Board of Deputies

Gillian Merron joined the Board of Deputies in July 2014 as Chief Executive.
Gillian was the Member of Parliament for Lincoln from 1997 to 2010.

Experienced at the heart of Government, Gillian served as a Minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development, Cabinet Office, Transport, as Minister of State for Public Health and as a senior Government whip. She also worked in support of the Holocaust Education Trust and Labour Friends of Israel. Before being elected to Parliament, Gillian had careers in local government and as a senior trade union official in the East Midlands.

Gillian has run her own business, advising and advocating on public health across the EU. She was also Chair of a national consumer body and a volunteer, helping disadvantaged women into work.

Born in Ilford, Gillian studied at Lancaster University. She has served
on the Board of Liberal Judaism and remains an active member of Lincoln’s small but thriving Jewish community.

Jake Berger deals with the following areas:

• Liaising with the Department for Education, Ofsted, Jewish Schools and other key stakeholders on issues of education policy
• Representing community interests in student affairs to universities, whilst working closely with the Union of Jewish Students
• Working with young professionals, youth movements and schools on engaging with young people in the Jewish community

Talia deals with the following areas:

• Israel policy issues
• Raising issues of concern at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
• Managing relations with diplomatic missions in London
• First point of contact for the Board of Deputies’ international partners including AJC, European Jewish Congress & World Jewish Congress
• Advocacy for post-Holocaust restitution, religious freedoms and counter-extremism on an international level

Sara Radivan covers the following areas

• Brings support and assistance to the regional Jewish communities, both large and small, during and following the pandemic.
• Offers professional help to the regional Jewish communities volunteer lay leadership and Deputies

Philip Rosenberg deals with the following areas:

• Policy formation and strategy
• Strategic relationships
• High level political advocacy
• Public affairs communications

Simon Round deals with the following areas:

• Press releases and statements
• Website management
• Social media communications
• The Community Briefing

Anthony Silkoff deals with the following areas:

• Relationships with stakeholders from other religious communities
• Social action programmes
• Representing the Jewish community at interfaith events
• Israel issues in other faith communities

• Judy Silkoff deals with the following areas:
• Responsible for the Board of Deputies’ support services including property, IT and HR
• Manages cloud-based systems in use at the Board of Deputies
• Ensures that the optimum equipment, systems, processes, and tools for the organisation are provided
• Assists the team in identifying and receiving training as required
• Oversees HR and recruitment
• Is the organisation’s designated lead for safeguarding

Daniel deals with the following areas:

• Political and Parliamentary Engagement.
• Secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Jews
• Students and Youth
• Domestic Antisemitism and Extremism