James Brett
Chairman & CEO
As Founder of Plant for Peace, James has overseen the development of the Plant for Peace strategy since early 2007.
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James Brett
Chairman & CEO
As Founder of Plant for Peace, James has overseen the development of the Plant for Peace strategy since early 2007. James founded the first commercial pomegranate juice drink in UK and Europe and has developed numerous innovative product ideas including the first Plant for Peace product range from Afghanistan. James passion for change has led him on a remarkable journey determining the Plant for Peace strategy involving all parties such as Tribal Elders, farmers, Taliban, Government of Afghanistan, multinational food companies, donors and Royal families.
James drive and motivation stem from his life’s experiences and his respect for the less fortunate, environment and nature, and understanding the importance of the connection between people and a natural food chain. James conviction has led him to risk his life on numerous occasions to ensure the success of Plant for Peace.
David Thomlinson
Advisor to the Chairman
David started his career with the Engineering Consultancy Arup. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering ( FREng ) and a Chartered Engineer - being a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and also the Institution of Structural Engineers.
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David Thomlinson
Advisor to the Chairman
David started his career with the Engineering Consultancy Arup. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering ( FREng ) and a Chartered Engineer - being a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and also the Institution of Structural Engineers.
He spent 28 years with the Global Management Consulting firm Accenture which included 11 years as a member of the Global Management Board. His responsibilities included Group Chief Executive of the Resources ( Energy, Utilities, Chemicals and Natural Resources ) Operating Group, Head of the UK and Ireland business and the Chief Geographic Strategy and Operations Officer. In this latter role, he was based in Shanghai and was responsible for Accenture’s Geographic operations across 56 countries
He retired from Accenture in 2014 and has developed a portfolio of new roles. These include: International Chairman of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Chairman of Moixa Energy - a smart battery company, Strategic Advisor and member of the Digital Council at Arup. He is also an advisor to TeachFirst, a member of the Global Advisory Council for Teach For All and a member of the European Advisory Board for the Professional Boards Forum.
Oliver Stewart
Commercial Advisor
Oliver has over 13 years experience as a strategy consultant, initially at Accenture and more recently running his own consulting company. He's worked in the UK and internationally for leading consumer goods companies and retailers, channelling his enthusiasm for helping others into developing their strategies and improving their ways of working.
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Oliver Stewart
Commercial Advisor
Oliver has over 13 years experience as a strategy consultant, initially at Accenture and more recently running his own consulting company. He's worked in the UK and internationally for leading consumer goods companies and retailers, channelling his enthusiasm for helping others into developing their strategies and improving their ways of working.
Prior to his consulting career, Oliver was a manufacturing engineer for a fast-growing cake company and has a masters degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Cambridge.
Oliver firmly believes that the best organisations are those that put societal goals at the centre of their business model. He's challenged businesses to bring their purpose to life and has worked with companies to measure their impact and drive them towards a more sustainable future.
A childhood largely abroad has given Oliver a lasting curiosity about the world which he enjoys sharing with his children. He also loves a good adventure, especially if it involves the mountains, and can often be found climbing, skiing or mountaineering.
Paul Gurney
Strategy and Sustainability Advisor
Paul is a Director in Accenture Strategy and currently leads Accenture's Sustainability team in the UK, having formerly led its businesses Africa and the Middle East.
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Paul Gurney
Strategy and Sustainability Advisor
Paul is a Director in Accenture Strategy and currently leads Accenture's Sustainability team in the UK, having formerly led its businesses Africa and the Middle East. Paul is a specialist in corporate strategy and has delivered projects at a number of FT Global 500 companies. His focus is on developing corporate strategies that drive significant 'shared value' - tangible business and societal benefits.
Paul is also the founder of BecomingX, an organisation set up to help 100m people realise their full potential. He works with some of the world's most inspirational and iconic people (Presidents, Nobel Peace Prize Winners, Olympic Gold Medallists, CEOs etc.) to help demystify what it takes to be 'successful'.
Paul really believes in making a difference and pushing himself to the absolute limit - both professionally and personally. Prior to founding BecomingX, Paul set up a charity initiative to enable people to take part in 'extreme' challenge events - this raised over $5m for VSO. In 2014, Paul became only one of 3 people in history to have completed the two 'toughest races on earth' - The Polar Race (a 620km race to the North Pole) and the Marathon Des Sables (a 260km) multiday ultramarathon in the Sahara desert. To add to this challenge, he did them both in the same year www.fireandicechallenge.com.
Paul travels extensively and has independently visited over 130 countries.
Norbert Stock
COO
Since 2013 Norbert has overseen the establishment of the Plant for Peace supply chains from sourcing smallholder farmer produce in Afghanistan to building relationships with international production facilities ...
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Norbert Stock
COO
Since 2013 Norbert has overseen the establishment of the Plant for Peace supply chains from sourcing smallholder farmer produce in Afghanistan to building relationships with international production facilities who produce the Plant for Peace products.
Norbert started his career studying Electronics at Delft University in The Netherlands and then commenced worldwide trading of electronic components and measurement equipment.
Norbert previously established an organic farm in Ghana exporting organic food products and fresh fish.
Owning a furniture factory in The Netherlands, Norbert obtained an environmentally friendly foresting license and factory in Kalimantan (Indonesia), a wood processing plant in Java as well as wood product and electronic component trading companies in Singapore.
