Our Team
With extensive experience in supporting locally-led development across the globe, our staff and board are uniquely qualified to activate power inside communities through World Connect's co-investment model and drive progress in education, health, economic opportunity, and environment.
Who We Are
Staff
Patrick Higdon
UK Executive Director
Patrick is responsible for overall program quality and integrity and guides World Connect's program strategy, team, and key partnerships. He is also World Connect's charity representative in the United Kingdom. In this role, he supports the World Connect UK Board of Trustees in growing the organization's reach and revenues in the UK and European markets. Patrick holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology and development from the University of Tennessee and an M.A. in Latin American and Caribbean studies from New York University.
Hafsat Abiola is the President of Women in Africa, the first international platform dedicated to the economic development and support of leading and high potential African women. She served as a member of the Ogun State cabinet where she pioneered the use of mobile phones to deliver cash grants to poor pregnant women to ensure their access to health centres for antenatal to post-natal care and worked on programmes to ensure inclusive growth to address high youth unemployment. Through her non-profit, the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), she has worked to promote a groundswell of exemplary women leaders and build pathways to public service for them. Motivated by women’s strength, Hafsat believes that the challenges facing the continent of Africa offer opportunities for women's leadership to emerge. She is one global councillors of the World Future Council; a recipient of several international awards, including the Vital Voices’ Public Service Award, Goi Peace Foundation Award, and the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leadership community, her work is a tribute to her parents who lost their lives while leading the democracy movement that brought an end to military rule in Nigeria in the ‘90s.
Kemal Ahmed has over 26 years of institutional asset management experience. He is currently a Partner with London-based CGM UK Advisors Ltd, a strategic investor in asset management firms. Prior to CGM, his experience includes institutional money management in senior roles for Ninety One Asset Management, Old Square Capital Advisors (an investment firm he founded), the Brown University Endowment and the World Bank Group's Treasury Department. He has extensive asset allocation, portfolio management, and manager selection skills.
His not-for-profit activities include having served (most recently) on the UK Board of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and previously on the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Fund for Global Human Rights.
Kemal earned a MA, with distinction, from the Johns Hopkins University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
Andrew Bedford is the 15th Duke of Bedford. He has been a supporter of World Connect's work since its founding in 2005. Andrew has run Bedford Estates since 1988 and Woburn Abbey since 2000. Andrew serves as Director of Tattersalls Limited, Woburn Estate Companies Limited, Woburn Enterprises Limited, and Jockey Club Estates. Andrew was educated at Heatherdown, Harrow, and Harvard, class of '84.
A professional coach and mediator based in Paris, Sara supports young people and adults at every stage of their professional journey: from early orientation to career development and retirement transitions. Her coaching practice focuses on helping individuals uncover their potential and align their talents with meaningful professional goals. Before establishing her coaching practice in 2005, Sara worked in communication consulting with a particular focus on internal communication and crisis management. This experience has given her a strong expertise in guiding individuals and organisations through moments of change and uncertainty.
Beyond her professional activities, Sara has been engaged in social impact for more than a decade. Since 2010, she has been volunteering with Secours Catholique in Paris, conducting night rounds to support homeless individuals and organising fundraising events. She also supports young people entering the job market through her involvement with Jeunes et Entreprises de la Défense.
Chris Cabot is President of Value Retail Plc. Value Retail specialises in the creation and operation of luxury outlet shopping Villages in Europe and China, including Bicester Village outside of London and Suzhou Village outside Shanghai. He joined Value Retail in 2001 and has held a variety of positions including Chief Operating Officer of Value Retail Management, and President of Value Retail China, where he led the company’s China expansion.
Prior to joining Value Retail he was Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of PipingHot Networks, a broadband point-to-multi point fixed wireless business that was sold to Motorola.
He also worked in investment banking in the Media, Telecom and Technology corporate finance teams at Lehman Brothers, Alex. Brown and Bankers Trust in New York and London.
He served on the board of Camaieu (a French retailer). He is currently on the board of P.W Productions, the development board of the Royal Court Theatre, and is a member of advisory committees for HarvardX and the Harvard Program for Integrated Knowledge.
Mr Cabot holds an A.B. with honours from Harvard College and an M.B.A from the Yale School of Management.
