The Future Icons Awards: Introducing The Judges 2027

Country & Town House’s Future Icons Awards are back. With new categories, the awards will celebrate the pioneers, innovators, risk-takers and champions that are building businesses, fostering inclusion and creating products for a better world.

And who better to help us find those people, brands and companies than this esteemed roll of call of judges. They hail from all industries, from fashion and food to campaigning and consultancy, and have centuries of experience between them. All are passionate advocates for sustainability becoming the mainstream. Read all about them below and enter the awards for your chance to be put in front of them.

Future Icons Judges 2027

Aisling Connaughton

Aisling is the co-founder of Cyd Connects, a women-led sustainability consultancy helping businesses become a force for good. With an 18-year background in global PR for beauty and tech brands, including Clarins and Huawei, she later gained a master’s in sustainability. Aisling now works to make complex sustainability topics accessible and actionable, delivering talks for TEDx and universities. At Cyd, she helps brands turn environmental and social impact into a competitive advantage.

Annabel Heseltine

Annabel is a journalist and conservation advocate with a career spanning over 30 years. She has reported on environmental and rural issues for major newspapers and magazines and served on the advisory boards of Tusk Trust, the Museum of English Rural Life and the Scientific Explorers Society. In 2024, she launched Hope Springs, a podcast for the Resurgence Trust exploring trauma, nature and healing.

Avril Groom

Avril is a seasoned journalist and editor who leads Country & Town House’s watch and jewellery supplement. She has contributed to the Financial Times, Daily Telegraph, Centurion and Sphere, specialising in luxury goods and fashion for over two decades. Her insight into craftsmanship and design continues to shape the narrative around timeless, responsible luxury.

Carmel Rafaeli

Carmel supports early stage climate ventures – as an angel investor, advisor, mentor and venture partner at the Conduit Connect. Founding Partner at The Table, an evergreen philanthropic vehicle that advances funding for women-led (or co-women-led) climate ventures through recoverable grants, building a new capital model that unlocks bold, early-stage innovation – no equity, no debt. She has been an entrepreneur for the better part of her career. With over 15 years of experience in bringing innovation to life in a variety of products and platforms in the tech and non-tech sectors, she’s done everything from brick and mortar fashion to hospitality tech and IP tech. Focusing on climate and sustainability for the past five years, Carmel spends much of her time helping to accelerate sustainable innovation by creating better connections between innovators, corporates and investors.

Carole Annett

Carole is the interiors editor at Country & Town House, bringing over two decades of experience in interior design journalism. She has witnessed a distinct shift in the luxury interiors industry toward materials and practices that prioritise sustainability, wellbeing and longevity. Through her editorial work and podcast House Guest, Carole champions thoughtful design that balances aesthetic excellence with a lighter footprint on the planet.

Claudia Simms Abram

Claudia is chief brand officer at DEPLOY, one of the world’s highest-scoring B-Corps in fashion. She joined after 15 years in global brand strategy, including a senior role at Publicis. Claudia co-founded The Brussels Sustainable Fashion Forum and oversees DEPLOY’s thought leadership and events. With a career grounded in purpose-led storytelling and policy engagement, she is committed to reshaping the future of fashion with creativity and rigour.

Chantelle Nicholson

 

The New Zealand–born, London-based chef, restaurateur and leading voice in sustainable hospitality. Originally trained as a lawyer, she moved to London in 2004 and built her culinary career. She is now chef-owner of Apricity in Mayfair – a Michelin Green Star restaurant centred on low-waste, seasonal cooking – and previously led Tredwells, which was also recognised for its sustainability credentials. She is also an author (Planted) and a prominent figure in UK hospitality, regularly recognised for her leadership and influence.

Diana Verde Nieto

Diana is a business strategist, author and co-founder of Edify, an AI-powered, expert-led learning platform transforming workforce development. She has advised governments, global brands and NGOs on purpose and sustainability, and authored Reimagining Luxury: How to Build a Sustainable Future for Your Brand. A Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum, Diana sits on the boards of Watts 1874 and the British Beauty Council, and holds credentials from Harvard Kennedy School and the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

Fleur Britten

Fleur is a journalist and former long-time editor at Sunday Times Style. She writes across sustainability, beauty, interiors and fashion, often focusing on greenwashing and the ethics of consumption. She has authored several non-fiction books and is a known voice in holding power to account, particularly around transparency in the fashion and lifestyle industries.

