I’m the CEO at Cambridge Students’ Union and have over ten years experience working within students’ unions in the UK ranging from elected student leadership roles to staff roles focused on academic representation, education and social policy, campaigns and lobbying, democracy, student activities, professional development, income generation and advice services, including five years in senior leadership roles. I’m passionate about supporting student development and leadership within an organisation genuinely led by its members, creating inclusive and accessible community building spaces and academic experiences within higher education settings. I am also currently on the Advisory Board at Norwich University of the Arts Students’ Union, advising on areas such as governance structures, recruitment and organisational strategy development and recently volunteered to deliver an education conference in Connecticut which brought together staff from institutions and students’ unions from the UK, Ireland and the US to share experiences and challenges of creating community on our campuses.

I’ve led on a range of areas including strategy development, finance strategies, democracy and governance reviews, staffing restructures, developed social enterprise strategies and am a skilled grant fundraiser. Having previously volunteered on the crisis helplines for Rape Crisis and worked in a substance misuse charity, this experience has most definitely supported areas of work within a higher education context too. I am a qualified coach and mentor and experienced in supporting a number of high functioning student officer teams in creating campaign strategies for creating positive change in relation to both education and social policy settings.

I am excited about working with Coole Insight to bring some of my experience to supporting more unions across the sector, working to empower both student officers and staff to create positive experiences for students on their campuses whilst also expanding my own knowledge and expertise through learning from other students’ union’s contexts.