Lunch with Guest Speaker – Jonny Ball VR founder of UK Afghanistan Veterans Community

Jonny served his first operational tour aged 18 in Northern Ireland and his last as a linguist in Afghanistan. He served in the Army Reserves for nearly 22 years.
After years of experience gained in the challenging environments of the military, government and politics in 2019 he was affected by life-changing injuries. He found his way to recovery through sport, and participated in the Invictus Games.

He is now the Managing Director of Mission Community, a director of his family business The Great Campaigns Company Ltd, host of the Veterans in Politics podcast which is the voice of Campaign Force, the campaign to get more veterans into politics, and is co-founder with Lt Colonel Matthew Mallett of the Afghanistan Veterans’ Community.

Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Mallett MBE
Lieutenant Colonel Mallett commissioned from the ranks into the Royal Corps of Signals 2002. His early appointments included Troop command in Germany and Australia, as well as Team Captain of the Royal Signals Motorcycle Display Team – ‘The White Helmets’. He commanded in the rank of Major, responsible for providing armoured tactical headquarters and communications to the UK and NATO’s Vanguard Armoured Infantry Brigade. His operational experience includes deployments to Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, and in support of the London Olympic Games in 2012. He also spent four years on secondment within the Joint Force Intelligence Group, employed in specialist intelligence roles. He has been employed extensively within MOD Head Office based roles and has considerable experience of working at the strategic and political-military level, including with Allies and partners. This includes roles within the UK Strategic Command’s Capability (Special Projects) department, the Defence Strategy Unit as Chief of Staff (Military Strategy), and more recently in the MOD’s Financial & Military Capability department as the Defence industrial engagement lead. He has also been directly involved in the conduct of two successive Defence reviews. Lieutenant Colonel Mallett’s previous charity experience includes voluntary support to ‘Toe in the Water’ – providing rehabilitation through competitive sailing for injured service personnel. He also planned and delivered a charity boxing event for ‘Hounds for Heroes’, raising £45,000, and is an annual volunteer for the Royal British Legion’s London Poppy Day. He is a graduate of the Advanced Command and Staff Course, University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, and Kings College London. He holds a BEng in Electronic Communications, a PGDip in Strategic Management & Leadership, and an MA in Defence Studies. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his work on the Special Operations Transformation Programme during the Integrated Security and Defence Review in 2021

To book, click here: The Biz Club Luncheon – October 25