Francisca Kellett

Francisca is an award-winning journalist and sustainable travel expert, previously travel editor at Tatler and digital travel editor at The Telegraph. She now contributes to The Times, Financial Times, National Geographic Traveller, and is a philanthropy columnist for LUXX, championing responsible travel through powerful storytelling.

Genia Mineeva

Genia is a circularity consultant and the founder of BEEN, a B Corp-certified multi-award winning design studio and accessories brand making premium, functional products entirely from waste-derived materials. Named ‘one of the most innovative companies in the world’ by British Vogue, BEEN is now sharing its circularity expertise with some of the world’s leading fashion brands as well as top organisations like VISA, TATE and DHL. Genia is also a Sustainable Business Models Lecturer for several universities globally, and a circularity advisor and mentor at Switzerland’s Design Council.

Harriet Vocking

Harriet is the founder of For.Tomorrow, a strategic consultancy supporting brands with sustainability strategy, comms and supply chain analysis. Formerly with Eco-Age, she is a respected voice on greenwashing and reputational risk. Harriet regularly speaks at international conferences including SXSW and the Sustainable Fibre Alliance, offering thought leadership grounded in over 20 years of experience in responsible brand communication.

James Bidwell

James is co-founder at Re_Set, the next generation strategy consultancy for disruption, innovation and sustainability. He is a seasoned positive change investor, advisor and advocate with over 25 years’ experience in building brands and driving change. He also serves as a Strategic Partner at PE firm, Capital D, and as Governor at Havant and South Downs College. In 2017 James wrote Amazon bestseller Disrupt! 100 lessons in Business Innovation.

James Rae

James is the founder of Good Company, a marketing agency that works with purpose-led consumer goods brands to amplify and scale their impact. Formerly at Freuds, he led special projects such as launching the world’s first B-Corp store and activating brands at global events including COP26 and The World Economic Forum in Davos. James has worked across meaningful marketing, sustainability, innovation and storytelling for over 20 years.

Jamila Brown

Jamila is a sustainability and social impact strategist who helped build Soho House’s global sustainability programme. Now a consultant and founder of Light Work, she works with brands to embed purpose, scale partnerships and drive cultural engagement. Jamila is a TEDx speaker and was recognised by HOSPA as one of the UK’s top sustainability leaders in 2022.

Jaz O’Hara

Motivational speaker and podcaster Jaz is the founder of Asylum Speakers, a media platform amplifying the voices of those impacted by displacement. As a writer for The Huffington Post, winner of Marie Claire’s ‘Future Shaper’ award, and member of Amnesty International’s ‘Collective’, Jaz has become a leading voice on the topic of migration, speaking everywhere from TedX, to the United Nations in NYC.

Jaz’s work comes from a personal place, and dates back to early 2015 when her parents began fostering an unaccompanied minor named Mez from Eritrea. Mez made the journey across the world as a child refugee, and was the first of four new brothers to join Jaz’s family, also from Afghanistan, Sudan and most recently, a 13-year-old boy from Libya. Asylum Speakers is the continuation of this global family. Jaz and her team are dedicated to challenging the fear-based narrative of today’s media and society, doing so through film, talks and an extremely popular podcast. 

Jenn McGarrigle

Jenn is CEO and co-founder of Cyd Connects, the women-led consultancy helping businesses become a force for good. With over a decade of experience in brand strategy across health, beauty and wellness, Jenn works with start-ups and major corporations alike. Her focus is on progressing gender equality and embedding sustainability into business culture and practice.

Joanna Jensen

Joanna is the founder of Childs Farm, the award-winning children’s skincare brand she created in response to her daughters’ eczema. In 2022, she sold a majority stake to PZ Cussons, and now champions female entrepreneurship through investment and advocacy. She sits on the Invest in Women Taskforce and the advisory board of Buy Women Built.

Jonathan Hall

Jonathan is managing partner of Kantar’s Sustainable Transformation Practice. He advises global brands on embedding sustainability at scale and is a regular speaker at major events including COP28, Cannes Lions and the World Marketing Summit. He also hosts Kantar’s Sustainable Futures podcast, offering insights into the intersection of consumer behaviour and environmental responsibility.

