staff
Saba Shafi
Pronoun: she
CEO
Saba has an MBA from Wharton and eight years of management consultancy experience. She kicked-off her career leading healthcare initiatives in refugee camps and diversity and inclusion programmes in graduate schools in the US. Saba is passionate about growing TAA. She would also like to go into space, if anyone has a ticket.
Imane Maghrani
Pronoun: she
Associate Director Spark Programmes
Imane is a social justice educator who loves creating spaces where young people are heard, seen and supported to thrive. Starting her career in academia, she took a winding path through the private and non-profit sectors to learn that she loves nothing more than spending time surrounded by passionate young people (admittedly more than spending time with adults). She reads, writes and sings for pleasure, and her most important love language is fruit.
Darcey Williamson
Pronoun: she
Head of Cyclical Leadership
Darcey is a youth worker and informal educator whose practice is informed by a radical youth work paradigm. She employs critical education methods and participatory action research, working with others to co-create projects that challenge epistemic and social injustices. As the Head of Cyclical Leadership, Darcey leads our Changemaker Apprenticeship programme, training and supporting our Alumni community to develop their leadership practice and social justice education methods to become Changemakers, who are central to our movement.
Dhakshi Suriar
Pronoun: she
Head of Philanthropy
Dhakshi is an accidental activist (her words), with a huge passion for social justice. After a couple of stints in the finance sector, she moved across to non-profits working predominantly in trusts and foundations. She now oversees philanthropy at The Advocacy Academy bringing a breadth of partnership management experience with her. Dhakshi enjoys all things social commentary which probably explains why she loves a bit of everything. Talk to her about books, music, TV, podcasts, art, food, fashion and she'll want to unpick the socio-political contexts behind them all.
Fopé Ajanaku
Pronoun: they
Political Education Lead
Fopé is an educator and writer, has a degree in politics, a short lived career in student politics and wealth of facilitation experience from Fearless Futures. They have travelled across the country delivering talks and workshops to universities and have only been stranded once. They are now the lead for Political Education and Campaigns at TAA which they are beyond excited to dig their teeth into as their work has always involved campaigning and critical thinking around education. Alongside this, Fopé is an avid buyer of books (and a more hesitant reader of said books). In their free time, they enjoy writing about identity, vulnerability, and intimacy.
Amarah Khan
Pronoun: she
Community Administrator
Amarah has a Masters Degree in Environmental Psychology. Starting her career in qualitative research, she uses evidence and insight to create fairer spaces. She is passionate about creating social and physical spaces that dare to have chutzpah and be unapologetically beautiful. You will often find Amarah naming every plant and giving them a detailed back story.
Lydia Rye
Pronouns: she/they
Campaigns & Organising Director
Lydia is an experienced Community Organiser and campaigner with more than a decade of experience in social purpose work. She is a former Senior Organiser for Citizens UK where she oversaw civil society alliances in West London, Nottingham & the Maun Valley and is proudest of her work with Nottingham Citizens to see misogyny recognised as a motivator for hate crime for the first time internationally - soon to be law (fingers crossed). Before joining us she worked for Lloyds Bank Foundation and still works freelance with funders interested in funding organising work. She is a host for The Dinner Party, a peer led grief support group based on food and collective care. She tries to paint, picks up a new craft almost every other week & regularly risks hypothermia at the local lido.
Shiden Tekle
Pronoun: he
Community Organiser
Shiden is an activist who graduated from the program in 2018. He has worked on campaigns such as Legally Black and The Halo Code and has won MTV EMA awards and a Marie Claire award from both campaigns. He studied Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary, University of London and loves to talk about the current political climate. He has been actively involved with the Advocacy Academy Changemakers program since 2018 and is passionate about community organising. He plays a couple of musical instruments, smiles a whole load and knows a lot about Marvel stuff!
Stephanie Cohen
Pronoun: she
Community Organiser
Stephanie has been a part of TAA for 6 years, graduating in 2015! Since, she has pursued her passions for changemaking, and social justice by gaining a Law and Masters of Laws in Legal and Political Theory from the University of York. In September 2020 she joined forces with some amazing alumni to form the Halo Collective, where she is the Legal and Political Organiser - solidifying her passion for racial justice and human rights! She likes to call herself a Legal academic having published her first article in June 2021 highlighting the importance of legally recognising hair discrimination as a form of racial discrimination. Outside of her passions for human rights and social justice, she plays a large, maybe unhealthy, amount of badminton. Some say she’s quite good, having played for her university's team for over 3 years.
