Speaker Biographies

Speakers are shown in the order they confirmed...

Rod King MBE

Founder and Campaign Director
20's Plenty for Us

Rod King started to campaign for lower speed limits in Warrington, UK in 2004. He went on to set up 20’s Plenty for Us in 2007 in order to assist others in communities which wanted lower speeds and speed limits. With a focus on the single issue of campaigning for 20mph limits for most roads across a complete local authority, 20’s Plenty for Us now has 400 local campaigns in UK and elsewhere. It works by empowering local campaigns and acting as a catalyst for communities to change their speed limits. It has been influential in government and transport thinking and guidance on the use and benefits of 20mph limits.

Rod has also engaged with many of the places implementing wide-area 20mph limits which now include the majority of the UK’s largest 40 urban authorities and 80% of Inner London Boroughs. In June 2013 Rod was awarded an MBE for Services to Road Safety in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Rod has an honours degree in Automobile Engineering and provides his time on a voluntary basis. He has spoken at transport, active travel, road safety and public health conferences around the world. In 2017 he worked with the World Health Organisation on developing a Slow Down Day Toolkit for UN Global Road Safety Week which was used in over 1,000 campaigning events around the world.

Matthew Baldwin 

Deputy Director General, DG MOVE

Matthew is Deputy Director General of DG MOVE, with responsibility for the transport "modes" – land (road and rail), waterborne (including ports policy) and aviation - and multimodality.  In addition to these responsibilities, on 2 October 2018, he was appointed as European Coordinator for road safety and related aspects of sustainable  mobility, and these issues are now his main focus.   

He has served in the cabinets of Commissioner Lamy, President Barroso and Commissioner Hill, the last as Head of Cabinet. 

He has two sons, speaks English and French and lives in Brussels.  

Councillor Clyde Loakes

Waltham Forest Deputy Leader.

A Councillor for the Leytonstone Ward in Waltham Forest for the past 20 years, Clyde has a deep understanding of the workings of local and National Government.  He understands how policies are developed and shaped, to deliver for local residents and communities.  Widely respected in local government circles across the political spectrum, Clyde stood down as Leader of Waltham Forest in May ‘09, after 6 years at the helm.

He is a member of the London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee and has helped establish a London Councils ‘Healthy Streets Steering Group’ to help influence TfL’s thinking on this ground breaking agenda.

In his role as Deputy Leader and Environment Portfolio Holder he leads on all transport policies and highways and parking management. He provided political leadership through the initial bid process and is currently providing the same robust political leadership for the implementation and delivery of the multi award winning and ground breaking £27 million Mini-Holland/Enjoy project. 

Clyde won the 2016 London Cycling Awards "Cycling Champion of the Year" in recognition of his leadership on Waltham Forests Mini Holland project and has been shortlisted in the 2018 National Air Quality Awards in the ‘Air Quality Champion’ category.

Andrew Cox

Roads and Transport Policing Command, Metropolitan Police

Andy joined policing in 1999 initially based in Surrey, moving to Northamptonshire in 2005 before transferring to the Metropolitan Police in 2016. Andy is considered a highly successful strategic leader with specialist knowledge and expertise in law enforcement, public safety and security. He has extensive experience in leadership, managing performance, project management, strategic thinking and innovation.

Andy’s currently has a highly prominent role as London’s lead for Vision Zero (road danger reduction) which provides the responsibility of saving life and investigating homicide (road death) whilst strategically managing extreme risks and threats to the community and organisation.  Chair of the ‘national’ strategic board for serious collision investigation; he directly influences across the country and multiple external organisations.  Andy has demonstrated an ability to make a real difference across in road safety; for instance he introduced high profile operations which have achieved notable reductions in killed and serious injury collisions and secured significant public support for his approach.

Holding a Master’s Degree in Criminology and Leadership awarded by Cambridge University; he is nationally recognised for innovation and internationally recognised for personal leadership in tackling social and diverse issues with work described as “the most exciting development in the field of stop search anywhere in the world within the last ten years”.

A proven track record of honesty, integrity and values based outstanding performance within complex, demanding and highly regulated environments.  A strong leader, team player and effective decision maker able to build trust and develop meaningful relationships at both individual and corporate level, communicate well at all levels, problem solve and inspire individuals and organisations to succeed.  Proven ability to set the vision and strategy; achieving significant crime reductions and enhanced detection rates. Creating best practice and improving multi-agency partnerships.  A passion for protecting the vulnerable, keeping people safe and improving lives. Andy is renowned for his interaction with the public and is renowned for his transparency and willingness to see it from the non-policing perspective; winning widespread personal acclaim from survivors and victims of serious abusive crime.