Stephanie Cabot is half French, half American and grew up in London, Paris and New England. She attended Harvard, where she studied History, and first worked in New York and London with JP Morgan. Her career as an agent began at WME in London, where she spent nine years and ran the office for the last five, before relocating to the US and to The Gernert Company in NYC, where she worked for fifteen years. Stephanie joined SLA in the Spring of 2020. Stephanie's interests are a reflection of her own reading tastes which have always been wide and far ranging. She represents authors from all over the world and is drawn to the international narratives whether told in story, memoir or essays as well as literary fiction reflecting diverse, global voices, speculative fiction, upmarket commercial fiction, crime and thrillers.
Sarah is a qualified solicitor and former TV executive having worked for both the BBC and ITV in senior production and management roles, responsible for creating and producing a wide range of factual programmes. She joined the BBC as a graduate trainee after completing her legal training and became editor of BBC's Watchdog programme (a popular consumer investigation series) for 6 years. She was Deputy Secretary of the BBC from 1995 to 1997 and then moved to ITV where she became Head of Features for ITV Studios. Sarah was also producer of the BBC's Childwatch programme which launched the national charity ChildLine and became a founder trustee, serving on its Board of Trustees for 17 years. ChildLine is now one of the key services provided by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Sarah left full-time TV production in 2011, and in 2012 she renewed her professional collaboration with Dame Esther Rantzen CBE, accepting the role of Director of Development and Communications at The Silver Line Helpline – a free 24-hour helpline for older people. She played a key role in developing the charity, raising funds and awareness for the national launch of The Silver Line in November 2013 and worked for 3 years in a pro bono capacity, raising substantial funds and awareness. The Silver Line is now an important AgeUK service, and part of that major national charitable organisation.
Sarah is a trustee of The Alfred Caplin Family Charitable Trust, a grant-making body. She became a trustee of the Migration Museum in 2018 and is the board member with special responsibility for development and fundraising. Previously, Sarah was the trustee of a grant-making charity, Jewels For Children, which ran until its founder's death in 2000.
Sarah studied for an MSc in Crime Science at University College London and achieved a merit award in 2019. She continues to work on various crime-related broadcasting projects. Sarah lives in London and is married to the broadcaster and author Nick Ross. They have three sons.
After qualifying as a solicitor with London law firm Norton Rose, Kristina moved into banking first with Svenska Handelsbanken, and then with JP Morgan in London. Since leaving the City to raise a family, she got a masters degree in Environmental Law from UCL and returned to the legal profession. From 2015-2022 she was a consultant solicitor with Richard Buxton Solicitors (Environmental and Public Law) primarily involved in bringing judicial review cases in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
Her life with sculptor husband has meant frequent travel to East Africa. She was a trustee for a small Kenya based charity, Friends of Karen Street Children for over a decade. Closer to home she is a trustee of the Foundation and Friends of Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and sits on the Farming in Protected Landscape Assessment Panel, which makes grants on behalf of DEFRA to land managers in the Surrey Hills.
Her voluntary work has included chairing the board of the Surrey Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE Surrey) from 2014-2022 and she is currently Chair of Citizens Advice Mole Valley. Kristina is a British citizen (Swedish mother) and lives in Surrey.
Emmanuelle Lepic is French and currently lives in London. She is a ceramicist. Prior to her artistic career, Emmanuelle worked in commercial art galleries and as an exhibition organiser for the Tate Gallery and Serpentine Gallery in London. Since 2015 she has been involved with non for profit organisations focused on helping refugees in Greece and France and co founded in 2016 the non for profit organisation Relay for Refugees which supported education programs and raised funds for refugees in Europe.
Esme Lovell Smith is Senior Business Planning Manager at Value Retail PLC.
From 2005 to the present time Ilia Tchelikidi founded and runs the investment company United Capital Group. The company focuses on private equity investments and turn-around management of companies in economic and financial distress in Mongolia, Russia and Ukraine. Prior to that, Ilia led corporate finance and private equity for Uralsib Bank in Moscow, Russia, from 2002 to 2005. Ilia was a Vice President in Equity Research at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. in New York City from 2001 to 2002 and a Principal at Oliver Wyman in New York City from 1994 to 2001. Ilia is also a board member of IDS Borjomi, a mineral water producer in Georgia.
Ilia received his MBA in finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1994 and an undergraduate degree in mathematical economics from Moscow State University in 1986.
