I’ve worked at The Advocacy Academy since 2017, first as the Managing Director and then in 2021, as the CEO. Previously, I worked in management consulting and venture capital, transitioning into organising after working with activist groups and developing social justice programmes in the USA. I’m currently focused on growing TAA sustainably, putting transformative practice at the core. I also served as a Treasurer of Citizens UK for a time, and currently sit on the Boards of the Tudor Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. I have an MBA from Wharton Business School, and a MSci in Mathematics from Imperial College London.

The separation of climate and migration issues in political discourse.

Every time I facilitate a session or work alongside our young campaigners!

I am a youth worker and social justice educator who has worked in academia, the private sector and the charity sector designing learning journeys for young people on human rights, political identities and systems of oppression. I create pathways for passionate young people to build power and take action to win change. My practice is guided by my belief that education is the practice of freedom, and that liberation lies in the messy work we do in community with each other.

I love reading, writing long reflections on justice that I’ll never publish, cooking, walking in Richmond Park, and making things (from music to crafts). I organise with my neighbours to demand better housing conditions and I’m a primary school governor. I also love dreaming up new ways to be in community to challenge capitalism, cultivate joy and build solidarity!

I’m angry that the people in power have managed to position those who are willing to imagine and fight for a just world as enemies of the people. Whether it’s chastising striking workers for delaying a commute or criminalising people disrupting arms trade with genocidal regimes, our oppressors are cackling with joy as they see the people whose necks they are standing on chastise those among them who are trying to remove it.

Committed groups of regular degular people continue to challenge injustice, build power, and win. People protecting their local cinema from becoming expensive flats. Neighbours preventing a deportation van from taking one of their own. Estates facing off greedy housing associations and forcing them to back down. Another world is possible, and we have what we need to win.

I have seven years’ experience in trust and foundation fundraising, having worked at two national charities before joining TAA. I’m a proud union member and previously organised with Unite in my workplace, as well as with a local community union campaigning on housing and other issues through direct action.

At TAA, I draw on this experience to support organising that shifts power to young people so they can drive change in their communities. This includes taking an organising approach to fundraising and helping shift norms and expectations across the sector. 

Outside of work, I enjoy growing veg, reading, cycling around London, and slowly learning Japanese.

The state of housing in south London – and across the country. Housing is a human right, and everyone should have access to decent, safe and affordable homes without having to fight tooth and nail for their basic needs.

The dominance of private landlords, profit-driven corporations, and housing policies that prioritise profit over community and care is a national shame.

Ordinary people and workers organising together to fight for what they deserve – whether that’s safe housing, better public services, or fair pay and working conditions – and winning collective change gives me a huge amount of hope.

With over a decade of experience in mentoring, facilitating and support work, I have worked for several years in community arts and through-the-gate support roles, within prisons and post-release settings, as well as alternative educational contexts with young people. My practice focuses on embedding radical and transformative approaches to support work, and on capacity building whilst disrupting normative models of traditional charity and support work. I’ve designed and delivered a range of programmes nationally and internationally, and I’m passionate about guiding people to think and act critically to build the power needed to create change.

Outside of work I love books and pasta!

That we have normalised and accepted punitive and violent institutions such as prisons, detention centres and exclusions. I am angry that these institutions and frameworks prevent us addressing the social problems at the root, through transformative and radical organising.

The power of being in community. Having worked in wide and varied settings, within often demoralising and challenging contexts, the hope and power that has come out of strong relationships has been transformative and vital. Strong relationships build resilience, community, power and possibility and is where creating radical change begins and where hope can be found.

I am a youth worker and informal educator whose practice is informed by a radical youth work paradigm. I use critical education methods and participatory action research, working collaboratively to co-create projects that challenge epistemic and social injustices.

I previously worked at TAA as a Changemaker and later as Head of Cyclical Leadership, where I designed and delivered the Changemaker Development Programme. I have since transitioned to the Campaigns and Membership Department to co-produce, alongside our young people, a Member-Led Governance structure that shifts and grows power within our organisation and across the sector. Together, we are co-creating a youth governance model that can be shared more widely to strengthen the collective power of young people beyond TAA.

