Dr. Peter O’Brien
Executive Director
Peter leads the Yorkshire Universities’ (YU) Executive Team, and he is Company Secretary for the Limited Company and Charity. With over two decades’ experience, as both a senior practitioner and academic, Peter has driven YU’s increasing and influential policy engagement and activity in Yorkshire. He has worked extensively, at a senior level, across the north of England, and he has published widely on a range of matters relating to local and regional development. Peter is a Commissioner on the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, and he also represents YU and the higher education sector on many high-level regional groups and committees.
Monika Antal
Assistant Director
Monika deputises for Peter and leads on project management and programme planning and she manages the internal operations of Yorkshire Universities. Monika currently leads on the Graduate Employment & Employability and the Climate & Sustainability work strands, and related stakeholder engagement.
Building on her previous role as a Policy Analyst at the Joint Research Centre’s Policy Lab and Science Advice to Policy Unit at the European Commission, Monika also supports Yorkshire Universities’ academic policy engagement activities, particularly through the Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission’s (YHCC) Regional Picture & Evidence Group and the Yorkshire & Humber Policy Engagement & Research Network (Y-PERN).
Lucy Graham
Executive Assistant
Lucy joined YU in November 2023 in the role of Executive Assistant. She leads on support for a range of admin functions and is the primary contact person for calendar management and working group servicing.
With a career spanning over 20 years, Lucy’s admin acumen was honed in a diverse array of sectors ranging from student and gap year travel to government and non-profits. Her career has since transitioned into education, with her most recent role being at a private college. Her expertise spans executive support, operations and administrative management in large and complex organisations.
Steph Morris
Associate Consultant
Steph has been an Associate Consultant to YU since March 2023. She is an independent innovation and regional development specialist with over 18 years’ experience in senior roles in national innovation funding organisations and higher education. Before joining YU, Steph worked as Director of Knowledge Exchange & Impact at the University of Leeds. From 2009-2019, Steph worked at Innovate UK in roles including Head of Markets & Insights, and Regional Manager for Yorkshire, the Humber and North East.
Mark Hill
Accountant
Mark is YU’s long-standing in-house accountant. He provides financial administration and advice to YU management and committees. He runs an accounting practice with mainly commercial clients. He is a former City of York Councillor.
Lauren Hunter
Communications Assistant
Lauren joined Yorkshire Universities this year in the role of Communications Assistant. She contributes to communication outputs from YU including weekly, national and regional updates via the weekly newsletter, social media and networking.
Lauren has experience in sustainability communications for community interest companies throughout the region and has supported the work of HEIs in hands-on roles as part of the widening access and engagement teams. Having over two years of experience in communication roles, and content creation, has allowed Lauren to support YU’s mission to amplify the voice of higher education institutes across the region and contribute to a more collaborative communication network.