Patron
Patron
Honorary Presidents
Honorary President
Honorary President
Chairman
Vice Chair
Chairman
Vice Chair
Council Members
Past Chairs
Mr. Manuel Velázquez de la Cadena y Ortiz Monasterio
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©2026 • All Rights Reserved • The British Mexican Society • Reg. Charity No. 276 830 • Patron HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG, GCVO
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Born in Mexico City, Prof. Antonio del Río Portilla has worked as a Full Professor at the Institute of Renewable Energies, UNAM. He is a member of several prestigious organisations, including the Mexican Academies of Sciences (AMC), Engineering (AIM), Sciences of Morelos (ACMor), the Mexican Society of Physics (SMF), and the Mexican Society for the Dissemination of Science and Technology (SOMEDICYT). He is also distinguished as a level III member of the National System of Researchers.
Prof. Antonio del Río Portilla has received numerous accolades, including the Gabino Barreda Medal, the Weizmann Prize in 1991, the Efraim Hernández Xolocotzin Prize in Exact Sciences, the UAEM House of Science Award, and the Medal of Honor in Science and Technology awarded by the Congress of the State of Morelos in 2018. Additionally, he has been honoured with the VASE Medal (Vision, Assertiveness, Sensitivity, and Understanding), the State Merit Recognition in Research (REMEI) in 2021, and the National University Award in 2023.
Susannah Goshko is a career Diplomatic Service officer who took up her role as British Ambassador to Mexico in November 2024.
Prior to her arrival in Mexico, Susannah was posted to Canada where she spent three years as British High Commissioner (the equivalent role to Ambassador).
She has significant experience working in London, including most recently as Principal Private Secretary to the then Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, a role that she held for two years from 2019-201.
She has spent her career working on national security issues (focusing on counter terrorism and intelligence policy) and has developed regional specialism in North America (as well as Canada, she has also been posted to the United States twice).
Other experience includes a stint at the Department for Exiting the EU (where she was responsible for setting up the team that led on the Withdrawal Agreement), a posting to Nairobi where she was the UK’s Permanent Representative to UNEP and UN Habitat and an early posting to Havana, Cuba.
William has been the treasurer of the British Mexican Society since 2014, aiding the society with making donations to charities in Mexico and completing the End of Year accounts. His mother is a native of Mexico City and he regularly visits the city to spend time with family.
An experienced journalist and investigative reporter, Elizabeth often moderates events for the Society. She has reported for UK and international newspapers and digital publications including The Guardian, The Herald, Independent, The Telegraph and The Times, World Press Review (US) and Reforma (Mexico). Lizzie has a special reporting interest in art and Mexican archaeology and visits Mexico whenever possible.
His Royal Highness Prince Richard Alexander Walter George, KG, GCVO, the 2nd Duke of Gloucester, is a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. He was born on 26 August 1944 in Northampton, the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. He is also the youngest of the nine grandchildren of King George V and Queen Mary.
The Duke of Gloucester was educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he received a Diploma in Architecture. In 1969 he became a practising partner at Hunt Thompson Architects in London. He is a member of RIBA and a Fellow of the Society of Arts.
The Duke of Gloucester gave up his architecture career in 1972 when his older brother William was killed in a flying accident. His brother’s untimely death meant that Richard became heir apparent to his father’s dukedom. In the same year, he married Birgitte van Deurs Henriksen, the younger daughter of a Danish lawyer. Two years later, upon the death of his father, Richard succeeded to the dukedom.
The Duke of Gloucester often attended national and international events to support the late Queen Elizabeth, as well as undertaking his own public duties. He is associated with over 150 organisations, and his patronages reflect his professional and personal interests, which include international humanitarian issues, heritage and the built environment, and military veterans.
In 2026, Alejandro Gertz Manero was appointed Ambassador of Mexico to the United Kingdom. Following the approval of his appointment by the Mexican Senate, he formally presented his credentials to King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in May 2026.
A lawyer, academic, and public servant, Gertz Manero has had a long career in law, public administration, and higher education in Mexico. He served as Attorney General of Mexico from 2019 to 2025 and previously held senior positions including Secretary of Public Security and Federal Prosecutor for Environmental Protection. He studied law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and later became a professor and university administrator, taking part in legal reform, public security policy, and justice administration throughout his career.