Our Team
With extensive experience in supporting locally-led development across the globe, our staff and board are uniquely qualified to activate power inside communities through World Connect's co-investment model and drive progress in education, health, economic opportunity, and environment.
Patrick Higdon
UK Executive Director
Patrick is responsible for overall program quality and integrity and guides World Connect's program strategy, team, and key partnerships. He is also World Connect's charity representative in the United Kingdom. In this role, he supports the World Connect UK Board of Trustees in growing the organization's reach and revenues in the UK and European markets. Patrick holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology and development from the University of Tennessee and an M.A. in Latin American and Caribbean studies from New York University.
Hafsat Abiola is the President of Women in Africa, the first international platform dedicated to the economic development and support of leading and high potential African women. She served as a member of the Ogun State cabinet where she pioneered the use of mobile phones to deliver cash grants to poor pregnant women to ensure their access to health centres for antenatal to post-natal care and worked on programmes to ensure inclusive growth to address high youth unemployment. Through her non-profit, the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), she has worked to promote a groundswell of exemplary women leaders and build pathways to public service for them. Motivated by women’s strength, Hafsat believes that the challenges facing the continent of Africa offer opportunities for women's leadership to emerge. She is one global councillors of the World Future Council; a recipient of several international awards, including the Vital Voices’ Public Service Award, Goi Peace Foundation Award, and the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leadership community, her work is a tribute to her parents who lost their lives while leading the democracy movement that brought an end to military rule in Nigeria in the ‘90s.
Kemal Ahmed has over 26 years of institutional asset management experience. He is currently a Partner with London-based CGM UK Advisors Ltd, a strategic investor in asset management firms. Prior to CGM, his experience includes institutional money management in senior roles for Ninety One Asset Management, Old Square Capital Advisors (an investment firm he founded), the Brown University Endowment and the World Bank Group's Treasury Department. He has extensive asset allocation, portfolio management, and manager selection skills.
His not-for-profit activities include having served (most recently) on the UK Board of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and previously on the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Fund for Global Human Rights.
Kemal earned a MA, with distinction, from the Johns Hopkins University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
Andrew Bedford is the 15th Duke of Bedford. He has been a supporter of World Connect's work since its founding in 2005. Andrew has run Bedford Estates since 1988 and Woburn Abbey since 2000. Andrew serves as Director of Tattersalls Limited, Woburn Estate Companies Limited, Woburn Enterprises Limited, and Jockey Club Estates. Andrew was educated at Heatherdown, Harrow, and Harvard, class of '84.
A professional coach and mediator based in Paris, Sara supports young people and adults at every stage of their professional journey: from early orientation to career development and retirement transitions. Her coaching practice focuses on helping individuals uncover their potential and align their talents with meaningful professional goals. Before establishing her coaching practice in 2005, Sara worked in communication consulting with a particular focus on internal communication and crisis management. This experience has given her a strong expertise in guiding individuals and organisations through moments of change and uncertainty.
Beyond her professional activities, Sara has been engaged in social impact for more than a decade. Since 2010, she has been volunteering with Secours Catholique in Paris, conducting night rounds to support homeless individuals and organising fundraising events. She also supports young people entering the job market through her involvement with Jeunes et Entreprises de la Défense.
Chris Cabot is President of Value Retail Plc. Value Retail specialises in the creation and operation of luxury outlet shopping Villages in Europe and China, including Bicester Village outside of London and Suzhou Village outside Shanghai. He joined Value Retail in 2001 and has held a variety of positions including Chief Operating Officer of Value Retail Management, and President of Value Retail China, where he led the company’s China expansion.
Prior to joining Value Retail he was Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of PipingHot Networks, a broadband point-to-multi point fixed wireless business that was sold to Motorola.
He also worked in investment banking in the Media, Telecom and Technology corporate finance teams at Lehman Brothers, Alex. Brown and Bankers Trust in New York and London.
He served on the board of Camaieu (a French retailer). He is currently on the board of P.W Productions, the development board of the Royal Court Theatre, and is a member of advisory committees for HarvardX and the Harvard Program for Integrated Knowledge.
Mr Cabot holds an A.B. with honours from Harvard College and an M.B.A from the Yale School of Management.