Vanessa Castro
Pronoun: she
Community Organiser
Vanessa graduated from TAA in 2016, since then she has completed a BA in politics and international relations where she suffered the Canadian winters and ate lots of poutine during her year abroad. She has trained to become a young changemaker for the upcoming TAA fellowships with the amazing Darcey and participated in many fun, radical campaign actions whilst empowering and supporting the young advocates. She is co-organiser of Latinxcluded, a collective birthed from TAA who fight for the representation of the Latinx community in the UK. She has also had a taste of HR in the social care sector this past year. She is a proud pug mama and is always down for bubble tea.
Betty Pearl
Pronoun: she
Movement Leader
Betty is an alumni from the class of 2017 and has organised on campaigns such as Influuenzers and Education Not Exclusion. Through the latter campaign she was massively involved in the documentary Excluded, produced by human rights charity Each Other. She studied Politics and International Relations (the TAA alumni course) at the University of Nottingham, where she was the President of Feminists’ Society for a term. Over the past year she has been a part of the Involving Young People Collective for grant-making foundation Esmee Fairbairn. She is really excited to be continuing her love for justice work at The Advocacy Academy.
Mel Pinto
Pronoun: she
Movement Leader
Mel was born and raised in South London and recently completed her BA Hons in Politics and IR. She has campaigned with the academy for 4 years and was the leading liberation officer at university, where she quickly learned that she hates everything about our education system. She is incredibly passionate about a whole lot of things and could chat your ear off about how pretty much everything links to politics. She constantly leads with awareness around mental health because she went undiagnosed for a big part of her life and knows how it is to feel invisible. You will absolutely know she can sing, and if someone has a time-machine please hit her up because partying in the 80s sounds much better than now to Mel.
Ilhan Yonis
Pronoun: she
Movement Leader
Ilhan is one of the alumni from class of 2016/17. She has worked on the housing campaign, helping to secure funding and land to build affordable housing. She is also currently working as a lead organiser for the Halo Collective. Ilhan has had many media appearances including a feature on the cover of Dazed with Vivienne Westwood and her collaborative film 'Hijab and me,' which earned her a BAFTA nomination. Ilhan is a recent social anthropology graduate who spends her free time running around after her 6 younger siblings!
Shoomi Chowdhury
Programmes Director
Shoomi has extensive experience leading and creating transformative programmes in human rights, social justice and community spaces. She has a track record of disruption, agitation and getting things done, all whilst centring the lived experience of people and communities impacted by oppressive structures. At the heart of her work is the wellbeing of people, collective liberation and sharing joy. She has been challenging systems of power since school, where she was excluded three times, through to activism in her community and internal advocacy at work. She has always sought to be a part of the solution and as an educator, being radical and kind in taking people on journeys of learning and unlearning and shifting attitudes and mindsets is what gets her out of bed in the morning. Shoomi joins us after seven years working in human rights education at Amnesty International UK and later leading anti-oppression programmes in the arts and cultural sector.
Hiba Ahmad
Community Director
Hiba leads the Community Department at The Advocacy Academy. A Human Geography graduate & enthusiast, Hiba is passionate about building fair cities and creating lasting, inclusive spaces that bring people together.
Prior to joining TAA, Hiba worked as a researcher in international development where she focused on just transitions across the globe, and built up a portfolio as a campaigner and organiser doing work on critical pedagogy, liberation work, anti-gentrification, and climate justice. In her spare time, Hiba likes to dabble at poetry, dance to Arabic music, and throw dinner parties for friends.
Anshu Srivastava
Student Counsellor
After 25 years working as an architect, Anshu is now training and working as a psychoanalytical psychotherapist. He is an active member of the Race & Culture Committee at the Guild of Psychotherapists and also the Black and Asian Therapist's Network. He is still hoping that Stevie Wonder will call him up one day and ask him to be in the band.
Alex & molly
Pronouns: she/they
Transformative Culture Advisors
Alex (she/they) and molly (she/they) are long time friends of TAA, having worked in various roles over the years. They are both students, researchers, and facilitators of transformative justice. molly’s background is in sexual violence support work and over the last five years she has focused her energies into transformative non-carceral approaches to harm. Alex specialised in RJ in schools, before moving to an explicit transformative and abolitionist framework for this work, they now collaborate with leaders in schools and non-profits to embed the values of transformative justice work at a structural level.
