Our trustees
James Smith CBE
James was brought up near Inverness in the north of Scotland. He has a degree in physics from Aberdeen and is a chartered accountant.
In addition to his work with the AFBE Foundation, James is co-chair with the Energy Minister of the Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage Council and a member of the finance and audit committee of the Energy Institute.
James worked for Accenture before joining Shell in the early 1980s. He retired from Shell in 2011 after seven years as chair of Shell UK. He and his family lived for a period in Malaysia and Brunei. He worked on Shell business in a number of Middle Eastern countries and in the US. He was head of technology in Shell Chemicals.
In the past, James was chair of the Carbon Trust; chair of the advisory board of the Grantham Institute on Climate Change at Imperial College and LSE; chair of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama; President of the Energy Institute; and a trustee of the Science Museum. He was a member of the advisory boards of Opportunity Now and Race for Opportunity, the employer groups for gender and racial diversity.
Susan Grayson
Director, Resourcing, Talent, D&I and L&D, Younique Inclusion Ltd
Susan Grayson is Director, Resourcing, Talent, D&I and L&D at Younique Inclusion Ltd . With 30 years Oil & Gas experience, within both operators and supply chain, Susan has a background spanning, commercial, hydrocarbon sales & transportation, hydrocarbon accounting, fiscal measurement and diversity & inclusion. Susan is a committee member of the AXIS Network (cross industry balanced business network) and the Aberdeen section of InterEnergy (LGBTQ+ industry network).
Susan has chaired the Spirit Energy, employee led diversity and inclusivity network and was involved in the set-up of this network during her time at Centrica Energy. Susan is committed to making our industry more diverse, gender balanced and inclusive.
Susan has previously spoken on the Women’s Energy Council panel at the World Energy Capital Assembly
She is also currently Senior DE &I adviser and Menopause Coach at Harbour Energy
Professor David Mba
Professor David Mba joined Birmingham City University in October 2023 as Vice-Chancellor (VC). David’s role is to lead and develop the strategic vision and aspirations of the University.
David is chair of the Birmingham Cultural Compact, co-chair of the Black Leaders in HE network, and a member of the Advance HE Board. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and a Principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Dr Nike Folayan MBE HonFREng
Dr Nike Folayan MBE is a chartered electronics engineer with a doctorate in electronics engineering. She is a Fellow of the IET. Nike is currently Technical Director and the Technical Discipline Leader for Communications and Control at WSP an engineering consultancy where she leads a team of telecommunications engineers working on a variety of projects within the transport industry including railways and the highways projects in the UK, Australia, Middle East and Africa. She is also a technical blogger on SMART technology systems.
Nike is also a Trustee at EngineeringUK and StemetteFutures, and on the engineering industrial panel at the University of Kent. Nike was featured in Britain’s 100 most influential people of African and Caribbean heritage 2012 Powerlist. She was on the Engineering Leadership Scholarship Steering Group for the Royal Academy of Engineering. She was a judge at the IET Young Woman of the Year 2019 Award. She is Patron of the Croydon Supplementary Education Project. She was on the board of commissioners for the Hamilton Commission working alongside Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE and Sir Lewis Hamilton MBE HonFREng. She was awarded an MBE for services to diversity in engineering in the Queen’s New Year Honours List in 2020. She was awarded honorary Doctorates degree from the University of Kent (Doctor of Science), Honorary Doctor of Engineering by University of Sheffield and honorary Doctor of Technology (DSc) by the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). She is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Stephanie Travers
Stephanie Travers has made waves in the motorsport industry, starting as a Petronas Trackside Fluid Engineer for teams including Mercedes, Aston Martin, McLaren and Williams. Earning recognition as the first woman of colour to stand on an F1 podium at the Styrian Grand Prix in 2020, she represented the Mercedes AMG F1 team alongside 7-time World Champion Sir Lewis Hamilton.
Stephanie’s educational background in chemistry, with a BEng in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bradford and an MSc in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London, laid a foundation as an Asset Care Engineer at BASF. In 2019, she joined Formula 1. Within a short span of three years, she joined Extreme E’s Team X44 as an Associate Sporting Director. Simultaneously, she handled the responsibilities of being a Partnership Manager at Mission 44 – a charitable initiative founded by Sir Lewis Hamilton.
Now Senior Development Officer at Mission 44, Stephanie’s main endeavour is to empower young people from underserved sections of society by creating a diverse and inclusive industry. Stephanie has also been Deputy Team Principal at Team X44, developing her leadership and management skills even further. As an advocate for diversity and inclusion in the sport, Stephanie has been invited to speak with One Young World and F1’s Media & Technology Centre to share her views on this subject.