About Us
Oakwood International Security’s mission is to enable the development of more secure and resilient societies through the provision of high-quality analysis, research, education and consultancy.
We work directly with countries undergoing security sector transformation as well as with government and non-government organisations assisting the process of reform.
Our Consultants
Our company is comprised of a number of independent consultants whose common purpose is the development of more secure and resilient societies. Our core team has worked together over several years in support of defence engagement and security sector transformation. Our strength is the ability to relate the theories of change to the realities experienced within security sectors.
Laura Cleary
Director
Professor Laura Cleary has three decades of experience as an academic, author and consultant specialising in security governance and management. She is the Director of Oakwood International Security and holds an appointment as a Research Analyst and Programme Planner at the Institute for Defense Analyses in Alexandria, VA. She is also a Member of Universal Defence and Security Solutions.
Prior to establishing Oakwood International Security, Professor Cleary was Head of the Centre for International Security and Resilience at Cranfield University. She joined Cranfield in 2002 to head its Defence Diplomacy Education programme, Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context.
Stuart Young
Consultant
Stuart Young is an experienced procurement professional with extensive experience in defence acquisition and higher education.
He has over 30 years’ experience in the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy and Ministry of Defence, including operational roles at sea and management of major international collaborative programmes with the United States and French navies.
Roger Darby
Consultant
Dr Roger Darby has over twenty years’ experience consulting, lecturing, researching and publishing. His work is focussed on International HRM and development, strategic management, knowledge management and the management of change in post-conflict, transitional and developing states.
Paul Fish, MSc CMgr FCMI CFCIPD
Consultant
With over three decades of strategic international leadership and management experience I deliver outcomes in complex multi-cultural environments. Proficient in areas of Business leaders and teams mentoring, growth, development, and organisational continuity. Utilising Organisational Risk Management Analysis (ORMA), then planning, and incorporating Programme and Project Management initiatives I impact and achieve resource controls on Procurement, Systems and Sustainable delivery.
We frame your requirement strategically and then structure an appropriate response.
Research and Analysis
In a global security environment that is regularly described as complex, volatile and uncertain, it is important to try to make sense of what we can…
Education design and delivery
In designing any curriculum that is in support of security sector transformation, it is necessary to understand the context in which the prospective student is operating…
Consultancy
Our consultancy services can draw upon combined decades of experience in Security, Security sector transformation, Intelligence, Resilience, Defence procurement and logistics...
How we work
We work closely with our clients to understand the environment in which they are operating. We recognise that affecting institutional change within a security sector is relatively easy; encouraging and supporting the behavioural change necessary for meaningful and lasting reform is a much greater challenge. In our experience, research and education are key enablers in generating the critical mass required for initiating and sustaining security sector transformation programmes.