Valerie has been Chair of the Board since 2002 and has helped us achieve our success, including achieving charitable entity status in July 2006.

Raised on a farm in Somerset that reared pigs and made cider, she then graduated in Mathematics and gained a Masters' Degree in Operational Research. Valerie's career has included working for the Government, Readers’ Digest and WWF. After this, she set up a consultancy that developed fundraising strategies for over 25 voluntary organisations. Valerie has since built up a residential property portfolio which she now manages.

Sir David Madden is a retired member of Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service and was British High Commissioner to Cyprus between 1994 - 1999, and then Ambassador to Greece from 1999 - 2004. He has had many other postings including Berlin, Moscow and Belgrade.

In addition to being a Trustee of Compassion, David is also a patron of the Voice for Ethical Research at Oxford.

As a Chartered Certified Accountant for over 10 years, mainly in the charitable sector, Sarah has a multitude of experience working for the financial division of many charities including Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, a Children’s Aid charity focused on providing essentials to war torn areas of the world and for an Educational Trust. She is now the Treasurer of our Board of Trustees.

She was first awoken to Compassion’s campaign work and vision when she attended a talk as a student in Oxford and has been an active supporter ever since.

Teddy spent his working life as a commercial property lawyer at the international law firm, Clifford Chance. He has also been a trustee of the RSPCA Central London Branch, the Peabody Trust, and the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust. He is Electoral Officer for British Fencing, and until late 2012 was also Chair of the Disciplinary and Grievance Panels for that organisation.

When he retired, Teddy wanted to undertake voluntary work for animal welfare, a cause that he had been passionate about since his teens. He had long admired Compassion for our highly rational approach, based on thorough research and carefully targeted lobbying and campaigning. He therefore decided to offer us his services, and later joined the Board.

Joyce is our Ambassador Emeritus and was Chief Executive of Compassion from 1991 - 2005. She now works for us on a consultancy basis.

Joyce played a key role in achieving the UK ban on sow stalls in the nineties and in getting recognition of animal sentience enshrined in the European Union Treaty.

Joyce speaks and publishes widely on the welfare of farm animals. She has given evidence to the UK and New Zealand governments on genetic engineering of animals, and to the UK Government Enquiry into the handling of BSE (‘mad cow disease’). In 2007, she was invited to present to the European Commission’s Group of Ethical Advisers on the welfare aspects of cloning farm animals for food. In 2010 she was asked to participate in an invitee-only workshop on sustainable farming and food with the UK Government’s advisory Committee on Climate Change.

In 2017 the second edition of the expert book she co-edited with Professor John Webster was published: “The Meat Crisis: Developing more sustainable and ethical production and consumption”.

Joyce helped organise Compassion’s major international conference in 2017: “Extinction and Livestock: moving to a flourishing food system for wildlife, farm animals and us” and has co-edited the book based on the conference proceedings. In 2023, she was part of the team organising a follow-up conference, Extinction or Regeneration which explored solutions to transform global food systems for the health of people, animals and the planet.

She is a Patron of the Animal Interfaith Alliance and a Trustee of Help in Suffering, a veterinary centre in Jaipur. She is on the Advisory Council of CreatureKind.

In 2004 Joyce was the joint recipient of the RSPCA Lord Erskine Award in recognition of a “very important contribution in the field of animal welfare”.

In 2015 Joyce was conferred with an honorary Doctorate (D.Litt) by the University of Winchester, in recognition of her work for the welfare of animals. In 2017 she was made a Doctor of the University of Keele (Hon causa).

In June 2023, Joyce published another book, 'Animal Welfare in World Religion: Teaching and Practice', exploring religion and the treatment of animals. 

Joyce grew up on a mixed farm in Ireland and worked and lived in India after graduation. Reading Gandhi’s autobiography started her journey towards working for Compassion. She practices and teaches Tai Chi, enjoys walking and sings in a community choir.

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Every year over sixty billion farm animals are reared for our food, the majority in factory farms. Compassion’s work is crucial to ending this global scandal of suffering and achieving a more harmonious future.

Professor Joy Carter is former Vice-Chancellor of The University of Winchester. She is an academic with research based in geochemistry and health and was a former President of the international society in her field. She is also a Co-Chair of the Climate Commission for UK Higher and Further Education, Chair of St Ethelburgas Centre for Reconciliation and Peace and Chair of the National Governing Body (NGB) of Squash.

Professor Carter was formally the Chair of GuildHE, and for many years served on the Universities UK Board. She has also chaired the Cathedrals Group of Universities and the Church of England’s Advisory Group for the Foundation for Educational Leadership. As an ambassador for higher level skills and vocational learning, Professor Carter chaired the University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC). She was previously the Vice-Chair of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and a former board member of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA).

Professor Carter is patron of six charities and is a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Hampshire. Passionate about all aspects of sustainability and social justice, she has interests in climate change, widening participation, sport and animal welfare. She is an ambassador for Religions for Peace International and a member on the Standing Committee on Nurturing a Sustainable Environment.

Professor Carter was awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours in 2018 for services to Higher Education.

Ria is driven by the heartfelt commitment to reducing animal suffering and creating a kinder world for animals and humans alike. She has dedicated several years to exposing the realities behind factory farms in her role as Co-Executive Director at animal protection organisation Animal Equality Germany.

Currently, Ria is the CEO of Veganuary, a UK based charity and global movement. Veganuary encourages millions of people worldwide to try vegan for January and beyond, while working with hundreds of businesses to drive up vegan food provision in shops and restaurants and making veganism more visible and accessible through their work with national and international media.

Ria brings over 10 years’ experience in senior management in the animal advocacy sector in several countries and a deep understanding of the plant-based food and retail space to Compassion in World Farming.