Outside of work, I organise around feminist, peer-to-peer, and post-capitalist alternative systems of care. I love dancing with my queer loved ones, finding magic, and slowing down.

White supremacist and cis-heteropatriarchal ways of being, particularly the internalised forms that shape how we relate to ourselves and one another.

Experiencing the possibility and reality of change through relational work. I have a deep commitment to transforming the way I relate to others by unrooting internalised white supremacist and cis-heteropatriarchal ways of being, and I practise this work through intimacy and connection.

To quote Sophie K Rosa: “the intimate realm can impede or facilitate political transformation.” I’m interested in what it could mean to position intimacy as a site of struggle within our movements, toward futures grounded in greater connection, care, and communality.

Born and raised in south London, I have 15 years of organising, campaign and leadership experience. In my previous role, I was Director of Advocacy and Communications of Involve, having been CEO of London Community Land Trust and a Senior Organiser at Citizens UK before then. I’ve been involved with TAA for many years, having led the community land trust campaign locally with members like JP and Costa. I joined TAA as a Trustee in 2023, and stepped down to take up this exciting new role.

When people are told – and ultimately end up believing – that we don’t have the right to be part of a decision that affects us.

That moment, when people you’re working with realise that they have the ability, with others, to make a difference to something that matters to them.

Recently I’ve been working in education primarily as a Teaching assistant assisting and safeguarding young people who have a complex set of needs from emotional support to challenging learning difficulties such as Autism and Dyslexia. As a politics undergraduate from a working-class community, I have always been interested in uplifting my community and challenging the status quo. I’ve also been involved in a number of projects centred around anti-colonial politics and political awareness.

My interests are in Pan Africanism, History and Basketball.

Lots. The stigmatisation of the most marginalised, unempowered people in society is something I find particularly cruel. Also, the general theme of neoliberalism eroding our public services has had a huge impact on my generation whether it be the lack of youth spaces for young people or the abysmal upkeep of our NHS these issues have truly fragmented and harmed society.

Solidarity and fighting spirit shown all across the world by oppressed people throughout history.

I have an MA in Social Justice and Education from UCL and began my career teaching secondary Mathematics through TeachFirst. After six years in the UK and Turkey, an interest in political and alternative forms of education led me to anti-racism facilitation, and later into philanthropy with the Isla Foundation, where I ran a small grants programme supporting creative, education-focused projects. I now work Development at The Advocacy Academy, focusing on income diversification across corporate partnerships, major donors, and digital fundraising. I also sit on the Board of Directors for Common Nature Recovery, supporting community-led land stewardship for nature recovery across the UK.

I am angry at how, despite many incredibly hard-working and caring individuals within the system, mainstream school reproduces systems of power under the guise of ‘equal opportunity’ and ‘access’ through entrenched neoliberal practices.

“Without a minimum of hope, we cannot so much as start the struggle” (words by Paulo Freire in Pedagogy of Hope). So, I am hopeful out of pure imperative!

My background is in advocacy and disability support work, and much of my work experience has centred around working directly with young people and vulnerable communities facing structural barriers within state services. As such, TAA’s commitment to building infrastructure for meaningful systemic change through youth work and community organising is work that I admire and have been engaged with for some time. Outside of work I do commissioned portraits, and in my free time I love binge watching my favourite comfort series, reading, going on long walks, or thinking about all of the destinations I’d love to travel to.

How quickly dangerous, bigoted, and unfounded talking points become legitimised as ‘rational’ debate or talking points (think ‘moral panic’ around the demonisation of trans/non binary people, asylum seekers, those who rely on the welfare state etc. or just the normalisation of red pill content).

Community makes me hopeful. The violence embedded in the white supremacist, capitalist order makes us feel like we’re perpetually alone and fending for ourselves- that no one should take care of you and that you can’t depend on anyone. The existence of community, be it friends, chosen families, colleagues etc. directly defies this. It creates and allows space for accountability to one another, for real friendship and for care. In Jamaica, where I’m from, our national motto is ‘Out of Many, One People’, a reminder that we are, and have always been, a collective.

I’m a generalist HR professional with demonstrated experience across various sectors like charities, business management consultancies, education management, real estate, radio, retail, and health industries. I believe in “working hard and playing hard”, so when I’m done working hard you will find me playing hard. I’m passionate about HR, travelling and learning a new language.

I also have an interest in culture and how diverse culture influences our beliefs and the way we work. I’m currently doing empirical research on the influence of subcultures on work- related ethical values, behaviours, and decision-making.

Pretentious policies and systems designed to show care for the employees when in actuality there is a lack of genuine care. My HR goal is to practise empathy in my people management approach, and to change the wrong perception of HR as the “police” and the perception of people management as a box ticking exercise.

I am hopeful about a world where differences and diversity are embraced.
A world where people can be themselves without fear of stereotypes or discrimination.

I turn complexity into clarity, alignment, and momentum.

I bring together Finance, People, Operations, and IT to build aligned, high-performing organisations. I identify where momentum will break and resolve it early, translating finance into decision-ready insight and ensuring the organisation executes and scales with confidence.

In my spare time, I’m usually writing, cooking, or out on a road trip.

When society fails to create the conditions for young people to thrive, feel valued, and build meaningful connections and oneness, it is not a gap in systems; it is a failure of responsibility.

Hope is built on agency, visibility, and proof of progress, even in small forms, and is increasingly found in the intentional leadership, communities and shared sense of belonging emerging every day.

Over the past decade, I have led and supported a range of youth programmes across London, working with grassroots organisations, local authorities, and national charities. My experience spans programme design and delivery, capacity building, impact measurement, and cross-sector partnerships, all grounded in equity, care, and community-led change.

I have developed initiatives that centre the strengths of underserved young people, supported teams through growth, and secured funding to scale impactful work. I am committed to investing in those who support young people and building sustainable, values-led programmes that prioritise lived experience and youth voice.

Outside work, I enjoy cooking, exploring restaurants, netball, self-care, and spending time with loved ones.

When underrepresented communities are expected to do the heavy lifting without resources, recognition, or rest.

Young people who refuse to shrink themselves to fit into broken systems, and those who support them to thrive regardless.

For over 10 years I’ve been designing and delivering engaging and transformative workshops and training for young people and campaigners across the UK, Canada & the USA. I’m a huge pedagogy and learning journey head – I’m energised by the power of young people and strive to create brave, engaging spaces for them to consider new possibilities, learn about the world and themselves & explore different ways of being. If you’d like support from me and The Advocacy Academy team to do the same with you or the young people you work with, reach out to the Partnerships team!

I love escaping reality & diving into different worlds built through films, books, video games & music – I’m an avid Sims player, cinema-frequenter, canal walker and bookworm. My day job at The Advocacy Academy is my way of building my dream world in the real world.

The unjustified moral panic surrounding trans and gender nonconforming people in the UK. The trans community is only 1% of the UK population, but anti-trans rhetoric in the British press, transphobia and hate crimes have risen exponentially over the last few years. All we want is the ability to live as our most authentic selves. Leave us alone! Go away!

Witnessing communities come together to support each other. Community care. Mutual aid. It gives me hope that other systems and ways of living are possible and within reach. On the day to day – laughing A LOT, my friends, and my nephew who is the love of my life.

I am an alumni of The Advocacy Academy (TAA)’s programmes, having first met TAA at seventeen, angry about injustice and wanting a place in the movement. I am very grateful to be building a practice of youth organising in the place that I have grown up – organising with the village that raised me. I am an organiser,  facilitator and youth worker – combining these practises to build relationships, training and programmes that centre youth leadership and build solidarity and care between all.

I also have experience facilitating youth boards at trusts and foundations (BBC Children in Need, The Co-op Foundation), supporting them to bring a critical, organising approach to the decisions that they make.

In my spare time, I am a big walker, eater, yapper and reader. Most commonly found in Brockwell park with a loved one.

We are forced into crisis after crisis, impacting the livelihoods and safety of everyone due to the greed and ego of a very few.

There are more of us than them, communities building power, solidarity and alternatives, nature, Brixton and having a laugh.

I am a community organiser, facilitator, and researcher who has worked with organisations like Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth on the political education of young people, and organised on issues of climate justice, anti-racism, community safety, and trade justice. I’m active in a Brixton-based community group, Save Nour, where I help mobilise against gentrification in South London and a trustee of the Lipman-Milliband Trust.

In my spare time, I like to go for long walks around the city, find local food gems, go to the theatre, dance (badly) to good music, try my hand at hobbies (knitting and pottery are the top two at the moment) and give lots of hugs to my friends and family.

I am angry that we are expected to pretend to live in a post-colonial society while the world is on fire. I am angry that money is being made off genocides across the globe. I am angry that we are committing ecocide against the Global Majority and future generations in the name of economic growth. I am angry that we have normalised indignity and injustice.

Orcas fighting back against billionaires on the high seas, people fighting back against injustice across the globe, and my baby niece!

I am a design specialist with a reputation for encouraging creativity amongst young people, particularly those from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds. With a masters degree in interior design, I’m currently the CEO and Founder of MDC Group, one of the UK’s most successful interior design and fit-out companies, that has been running for the past 25 years+. I was awarded an MBE for contributions to business design and diversity in the workplace in 2019. My personal interests outside of work include football and the gym. I have been a huge Arsenal fan since I was young and never miss a game! Lastly, my family is everything so I try to spend every moment I can with them.

Injustice and inequality.

I felt deeply connected with The Advocacy Academy as soon as I came across the organisation. They have amazing values, and from the get-go I knew I had to get involved. Fighting injustice and inequality can be a struggle in today’s society, so it’s great that this organisation is so passionate about promoting change. The passion and hard work that everyone involved puts in makes me hopeful, and I am proud to be a part of it. Also, being able to witness my family living an even better life than I have led.

I am the Research Team Manager at Management Consultancy Oliver Wyman, specialising in technology. I’m also currently undertaking a master’s at Oxford University in Social Science of the Internet. For over ten years I have run a club night, record label and radio show, Banana Hill – focussing on global club music. I truly believe that empowering young people and reducing inequality are the best ways that we can improve our society.

Unfairness. I simply cannot tolerate it at any scale. I see opportunities afforded to some yet denied to others and it makes me angry. It makes me want to do something about it.

Positive action. When I see young people campaigning for issues that they care about, especially when against truly remarkable odds, I am immediately inspired. I also look back to other societal transformations throughout history, and how at one point, all of them were regarded as hopeless…until through sustained effort and enough momentum, they weren’t.

James has been a community organiser for 14 years and is Assistant Director at Citizens UK where he leads the organisation’s work with migrants and refugees and South London Citizens. James has worked with the Advocacy Academy since 2014.

James is a dual British and Iranian national and grew up in Thornton Heath, Croydon. He is a governor at a primary school in Brixton. He has degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and Middle Eastern Studies with Arabic from the University of Oxford and an MA in Community Organising from QMUL.

When people are humiliated

The moments when people realise that the things they’re struggling with are the result of political decisions that can be changed.

I’ve spent most of my career in financial services, leading teams and building functions that help organisations grow and better support their clients. Alongside that, I’ve always cared about creating opportunity and giving people a stronger voice.

As a long-standing Trustee of The Advocacy Academy, I’ve seen first-hand how important it is to support young people to understand the systems around them and take action on the issues that matter to them.

Outside of work, I spend as much time as I can with my close circle, being outdoors and travelling. Nature and art give me perspective, and I find it enriching to see how other people live and think.

People being overlooked or not heard, especially when they don’t have the same access or platform as others.

A lack of curiosity about different experiences, and inequality being accepted rather than challenged by those who know better.

Young people who aren’t accepting the world as they’ve been handed it, and are working to change it, give me hope.

Time spent in nature, and the sense of perspective it brings.

And shared experiences, whether that’s in communities, families or across cultures, that remind me we have more in common than we think.

I joined the Advocacy Academy in 2026 as their legal trustee. I am a barrister in private practice and I was called to the Bar in 2019. I specialise in public law, criminal law and regulatory/disciplinary law. I have spent many years volunteering with a number of social mobility charities after being a beneficiary of the Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship. Away from work, sports and music are my lifeblood. I represented Team GB in a former life and most recently ran the London Marathon for Breast Cancer Now. I play the saxophone, bass and piano and have played gigs and small festivals whenever they let me!

People achieving amazing things and then pulling the ladder up behind them.

Seeing expression and creativity flow and be actively encouraged amongst people with differing views or backgrounds.

I have a background of 25 years in Youth and Community work, and I’m an expert in Informal Learning and Critical Theory. I graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University and built my practice through a method of Praxis, a commitment to supporting people to name their world, recognising the need for inquiry and equity to underpin all work to develop trust and meaning to the work. I work locally, regionally, nationally and internationally at the nexus between frontline practitioner and strategist. I have worked across the statutory, voluntary and the social enterprise sector. I also love football (playing and coaching) and especially love travelling, reading and spending time outdoors.

Ungrateful people; people who do not recognise the past and how it informs the present and carries us into the future.

Nature, the oneness of people… and how history sets people free.

Laura is a Senior Consultant in the Civil Society & Government practice at Green Park. She brings ten years of executive search experience working across board and executive appointments for grantmakers, trusts and foundations and social finance organisations.

Before joining Green Park, Laura was on the Talent Acquisition Team at the Wellcome Trust, supporting Board-level appointments and leading recruitment for the Digital and Technology area. She began her career in executive search at an international firm, assisting higher education clients with senior academic roles and arts organisations with executive and non-executive appointments.
Laura has a BA in History from the University of Bristol and is studying a masters in philanthropy, grantmaking and social finance at City St George’s, University of London. She is passionate about fighting inequality and equal access to education.

Inequality and injustice make me angry especially when they are caused by short-sighted change that does not consider the voices of the most vulnerable in society. A lot of the change in the world at the moment feels like we’re going backwards and it’s infuriating.

Seeing communities come together to tackle injustice and stand to defend communities who face injustice give me a real boost. This and when I see a truly fantastic senior appointment that challenges perceptions and will create change.

Amelia is a senior leader in social innovation and venture philanthropy, passionate about building transformative alliances that drive scalable, systemic change. As Chief Partnerships Officer at 100x Impact, she leads the organisation’s global Engagement, Influence, and Communications functions, securing strategic funding, shaping ecosystem partnerships, and amplifying the uptake of impactful social innovations.

Amelia also serves as Deputy Director of the LSE’s Marshall Institute, spearheading influencing and engagement initiatives to advance the Institute’s mission of fostering private action for public benefit.

She brings deep expertise in strategy, multi-stakeholder engagement, and impact partnerships from her previous roles at the University of Oxford and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. Amelia is also an Ashoka Venture Scout, contributing to the global social impact movement.

When decisions are made without compassion or humility. I believe everyone should have the opportunity to live a life of dignity and purpose, and our systems should lift people up, not hold them back.

I’m endlessly inspired by the kindness, creativity, and courage people show when they come together. I truly believe that, through collective action, we can shape a future our children and generations to come will be proud to inherit.

Jamie Crummie trained as a lawyer, having studied a LLB in Law at Leeds University and a master’s in Human Rights Law LLM at Queen’s Mary before pursuing his mission of fighting food waste. He is the co-founder of Too Good To Go, the world’s largest marketplace for surplus food. Through its marketplace app Too Good To Go enables consumers to buy unsold food from restaurants and retailers, so that it doesn’t go to waste.

Too Good To Go is currently active in 19 countries. The market-leading app has over 100 million registered users and 165,000 active food businesses, who together have rescued over 450+ million meals of food collectively.

Jamie was named as an Obama Leader in 2023, Sustainability Entrepreneur of the Year at the GB Entrepreneur Awards 2022, a Trailblazing Activist in Forbes’ the 50 Next class of 2021, One Young World’s Entrepreneur of the Year in August 2020, and one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in Europe in February 2019.

Injustice, inaction and inequality

Instigating and developing change is hard yet I am continually inspired by amazing work from young people striving and driving positive impact. I am truly hopeful for the future when I see the values and principles upheld by younger generations

Hassan Damluji is the author of The Responsible Globalist (Penguin, 2019) and founder of Global Nation, advising institutions on global cooperation, climate, and inequality. He spent a decade at the Gates Foundation as Deputy Director of Global Policy & Advocacy, leading the Middle East and Asia teams. Previously, he was a senior manager at McKinsey & Co., designing education system reforms. A graduate of Oxford and Harvard, he is a Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE, a senior advisor to the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations, and co-founder and Vice Chair of One Degree Academy. Passionate about youth leadership, he supports The Advocacy Academy in empowering young people to drive systemic change.

The world is an extremely unequal place, both within countries and between them. It makes me angry when people do not acknowledge their privilege, and do not show empathy to those less fortunate than themselves. We all have sources of privilege, which we can pay forward as gifts to others.

Humans have a tendency to figure things out eventually. Progress is not smooth, and sometimes things get worse before they get better, but one day we will fix the bad practices that harm our society, and our planet.

Andrew Evans is the co-founder of Smart Pension, making saving and financial access simpler for people worldwide. A long-time friend of The Advocacy Academy, he is a champion of youth-led change and a strong advocate for education. He also supports innovation foundations, advising and funding UK fintech companies and social entrepreneurs, particularly in open banking. We’re excited to welcome him as an Ambassador and look forward to his support in helping us grow our network and impact.

When people are treated unfairly based on circumstances beyond their control. And when brilliant ideas, people and opportunities are squandered due to laziness, ignorance and bureaucracy.

The poet Du Fu wrote ‘The state is broken. Mountains and rivers remain’. I take that to mean that even in times of conflict, there is something enduring beyond this. The youth of today are able to find hope and solutions, and being able to help is a privilege.

Freddie Feltham is a journalist, ‘manosphere’ expert and host of political podcast ‘What’s Left?’. After making several documentaries investigating the world of Andrew Tate and his impact on young men, Freddie has written in The Guardian and appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain. As a political strategist, Freddie was a key part of the Labour Party’s digital campaign, creating content in the ‘first TikTok election’. He now hosts his own show ‘What’s Left?’, with fellow Labour campaigner Jovan Owusu Nepaul, speaking to progressive young men on how to navigate an increasingly polarised and radical political landscape.

Selfishness, corporate greed and avoiding accountability. When people refuse to empathise with others.

We can learn from our mistakes. History is a useful guide. When the chips are down, co-operation is possible to realise a better world.

Kené Umeasiegbu is Tesco’s Responsible Sourcing Director, leading the company’s agenda on human rights, sustainable packaging and food waste reduction. He was at various times, Tesco’s Campaigns Director and Head of Environment, in which roles he: led the company’s advocacy and stakeholder engagement on health and environmental sustainability, established Tesco’s sustainability innovation agenda, led the company’s switch to 100% renewable electricity and roll-out of electric vehicle charging points. Prior to Tesco, he worked at Cadbury and The Carbon Trust.

Kené is a trustee of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and is the recipient of the 2022 Black British Business Person of the Year award in recognition of his contribution to corporate sustainability.

When public figures exploit the fault lines in society to divide communities and pitch one group against another.

The energy of young people when they realise their own power in fighting for a better future.