Janet Boston, CEO

Before her appointment to the Thomson Foundation, Janet Boston’s most recent positions were as Creator and Series Producer of an award winning global series for BBC World TV and as Director of Communications for the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

Janet’s early journalistic career began in news, working for the European bureau of Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper and its sister company TV Asahi where she covered stories in Eastern Europe during the collapse of the Communist bloc.

Keen to follow a global news agenda and use her skills to further sustainable development, Janet then joined the Intermediate Technology Development Group, recently renamed Practical Action. Following several collaborations as a Director and Producer with Television Trust for the Environment (TVE) she created, developed and produced the award-winning Hands On-Earth Report strand, broadcast on BBC World to 270 million homes and hotels worldwide. The series’ key achievement was to generate thousands of enquiries, mobilise interest and effect change through people and policymakers worldwide who want to take action to improve the environment and create more sustainable livelihoods.

Janet currently serves on several boards, including the UNDP-UN Foundation Equator Initiative, the Appropriate Development Panel of the Institute of Civil Engineers and the Independent Monitoring Board of HMP Holloway.


Russell Lyne, Head of Regional Partnerships

In his role as Head of Regional Partnerships Russell is looking at how Thomson can work with local partners to develop strategic regional or country driven initiatives. As well as delivering training and working with funders, he is seeing how the Foundation might create an effective alumni network from the thousands of Thomson trainees around the world.

Russell has been a project manager with the Thomson Foundation since the late 1990’s working in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe on a wide range of initiatives including running training courses for print, radio and TV journalists, conducting management consultancies for public and private stations and helping clients raise awareness of covering issues like the environment and HIV/AIDS.

Prior to working with the Thomson Foundation Russell worked extensively across all areas of the media: in newspapers as a news editor, reporter, feature writer, specialist correspondent primarily for the Western Mail; in BBC radio – national and regional - as a duty editor, bulletin editor, producer, presenter, reporter and manager; in television – for HTV Wales and ITN as a senior manager, senior producer, programme editor, and production editor; and in PR as a partner in a Media Relations agency.


Anna Roberts, Head of Training

Anna is responsible for delivering the Foundation’s international training and media for development strategy. She also has responsibility for recruiting and developing Thomson’s impressive team of freelance media specialists as well as supporting the needs of a diverse range of media organisations, ngos and international development agencies across the world.

Anna has had a long history covering international issues both as a video news journalist working in Albania, Kosovo, Romania, Nepal, China, Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Somalia and Nagorno Karabagh and as a documentary film maker/ camerawoman. She was part of the two ‘man’ team filming undercover in North Korea for an award winning documentary “Children of a Secret State” shown on Channel 4’s acclaimed Dispatches season.

As co-director of Frontline Television News agency Anna managed those who brought many of the most iconic war news images from the early 1990s to our screens and saw the potential of multi-skilling that was eventually adopted by all major UK and international broadcasters.


Richard Tynen, Head of Development

Richard’s role as Head of Business Development for the Thomson Foundation includes identifying new markets and innovative ways to generate income. He is also responsible for devising an effective marketing strategy, which will help raise greater awareness of the important work carried out by the Foundation

Richard has had over fifteen years experience in campaign, capital and revenue fundraising and has particular expertise in developing new projects and fundraising for “challenging “ causes.

Richard joined the Foundation after being Development Director at the Wales Millennium Centre. Since launching this flagship £106m arts project his key task has been to build a reliable and sustainable funding base with an ongoing requirement of over £2m a year.

Previous positions held by Richard include: Head of Development, National Museums & Galleries of Wales; Appeals and PR Manager, Royal School for the Blind; Senior Account Manger, Burnett Associates and Head of Development, World Development Movement.


Philip Davies, Financial Controller

A chartered accountant, Philip Davies worked as Head of Finance for BBC Wales for 15 years before he joined the Thomson Foundation. Before that he was Finance Director for an oil trading and distribution company. Philip visited Bangladesh, Lebanon and Albania during his first three months to assist in the set-up of Thomson projects. He has since visited other centres to assist and monitor projects.

Sarah Page, Project Assistant, Training Division

Sarah’s main duties include assisting the Head of Training in organizing the requirements for overseas broadcasting courses and liaising with Thomson’s raft of broadcast consultants and overseas clients, such as Al Jazeera, Botswana TV and New Delhi Television. She has a BA (Hons) in Film and Media studies, which has helped when guiding UK course participants around some of the UK’s leading media companies. Her responsibilities also include the management of UK broadcast initiatives such as setting up a study tour for Indian journalists to visit some of the important players in the HIV/ Aids debate. Prior to joining the Thomson Foundation Sarah was employed at Cardiff University and doing volunteer work for a number of international film festivals.