Dr James Smith CBE

Dr James Smith CBE, Founder CEO: The Aegis Peace Fund is led by Dr James Smith who has over 25 years of experience in the field of genocide prevention, memory, and peace building, and co-founded the UK’s first National Holocaust Centre with his family in 1995. Trained as a medical doctor, in 1999 he volunteered with the International Medical Corps in response to the Kosovo crisis, and subsequently founded Aegis Trust in 2000, staging the first major international conference on genocide prevention with the UK Foreign Office. In partnership with the Kigali City Council, James was invited to work with survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi to establish the Kigali Genocide Memorial. With survivors, he also developed an internationally recognised Peace Education programme to rebuild trust in fragile communities, which has been applied in countries facing conflict such as the Central African Republic. James has also established and scaled social enterprises both in Rwanda and the UK to sustain the work of Aegis Trust, including Champion Humanity Enterprises, the trading arm of the Kigali Genocide Memorial and White Rose Shops in the UK. In 2013, James was awarded a CBE for his distinguished and innovative contribution to Holocaust Education and Genocide Prevention. He is an author, editor and contributor to multiple films and publications on the Holocaust and genocide. James is Founder CEO of Aegis Trust, Chair of White Rose and CEO of its Social Enterprises and Life President of The National Holocaust Centre.