Our 2025 Leaders
Meet the leaders taking part in our 2025 programme
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Allan Njanji
Allan is the Regional Campaigns Manager at Asylum Matters in Nottingham, using his experience of the asylum process to fight for a fairer system.
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Bernie Rochford
Bernie is an NHS Freedom to Speak Up Guardian and a longstanding whistleblowing advocate, featured in national press for her work.
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Cass Humphries-Massey
Cass is the founder of Navigating the Wilderness, a community research practice advocating for grief and systems change.
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Christopher Egan
Christopher is the Lived Experience Lead at We Are Survivors, advocating for male survivors of sexual violence and helping shape inclusive support systems.
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Claire Fisher
Claire is a disability rights advocate at Inclusion Barnet, focused on accessibility and inclusion in both digital and in-person spaces.
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Diane Johnson
Diane is the autistic founder and CEO of EnFold, a charity supporting autistic individuals and families across Northamptonshire.
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Hameeda Khan-Davey
Hameeda is the founder and CEO of People Empowering People (PEP) Enterprise CIC, working to uplift Global Ethnic Majority voices through leadership and storytelling.
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Karina Graham
Karina leads communications and Getting Involved work at Pause, ensuring women’s voices drive change in services and systems for women affected by child removal.
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Laura Fisher
Laura is the founder of Survivor Sanctuary, a survivor-led grassroots organisation offering peer support and healing after sexual violence.
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Oscar Sharples
Oscar is co-founder of Transilience, a youth-led organisation supporting the trans community across Devon.
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Sandy AbdelRahman
Sandy is co-founder of Skaped and Noria Collective, using art to amplify youth activism and challenge injustice.
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Shamim S
Shamim is Community Engagement and Research Lead at a legal advice charity, and a passionate advocate for refugee inclusion.
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Valerie Lolomari
Valerie is a resilience coach, speaker, and founder of Women of Grace UK, supporting survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM) and gender-based violence.
Spokesperson Network
Meet our current spokespeople
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Alan Stuart
Founder of The Calzy Foundation – to campaign for increased and accessible peer-to-peer support for young adults suffering trauma or crisis in their mental health; to de-stigmatise the conversation in young people around mental health and to work towards reducing the suicide rates in young people
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Emma Pears
Founder and CEO of SELFA Children’s Charity, based in Skipton. She is well known for her tireless work to ensure that children and young people in rural communities get access to the mental health services they need.
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Jan Cunliffe
Co-Founder of the campaign group JENGbA (Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association), now campaigning for acquittals for the wrongly convicted and achieving further legal reform.
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Maggie Gordon-Walker
Founder of Mothers Uncovered, a Sussex peer-led organisation that supports women in matrescence (the transition to motherhood) with creative groups led by past participants. Campaigner for better postnatal care for mothers.
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Rosie Hodsdon
Rosie Hodsdon currently works for Basis Yorkshire, advocating for the rights of sex workers.
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Sabrina Jones
Sabrina Jones was previously the Founder and CEO of Say It With Your Chest and now works in the governance team of one of England’s largest multi-academy trusts, bringing extensive experience in education and the charity sector, focused on supporting children and young people.
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Samantha Billingham
Founder of SODA, domestic abuse awareness Ambassador, educating and empowering others to enhance their knowledge and understanding of domestic abuse.
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Sharon McPherson
Co-founder of Families In Harmony, a representative voice in campaigning for racial equity in kinship care.
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Beth Thomas
Mentoring Scheme Manager and Safeguarding Director at Our Place Support. Beth is passionate about using her own experiences to inspire others who have experienced trauma and issues with their mental health.
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Debbie Iromlou
Debbie is the Co-Founder of the Adult Adoptee Movement and Founder of TAAN the Transracial adult adoptee network.
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Johanna Bernard
Co-Director of Families in Harmony, family support practitioner, professional trainer, and Trauma Informed Practitioner with over 12 years lived experience as a Kinship Carer.
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Kellie Ziemba
CEO at Kairos Women Working Together (Kairos), in Coventry who support, advocate for, and empower women to increase their safety, stability, self-belief, and self-reliance to build fulfilled lives, free from violence, abuse, and exploitation.
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Kevin Osei
Founder of Bridging Barriers, a charity which is focused on helping young people to achieve career success through mentoring.
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Debs Teale
Advocate of creativity in health following her own mental health journey, Trustee at the National Centre for Creative Health, member of the Social Prescribing Network and Social Prescribing Academy
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Palma Black
Palma is the founder of Soul Purpose 360 CIC, a coaching, mentoring and training social enterprise for Black women; blending community development with personal development.
