About
I am an academic, policy adviser, strategic consultant and community coordinator with over 20yrs experience. I have an interdisciplinary background spanning international/community development, education and science and technology studies. Prior to joining the OU I worked at the UCL Institute of Education and the Institute of Development Studies (Sussex), for ActionAid International and as a policy analyst for UNESCO and the OECD in Paris, France. My research focuses on inclusive knowledge production. I am particularly interested in how communities participate in research and policy and in mechanisms for inclusive research funding. My research and strategic consultancy work is framed by a commitment to social and environmental justice, with implications for recognising/strengthening research capacity in different contexts. I work simultaneously at the local, national and global level: convening a network of community-based researchers and embedded organisations (e.g. schools, sheltered/supported living accommodation, migrant centres, mutual aid network, food bank and local government) in a council estate in North London (https://campsbournecommunitycollective.wordpress.com); advising national research funders and policy makers on their community engagement strategy (e.g. UKRI and the Wellcome Trust); and co-convened the Rethinking Research Collaborative (RRC); an award winning international network of academics, civil society organisations, international NGOs and research support providers committed to working together to encourage more inclusive, responsive collaborations to produce useful international development research: https://rethinkingresearchcollaborative.com
Please note, as part of my commitment to decolonising international development, I will be referring all invitations to speak or undertake advisory/consultancy work to expert colleagues based in organisations in the global South.
Current research, consultancies and appointments:
2023: Convenor of Campsbourne Cares, coordinating a participatory arts project including an exhibition on ‘care on the Campsbourne Estate’ with Kerry Harman from Birkbeck University (September-December 2023)
2023: Guest Lecturer in Engaged Urbanism on the Global Urbanism MASc at UCL Urban Lab: 'The Politics, Ethics & Stakes of Engaged Urbanism'
2023: Commissioned by the University of Bath to lead research on Welfare and Wellbeing in Relational Work (in partnership with Dr Tigist Grieve )
2023-2024: Associate in 'Inclusive Funding' for The Wellcome Trust's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion division.
2023: Speaking alongside Fay Scott (NIHR) and Professor Louise Archer (UCL) in NCCPE's 'Acting on Inclusion' mini-film Series:https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/whats-happening/news/acting-inclusion-mini-film-series-0
2023: Commissioned by the British Academy to develop a discussion paper on community engagement in the planning, implementation and assessment of social and cultural infrastructures
2023: Consultant supporting the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) to design a programme on 'convening knowledge' (with the first phase focusing on Community Advisory Boards)
2023: Consultant supporting the Young Foundation to identify social action from their Peer Action Collective programme on youth violence in the UK
2022-2026: Portfolio Award Panel and Advisor (UKRI’s Community Research Networks Funding Call):https://www.ukri.org/news/networks-to-strengthen-publics-role-in-research-and-innovation/
2021-2022: Consultant supporting the Institute of Community Studies with a scoping study for UKRI's Public Engagement Unit on mechanisms for engaging communities in Research and Innovation
2021-: Committee member for The Hidden REF (https://hidden-ref.org) responsible for the 'Contexts' Panel (Community Building and Citizen Science)
2021-: Convenor of the Campsbourne Community Collective, overseeing programmes in food, housing, care, migration and the environment with partners including UCL, Birkbeck, Kingston, New Economics Foundation, Alexandra Palace Trust, Haringey Defend Council Housing, Hornsey Food Bank and Haringey Council (https://campsbournecommunitycollective.wordpress.com)
Previous research, consultancies and appointments (past decade only)
2021- : Civic Fellowship from the Young Foundation (Institute of Community Studies) to pilot a novel training programme for community-based researchers in a social housing estate in London working with local partners including Hornsey Food Bank, the Kurdish Advice Centre, local schools, sheltered accommodation and Alexandra Palace Trust. Since the end of the grant the network has generated additional funding from local partners in Hornsey and Haringey to develop research and social action around food security, housing, income and benefits, migration, youth services and sustainability and the environment.
2020-2022: Expert advisor on Research Fairness for the evaluation of the Global Challenges Research Fund conducted by Itad/RAND: https://www.itad.com/project/evaluation-of-the-global-challenges-research-fund/
2020-2022: Member of the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC) Public Impact Value Proposition (PIVP) Selection Committee (advising on societal impact of funding applications)
2020-2022: Member of the Advisory Committee for the SSHRC-funded project: Bridging Knowledge Cultures: The Knowledge for Change Global Consortium on Training Community-Based Participatory Research
2020-2021: Chair of the Academic Board for the FCDO-funded 'Learning from Consortia' programme, leading the learning review:https://www.bond.org.uk/groups/cross-consortia-for-aid-connect-program
2020: Consultant supporting the Institute of Community Studies at the Young Foundation with their evidence synthesis on the impacts of Covid-19 on UK communities (funded by the British Academy)
2018-2020:Head of Research and Learning for the DFID-funded UK Aid Connect programme: ‘Evidence and Collaboration for Inclusive Development programme’ (coordinated by Christian Aid)
2018: Principle Investigator, coordinating strategic research on ‘fair and equitable research partnerships’ (funded by EPSRC/the GCRF)
2015-2017: Principle Investigator, leading an ESRC-funded seminar series: Evidence and the Politics of Participation in Academic-INGO Research Partnerships for International Development.
2014-2018: I won an Early Career Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust to fund the study: Engaging Research for Practice: Research engagement practices of international NGOs.
2013-2014: I won a Newer Researcher Award from the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) to support research into digital representations of academic identity of Early Career Researchers
Publications
2024
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2013
2012
2008
2006
2004
2003
Awards
Prize for Best External Collaboration (OU's 50th Birthday Research Awards)
https://www.open.ac.uk/research/news/ou-research-awarded-best-external-collaboration#:~:text=The%20Best%20External%20Collaboration%20award,to%20research%20for%20global%20development.