Norbert previously owned a shipyard in East Germany building fishing boats.
Norbert has friends in, and has been going to Afghanistan, for the past 35 years.
A great asset to the team, Norbert's experience ensures modern production facilities are established in volatile territories.
Nick Melluish
Director
After finishing his Ancient History degree (focusing on Persia) at Newcastle upon Tyne University, Nick started his career in financial management with Invesco Perpetual, Jupiter Asset Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Management (which became the world's largest Asset manager: BlackRock). ...
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Nick Melluish
Director
After finishing his Ancient History degree (focusing on Persia) at Newcastle upon Tyne University, Nick started his career in financial management with Invesco Perpetual, Jupiter Asset Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Management (which became the world's largest Asset manager: BlackRock).
He moved into War & Terrorism Insurance at Tysers, acting as a broker in Lloyds of London. He met James Brett in 2011 and was absorbed by his vision for world peace and well-being. The dream of planting trillions of fruit trees, impacting Climate Change, helping small holder farmers increase their yield and ultimately reopening post conflict countries' commodities industry to the developed world meant that he wanted to help Brett in anyway he could.
After meeting Brett again in 2012 Nick started investing in Plant for Peace and introducing individuals whom he felt could have an impact on Plant for Peace's journey. He began helping James by raising investments and on projects in Afghanistan, supporting the unique in-country network and was amazed at it's size – it included the former and current President, government ministers, tribal elders across Afghanistan and Pakistan. He could see that Plant for Peace would have a huge impact on Afghanistan and the rest of the world.
Nick is on the Art for Youth board, in London, which raises money for UK Youth and has helped charities in Africa and Asia. He believes that much unity can be gained via sport and music internationally. He is a member of the MCC and is a keen cricketer. He gained his football coaching certificate at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
More recently he has worked at Dentsu Aegis Network [Media] and Westminster City Council [liaising with the British government] but at present is studying Permaculture with the intention of helping Plant for Peace's quest.
Amer Alhusain
Middle East and Central Asia Advisor
Amer is an international executive with background in finance and media that spans over 9 years of work in the Middle East and Europe.
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Amer Alhusain
Middle East and Central Asia Advisor
He has considerable experience working with Arab Gulf banks having worked with Qatar National Bank QNB and also working with Lloyds insurance. Previously he worked as executive assistant to the Syrian Finance Minister and helped launch the first ever Damascus Stock Exchange as well as working on fiscal policies with the World Bank and IMF.
He also worked at IMG as head of the Middle East and North Africa desk advising the leadership of the company on Arab politics and representing the company in media and political forums. Amer combines a unique financial and media experiences from Frankfurt, Dubai, Damascus and London to add to P4P portfolio of expertise with connectivity to global markets.
In 2011, Amer joined P4P with a focus on development through business in Afghanistan and advising the P4P founder and his team on Middle Eastern politics. He remains part of the team and he is working along with our founder, James Brett on expanding the initiative into other conflict and post conflict territories in the Middle East.
Amer was born in Aleppo, Syria and lived in places like Libya, UK, UAE and Lebanon amongst many other countries.
Christopher Melluish
Non Executive Director
Born in 1936 ,Christopher Melluish was educated at Rossall School in Lancashire UK, and then under National Service was commissioned into The Kings Shropshire Light Infantry serving in Kenya ...
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Christopher Melluish
Non Executive Director
Born in 1936 ,Christopher Melluish was educated at Rossall School in Lancashire UK, and then under National Service was commissioned into The Kings Shropshire Light Infantry serving in Kenya towards the end of the Mau Mau rebellion and in Bahrain at the time of the Suez crisis. From 1957-1960 Christopher studied classics at Cambridge University, starting at Lazard Brothers and Co Ltd, merchant bank, undertaking graduate training. After moving through various departments of the firm he settled in the Private clients investment management division where he looked after many portfolios and trusts for high net worth families. Christopher became head of department and a director of the Bank before retiring in 1996. Christopher immediately became involved in much charitable work always as a volunteer, starting as Hon Treasurer of the National Gardens Scheme for the statutory 9 years and Chairman of the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust for 17 years. Christopher remains involved with both organisations but also serves on the Development Committee of the Anglican Centre in Rome, is an honorary committee member of Art for Youth, a fund raising activity of The charity UK Youth, a member of The Lambeth Fellowship which supports the Archbishop of Canterbury, a Trustee of the St Albans Abbey Music Trust, Chairman of the trustees of Future Living Hertford, a growing addiction centre, while he is still a trustee for several well established family trusts. Christopher has been a non-executive director of Plant for Peace for several years.
William Kealy
Head of Ingredient Sourcing
William is Head of Ingredient Sourcing, Processing and Export Preparation at Plant for Peace. An avid member of the Plant for Peace team, William has spent time in Afghanistan helping ...
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William Kealy
Head of Ingredient Sourcing
William is Head of Ingredient Sourcing, Processing and Export Preparation at Plant for Peace. An avid member of the Plant for Peace team, William has spent time in Afghanistan helping develop Pomegranate Leaf preparation methods and strengthening the Mulberry supply chain of the Mulberries used in the Plant for Peace fruit bar range.