A family man with two grown up healthy, happy and successful sons.  A lifelong sportsman with preferred sports being football and cricket.  A passion and dedication for personal fitness; extreme challenges, having participated in boxing bouts, endurance events and triathlons.’

Christopher Martin

Co-Founder + Director, Urban Strategy

Christopher Martin is an influential urban designer and planner working all over the globe to help communities improve their public spaces, as well as supporting Governments to develop strategy, change policies, and make great places possible.

He is Co-Founder and Director of Urban Strategy at Urban Movement, and a fully qualified Urban Designer and Planner, with over 14 years’ experience leading complex urban projects; focusing on public realm, streets and transport. He consistently adds value through ensuring the seamless integration of urban and landscape design with engineering and transport.

In addition to project work, he is a member of the ‘Urban Design Group’ Executive Committee and Editorial Board; a Trustee of Living Streets, the charity that champions walking in cities; a member of the Placemaking Leadership Council at Project for Public Spaces; a member of London design review panels; and he has been a lecturer and tutor at The Bartlett School of Planning and Architecture for a number of years.

Lee Waters

Deputy Minister for Economy & Transport, Welsh Government

Lee Waters is the Assembly Member for the Llanelli constituency. He was born and raised in Carmarthenshire. He was educated in Brynamman and Ammanford and gained a Degree in Politics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

His policy interests are wide-ranging, including the economy, climate change, provision for looked after children, digital policy and the media.

On 13 December 2018 he was appointed Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport.

Jonathon Passmore

Programme Manager - Violence & Injury Prevention

Jonathon is an Australian public health road safety and injury prevention specialist educated at the University of Western Australia (Bachelor of Science with Honours) and Curtin University of Technology (Master of Public Health and Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health).  Jonathon is an Associate Fellow of the Australasian College of Road Safety.

Prior to first joining WHO, Jonathon worked for the Department of Health and Human Services in the Australian state of Victoria.

Jonathon joined the WHO China Country Office in 2004 where he managed the collaborative road safety and injury prevention program for three years.

Returning to Australia in 2007, Jonathon was the Manager for Major Projects (Road Safety) at the Victorian Transport Accident Commission (TAC) where he managed a range of road safety programs including police enhanced enforcement, motorcycle and vehicle safety and supported the development of TAC's internationally renowned road safety social marketing program.

Jonathon returned to WHO in 2008 to coordinate the implementation in Viet Nam of the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety, a collaborative program led by the National Traffic Safety Committee and focusing on the prevention of drink-driving and strengthening motorcycle helmet wearing , two major road safety risk factors in Viet Nam. 

In 2013, Jonathon took up the post of Technical Lead for Violence and Injury Prevention in WHO’s Western Pacific Region, based in Manila.  This post coordinated all regional programs, providing technical and other support to WHO Country Offices and Member States in road safety, drowning prevention and the prevention of and response to interpersonal violence.

In September 2018, Jonathon was promoted to the post of Programme Manager for Violence and Injury Prevention in the European Regional Office of WHO, based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Stuart Reid

Interim Director of Vision Zero, Transport for London

Stuart Reid is TfL’s Interim Director of Vision Zero. Stuart has worked in the field of transport and behaviour change since 1993. In that time he has been the organiser of National Bike Week, a contributing author to the Manual for Streets and developed and implemented the Travel Demand Management behaviour change strategy around the London 2012 Olympics. He joined TfL in 2013.

Cllr Tim Mitchell

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment and City Management, Westminster City Council

Tim Mitchell was first elected to Westminster City Council in 1998. Representing the ward of St James', Tim has lived in Westminster for nearly 30 years. Currently, Tim is the Cabinet Member for Environment and City Management and Deputy Leader of Westminster City Council.

Within this Cabinet portfolio, Tim covers environmental sustainability, air quality and biodiversity; parks and open spaces; street cleansing; waste and recycling; highways and transport; parking; road safety and walking and cycling strategies.