Joycelyn Longdon

Joycelyn is an award-winning researcher, designer and writer, bridging the worlds of ecology, technology and environmental justice. Her doctoral research at the University of Cambridge centred on the design of justice-led conservation technologies for monitoring biodiversity, and her work as a storyteller and educator shifts perspectives and practices across conservation, fashion, technology, art and culture. She was the 2022 winner of the Emerging Designer London Design Medal and was featured in British Vogue’s December 2023 ‘Forces for Change’ issue. Her debut book, Natural Connection: What Indigenous Wisdom and Marginalised People Teach Us About Environmental Action, was published by Penguin in the UK in April 2025 and Princeton University Press in the US in May 2026.

Juliet Fallowfield

Juliet is founder of B Corp-certified communications consultancy Fallow, Field & Mason. With over 20 years of experience across luxury fashion and hospitality – including roles at Chanel, Burberry and Shangri-La – Juliet helps brands communicate with integrity. She also hosts a podcast and champions B-Corp values across her client portfolio.

Juliet Kinsman

Juliet is a sustainability journalist and broadcaster. Formerly Condé Nast Traveller’s first sustainability editor, she’s the founder of non-profit Bouteco, a contributing editor at Evening Standard, and a Sky News commentator. Juliet is the author of The Green Edit: Travel and The Bucket List: Eco Experiences, and a long-time advocate for ethical tourism.

Julietta Dexter

Julietta is chair of Smart Works, the women’s employment charity, and co-founder of ScienceMagic. Previously, she was founder and CEO of The Communications Store, a leading brand consultancy. Julietta advises businesses on purpose, ethics and culture and has been a lifelong champion of values-led leadership.

Kalpana Arias

Kalpana is a guerrilla gardener, technologist, nature rights campaigner and food grower, writer, speaker and the founder of PLAY, a social enterprise fighting for urban nature. Kalpana campaigns for the right to grow, nature rights and tech for good, and has spent over 10 years researching how technology and nature can work together – from biomaterials and AI to robotics, gamification and other nature-based tech. She has delivered a global TED talk, spoken at the United Nations, featured on Evening Standard‘s 30 under 30 list of Climate Activists On A Mission To Save London and Vogue, and is a trustee for GROW charity and National Park City. Kalpana is currently an environmental consultant for corporations and governments and works with leading charities, institutions, brands and grassroots change-makers.

Karen Harvey

Karen Harvey MBE founded Toiletries Amnesty in 2014. It is an award-winning non-profit tackling hygiene poverty and beauty industry waste. Supporting over 1,200 locations across 22 countries, it provides access to hygiene essentials for 7.5 million people while redirecting six tons of products from landfill each year. Its online directory connects individuals and brands directly with local organisations – from women’s refuges and food banks to mental-health services and NHS Trusts – ensuring donations reach those who need them most.

Kate Hills 

Kate is on a one-woman mission to save UK manufacturing. With a background in design and buying for major retailers, she left her corporate career to set up Make it British – a platform dedicated to supporting UK manufacturers and the brands that want to make locally. Since founding Make it British in 2011, Kate has become a leading voice on UK manufacturing, championing British-made brands and raising awareness of the incredible craftsmanship still thriving across the country. She is the host of the Make it British Podcast, a board member of Fashion Roundtable, and a trusted mentor to creative product-based businesses through her British Brand Accelerator – a six-month programme helping founders scale their UK-made brands. Kate also regularly mentors new talent through Graduate Fashion Week, where she serves as both a mentor and judge.

Kirsty McGregor

Kirsty is a journalist and strategic advisor specialising in the future of fashion, materials and supply chains. Through senior roles at titles such as Vogue Business and Drapers, she has led agenda-setting work on sustainability, circularity and the rebuilding of local manufacturing ecosystems. She is particularly interested in how storytelling, policy and innovation intersect to accelerate systemic change across industries.

Lisa Oxenham

Lisa is a sustainable beauty expert, creative director and award-winning journalist. Formerly Beauty & Style Director at Marie Claire, she now consults for purpose-driven brands while creating content across platforms, including her YouTube channel. Lisa’s work centres on ethical beauty and conscious motherhood.