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Samantha Southern
Suicide Prevention Bereavement Coordinator at Empowerment Charity Blackpool, Samantha is committed to raising awareness, breaking the stigma, and assisting those affected by suicide,
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Shanine Fasasi
Founder of Diversify Education and Communities, promoting cultural diversity and inclusion in schools, businesses and the community.
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Lady Unchained
Poet and Founder of Unchained Poetry, a platform for artists with experience of the criminal justice system.
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Amanda Hailes
Part of Hull-based women’s collective An Untold Story, peer-researcher for AVA and Agenda, campaigning for women facing marginalisation
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Anne-Marie Douglas
Founder and CEO of Peer Power, an empathy led charity developed with young people which aims to heal childhood trauma and adversity through caring relationships, system change involvement, employment and peer support.
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Darren Murinas
Chief executive of Expert Citizens, an independent group who have all experienced multiple needs and give their ideas to services to help guide and shape them to improve the care of multiple needs citizens.
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Marissa Begonia
Domestic worker and founding member of The Voice of Domestic Workers, Marissa campaigns for justice and rights for Britain’s migrant domestic workers. She helps them to flee abusive families and find safety.
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Sue James
CEO Legal Action Group, a national charity committed to improving access to justice. Previously Director and solicitor at Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre specialising in housing. Sue provides support for marginalised and vulnerable groups so they can make their voices heard.
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Zain Hafeez
Community Organiser at Citizens UK, a Complex Needs Team Leader at CRMC, a Board of Trustee at ASAP and an Ambassador of Voices Network and Red Cross.
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Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan
Founder and CEO of the Zinthiya Trust a charity set up in 2009 aimed at supporting women and families in Leicester and Leicestershire to be free from poverty and abuse.
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Sue Beere
Sue works at APPEAL as a Survivor Advocate and was part of APPEAL’s Bound By Injustice community as they represent her husband’s wrongful conviction case.
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Steve Arnott AKA Redeye Feenix
Hull Beats Bus Founder, committed to building confidence and giving young people the space to be creative through music and art workshops. Star of Sean McAllister’s documentary film A Northern Soul.
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Siobhan Down
Founder and CEO of Yellow Brick Road Projects, Siobhan has used her lived experience of ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) as the foundation for the charity to support young people in learning life skills.
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Rachael Mole
Rachael Mole is an award winning accessibility in the workplace specialist. Disabled since the age of 12, she is an advocate for inclusion as a driver for cultural change.
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Ellie Hatto
Ellie, founder of positivelynegative.uk, embraces “tragic optimism” as she supports people bereaved by suicide and collaborates with public and private sectors to foster resilience and connection.
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Eliza Rebeiro
Co-Founder and current CEO of Lives Not Knives, a charity based in Croydon that aims to reduce youth violence by engaging, educating and empowering up to 10,000 young people a year.
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Clare Patey
Award winning artist, curator, and director of Empathy Museum. Her award-winning immersive project A Mile in My Shoes explores how empathy can transform personal relationships but also help tackle global challenges and open up the public conversation around empathy.
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Simeon Moore
Writer, musician and advocate for young people. Simeon was a member of a notorious Birmingham gang and co-created the YouTube channel DatsTV to challenge, and provide an alternative to those channels and music videos that glamorise gun and knife-culture.
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Ric Flo
Creative Director and Rapper Ric Flo uses the art of rap and his experience in foster care to encourage positivity in young people through creative workshops whilst developing his own music with the Hip-hop Collective Jungle Brown.
Alumni
Explore those that have completed the programme
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Anna Wardley
Founder and CEO of Luna Foundation, a social enterprise dedicated to transforming the support for children after suicide
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Barbara Burton
Founder of the BehindBras Fashion Foundation, providing support, new skills and meaningful employment for former women prisoners, in the fashion, retail and creative industries.
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Ben McCay
Ben McCay is advocate for people with learning disabilities and works as a consultant for the charity My Life My Choice.
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Chloe Juliette
A passionate and active member of the care experienced community, and qualitative social researcher, with the hope of supporting better policy making.
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Craig Jones MBE
Executive Chair of Fighting with Pride of the military LGBT+ charity Fighting With Pride and the principle leader of the Armed Forces LGBT+ community in the difficult years after the ‘gay ban’ was lifted.
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Shaffia Khatun
Co-Founder and Director of SKY Positive Minds, an award-winning charity that works to empower vulnerable women, girls and children from the local community who have experienced domestic abuse, sexual abuse or have been affected by mental health or other challenges.
