“I’m a charity sector leader, researcher and educator. My first career was as a secondary school Citizenship teacher, supporting young people to explore their power for change, and I first moved to the charity sector (at national charity Think Global) to support other teachers to develop a global dimension to their lessons. Most recently, I’ve led Learn English at Home (LEAH), a charity mobilising communities in SW London to enable refugees and migrants to integrate through language support. LEAH trains local volunteers to go into the homes of vulnerable and isolated adults and offer bespoke, 1:1 English support. I’ve seen for myself the power individuals and communities have to bring about change, and I’m excited by community sponsorship as a powerful and tangible way to do just that”

“I have a very personal interest in refugee issues, as my own parents arrived in Australia as refugees in the 1950s. Also, I’m a migrant to this country myself, which, whilst different from being a refugee, gives me some understanding of the total upheaval and life change that moving continents involves! My professional background is broadly split between Government (I worked for almost a decade with the Australian civil service), the charity sector (I was previously Head of Programmes at the education charity Think Global), and academia (I have a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics, where I examined norm diffusion, or the way ideas move around the international system).”