Trustees

Emma has worked in the voluntary sector for 40 years in a large number of roles from beginning as a community worker to Citizens Advice to Chief Executive of the National Governance Association which supports school governors and academy trustees. She is pleased to have led a Greener Governance initiative to encourage schools across England to take action on all aspects of environmental sustainability, inspired in large part by young people. Emma moved to Leamington Spa almost 20 years ago and joined the Action 21 board of trustees in 2024.

"I love the phrase 'Think global; act local'. Action21 through its supporters, many volunteers and small staff team makes a practical contribution to local action much needed to sustain our planet in all its glory. I am delighted to join you and look forward to helping to spread Action21's mission and environmental messages."

 

Ramesh Patel has over 40 years' experience working as an accountant. He currently works as an Investigations & Assurance Officer for a Regulator, where he provides senior management with comprehensive details on regulatory breaches and recommends appropriate actions to resolve noncompliance. He also has extensive experience in auditing, preparing financial statements, and taxation for various organisations.


Ramesh is passionate about sustainability and the reuse and recycling principles of Action21 Ltd align perfectly with his values.

Nicola has worked in technology for most of her career, delivering software products and services to customers in areas including risk management, chemical safety and more recently sustainability software solutions. She has lived in Warwickshire for the past 20 years and has two children who are very environmentally conscious and curious.

“I’m really excited to be joining Action 21 and look forward to contributing to the brilliant work that supports local communities and encourages sustainability through practical re-use and education.”

John O’Maoileoin is the Group Sustainability Director for the CANPACK Group. CANPACK is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of aluminium, glass and steel packaging containers and has plants across the world including in Poland, the UK, Romania, USA, Brazil, UAE, Ukraine and India. Prior to working for CANPACK, John was the Corporate Responsibility Director for Aldi UK and Ireland, where he was responsible for packaging, agriculture, environmental issues, ethical trade and UK community programmes. Before joining Aldi he was Head of Corporate Responsibility for Dairy Crest PLC, which was the UK’s largest dairy company until it was bought by Saputo Dairy. He has also held the role of Communications Manager at Tesco PLC.

Outside of work, and in addition to being a trustee at Action 21, John is kept busy with two boys aged 5 and 9, and he is a School Governor at Clapham Terrace Primary School.

As a geoscientist Ollie has always been fascinated with the study of Earth, and increasingly its protection. He has worked in the energy industry for 12 years in both technical and business roles internationally. Ollie is passionate about energy decarbonisation and efficiency in tackling the energy trilemma. As such, he has pivoted his career in recent years to focus on energy transition and leading sustainability transformation for his business, notably in emissions.

Having relocated to Leamington in 2022 with his young family, Ollie aspires to use his passion and knowledge to help further environmental awareness and impact in the local community through engagement, partnerships and advocacy with local government.