Stephanie Cabot is half French, half American and grew up in London, Paris and New England. She attended Harvard, where she studied History, and first worked in New York and London with JP Morgan. Her career as an agent began at WME in London, where she spent nine years and ran the office for the last five, before relocating to the US and to The Gernert Company in NYC, where she worked for fifteen years. Stephanie joined SLA in the Spring of 2020. Stephanie's interests are a reflection of her own reading tastes which have always been wide and far ranging. She represents authors from all over the world and is drawn to the international narratives whether told in story, memoir or essays as well as literary fiction reflecting diverse, global voices, speculative fiction, upmarket commercial fiction, crime and thrillers.
Sarah is a qualified solicitor and former TV executive having worked for both the BBC and ITV in senior production and management roles, responsible for creating and producing a wide range of factual programmes. She joined the BBC as a graduate trainee after completing her legal training and became editor of BBC's Watchdog programme (a popular consumer investigation series) for 6 years. She was Deputy Secretary of the BBC from 1995 to 1997 and then moved to ITV where she became Head of Features for ITV Studios. Sarah was also producer of the BBC's Childwatch programme which launched the national charity ChildLine and became a founder trustee, serving on its Board of Trustees for 17 years. ChildLine is now one of the key services provided by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Sarah left full-time TV production in 2011, and in 2012 she renewed her professional collaboration with Dame Esther Rantzen CBE, accepting the role of Director of Development and Communications at The Silver Line Helpline – a free 24-hour helpline for older people. She played a key role in developing the charity, raising funds and awareness for the national launch of The Silver Line in November 2013 and worked for 3 years in a pro bono capacity, raising substantial funds and awareness. The Silver Line is now an important AgeUK service, and part of that major national charitable organisation.
Sarah is a trustee of The Alfred Caplin Family Charitable Trust, a grant-making body. She became a trustee of the Migration Museum in 2018 and is the board member with special responsibility for development and fundraising. Previously, Sarah was the trustee of a grant-making charity, Jewels For Children, which ran until its founder's death in 2000.
Sarah studied for an MSc in Crime Science at University College London and achieved a merit award in 2019. She continues to work on various crime-related broadcasting projects. Sarah lives in London and is married to the broadcaster and author Nick Ross. They have three sons.
After qualifying as a solicitor with London law firm Norton Rose, Kristina moved into banking first with Svenska Handelsbanken, and then with JP Morgan in London. Since leaving the City to raise a family, she got a masters degree in Environmental Law from UCL and returned to the legal profession. From 2015-2022 she was a consultant solicitor with Richard Buxton Solicitors (Environmental and Public Law) primarily involved in bringing judicial review cases in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
Her life with sculptor husband has meant frequent travel to East Africa. She was a trustee for a small Kenya based charity, Friends of Karen Street Children for over a decade. Closer to home she is a trustee of the Foundation and Friends of Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and sits on the Farming in Protected Landscape Assessment Panel, which makes grants on behalf of DEFRA to land managers in the Surrey Hills.
Her voluntary work has included chairing the board of the Surrey Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE Surrey) from 2014-2022 and she is currently Chair of Citizens Advice Mole Valley. Kristina is a British citizen (Swedish mother) and lives in Surrey.
Emmanuelle Lepic is French and currently lives in London. She is a ceramicist. Prior to her artistic career, Emmanuelle worked in commercial art galleries and as an exhibition organiser for the Tate Gallery and Serpentine Gallery in London. Since 2015 she has been involved with non for profit organisations focused on helping refugees in Greece and France and co founded in 2016 the non for profit organisation Relay for Refugees which supported education programs and raised funds for refugees in Europe.
Esme Lovell Smith is Senior Business Planning Manager at Value Retail PLC.
From 2005 to the present time Ilia Tchelikidi founded and runs the investment company United Capital Group. The company focuses on private equity investments and turn-around management of companies in economic and financial distress in Mongolia, Russia and Ukraine. Prior to that, Ilia led corporate finance and private equity for Uralsib Bank in Moscow, Russia, from 2002 to 2005. Ilia was a Vice President in Equity Research at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. in New York City from 2001 to 2002 and a Principal at Oliver Wyman in New York City from 1994 to 2001. Ilia is also a board member of IDS Borjomi, a mineral water producer in Georgia.
Ilia received his MBA in finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1994 and an undergraduate degree in mathematical economics from Moscow State University in 1986.