Want to know more about me?

I am an award-winning CEO and leader. I have over twenty years' experience in a range of related roles in charity (NGO) operations and strategic management, as well as the education sector in youth work, schools, colleges and universities. All of my work has been bound together through tackling social inequalities and social justice, and working to support some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people locally, nationally, and globally. 

 

My charity background:

In my charity career so far, I have led and worked or volunteered at HIV organisations, LGBTQ+ history and support organisations, service-driven community centres, and I am now the Founder and CEO of ReportOUT, a global LGBTQ+ human rights organisation made up of 80+ volunteers from 40+ different nation states. In my career so far, I have ran support groups, managed large and impactful volunteer programmes, been a lead for fundraising, crafted campaigns at grassroots and higher levels, have written NGO strategies, constructed Theories of Change, managed data collection processes, led communications and events teams, and designed operational action plans. I have worked with marginalised groups ranging from LGBTQ+ people, people living with HIV, people seeking asylum and refugees, girls education in rural Kenya, child slavery practices in Nepal, people in the UK facing socio-economic disadvantage, young people at risk of harm, and older people facing isolation. 

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Research and teaching background:

I started as a youth worker at a youth and children's charity and shifted into secondary school teaching, where I became Head of Department for Religion, Philosophy and Ethics, and then after a number of years, I focused on teaching adults in colleges. Until 2024, I was a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Sunderland for ten years, researching and teaching around issues of inequality, and working with communities at the local, national, and global level, to enact social change. I specialised in HIV and AIDS, global health, poverty and international development, religion and globalisation, global homophobia, and activism and social movements. I specialise in research methods which are participatory and involve communities in their approach, such as PhotoVoice and using creative and visual methods, but I am also an established qualitative researcher.

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Training background:

I am both a qualified teacher and adult trainer, and have trained well over 10,000 people in my career to date, in a range of different training courses. I set up the world's first HIV Charter Mark for employers to reduce HIV stigma in employment, and over the years, have trained over 6,000+ people in HIV and AIDS Awareness. Other training courses have included various LGBTQ+ courses, introducing the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), managing volunteers, various EDI courses, putting together a Theory of Change and capturing data for charities, crafting a fundraising strategy, and many more.

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Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) background:

I started running EDI programmes in my very first career role back in 2003 and since then, have been an EDI lead in pretty much every role I have had. At the University of Sunderland, I was a key part of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team, running a number of training workshops around EDI initiatives across all campuses. I also previously sat on the Crown Prosecution Services Hate Crime Panel to ensure fair and consistent hate crime reporting and documentation by the police. I currently sit on the ITV Diversity Panel to increase diversity within ITV's programming.

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Campaigning background:

​I am an experienced campaigner with over 20+ years experience of running grassroots, national, and international campaigns. A campaign I co-led on, in partnership with the Gilbert Baker Foundation, won 'Gold' at the Anthems Awards for 'Global Awareness Campaign of the Year' in 2023. I am currently the Chair of the UK Alliance for Global Equality (UKAGE), an alliance of 14 civil society organisations who organise the lobbying of parliamentarians, world leaders, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office. I have campaigned in court rooms, on the streets, and online.

 

Research, publications, and media background:

I am a qualified social researcher. I have written and published numerous research projects and reports, book chapters, news pieces, journal articles, and I have co-edited a book. My publications have been about topics such as inequalities faced by HIV organisations during austerity, how the Climate Emergency impacts marginalised groups, the nature of homophobia in Uganda, identity amongst LGBTQ+ Muslims, the weaponisation of COVID-19 by the state toward LGBTQ+ populations, and the role of medicalisation. I have completed a number of charity evaluations for the wider charity, or focus on a project, as an independent expert. I am currently writing a book with Bloomsbury, about what is happening to LGBTQ+ populations across the globe.  

I have also contributed to a United Nations report for the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, linking LGBTQI+ young people, homelessness, and human trafficking, as well as contributing to a UK White Paper for international development, arguing for LGBTQI+ inclusion. I have participated in a large number of podcasts, news articles, television programmes and radio shows spanning BBC news and radio, Channel 4 News,  ITV News, Times Higher Education, and I have even taken part in a TEDx Talk!

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Awards:

I was very proud to be placed in 64th of the most 100 influential LGBTQI+ people in the U.K., on the Pride Power List in 2021, and I personally have had the honour of winning, or being shortlisted, for a number of awards for either myself, or the organisations I have led. 

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When I say I am a change maker, perspective shaker, and boundary breaker, I really do mean it. So, let's work together!