Heather Buchanan
Heather Buchanan is the Chief Executive Officer of B4NZ and has extensive experience advising Government, trade bodies and civil society on the commercial relationship between banks and their customers. Since COP26, Heather has been tireless in her efforts to focus on the role of finance and banking in supporting the real economy in a just transition. She was thrilled to see this work culminate with B4NZ taking to a global stage as a core partner of the UK Pavilion at COP28. In 2024 Heather was recognised as one of the twenty Trailblazing Women in Climate (Reuters) and shortlisted as Sustainability Leader of the Year (Business Green).
Robin Illingworth
Robin qualified as a solicitor in 1985. After training in Bristol he practiced in the City of London for a number of years before joining the well established firm of Adams & Remers in 1992 becoming a partner in 1995 and senior partner in 2006. Robin’s primary area of expertise is in UK real estate and over the years he has acted for a range of private individuals and corporate entities as well as charities and as a trustee of numerous estates both charitable and non charitable.
For 10 years Robin was a member of the governing council for Roedean School, during which time the school’s role more than doubled in size and established a bursary fund for the education of numerous underprivileged pupils in the exercise of its charitable function.
Robin is a freeman of the City of London, a member of the Skinners company and he is a member of the MCC.
Peter Mejer-Rasmussen
Peter Mejer-Rasmussen is Danish and holds a Diploma in Management and Certificate in Business Administration. He has got a wide experience in working with production companies and specializes in organization development, company turnarounds and change/crisis management. He has been working with international companies (located mostly in the eastern parts of Europe) for almost 20 years.
Working languages: English, German, Latvian, Ukrainian and Danish.
Rupert Pate – Chairman
Rupert holds a BA Hons in Theology from Durham University and has been involved in humanitarian organisations since 2001, serving as Regional Director (West Africa), Trustee, and Global Head of Operations.
He was formerly Managing Director of Stellar Travel/FCm Travel Solutions in Ghana and Nigeria, supporting the Oil & Gas, Mining, and Blue Chip sectors. He also sat on the Stellar Group Operations Board and chaired Ghana’s IATA-affiliated DIP committee.
Rupert earned a CELTA qualification from Cambridge English (part of the University of Cambridge) before transitioning into education. He also holds qualifications in Finance-for-Non-Finance-Managers and General Management. He now resides in Vietnam, teaching adults and professionals.
Graham Ward
Graham Ward received a law degree from Oxford University before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1987 with a medium-sized accountancy practice in London. He then worked for BOC in both the UK and the US, focusing on health care and financial management, before joining PwC where he specialized in business risk management, audit and technology controls. After many years with PwC in the UK, the US, and New Zealand, Graham joined Amazon where he oversaw compliance for FinTech, returning after a few years to compliance and audit with KPMG. Graham now lives in Scotland.