Board of Trustees

Oliver Brown - Founder

Oliver is a Teacher of PSHE, Citizenship, History, and RE at a leading West London School. He has experience working in Primary education and in academia, organising a workshop, and presenting a paper, at the 4th World Congress of Logic and Religion in Sinaia, Romania.

 Oliver’s experiences studying Philosophy, teaching students, alongside his keen interest in current affairs led him to found Common Understanding to work with schools to develop the critical thinking capabilities and media literacy skills of students across the country.

Simon Martin - Chair

Simon has spent 40 years working in social housing and wider community development. He was one of the first resident engagement workers in the country and has been involved in a number of award-winning schemes that enabled residents to question the delivery of services. He has worked across London and the Southeast and led training and major projects with local authorities and large scale Housing Associations.

Simon has always been active voluntarily and has been a member of the Board of TPAS the leading tenant engagement agency in the country and chaired SWLEN in South West London for 5 years helping the charity into a successful merger during the difficult COVID times. Simon was a school governor for many years both at primary and secondary level and was involved in one successful OFSTED inspection. He was involved in a number of difficult cases regarding exclusion - and saw first-hand the difficulties these can cause.

Away from work Simon is very keen on history - and completed a master’s on The Second World War - Conflict, Societies and the holocaust. Simon is a Fellow of the RSA.

Martin O'Donovan

Martin O'Donovan is an Assistant Head at a primary school in South East London. Prior to retraining as a teacher, Martin spent twenty years working in politics and public affairs. From 2003-2007, he was Special Adviser to the Rt Hon Ian McCartney MP, serving in the Cabinet Office, Foreign Office and the Department for Trade and Industry. Martin then spent five years as the Director of the Parliamentary Labour Party. From 2012 to 2018, Martin was Vice President for Media and Government Relations at Pearson, the global education company and owner of the Edexcel and BTEC qualifications. Since retraining as a teacher in 2018, he has frequently advised colleagues on engaging primary school children in sensitive and sometimes political topics, as part of the teaching of the PSHE primary curriculum, and brings these perspectives to the Common Understanding Board.

Shaina Sangha

Shaina is a researcher in the policy making team at the Institute for Government, a leading independent think tank focused on how to make government more effective. Her research specialises in policy making for groups historically underserved by the state, and she has featured in the national and international press as well as speaking as an expert witness in Parliament. Shaina has also worked on policy relating to public finances and government economic policy and previously worked as research and communications officer for a shadow minister in Parliament.

Katherine Keddie

Katherine Keddie is the Co-founder of Adopter, a global marketing partner for frontier technologies in climate and adaptation. She also mentors new tech founders on prestigious accelerators like SOSV IndieBio and Conception X. She brings expertise in communications and knowledge sharing in the context of AI. 

Samuel Smith

Following a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Durham University, Sam had a brief career within Private Equity Advisory. Currently he is a Teacher of Economics at a coeducational day and boarding school in Sussex. He is passionate about the education of young people believes now is the time to reform the way in which young people are educated on current affairs, given the shifting information environment. Common Understanding is perfectly positioned to support the educational development of pupils and staff for greater change within this sphere. The experiences within finance and education that he brings will allow the charity to be supported as it seeks to achieve it important mission.

David Cohen

David is an experienced fundraiser and strategic player in the charity sector having worked in the education, healthcare, mental health, and international development space. He volunteers across multiple boards and panels and enjoys writing fiction in his spare time.

Sev Baker

Sev is a Venture Capital Investor at Pembroke, investing in brilliantly ambitious founders that are aiming to improve the world. He studied at both Durham and Cambridge University, where he cemented a lasting interesting in politics and aiming for positive social change. Sev also volunteers with refugee and asylum seekers and takes on deliberated absurd challenges (24 hours of Karaoke, running ultra-marathons) to raise money for charity and keep important conversations visible. Sev joined Common Understanding as a trustee to help democratise access to critical thinking skills, supporting schools and teachers to equip students with the tools to navigate complex social and political issues.