Dola Akinniranye
People manager
Dola is a HR professional with more than 5 years experience in generalist HR. She has worked across various sectors, including education, charity, management consulting, health care and real estate- to name a few! She is passionate about HR, travelling and learning a new language!
artist in residence
Rhianna Kemi (pronoun: she) is a playwright, facilitator and researcher. She has been working with The Advocacy Academy in various roles for several years now - organising the 2019 & 2021 alumni residentials, and changemaking for the Fellowship and Spark programmes. She has now found her place at TAA as Artist-in-Residence, where she facilitates arts partnerships and supports alumni-led creative projects. Rhianna is also Associate Artist at Coney, an award-winning interactive theatre company. She has recently completed her first play, and spends a lot of her time over-analysing the scripts and plot devices of various TV shows.
Eddie Pile (pronoun: they)
FACULTY
Patron Helen Hayes MP
Trustees
Campaign Coaches (Class of 2021)
CHOKED UP: Lucy Brisbane McKay & Nads Vogel
BODY COUNT: Katie Spark & Molly Ackhurst
HALO CODE: Kimberly McIntosh & Precious McCarthy
NO FILTER: Sham Makhecha & Edi Whitehead
Campaign Coaches (Class of 2020)
ICONIQ: Katie Spark & Molly Ackhurst
FILL IN THE BLANKS: Azmina Dhrodia, Zainab Asunramu & Nadia Vogel
ICFREE: Kelsey Mohamed, Liv Wynter & Kennedy Walker
NO PAPERS PLS: Paulina Tamborrel Signoret & Lucy Delaney
Campaign Coaches (Class of 2019)
RE:ROOTED: Nonhlanhla Makuyana
FUCK YOUR FETISH: Sophie Yates Lu
STRAIGHTJACKET: Molly Ackhurst
LATINXCLUDED: Paulina Tamborrel Signoret
CRAZYTALK: Max Wakefield
NO LOST CAUSES: India Thorogood
Campaign Coaches (Class of 2018)
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith | Kennedy Walker | Babatunde Williams | Katharine Segal | Will McCallum | Danni Paffard | Ellie Mae O'Hagan
Past Changemakers
JJ Akinlade | Zahra Dalila | Josh Pugh | Gabriella Brent | Vanessa Faloye | Rachel Ellis | Saaqib Afzal
Advisory Board [Education]
Carole Kenrick | Inventor in Residence | Lab_13
Debbie Danon | Director of Education | The Unreasonables
Lily Eastwood | Director of Learning | Hackney Pirates
Jess Town | Head of Faculty | St Francis Xavier Sixth Form College
Michal Ish-Horowicz | Theatre Maker & Educator
Madeleine Fresko-Brown | Teacher | London Academy
Advisory Board [Advocacy]
Jem Stein | Founder | The Bike Project
Martha Mackenzie | Deputy Head of Government Relations | Save the Children
Olivia O'Sullivan | Innovation and Results Analyst | Department for International Development
Pete Jefferys | Senior Policy Officer | Shelter UK
Rebecca Viney | Diplomat | Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Dan Grabiner | Investor & Business Advisor
Sarah Lewis | Strategy & Communications Specialist
Ali Torabi | Brexit Lead | TUC
Just Some Of Our Activists In Residence
Abi Symons | Writer & Activist
Adam Francies | Educator
Adam Tyler | Videographer
Afrida Nahian | The Orchid Project
Alex Fergusson | Great Men
Alex Holland | Brew
Ama Josephine Budge | Editor & Curator
Amina Gichinga | Activist Musician
Amy Baron | Educator
Andre Anderson | Author & Creative Facilitator
Andy Ryan | Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Andy Kempster | Department of Health
Andy Soar | The Children's Society
Cllr Andy Wilson | Lambeth Council
Angela Awuah | Mental Health; The Arts
Cllr Anna Birley | Lambeth Council
Anni Movsisyan | Artist
Arkam Babar | Let Us Learn
Aurora Arista | IRMO
Ben DuPreez | Detention Action
Ben Jewkes | Drum
Ben Kirk | Henderson Global Investors
Caleb Femi | Poet
