About UsOur Trustees

Cliff Hampton

Cliff Hampton became Board Chair in June 2016. Cliff has over 30 years of Investment Banking experience with Phoenix Securities, Donaldson, Lufkin &Jenrette and Chaired Lexicon Partners for 11 years and Fenchurch Advisory for 3 years.

He was previously the Chairman and Founder of Marshgate Developments Limited. He was Chairman of Godolphin & Latymer School for five years until 2018 and continues to sit on the School’s Bursary Fund, Development and Finance Committees. He was a founding partner of Vamizi, a luxury island retreat and conservation project in Mozambique.

He was appointed Global Chairman of Opportunity International in November 2018.

Michael Crofton-Briggs

Michael was the City of Oxford's most senior town planner for 13 years and overall his career as a chartered town planning professional spans nearly 40 years. After a successful career in local government, in 2015 he set up his own company, MCB Planning Ltd, and he has been working on a wide range of commissions in Oxford. Michael was invited to be a trustee of OIUK in 2017. He is also active as a trustee of an Oxford charity that supports the homeless and secretary of the PCC of a North Oxford church.

Nigest Haile

Nigest is the Founder & Executive Director of the Center for Accelerated Women’s Economic Empowerment (CAWEE), Trade Promotion Organisation involved in promoting women exporters. Nigest has over 30 years’ experience in enterprise development with a focus on women's enterprises, currently involved in facilitating intra-African trade, women taking the lead, among four countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda.

She is one of the founders of Ethiopian Women’s Commercial Bank (Enat Bank). She is currently Advisory Board member for Women in Africa ( WIA) and Executive Board Member for Healing Hands of Joy.

Roger Witcomb

Roger Witcomb is currently Chair of Ofgem’s RIIO-2 Challenge Group.

In a career spanning nearly 50 years he has worked at the Competition and Markets Authority, the Competition Commission, Winchester University, Infraco and Globeleq (developers of infrastructure projects in developing countries), CDC, Anglian Water, Saxton Bampfylde, National Power, Winchester College, BP, Cambridge University and the Bank of England.

Sam Bamert

Sam has broad experience spanning a 25+ year career across the finance, fintech and charity sectors. She worked for almost 20 years for Barclays during which she engaged intensively in a number of diversity initiatives. She then founded a fintech with a mission to address financial exclusion for credit worthy yet under-served small and micro businesses in the UK, pioneering the development of behavioural science and inclusive models combining leading technology with human interaction to optimise outcomes.

She previously served as Trustee and Treasurer for a UK based charity that helped society’s most vulnerable children by providing therapy through school-based intervention. 

Simon Martin

Simon Martin worked as a lawyer for 28 years in investment management, most recently serving as General Counsel of Ruffer LLP until 2021.  Simon was invited to be a trustee of OIUK in 2022.  He is also a trustee of his local church.

Tineyi Emmanuel Mawocha

Tineyi is the Africa Regional Director for Opportunity International. He joined Opportunity International in 2014 as CEO of Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB) (Rwanda), then CEO of Opportunity Bank Uganda from 2016 to 2020.

Tineyi has over 20 years experience in commercial and retail banking as well as microfinance. His initial training was in hospitality management and he worked in this industry in the UK and Zimbabwe.  Tineyi is an advisor and faculty member of Accion’s Board Leadership for Impact programme. He is also a member of the Governing Council for Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa.