Connect & Inspire 2025: Launching Your Fellowship

Workshop facilitator, Advisory Council member, interview panellist, and Churchill Fellow 1982

Nick Danziger

Nick is a renowned photojournalist specialising in global issues. He has won numerous documentary and photography awards, including the Prix Italia for a BBC film and a World Press 1st prize. He has published and exhibited photography worldwide and leads trainings in visual media, human rights and advocacy across the world. Nick’s Fellowship in 1982 documented the ancient trade route of the Silk Road which led to his first book, Danziger’s travels.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2020

Vivienne Reiss

Vivienne devises arts and cultural strategies and works with artists on place-based commissions and creative engagement programmes. She works in galleries, museums, public places, community settings, sites of regeneration and healthcare environments. She is an advisor to Salus Global Knowledge Exchange and was previously a trustee for London Arts and Health. The focus of her Churchill Fellowship was art and the healing environment.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2005

Fiona Morrell

Fiona is the Executive Director of Theatre for a Change, an international NGO that supports marginalised women and girls to have the confidence and skills to use theatre to tell their stories and transform harmful attitudes and dominant power structures. Fiona’s 2005 fellowship focused on understanding the influence of theatre on local communities – the beginning of a journey which has led to her current role.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2023

Boseda Olawoye

Boseda (known as Bo) is a freelance creative producer and consultant who co-creates arts projects, person-led programmes and cultural strategies. She works with diverse communities, young people, marginalised groups, artists, and a range of partners in community settings. Her Churchill Fellowship explored how community-led black-led arts initiatives use their creative practice for social change in Chicago, USA and similar models globally.

Workshop facilitator and Research and Engagement Manager

Naomi French

As one of the Research and Engagement Managers for the Churchill Fellowship, Naomi researches and develops new Fellowship programmes on topical issues, working closely with subject-matter experts. She supports Fellows to share learning with their sector and connect them with our networks.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2018

David Tudor

David is a marine management expert with 25 years of global experience, specialising in natural resources, offshore wind, conservation, and marine policy. He co-founded Ocean and Coastal Futures, and has worked with The Crown Estate, Pelagos, government, and NGOs. He chairs the Wales Coasts and Seas Partnership. As a Fellow, he explored strategies in the South Pacific to prevent ocean plastic pollution.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2016

Anna de la Vega

Anna is the founding director of the social enterprise The Urban Worm CIC based in Nottinghamshire. Since completing her Fellowship in 2016, ‘Vermicomposting: The Future of Sustainable Agriculture and Organic Waste Management’, which involved travelling to the USA and Cuba, Anna has spoken nationally and internationally and is now widely recognised as the leader in vermiculture in the UK.

Workshop facilitator, Advisory Council member, and interview panellist

Professor Juliet Lyon CBE

Juliet chairs Open Mental Health Somerset and is a Visiting Professor at Birkbeck, University of London. Until recently she chaired the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody and, before that, served as a Women’s National Commissioner. Juliet stepped down in 2016 as Director of the Prison Reform Trust and Secretary General of Penal Reform International. Previously, Associate Director of the Trust for the Study of Adolescence, she has managed therapeutic communities and community education and worked as a registered foster parent. Juliet joined our Advisory Council in 2016.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2018

Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang

Emmanuel is the Director of Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust (LPT), a charity providing high-quality children’s homes in the UK. Inspired by his experiences as a teacher, he founded LPT to improve care outcomes for children using the Danish "social pedagogy" model. Emmanuel is a Churchill Fellow, Acumen Fellow, and visiting fellow at King’s College London. His project focus was on children’s residential care practice in Germany and Denmark.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2023

Sylvia Ikomi

Sylvia is a secondary school teacher and university lecturer. She delivers Continuous Professional Development training to social workers and teachers. Her Fellowship comprised of interviews and a focus group with experts in the USA and Canada. It was aimed at exploring the strategies that are being used internationally to address the issue of the adultification of Black girls in state care.

Knowledge Partner: Chief Executive, Coram Group

Dr Carol Homden CBE

Carol is the Chief Executive of the Coram group of children’s charities (since 2007), our Knowledge Partner for this programme. She was Chair of Trustees at the National Autistic Society (2011-21) and a member of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (2014-17). She is now a trustee of the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and the Chair of Diabetes UK. Carol was awarded a CBE in 2013 for her service to children and families.

Knowledge Partner: Research Manager, Coram Group

Dr Katharine Stockland

Dr Katharine Stockland is a Research Manager at Coram, with expertise in conducting qualitative and participatory research with communities facing complex disadvantages. At Coram, she manages mixed-methods evaluations and research projects commissioned by local and national government, What Works centres and third sector partners. Katharine holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from Brown University, USA and an MPhil (Distinction) from the University of Oxford.

Funding Partner: Director, Hadley Trust

Ruth Daniel

Ruth is the Director of the Hadley Trust, a grant making foundation with a focus on disadvantaged people. Grants are predominantly made in the areas of criminal justice and young people, with a key interest in supporting those in care and care leavers. Previously Ruth was Chief Executive at the Access to Justice Foundation and she has a background in law and finance.

Workshop facilitator, Advisory Council member, and interview panellist

Emeritus Professor Peter Liss CBE FRS

Peter is an environmental scientist at the University of East Anglia. His research covers many aspects of the environment, specialising in the interaction between the oceans and the atmosphere, including ocean uptake of man-made CO2, ocean acidification and microplastics in the marine atmosphere. He has led the international research programme IGBP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme) and its project SOLAS (Surface Ocean – Lower Atmosphere Study). Peter was a Commissioner of the RCEP (Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution) and is now serving a second term as a member of the Council of NERC (Natural Environment Research Council). Peter joined our Advisory Council in 2020.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2018

Siofra Caherty

Síofra is an experienced designer, educator, and activist in the realm of sustainability. After working for several global brands including Adidas and Levi’s, she founded her sustainable design studio, Jump the Hedges, where she creates bags from reclaimed materials and leads workshops on environmental awareness. Síofra’s 2018 Churchill Fellowship was titled ‘Building a Zero Waste Community’.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2020

Henry McGhie

Henry is an independent consultant working on museums and sustainable development challenges, including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), climate action, disaster risk reduction, and human rights. His Fellowship explored how museums move beyond presenting issues to becoming part of governance systems addressing these challenges. A lifelong nature enthusiast, he supports museums in bridging the gap between policy and lived experience and has written freely available guides on museums and disaster risk reduction, and museums and human rights.

Supporter and Churchill Fellow 1970

Dr Edward (Eddie) Goldfinch

Eddie’s career was in the field of radiation safety. In 1970 he was awarded his Churchill Fellowship to study radioactive waste management practices in the USA and Canada. He subsequently became Head of the Health Physics Department at Dungeness nuclear power station before establishing Nuclear Technology Publishing. Eddie says his Fellowship gave him the self-confidence which led both directly and indirectly to enhancing his career. He first supported a Churchill Fellowship in 1990. In 2025, Eddie is supporting two Fellowships in the Climate Change programme to reflect his own interest and understanding of the subject.

Workshop facilitator, Advisory Council member, interview panellist, and Churchill Fellow 2014

Andrew Rowland

Andrew is Officer for Child Protection at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He is a Consultant Paediatrician in Manchester (specialising in safeguarding children and the health of looked after children and children seeking asylum in the UK); Honorary Professor (Children’s Rights, Law, and Advocacy) at the University of Salford; Chair of SicKids charity; and non-executive member of the board of directors of M'Lop Tapang (Cambodia). Andrew received the Pol Roger Prize for his Churchill Fellowship, the Association Medal of the British Medical Association, the Gold Decoration of Honour of the European Union of Medical Specialists, an Alumni Award from the University of Nottingham and Honorary Membership of the Faculty of Public Health.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2023

Heather McFarlane

Heather is an Allied Health Professional Consultant working in the Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland. With NHS experience since 1988, much of it in communities affected by conflict and deprivation, she is passionate about the role of allied health professionals in reducing health inequalities. Her Fellowship explored how health professionals in other countries have driven change, with a focus on learning from those directly impacted and sharing insights to inspire sustainable change in the UK.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2018

Tamsin Longley

Tamsin is a Senior Occupational Therapist at The Royal Marsden Hospital. The focus of her Churchill Fellowship was to gain a better understanding into the research and therapeutic interventions available for individuals experiencing cancer related cognitive impairment (CRCI). Since the Fellowship, Tamsin has adapted and is now delivering a UK version of the Emerging from the Haze™ programme for patients experiencing CRCI.

Knowledge Partner: Senior Improvement Fellow, The Health Foundation

Dr Bryan Jones

Dr. Bryan Jones is a Senior Improvement Fellow at the Health Foundation. He has held this role since 2013. With a PhD in Social Policy from the London School of Economics, he specialises in quality improvement and organisation and system improvement within the NHS. His focus is on building improvement capabilities in healthcare organisations and fostering the conditions needed for long-term, sustainable change.

Workshop facilitator, Advisory Council member, and interview panellist

Joanne Bosanquet MBE

Joanne is a Registered Nurse and qualified Public Health Nurse. She has held various positions at individual, community and population level and most recently moved into the charity sector to lead the Foundation of Nursing Studies. FoNS is a UK based charity that positions itself between research and practice, underpinned by theoretical frameworks in person-centred practice. FoNS works with nurses and their teams to establish good workplace cultures which in turn impacts on the experience of care. Joanne’s particular focus is integrated health and care systems and how nurses and others can influence the quality of life for those in their care and fellow citizens and communities. Joanne joined our Advisory Council in 2023.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2019

Ananta Dave

Ananta is a medical director and consultant psychiatrist working in the NHS. Her Fellowship focused on preventing doctor suicides, with wider relevance for all healthcare workers. Inspired by the loss of close friends and colleagues, she travelled to the USA to learn from experts in suicide prevention. She is committed to changing NHS culture to reduce stigma, support mental health, and ensure staff feel safe seeking help. Since returning, she has worked nationally to influence policy and practice.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2016

Dr Kerry Taylor

Dr Kerry Taylor, founder of BrightPIP charity, has worked with families for 25 years. Passionate about preventing mental health problems, Kerry is an NHS neonatal clinical psychologist and qualified in Play Therapy, EMDR, VIG, Family Law, and ABC. Her 2016 Fellowship to New York explored parent-infant projects, and a 2021 Activate grant introduced the evidence-based ABC intervention to the UK.

Knowledge Partner: Research Manager, ukactive

Alex Lucas

Alex Lucas is Research Manager at ukactive and in the ukactive Research Institute. Alex is responsible for improving the management of the research institute, including ways of working, team processes and supporting on areas of business and strategic development. She also manages research projects across a variety of disciplines, supporting with data collection, analysis, and reporting to underpin policy calls and support ukactive members to grow and develop the sector.

Knowledge Partner: Assistant Director of Influencing, Samaritans

Jacqui Morrissey

Jacqui is Co-Chair is Assistant Director of Influencing at Samaritans. She joined Samaritans in 2014 and has worked in the voluntary sector for over twenty-five years in the UK and overseas with organisations including WaterAid and Age UK. Jacqui is responsible for Samaritans’ policy and influencing work, including its media advisory service, online excellence programme and work with different sectors as well as its policy, parliamentary and campaigning work.

Workshop facilitator, Advisory Council member, interview panellist, and Churchill Fellow 2014

Dr Carlene Firmin

Dr Carlene Firmin is a Churchill Fellow and a Professor of Social Work at Durham University. In 2016 she published the Contextual Safeguarding framework, a term coined by Carlene in 2014. This framework has been used to advance policy and research concerned with safeguarding adolescents in the UK and internationally and has led to changes in social care responses to extra-familial abuse. In 2011 Carlene became the youngest Black woman to receive an MBE, for her seminal work on gang-affected young women in the UK.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2023

Lucy Vincent

Lucy is the Founder and Chief Executive of Food Behind Bars, a charity transforming food served in British prisons. A former journalist, she began campaigning for an improvement in prison food in 2016 and established the charity in 2020. Her Fellowship explored how food supports health, wellbeing, and rehabilitation in Scandinavian prisons, and she has since brought this learning back to the UK, with the aim of expanding Food Behind Bars’ impact and influencing future policy.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2020

Mary White

Mary is a community leader in the Grenfell area, focused on transformation through strategic relationships with the local council. Her Churchill Fellowship took her to Christchurch, New Zealand to study their response to the earthquakes and mosque shootings, bringing back inspiring stories to her community. It gave her renewed vision and hope, leading to involvement in the Grenfell Partnerships team, as well as initiatives such as the Memorial Commission and Health and Wellbeing Service.

Workshop facilitator, Advisory Council chair, Trustee, interview panellist, and Churchill Fellow 1978

Lucy Parker

Lucy is co-author of ‘The Activist Leader, a new mindset for doing business’ and ‘Everybody’s Business, the Unlikely Story of how Big Business Can Fix the World’. Lucy has twenty years’ experience as an advisor to global corporates all over the world and in all sectors, helping them to shape and deliver their social value strategies. Lucy founded and leads with her co-author, Jon Miller, Brunswick’s ESG and Sustainable Business practice, based on the proposition that businesses today need to deliver financial and social value in tandem. had and coach to senior executives. Between 2008-2010, Lucy chaired the UK Prime Minister’s Taskforce for Talent and Enterprise focused on high value skills for competitive edge in the global economy. She began her career as a BBC documentary maker.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2023

Rachael Mole

Rachael Mole is an accessibility and inclusion consultant and advisor focused on improving workplace inclusion for disabled people. Disabled since age 12, she brings lived experience to her work addressing the disability employment gap and exploring the role of technology in driving equity in the workplace. Her Fellowship explored how government and business policies equip organisations to create inclusive and accessible workplaces that drive innovation.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2023

Gemma Gray

Gemma is a strategic marketing consultant and Founder of Colouring Outside the Lines, a global peer support group for parents of autistic girls. Her Fellowship explored international solutions to improve employment and wellbeing outcomes for autistic women. She produced a podcast series as her final report and credits her Fellowship with igniting a passion for research. Following a career pivot, she is now undertaking a PhD at Heriot-Watt University, exploring the intersection of late-diagnosed autistic women and menopause in the workplace.

Workshop facilitator and Research and Engagement Manager

Claire Hunte

As one of the Research and Engagement Manager for the Churchill Fellowship, Claire researches and develops new Fellowship programmes on topical issues, working closely with subject-matter experts. She supports Fellows to share learning with their sector and connect them with our networks.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2019

Heba Al-Jayoosi

Heba is a Churchill Fellow and Assistant Headteacher and Inclusion Leader at Mayflower Primary School, an outstanding and highly inclusive primary school in the heart of the East End of London. She is also seconded as a deputy regional lead at Whole School SEND (a consortium hosted by the National Association for Special Educational Needs). Heba is undertaking a PhD at University College London CRAE (Centre for Research in Autism Education), exploring ways in which to improve home-school collaboration for caregivers of autistic pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2023

Alexandra Lyons

Alexandra works in the higher education sector, with a focus on increasing access to university for young people from all backgrounds. In her current role at Imperial College London, she investigates what works for supporting young people into STEM education pathways. Her Fellowship, ‘Linking access with ongoing university support’, draws together insights from the USA and New Zealand to support best-practice around whole student life-cycle approaches.

Knowledge Partner: Grants Programme Manager, Mercers’ Company

Jane Samuels

Jane Samuels has worked for the Mercers’ Company as a Grants Programme Manager since 2022. She works partly on the Young People and Education strand, focusing on the Mercers’ Associated Schools and Colleges and Leadership activities, and partly on the Heritage and Arts strand. Previously Jane worked for an education charity focussing on vocational learning and before that in intellectual property rights in the music industry.

Workshop facilitator, Advisory Council member, and interview panellist

Steve Tyler

Steve has a career history in the field of accessibility spanning 30 years. He has led developments such as the voice of Alexa personal assistant, access to published materials, the first ever accessible mobile devices, smart TVs globally, and much more. He is passionate about influencing the business and government sectors to build sustainable propositions that mean products are “born accessible” as part of design thinking from the outset. He is an adviser on accessibility to Microsoft products, g3ICT (a UN sponsored entity engaged in accessibility), NHS Genomics groups, and a trustee of a specialist school for visually impaired children.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2016

Tim Robbins

Tim Robbins is a Consultant Physician in Diabetes, Endocrinology, and General Internal Medicine at UHCW NHS Trust. He is co-chair of the Trust's Digital & Data Driven Unit. He has a particular interest in diabetes technology including provision of hybrid closed loop technology. His Churchill Fellowship saw him spend time in the USA to understand US approaches to digitally integrated diabetes care.

Workshop speaker and Churchill Fellow 2023

Emma Pickering

Emma is a senior manager and expert in the space of tech-facilitated abuse. Her Fellowship explored the global landscape of digital abuse to identify impactful solutions for survivors. Her research focused on uncovering innovative strategies to combat harm caused by the misuse of technology and empower survivors. She continues to advocate for survivor-centred approaches, integrating international insights to drive systemic change in the tech and support sectors.