Joshua Agyepong
is an educator and mentor. He completed his MA Policy Studies in Education in 2023. Born and raised in South West London and of Ghanaian heritage, Joshua has worked in various schools and community centres supporting the most vulnerable and at risk young people. Since completing his MA, he has gone on to create workshops promoting knife crime prevention in addition to working with secondary schools in London. His interests include social mobility and cultural identity with a focus on the African diaspora.
Zahra Alomani
is an English Teacher, GCSE English Language Examiner, and School Governor based in London. She completed her Master’s Degree in Policy Studies in Education at the Institute of Education, University College London (UCL) in 2024. Additionally, from 2018 to 2020, she pursued her Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in English at the same institution.
Jo Barber
completed her MA in Social Justice and Education at UCL’s Institute of Education in 2021, while teaching art in an Alternative Provision. Jo is currently at the University of Hertfordshire undertaking a PhD in Education and a Research Assistant on the European AECED Project.
Esha Bhandari
grew up in West London and identifies as both British and Indian. She has obtained a Bachelors of Education Primary Education. She was a postgraduate student at UCL Institute of Education where she obtained her MA in Education in 2021.
Anna Brown
holds a BA from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study (2021), where she concentrated in Black Studies and minored in Sociology. In 2022, she earned an MA in Policy Studies in Education from University College London’s Institute of Education, with a focus on community-based arts education. She is based in New York City and currently works in the Learning department at an international contemporary and modern art gallery focused on global Learning partnerships with nonprofit and charitable organizations. She is also a practicing photographer.
completed her MA in Social Justice and Education at University College London’s Institute of Education in 2022. Evelyne recently started her PhD also at the Institute of Education’s Department of Education, Practice and Society focusing on Montessori early childhood education and social justice.
Raiesa Choudhury
was born and raised in St Albans, England to Bangladeshi parents. She completed her MA in Social Justice and Education at UCL after receiving a scholarship from the Aziz Foundation which champions British Muslims who wish to bring positive change to their communities. Raiesa has built her career in the youth charity sector, focusing on raising the aspirations of young people. She continues to work in the Social Mobility space to deliver meaningful programmes, driven by seeing the potential in young people and providing the means for them to flourish.
Jessica Costa
was born in Portugal, with West African (Guinea-Bissau) roots, she migrated to the UK with her family in 1999. Struggling to assimilate with British culture, she found escapism and eventually a love for literature, going on to achieve a BA (Hons) in English at university and later completing a Masters in Education. Inspired by her experiences, she has a keen interest in promoting and celebrating less recognised cultural identities. Through her insights gained from her MA, Jessica has used her role as an educator to help bring about social/racial equity for the younger generations that she encounters.
Avili Feese
is an equity, diversity and inclusion practitioner of mixed ethnic background, experienced in taking a data- and evidence-informed approach to advancing equality work in higher education. She completed her MA in Social Justice and Education in 2024, and is particularly interested in tackling issues relating to gender equality.
Amanda Fernando
is a Sri Lankan woman born in Paris and raised in London, she has experienced the complexities of navigating multiple cultures, shaping her perspective on identity and belonging. This ongoing exploration informs her personal and professional work, particularly in supporting students from diverse backgrounds in understanding their own cultural narrative.
completed her MA in Social Justice and Education at University College London’s Institute of Education in 2023. Originally from the United States, she continues to reside abroad in London and currently works on the international sales team at Hachette Learning, one of the UK’s largest education publishers.
Jill L. Geary
Attorney and Child Advocate, lives in Seattle, Washington, USA. Her work focuses on creating systemic and institutional structures to dismantle racism and create access to justice. She has provided legal aid to the poor, served as an administrative law judge for Washington’s highest educational administration, and represented families in disputes over the education provided to children with disabilities. During her tenure as Seattle School Board Director, she shepherded a strategic plan that would center the needs of marginalized students. After obtaining her Master’s in Social Justice and Education with distinction at UCL she returned to the US to create and chair a Children’s Law Section to better address the legal needs of local children in King County, WA.
Sharon Gyimah
completed her MA in Social Justice and Education at University College London’s Institute of Education in 2021, while working at the higher education charity, IntoUniversity. Since finishing her undergraduate degree, Sharon has worked for youth charities promoting social mobility and equal access to higher education and employment. She currently works for The King’s Trust, overseeing the operations of programme delivery across London. Sharon’s work as a section editor is motivated by a continued passion for social justice, and promoting stories demonstrating the lived experiences of ordinary, everyday people.
Stephen D. Hancock
is the Shirley T. Frye Distinguished Professor of Urban Teacher Education and Director of the Center of Excellence in Educational Equity Research at North Carolina A&T State University. Dr. Hancock is a teacher, researcher, and author who specializes in authentic curriculum development, decolonizing mindset, and racial identity.
Samantha Jacobs
is a doctoral student in the Special Education Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Qual-LEADS and Ed-GRS Fellow. Her research
Viola Kanu
is a leader dedicated to advancing social mobility and inclusion within the technology sector. Drawing from her experience as an assistant head teacher and expertise in cloud engineering and AI, she champions equitable access and empowers diverse young people. Active in networks like Black Girls in Tech and Colorintech, Viola is a speaker and mentor who shares her expertise while inspiring the next generation of tech change-makers. Her piece, “I Am More Than Just a Black Girl,” highlights the importance of Black women in leadership as catalysts for confidence and liberation.