Anna Semlyen

National Campaign Manager 20’s Plenty for Us

A (mostly) recovered road victim who began slower speeds activism in 1996. Award winning campaigner supporting over 430 20’s Plenty branches. 20’s Plenty for York lead. Author of Cutting Your Car Use (sales at 145,000). Former City of York Councillor/Scrutiny Chair for Economic and City Development. Former Columnist for Car Busters. Founder member of Vision Zero UK.  Introducing Campaigner of the Year 

Dovile Adminaite-Fodor

Project Manager, European Transport Safety Council

Dovile Adminaite is a Project Manager at the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), a non-governmental organisation based in Brussels dedicated to reducing the number of road deaths and serious injuries across Europe. Dovile is leading the Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) programme which focuses on comparing EU Member States’ performance in different road safety areas, promoting best road safety practices in Europe and delivering policy recommendations and expert advice to decision makers. She is responsible for PIN publications and liaising with national research organisations as well as road safety experts from 32 participating countries to ensure that the assessments carried out within the project are based on scientific evidence and are effectively communicated to European road safety policymakers. Dovile organises national road safety debates in different EU countries and the annual PIN road safety conference in Brussels.

She previously worked on transport issues for Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU and in the Transport Unit at the Council of the EU.

Amanda Russell

Campaign Leader, 20's Plenty for Faversham

In 2013 I moved from London to Faversham with my partner and two-year old son, fully expecting

traffic to be less of an issue. In fact, the opposite is true. There is less specific provision for
pedestrians and cyclists, traffic is fast moving and the boundaries between pedestrians, cyclists and
vehicles are lax. Large scale development is also creating severe congestion and affecting air
quality.

I started to monitor what was happening and listen to what people living here had to say about it. I
learned of a resident who had been killed on a zebra crossing and then a year later the same thing
happened again and then a school-child was knocked down by a Taxi. So, I decided I should do
something and contacted the 20’s Plenty campaign.

I knew nothing about campaigning or road safety when I started, I am a picture editor and
photographer. Four years later, I know a bit more and in May, thanks to my fellow campaigners and
a network of very supportive people, we achieved a consensus with our local authority for a townwide limit, subject to a positive public consultation.

Phil Jones

Director, Phil Jones Associates

Phil heads up the firm and has over 30 years’ experience in the planning and design of development infrastructure, with particular expertise in traffic analysis, transport planning and highway design.

Phil specialises in achieving synergy between highway and urban design, with the aim of creating places and spaces that meet aesthetic, social and functional aims. He advises a large number of private and public sector clients on transportation and infrastructure matters.

Cllr Alex Ehmann

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transport, London Borough of Richmond

Alexander Ehmann is Deputy Leader of the Council in the. London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames (and Chairman of the Transport and Air Quality Committee).  

Alexander has been a councillor for St Margaret’s and North Twickenham ward for the past five years and lives locally with his wife and three young sons.

Prior to involvement in local government, Alexander served on the Government’s Regulatory Policy Committee, advising ministers on the assessment of impacts from their regulatory proposals.

He has previously held roles at the Institute of DIrectors and PhonePayPlus (the telecommunications regulator).

Deborah Sims

Senior Vice President, CIHT

Deborah Sims is a Chartered Engineer with over 25 years’ experience in road safety engineering, highway design, asset management and maintenance. She is currently a Programme Director at the School of Engineering at the University of Greenwich at Medway. Her teaching includes Project Management & Appraisal, Engineering Professional Skills, Construction Management & Technology, and Highway Engineering. She is the Programme Leader for the Civil Engineering Degree Apprenticeship, Engineering Employability Champion, Industrial Placements Officer, and a member of the Civil Engineering Industrial Advisory Board. A STEM Ambassador and chair of the Careers Guidance Steering Group for CIHT, developing materials for use in schools and colleges to encourage young people to consider careers in the built environment, Deborah is also a Professional Reviewer and Mentor, having reviewed over 100 CEng and IEng candidates. She is a Trustee of Chatham Maritime Trust and of CIHT.

Dr Paul Pilkington

Senior Lecturer in Public Health, University of the West of England

Dr Paul Pilkington is a registered Public Health Specialist and Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol. Paul has undertaken a wide range of research projects with impact in the field of healthy and sustainable environments, with funders including Wellcome Trust, NICE, NIHR, and Public Health England. Taking a socio-ecological perspective, Paul’s research centres on how the promotion of healthy and sustainable environments can impact on population health and wellbeing. Paul's particular interests include how to reduce danger in the road environment, and better consideration of health in the development and spatial planning process. He recently led on the evaluation of the 20mph speed limit in Bristol.