Lucy Cleland

Lucy is co-founder and editorial director of Country & Town House, the world’s first B-Corp glossy. A passionate advocate for sustainability, storytelling and purpose, Lucy has led the brand’s transition to a values-led platform and believes in the power of words and beauty to inspire change.

Lucy Johnson

Lucy is founder of Lovebrook & Green, the world’s first ethical digital department store. With a background in journalism and psychotherapy, she merges expertise in sustainability with wellness and behavioural change. Lucy is also a speaker and coach on regenerative living and conscious consumerism.

Marine Tanguy

Marine is the founder of MTArt Agency, a B Corp-certified talent agency representing leading contemporary artists. A long-time advocate for the social impact of art, she launched MTArt to support creators shaping public space and cultural narratives. Marine regularly speaks on creativity, equity and innovation.

Michelle Pughe-Parry de Klerk

 

Michelle is the founder of The Women’s Chapter, a purpose-led community that supports the growth of women in business. She’s a UN Women UK delegate, ambassador for The King’s Trust, and sits on the councils of Founders4Schools and Maths4Girls. A frequent moderator and speaker, Michelle has hosted hundreds of conversations with female changemakers and contributes regularly to titles including Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar and Country & Town House.

Mirjam Peternek McCartney

Mirjam is the founder of Lemongrass, an award-winning travel PR agency with a mission to transform how travel is communicated. She combines creativity with data to drive storytelling for hotels and tourism boards. Mirjam frequently speaks at global industry events, from Pure and Further East to the Travel + Leisure Summit, and is a known advocate for more meaningful, sustainable travel.

Monica Vinader

Monica co-founder and CEO of the eponymous British jewellery brand, which she launched with her sister Gaby, in 2008. Guided by her belief that women should be able to buy jewellery for themselves, Monica pioneered the concept of affordable luxury, offering high quality design meant to be worn every day. Under her leadership, the company has grown from a small start-up into an internationally recognised brand known for its commitment to design integrity and positive impact, with a global footprint that includes stores in London, New York, and Hong Kong, among others. The company’s industry-leading commitment to sustainability has earned it numerous accolades, including the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development in 2022 and, most recently, being named the 2025 Positive Luxury Business of the Year. 

Nnenna Onuba

Nnenna is a former Rothschild investment banker turned clean-beauty entrepreneur and angel investor. She orchestrated the sale of Nailberry, the premium natural nail brand, and now sits on the executive board of the British Beauty Council. Nnenna also founded 100 Allies CIC, a talent development initiative championing underrepresented voices in beauty leadership.

Rachel Arthur

Rachel is a sustainability strategist and journalist focused on systems change within fashion. As advocacy lead for the UN Environment Programme’s sustainable fashion work, she promotes narrative shifts that reduce overconsumption. Named in the Vogue Business 100 Innovators list, Rachel’s work explores greenwashing, aspiration and citizen action as levers for transformation.

Rebecca Cox

Rebecca is digital director at Country & Town House, where she leads digital strategy and editorial. She is co-author of How To Be A Happy Single Parent, a DE&I lead, and writes about family, identity and sustainability for titles including Elle, Vogue and Evening Standard. Rebecca’s work balances creativity with authenticity, always underpinned by purpose.

Rebecca Crook

Rebecca is UK CEO of MSQ DX, The Digital Impact Company, a 550-person digital experience agency operating across the UK, Europe and the US. She chairs The Diana Award, sits on the board of the Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust, and is a passionate mentor who has supported young people through The King’s Trust, Women in Technology and BIMA. She is also co-founder of Saltdean Lido CIC, the community campaign that raised over £8m to restore a Grade II* listed Art Deco lido in Brighton.

Rosana Falconer

Rosanna Falconer is a creative consultant and textile designer based between London and Jaipur. She creates bespoke block-printed homeware, translating her own pencil drawings into hand-carved wooden blocks, brought to life by master artisans in India. Her work spans event styling and interior design, and has been featured in Vogue, The Daily Telegraph and Architectural Digest India, with clients including Jo Malone London, Ffern and Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Ruby Raut

Ruby is the CEO and co-founder of WUKA, the UK’s leading period wear brand, which she launched in 2017 to challenge period stigma and create a sustainable alternative to disposable products. A multi-award-winning entrepreneur, she has been recognised for category creation, innovation and impact, including leading the campaign to remove unfair VAT on period underwear after years of lobbying MPs and the government. Driven by her own experience of period shame growing up in Nepal, Ruby is also the force behind WUKA’s Tackle Anything campaign, which supports girls in grassroots sports with education, access and confidence so no one drops out because of their period.