Camilla Stanger | Educator
Catherine Miller | Doteveryone
Ciaran Thapar | Hero's Journey & Journalist
Charlotte Fischer | Citizens UK
Charlotte Knowles | NewsPeeks
Charley Fone | The Changing Face Collective
Christopher Moore | The Clink
Chloe Hamilton | The Independent
Dalia Fleming | Keshet UK
Daniel Costen | MWW
Daniel Grabiner | Cloverhawk
Daniel Reisel | NHS Ethics Centre
Danni Paffard | 350.org
Danny Rothberg | Foreign & Commonwealth Office
David Brook | Theatre Maker
David Gilbert | The Changing Face Collective
David Rosenberg | East End Walks
Ed Bracey | Medical Research Council
Ettie Bailey King | School Consent Project
Finley Lawson | Research Fellow in Science and Religion
Francesca Albanese | Crisis
Francesca Zanatta | UEL Lecturer
Fredi Lorie | Women in Prison
Gabriella Brent | Family Drug and Alcohol Court
Gemma Maddock | Voice Coach
Hannah Green | Bank of England
Hanna Retallack | UCL Institute of Education
Henna Shah | Progress
Henri Imoreh | Theatre Director
Hibo Wardere | FGM Survivor & Activist
India Thorogood | Greenpeace
Cllr Jack Hopkins | Lambeth Council
Jacob Hajjar | Voice Coach
Jake Felix Goldhill | Photographer
James Asfa | Citizens UK
James Snook | Cabinet Office
Jamie Kelsey-Fry | Activist
Jason Grant | The Forgiveness Project
Jen Tyler | Theatre Maker
Jess Thom | Touretteshero
Jessica Tobert | Voice Coach
Joel Trill | Voice Coach
Jonathan Smith | Social Value Group
Jordan Bickerton | Brunswick Group
Josh Pugh | Educator
Josh Solnick | Youth Arts Facilitator
Joy Clark | Specialist Midwife
Juliet Whitley | Department for International Development
Kevin Smith | NEON
Kajal Odedra | Change.org
Karis Barnes | Educator
Lateisha Hanson | Artist
Lauren Davidson | The Telegraph
Leethen Bartholomew | National FGM Centre
Cllr Lib Peck | Leader of Lambeth Council
Ligia Teixeira | Crisis UK
Lisa Farron | The Organisation
Lisa Nathan | Impactt Limited
Lucy Curtis | The Changing Face Collective
Luke Waterfield | Save The Children
Luke Forsythe | Videographer
Madeline Crowther | Waging Peace
Madeline Fresko-Brown | Educator
Cllr Malcolm Clark | Lambeth Council
Mairi Hayes | Central School of Speech and Drama
Cllr Mary Atkins | Lambeth Council
Matt Bonner | Graphic Designer & Subvertiser
Matt Cole | Drum
Matt Hindle | Energy Networks Association
Melanie Pope | Scope
Michael Goode | Allied Bakeries
Cllr Mo Seedat | Lambeth Council
Molly Ackhurst | Birkbeck University/Hollaback
Nathan Pierce | Greater London Authority
Nick Arnold | Black Jeans Pictures
Owen Jones | Author & Journalist
Peter Bray | Voice Coach
Peter Brownell | The Organisation
Peter Dawson | Prison Reform Trust
Poppy Terry | Shelter
Rachel Ellis | Soul Focus Yoga
Rachel Griffiths | Theatre Maker
Cllr Rachel Heywood | Lambeth Council
Rachel Pierce | Shelter
Ralph Scott | Demos
Rebecca Falcon | Save the Children
Rebecca Livesey | Barrister
Sam Grant | Liberty
Sara Shahvisi | Fearless Futures
Sarah Wayman | The Children's Society
Sarian Kamara | FGM Survivor & Activist
Scott Leonard | The Champion Agency
Simon Bishop | Special Advisor to Justine Greening
Simon Gentry | MWW
Shadi Brazell | Helen Hayes MP
Shelley Masters | Educator
Cllr Stephen Canning | Essex County Council
Susanna Davies-Crook | Artist & Writer
Teju Adeleye | Journalist & Facilitator
Thomas Dekeyser | Subvertiser
Cllr Tim Briggs | Lambeth Council
Tim Hughes | Berry Palmer & Lyle
Tom Brookes | Team Up
Tom Ross-Williams | Theatre Maker
Tom Silverton | OMD
Tracy Frazuel | Greenpeace
Verna Rhodes | Central School of Speech and Drama
Victoria Showunmi | Education Academic
Will Heaven | Speechwriter to Michael Gove MP
Yas Necati | Activist