Anne Thurston, OBE, Director
Dr Thurston, founder of the Trust, is a pioneer in defining international solutions for the management of public sector records. Both as an academic and as a programme director, she has extensive experience of working with many different governments to provide practical solutions for strengthening record-keeping systems. Her groundbreaking survey of record-keeping systems across the Commonwealth resulted in the establishment of pilot projects to restructure records systems in The Gambia and Ghana, and she established the Trust in 1989 to develop and extend this work. In developing the Trust, Dr Thurston drew on her extensive experience in the records and archives field. Between 1970 and 1980, she worked in Kenya, where she conducted research and was employed by the Government of Kenya in the National Archives before joining the staff of the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies at University College London in 1980. There she developed the Masters’ in Records and Archives Management (International) and was a Reader in International Records Studies. She served as a member of the UK Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Public Records between 1994 and 2000; and in 2000 she was awarded an OBE for services to public administration in Africa; she received a lifetime achievement award from the UK Records Management Society in 2006. Currently, she serves on the international advisory panel for the Endangered Archives Programme, which is administered by the British Library on behalf of the Lisbet Arcadia Trust (formerly the Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund).
James Lowry, Deputy Director
James started his career in records and archives in the state government of South Australia. After moving to the UK in 2007, he worked in the public and private sectors and joined the Trust in 2009. During his time with the Trust, he has led a digital records management project in Nigeria, which won the Records and Information Management Awareness Foundation award for Health Information Management Project of the Year in 2011. He was project manager for the IDRC-funded Aligning Records Management with ICT, e-Government and Freedom of Information in East Africa research project, which examined public sector records management capacity across Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. James is a member of the international project team developing implementation guidelines and training material for the ICA’s Principles and Functional Requirements for Records in Electronic Office Environments (ICA-Req), and sits on the board of the Nigerian Institute for Information Management. He holds a Masters degree in Information Management (Archives and Record-Keeping) from Curtin University.
Andrew Griffin, Programme Manager
Anthea Seles, Project Officer
Anthea, a doctoral candidate at University College London studying digital repositories and developing nations, joined the Trust in September 2010. Prior to coming to London, she worked as the Archivist, Records Manager and Privacy Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada (2003-2010). She is a graduate of the Masters of Archival Studies Program at the university of British Columbia. She co-authored the Trust’s training module on Preserving Electronic Records (2009) along with Adrian Brown, Shadrack Katuu and Peter Sebina, and she has presented several papers at the Association of Canadian Archivists conferences as well as one at I-CHORA 2. She has served as a member of the Canadian Council of Archives National Adjudication Committee for National Archival Development Program Grants (2010) and as a member of the Religious Archivists Working Group for the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commision (2009-2010); she was President of the Archivists Association of British Columbia (2005-2007).
Polly North, Operations Manager
Polly North graduated from Goldsmiths University with an English Literature degree in 2001 and soon realised that a love for English Renaissance poetry was not going to help earn a living. She started her career as a researcher, then as an assistant producer for a television documentary company in Wales, making political and arts programmes for BBC 2, BBC 4 and BBC Wales. She worked on the arts series, The Private Life of A Masterpiece and on the documentary series, Treasures of the British Museum. In 2008, she decided that she wanted to work in the third sector and moved to London to work as Operations Manager for the UK Jewish Film Festival, an arts charity that showcases a range of documentaries and films throughout the UK. In 2011, she won a place on the Vodafone World of Difference scheme and worked for Street Child of Sierra Leone as media and communications adviser, fundraiser, and ‘wing man’ to the charity’s manager and director. She continues to play an active role as a volunteer for Street Child of Sierra Leone. On completion of the scheme, she joined the International Records Management Trust. Amongst other responsibilities, she manages the IRMT’s communications, website, office and project logistics and finances. She still has an enduring passion for all things literary.
Janet Solis, Finance Officer
Janet is a trained accounting technician (Association of Accounting Technicians NVQ Level 4) with a background in accounts and office administration. She manages the Trust’s day-to-day finance and accounting operations, as well as undertaking general administrative duties for the Trust. She supports the management team on financial management and forecasting, and provides administrative support for all colleagues.
Clive Goldstein, Financial Controller
Clive Goldstein has an MBA from Manchester Business School and was Finance Director for an SME company for many years. He serves as a consultant to the Trust on all financial matters. He is responsible for overseeing monthly management accounts, monitoring project budget activity, maintaining and improving Trust financial management procedures and ensuring that financial reports meet audit and management requirements.
