Pluto Educational Trust (PET) was founded in 2010 by Roger van Zwanenberg and Pauline Tiffen, with Roger donating start-up funds and his shareholdings in Pluto Press and Pluto Journals. Pluto Educational Trust is a company limited by guarantee and a charity registered in England and Wales (No. 136616). PET is proudly independent and does not align with any particular political party.
The PET team is an association of passionate individuals with extensive experience in the charity, publishing, academic and social investment sectors.
Roger van Zwanenberg, Founding Trustee
In the past 40 years Roger has owned and directed two independent publishing companies: Zed Books (1976–86) and Pluto Press (1987–2012). Roger’s lifelong interest in global affairs is expressed in the wide and diverse lists of both publishers. Roger founded Pluto Educational Trust in 2010 and currently manages Pluto Journals.
Pauline Tiffen, Founding Trustee
Pauline has worked in alternative trade, social enterprises and charitable organisations for over 30 years. Pauline is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Fair Trade. She is a board member of Divine Chocolate, the Transnational Institute and the Rwenzori Sustainable Trade Centre, Uganda.
Charlie clarke, Executive Director
Prior to starting with PET, Charlie helped found and then worked as a National Coordinator for The World Transformed (TWT), a left wing politics and arts festival and all-year-round political education project. He has over 8 years experience of developing political education, coordinating projects, fundraising and building partnerships with a range of progressive organisations and campaigns. Previous to that he worked in education and as a homeless support worker.
Fiona Dove, Trustee
Fiona was raised in South Africa, where she was active in the anti-apartheid movement. Since 1995, Fiona has been Executive Director of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. Fiona also serves on the board of De Goede Zaak, the Advisory Board of the European Masters in Global Studies (University of Leipzig), and Friends of Code Rood. She holds an MA in Development Studies from Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Ian Marshall, Trustee
Ian is a chartered accountant who has worked in banking and insurance for the past 40 years. He is currently a non-executive director of a London market insurance firm and has for the past 10 years also been a senior advisor at the Bank of England. Ian has been active in public and charitable organisations and was for 9 years the Honorary Treasurer of the children's charity Barnardo's.
Judy muthuri, Trustee
Judy is a Professor of Sustainable Business and Development at Nottingham University Business School. She has an interest in theorising, understanding and influencing how organisations tackle sustainability challenges in different contexts. She currently leads a Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) funded project in Kenya and many other initiatives.
Anne Jeanpert, PET Group Finance Manager
Anne is a finance professional with 18 years of cross-industry experience in financial strategy and risk management, treasury and performance management, financial control and compliance. She is actively involved in improving financial processes and building models to support decision making, as well as tailored software development and implementation. Anne is also providing support to micro-enterprises with charitable, educational and social focus.
Veruschka Selbach, Managing Director of Pluto Press
Veruschka has worked internationally in academic and professional publishing for 20 years. She has worked across the spectrum for Oxford University Press, Berg Publishers (now Bloomsbury), Earthscan (now Taylor & Francis), Pickering & Chatto and with digital suppliers. In 2012, she founded digital sustainability publisher DoSustainability. Veruschka brings an experienced, dynamic focus that drives Pluto Press into new and exciting spheres.
Mohammed Elnaiem, Director of the decolonial centre
Mohammed is a PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. He is training to become a historical sociologist with a focus on the history of capitalism and the global reparations movement. His project is to investigate whether capitalism, patriarchy and slavery can be seen as disparate phenomena or different facets of the same totality.
David Dabydeen, PET General Editor
David is a Guyanese novelist, poet and academic. He was Guyana's Ambassador to UNESCO from 1997 to 2010 and Guyana's Ambassador to China from 2010 to 2015. He is one of the longest serving diplomats in the history of Guyana, with most of his work done in a voluntary capacity. He served at the University of Warwick from 1984 to 2017 as director of the Centre for Caribbean Studies and Professor of Postcolonial Literature.
Eve Kanram, project coordinator
Eve coordinates activities and projects at the Pluto Educational Trust and is the Journals Manager of 21 social science journals at Pluto Journals. Eve has worked across South and Southeast Asia as an auditor and consultant, specialising in responsible production and consumption, reduced inequalities, inclusive and quality education and responsible tourism development.