Lesley Simm

Lesley Simm (Date of birth: October 1952) is a former civil servant at the Defence Academy's Advanced Research and Assessment Group with a specialism in 'Islamist' movements, who went on to do work on Prevent with the Institute for Statecraft and the Active Change Foundation.
According to a biographical note on the ACF website Simm:
:graduated from Nottingham University (History/Art History Jt Hons) in 1975. Following post-graduate work at London University, Lesley worked in Iran for the British Council and then, after a hasty departure from Iran in 1979, she moved to East Africa, working in Somalia and Tanzania. Lesley lectured in the UK for some years, leading a key academic area in her college, then, on her return to the Horn of Africa, she spent two years researching in Ethiopia, focussing on the management (and sharing) of water resources in the Nile Basin. Returning to the UK in 2000, Lesley worked for the Diocese of Winchester for three years, restructuring partnership links between the Diocese and the African Provinces (Burundi, Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and, also Burma).Active Change Foundation The Team. Retrieved from the Internet Archive of 9 December 2010 on 23 January 2016.
Around 2003 Simm started working at the Defence Academy:
:As Senior Research Fellow, and Director of the ‘Behaviours’ research group, at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Lesley spent six years developing teams of experts with understanding of the UK’s current strategic interests. It was during this time that she formed links with leading Muslim Scholars and academics studying the Islamic world, and ‘grass roots’ groups working with vulnerable young people in the UK.
It appears that Simm worked in the Advanced Research and Assessment Group where she reportedly specialised in 'interstate relations and the new security agenda in the post-Cold War era' and 'Political ideology and Islam.'PBECIGM Lesley Simm Retrieved from the Zoom Info Cache of pbecigm2005.org/lesley_s.html taken on 23 October 2005. Accessed 24 january 2016. Her 'present work' was reported in 2005 to involve: 'Detailed briefing papers on Iraq, Afghanistan, aspects of religious extremism and patterns of violence.' In 2007 Simm was listed as 'Director Islamic World and PRISM' at ARAG.George C Marshall European Center for Security Studies A Comprehensive Approach to Modern Conflict: Afghanistan & Beyond: Draft agenda. 21 March 2007. Accessed 24 January 2016. In 2009 Simm was listed as 'Director, Ideology, Theology and Philosophy Research Cluster, UK Defence Academy'.Religion and Ethics in War and Peace-Making Members of the BISA IR, Security and Religion Working Group. Retrieved from the Internet Archive of 28 November 2009 on 24 January 2016.
In November 2006 Simm became a director of the Institute for Statecraft a defence related think tank that works closely with the Active Change Foundation. She resigned as a director of the IoS in 2012, but remains listed as a Fellow.Companies House Lesley Simm. Accessed 24 January 2016.
In 2010-11 Simm was listed as the Chief Executive of the Active Change Foundation on the ACF website.ACF The Team. Retrieved from the Internet Archive of 9 December 2010 on 24 January 2016.
==Affiliations==
*Active Change Foundation - Chief Executive circa 2010-11.
===Company directorships===
*Council on Foreign Relations (SC373110)
:Role: Director 
:Appointed on: 16 February 2010 
:Resigned on: 1 July 2013 
:Nationality: British 
:Country of residence: England 
:Occupation: Civil Servant 
*Institute for Statecraft (SC312442)
:Role: Director 
:Appointed on: 23 November 2006 
:Resigned on: 8 August 2012 
:Nationality: British 
:Country of residence: England 
:Occupation: Civil Servant 
==Notes==