Olivier Evans is a diplomat by trade and has also worked in the private sector. He served as U.K. Deputy Ambassador to Mexico between 2015-2019. He’s specialised in the Americas, Europe, climate and energy, geopolitics, and strategic communications. While in Mexico, he set up Sandals4Schools, a campaign to give shoes to barefooted children in poor regions.
Susana is a freelance journalist and leads on communications for the Society, including its new website and social media platforms. In 2021 she produced the Society’s first ever World Press Freedom Day discussion, now a yearly BMS event, highlighting the safety of journalists in Mexico, still one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the press. Susana has reported for major international media, including the BBC, CBS and the PBS NewsHour. A graduate of Leeds University (BA Russian) and of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Susana divides her time between the UK and Mexico, where she runs a dog shelter.
Arturo Ochoa is a computer engineer with a strong background in digital strategy and web development. In 2024 he led the redesign of the British Mexican Society website and implemented an effective search engine optimization strategy that has significantly improved the site’s discoverability. He continues to update and maintain the site, ensuring it remains current and user-friendly. Arturo has also developed a new visual design for the Society’s newsletters and is leading efforts to streamline the membership processes to make them more efficient and accessible.
Ana Elena joined the BMS in 2019 and regularly contributes to our event programming. She was until recently the Director of the Centre for Mexican Studies, UNAM-UK, a post she held for five years. In this role, she was able to promote UK-Mexico educational exchange and highlight the work of Mexican academics in the UK. She holds a B.A. in English, an M.A. in Comparative Literature from UNAM, and a PhD in English from Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London.
David oversaw the Society’s Charity Committee for several years and brings a wealth of business know-how to the BMS. His early marketing career was with Spillers Foods, BirdsEye Foods and then Walls Ice Cream where he focused on building key brands, culminating in the development of Magnum, now the biggest global ice cream brand. Moving to Unilever’s head office he became the SVP responsible for the food business in the Latin American and South Asia regions, and then relocated to Latin America where he worked for 21 years, latterly as the regional director of Del Monte Foods, living in Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico. Returning to the UK, he became Executive Chairman of Capsicana, a challenger brand in the Latin American Food sector.
David is a Fellow of the IOD and RSA and a member of the Marketing Society and a Marshall Goldsmith Coach. In addition, he has just been elected as the Senior Warden of the Worshipful Company of Marketors. He is a graduate of Oxford University, where he read Chemistry. Apart from the BMS and Marketors his other interests include tennis, scuba diving, theatre and opera.
As an Arts Consultant with experience producing lasting cultural exchanges between Mexico and UK, Susan is instrumental in helping lead the Society reach wider membership and impact. Prior to moving back to the UK in 2019, she directed a cultural programme at The Anglo Mexican Foundation, incorporating performing and visual arts, which became an established vehicle for bilateral exchange of artists, directors, writers, orchestras and theatre companies between the UK and Mexico. Susan was appointed an MBE by Queen Elizabeth in 2006 for her services to international collaboration and exchange. Susan divides her time between the UK and Mexico, where she arranges UK musicians to perform at the yearly Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato.
Damaris joined the BMS as Treasurer in 2008 and presently manages the BMS Book Club, one of the Society’s most popular offerings, with events featuring contemporary authors. Damaris first traveled to Mexico to teach English in 1977, when she met her future husband and moved to a career in the banking sector after gaining a MBA at Manchester Business School. When her husband died unexpectedly just after their daughter was born, she moved back to the UK and worked in the City for 28 years. She has kept in touch with her husband’s family, many of whom attended the joyful occasion of her daughter’s wedding last year.
Richard Maudslay, the current Chairman of the British Mexican Society, leads on engagement both across the BMS core group of volunteers (Council Members) and its wider membership, working to promote Mexico-UK relations. Since 2008, he has led the charitable work of the Society and produced hundreds of Mexico-related events. An engineer by background, Richard has a wide-ranging business career. From roles in Scottish engineering companies he moved to Guanajuato, Mexico, in 1978 to construct and then manage Transformadores Parsons Peebles de Mexico, (now Siemens Mexico), a major supplier to Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). In 1985 he returned to the UK and took on various roles within what became Rolls-Royce Plc. Since then, he has held a variety of non-executive roles in government owned and private sector businesses. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Chartered Electrical Engineer and a graduate of the University of Edinburgh. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty the Queen in 2006 for services to business in North East England.
