser to four NATO Secretaries General, Chris was closely involved in dealing with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the reform of the newly emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. He left NATO in 2003 to set up and run the UK Defence Academy’s Advanced Research and Assessment Group. In 2010 he became co - Director of The Institute for Statecraft.

Francis Campbell

Francis Campbell is a British diplomat and academic. Since January 2020, he has been the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia. He has served as a member of the Foreign Service, with postings covering the European Union, the United Nations Security Council in New York and Italy. Between 1999 and 2003, he served on the staff of the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, as a Policy Adviser in the No.10 Policy Unit and then as a Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Between 2005 and 2011 he served as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Holy See and as Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan between 2011 and 2013.