Executive Committee
Peymana Assad
Co-Founder and Co-Chair
Peymana Assad represents South Harrow on the London Borough of Harrow Council and is currently the Shadow Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Environment. Peymana came to the UK as a child refugee and upon her election in 2018 became the first person of Afghan origin elected to public office in the UK. She is the Co-Founder of the Labour Foreign Policy Group, a former parliamentary candidate and was chosen as an Obama Foundation European Leader by President Barack Obama in 2020. Peymana has worked across Westminster and Local Government as well as in the charity sector on gender, peace and security working extensively on Afghanistan. She appears regularly on international and national media outlets. She stood as a Labour Parliamentary candidate in the 2019 General Election, making her the first person of Afghan origin to run in a national election for any major political party in the UK.
Jessica Toale MP
Co-Founder and Co-Chair
Jessica is the Labour MP for Bournemouth West and Labour Councillor in the City of Westminster and qualified barrister. She is a political and international development specialist who has worked with UN agencies, NGOs, development consultancies and universities. She is also a Visiting Fellow at King's College London where she works on the application of DNA technologies to sexual exploitation in the aid industry. Jessica previously served as a Political Advisor to two Shadow Secretaries of State for International Development and was the founding chair of the Fabian Society's International Policy Group. She has written extensively on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, UK's foreign policy and the UK-China relationship. She is a British Council Hammamet Fellow and has participated in the FCO's UK-China Young Leaders' Delegation and GBCC Future Leaders' Delegation. Jessica has a masters in Urbanisation and Development from the London School of Economics (LSE).
Anna-Joy Rickard
Executive Committee Member
Anna-Joy is host and producer of The Great British Foreign Affairs podcast, and an advisor to governments across the world on strategic communications, delivery and leadership. She has previously advised leaders in West Africa on international positioning and crisis management, ministers in Central America on education and entrepreneurship, and European diplomats on conflict resolution and partnerships with the Middle East. Prior to this work she spent a decade in international development, including supporting entrepreneurs in Latin America and Asia, and as the Executive Director of the Centre for Global Equality at Cambridge. She is a qualified leadership coach and was a Labour Councillor in Hackney, East London from 2014-2022.
James Jennion
Executive Committee Member
James is a foreign policy and advocacy professional currently. He is co-director of the Labour Campaign for Human Rights and is an Associate Fellow of the British Foreign Policy Group. He was previously an adviser to the UK Foreign Affairs Committee, where he managed parliamentary inquiries into human rights in China, Myanmar, Eastern Europe, and the UK’s broader engagement in the Indo-Pacific. He has also worked as a senior political affairs adviser at UNICEF UK, where he focused on political advocacy relating to the invasion of Ukraine, and at Amnesty International, where he focused on multilateral responses to improve support for refugees. James leads the Group's work on China, and was the founder of Out of London, a career development programme for working class students. His independent analysis on foreign affairs has been featured in publications such as The Diplomat and Just Security and cited in parliamentary and congressional reports.
Andrew Bruce
Executive Committee Member
Andrew is a foreign policy and democratic governance specialist who has worked for the United Nations, European Commission and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and served as the Executive Director of a non-governmental organisation. In these roles he has led political missions, managed the deployment of international election observation missions, overseen democracy support programmes and written, or contributed to, publications on elections and conflict prevention. He has also provided support to a Labour member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Andrew now combines work in foreign policy with teaching students at an inner-city school in South London. He has a Master’s in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University.
Claire Hickson
Executive Committee Member
Claire Hickson has 25 years’ experience in foreign, development, and climate policy. Her career spans roles as an adviser for the Department for International Development, the Commission for Africa, and numerous high-profile international organisations and campaigns. She set up her consultancy, Trio Policy, in 2009, working for clients such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, E3G, WaterAid, Womankind Worldwide, Business Fights Poverty, STOPAIDS, The Elders, Save the Children UK, Amnesty International UK, Malaria No More UK, Global Fund for Women, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). She has advised on a wide range of topics, including climate change, peace and security, global health, women’s rights, electoral assistance, arms control, multilateralism, international financial architecture reform, African regional organisations, and strategic planning and Africa strategy in the FCDO - with a particular focus on Nigeria where she has worked on numerous occasions in the past. She is also a longstanding Labour Party member, activist, and former councillor and Cabinet member in Southwark.
Toby Dickinson
Executive Committee Member
Toby is a Defence and International Security Policy Consultant, and previously served as an officer in the Royal Air Force. He has worked in UK and NATO air defence roles, as an air adviser with the British Army, the Royal Marines and the US Marine Corps, and served three tours in Afghanistan in addition to other overseas deployments. He has worked for Labour front and backbench MPs, providing political and policy advice on issues including the conflict in Syria, Russia, counter-terrorism, and veterans policy. Toby is also the Co-Chair of Labour Friends of the Forces.