Sallie Berkerey

Sallie is managing director of CEW UK (Cosmetic Executive Women), the industry’s largest professional beauty network. With previous roles at Vogue and Glamour, she now drives CEW’s strategic direction, overseeing initiatives such as the Beauty Tech Summit and Two-Way Mentoring Scheme. Sallie is a leading connector and champion of innovation in the beauty sector.

Samia Dumbuya

Samia is a community organiser working at the intersection of community power and system change. She is the Founder of The People’s Ark CIC, a UK-wide green skills initiative building intergenerational, community-led pathways into climate action, and a founding member of the Black Ecofeminist Network UK. She specialises in futures thinking and foresight, and is a Next Generation Foresight Practitioner 2026 Fellow with the School of International Futures and a member of Veolia’s Future Generations Council. Samia works across grassroots organising and policy spaces to centre relational power, challenge who is seen as an ‘expert’ in climate debates, and build people-led models of resilience and resistance. Her work focuses on sharing power, amplifying those most affected by climate breakdown, and reshaping climate action as a political, community-rooted project rather than a purely technical one.

Sarah Angold

Sarah is a multi-founder, material innovator and sustainability strategist redefining the future of fashion. As co-founder and CEO of 29acacia, Sarah is tackling one of the industry’s most urgent challenges: the sustainable materials crisis. Sarah is a published author in Sustainability Governance (Routledge) and a sought-after industry futures ambassador, contributing to UK Parliamentary roundtables on fashion’s transition. Her cross-disciplinary expertise extends to circular systems, supply-chain transformation and multi- stakeholder strategy.

Shailja Dube

Since inception in 2020, Shailja has led the British Fashion Council’s climate think and action tank, The Institute of Positive Fashion. A former consultant, Shailja was Accenture UK’s Responsible Retail Lead with experience at the intersection of sustainability and business. A respected strategist and systems thinker, Shailja has developed and lead major industry programmes including the Circular Fashion Ecosystem and Low Carbon Transition programme. Her work includes informing policymakers on sustainability challenges facing the fashion industry.

Smruti Sriram OBE

Smruti is CEO of Bags of Ethics and co-founder of the Wings of Hope Achievement Award, an education charity working with over 40,000 students. She has collaborated with the British Fashion Council, Fashion Trust Arabia and Queen’s Green Canopy to promote responsible production. Smruti is a BBC 100 Women honouree and holds an MBA from London Business School.

Thomas Bourne

Tom is the founder and chief ecosystem officer at Greenheart, a B Corp-certified consultancy helping businesses align with nature-based principles. One of the UK’s first B-Leaders, he has guided dozens of brands through B-Corp certification and brings a ‘living systems’ perspective to strategy and impact.

Tiffanie Darke

Tiffanie is a writer, shopkeeper and campaigner for a more sustainable future in fashion. With a background in publishing and creative strategy, she works with global brands and founder-led businesses to shape purpose-led content and storytelling. Her work fuses journalistic instinct with commercial intelligence.

Tori Tsui

Tori is a climate justice activist, writer and musician. She is a senior advisor to the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and works with Brian Eno’s Earth Percent initiative. Her debut book It’s Not Just You was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize and explores climate anxiety through a personal and political lens.

Victoria Jenkins

Victoria Jenkins is an award-winning British fashion designer, disability advocate and founder of Unhidden – an adaptive clothing brand reshaping fashion through inclusive design. After becoming disabled in her 20s, she experienced firsthand the lack of stylish, functional options, inspiring her to launch Unhidden in 2016. Previously a garment technologist for brands including Victoria Beckham, AllSaints and Sweaty Betty, she combines technical expertise with lived experience. In 2023, she partnered with Primark as adaptive co-designer on its first inclusive range, bringing accessible fashion to the high street. Her work has been recognised by the British Fashion Council, Vogue and Drapers. She is also a TEDx speaker, author and television contributor, championing greater accessibility across the industry.