Hannah Lynn
is an educator and human rights advocate dedicated to fostering inclusive learning environments and embedding anti-discriminatory practices in her work. Hannah has held diverse roles across the UK and France, including Assistant Director of an organisation supporting children with imprisoned parents, Education Lead at a Red Cross home for unaccompanied migrant children and Coordinator of the “Minds Up” school mental health initiative. She has worked in Human Rights Education with Amnesty International, been a caseworker for adult migrants and has delivered training programmes on human rights. Hannah holds an MA in Social Justice and Education from University College London and has published on the experiences of children with imprisoned parents. She is currently training to be an English teacher and continues to advocate for inclusive, equitable and creative approaches to education and social change.
Katherine Maclennan
a secondary school teacher based in London, is committed to addressing social justice through education. Originally from Scotland, she earned her undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Durham University before completing her PGCE at UCL Institute of Education. She later pursued her MA in Social Justice and Education at UCL.
Elodie Mayo
completed her MA in Social Justice and Education at University College London’s Institute of Education in 2021, whilst helping facilitate sports activities for young children after school. She currently works as a caseworker for her
Victoria Moore
a lifelong student and instructor of dance, obtained her Master’s in Education with distinction from University College London, where she focused primarily on the sociology of race and gender in education. She continues to teach and has co-founded an international dance teacher training program. For more about her work, visit www.adamoandvicci.com.
Karishma Patel
chronicles British Indian identity over three generations of my family, detailing their experiences of immigration, assimilation, and racial dynamics. Using a personal narrative, it traces my evolving identity as a British Indian woman, cultural perceptions and the lived realities of being minority ethnic for my family and students within familial, educational, and professional spheres while highlighting the importance of pursuing dreams within certain historical, intracultural and intercultural contexts.
Tahmidur Rahman
is a second-generation Bengali Muslim, raised in Essex and living in London. As a Trainee Clinical Psychologist and English Teacher, his interests include linguistics, community psychology, political economy, and Islam. Recent research explores community action and distress with displaced Muslim men, and experiences of health visits in Tower Hamlets.
Beatriz Ramirez-Fuentes
is an education policy developer with over ten years of experience. She has held various roles, including policy analyst, strategist, team leader, and political adviser, across both the public and private sectors. Beatriz completed a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She then pursued a Master of Arts in Policy Studies in Education at the Institute of Education, University College London (UCL) from 2020 to 2021. This academic journey enabled her to deepen her understanding of global education policy debates and provided her with valuable insights that she has integrated into her professional practice.
is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Education (IOE), UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society. Her interests are gender, identity, and race through the lens of intersectionality, focusing on leadership and the lived experience of Black women and girls. She develops fresh conceptual frameworks focusing on equity and social justice, especially the interplay between people and the sophistication of behaviours which lead to disengagement with the promotion of equality. Her work shows how culture and cultural background have the potential to disrupt power structures and lead to transformational change. She has an international profile based on the dissemination of her research through publication and teaching and was the recipient of BERA’s inaugural Academic Citizen of the Year award in 2023. This new award was created to honour a member of the wider academic community who has gone above and beyond in supporting colleagues and contributing to the wider discipline. She is a member of the Gender and Education Executive, Past Chair of the British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society, Chair of the International Studies Special Interest Group (SIG) of the American Educational Research Association and co-convenor of the Gender Network of the European Educational Research Association.
Julia Spence-Duclos
is a bilingual qualitative researcher specialising in memory, migration, and education. She completed her MA in Social Justice and Education in 2022, researching the Algerian War’s portrayal in French schools. Previous to her MA, Julia worked in a secondary school in south-east London. Since completing her MA, she has worked in the field of education and refugee support. Today, Julia is pursuing a PhD in Politics and International Relations at the University of Bristol, where her research explores Francophone decolonial conflicts, their memories and its impact on Francophone youth. Her interests include migration, bordering, youth and memory politics.
Kularetnam Vijayakumar
a Tamil-Malaysian educator, works at a scholarship foundation in Malaysia, where he oversees leadership and development programs for students ages 16–25. Given the British colonization of both India and Malaysia, he is particularly interested in how individuals of previously colonised countries view themselves and navigate the world.
a social science teacher, is the Head of Sociology and Psychology at Wembley High Technical College. Her online publications include “Four Ways to Approach the Black Lives Matter Protests with Our Sociology Students” (2020) and “Running a Research Methods Project with You A-level Sociology Students” (2021), which can be found at Home – Collins | Freedom to Teach.
Miranda Williams
a Black Caribbean woman raised by parents from the Windrush Generation, is currently teaching sociology at a secondary school in South London. As a teacher, she is ever mindful of the intersectional position of her black female students. She obtained her Masters in Sociology of Education at UCL in 2020.
Micah Wyatt
is a licensed marriage and family therapist and PhD Student in Counselor Education and Supervision at North Carolina A&T State University. Micah is a Woodlawn Fellow in the 2023–2024 cohort and has been highlighted for his academic and career related achievements. Micah’s research interests include the concept and multiple facets of fatherhood, wellbeing in educational spaces, and family counseling and mental health.