Before joining the Youth Endowment Fund, Amy worked on a PhD at Cardiff University. Her research aimed to determine whether an emotion recognition training programme could be used as an early intervention technique to improve the behaviour and wellbeing of children at risk of future criminal behaviour.

Amy also holds a BSc in Psychology from Cardiff University. During her undergraduate degree she spent a year working as a research assistant on a Europe-wide research project examining sex differences in conduct disorder.

Andrea joined the Youth Endowment Fund after spending the previous decade growing and leading an international NGO focused on community protection and rehabilitation for those facing armed group violence in central Africa. She secured more than $25m for the organisation and built its team and systems to deliver impact across four countries. Prior to focusing on finance, operations, and programme management, she began her career in youth mobilisation, working in leadership roles in online and grassroots campaigns that were instrumental in securing landmark policy changes to protect some of the most vulnerable communities in the world.

Antoinette joined the Youth Endowment Fund from City Hall, where she worked as a Researcher for the Assembly Member Florence Eshalomi MP.

She has almost 20 years of working in local government. Mainly within children’s services, working on strategic plans.

Billy previously worked for Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust as a workforce information analyst, where he was responsible for writing reports and conducting analysis relating to the Trust’s four thousand-plus members of staff. During his undergraduate degree, he worked on a project for Kent County Council’s young people’s mental health transformation team, whereby he assisted with delivering a series of statistical analyses to improve the mental health services which children across Kent and Medway were regularly using.

I hold an MSc in Policy Analytics from the University of Exeter and a BA in Politics and International Relations with Quantitative Research from the University of Kent.

Since he began youth work at the age of 16, Caleb has had a keen focus on preventing young people from entering the criminal justice system, youth violence and exploitation. He has used young people’s voices to leverage action from key stakeholders (wide and varied) to work together in a public health approach for child centred outcomes. He states that people and organisations in the heart of communities are assets and have to create and deliver long-term solutions to reduce youth violence and exploitation.

He has a degree in Youth and Community Studies, however his personal expertise are shaped through mentoring of high risk individuals involved in gangs and running youth clubs. Caleb has worked with a range of stakeholders including The Home Office, VRUs, Police Forces, Public Health, Safeguarding Hubs, Educational leads, Voluntary Sector Organisations and Community Leads (including grassroots).

In this role at the Youth Endowment Fund, Caleb will utilise his skills in a national role to prevent young people from getting caught up in crime and violence.

Chan is an experienced grant maker and works across an open portfolio of existing funding partners on behalf of the Youth Endowment Fund to further support organisations working with vulnerable young people. She joined the Fund in July 2019 and prior to this has worked extensively in providing strategic support, project management and development for various funding programmes spanning the arts, housing, criminal justice and youth sectors.

Chan holds a BA degree from the University of Nottingham and a postgraduate certificate in Grant Making, Philanthropy and Social Investment from the Centre for Charity Effectiveness (CCE) City, University of London’s Business School. Chan is passionate about providing social action opportunities to young people in effecting change, and when time allows, volunteers with a panel of Young Grant Makers in Islington.

Prior to joining Youth Endowment Fund, Chanel completed an MSc in Forensic Psychology at The University of Kent. She focused her research project on examining the relationship between power and sexual aggression. She also worked as a Research Assistant within the Forensic Psychology department, where she worked on a study investigating why individuals disclose information when undergoing polygraph examinations.

Chanel also holds a BSc Psychology degree. During her undergraduate degree, she conducted research investigating the effect of alcohol priming on aggression towards women.

Daniel is a developmental psychologist, with an MSc in psychological research methods and a PhD in developmental psychology at the University of Nottingham.

He has extensive experience in the fields of early intervention evaluations and evidence-informed policy making. Previously Daniel worked at the Cabinet Office, where he managed research and evaluation projects in support of the Office for Civil Society and Youth Policy. Before that, he was a research associate at the Centre for Education Research and Practice at AQA Education.

Deborah has over a decade of experience in social finance and grant making, and has overseen the delivery of £120m of grant funds at Social Investment Business.  Her experience has seen her work with a range of partners to deliver grant funding that makes a difference to the organisations receiving it.  Deborah has also been a member of a variety of grants committees for different funding programmes.

Donna works extensively with policymakers in Whitehall departments, national sector organisations and local areas.

Before joining the Early Intervention Foundation, Donna spent over 10 years in central government in various roles developing policy and leading the implementation of programmes to provide targeted support to children and families. She has also worked as a policy adviser in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit and the Social Exclusion Unit.

Edward has held a number of roles in the youth sector in a paid and voluntary capacity. He has been a TV journalist in New Zealand before managing youth and social development programmes for a Maori Iwi (tribe). He is also a trained teacher.

Edward has spent the past decade growing teams and organisations to improve their capabilities and outcomes. Most notably, he worked for a national youth social action charity, encouraging thousands of 16 year olds to participate. Previously, he was managing the daily operations of a film location and software company.

Ellie previously worked at Girl Effect for four years, where she ran, designed and managed research projects across a global network of peer researchers for high profile donor funded projects. She has a track record of working on qualitative and digital research projects across a range of thematic areas, from young people’s education, safety economic empowerment and health. She has a passion for participatory research approaches.

Ellie holds an MSc from the University of Bristol in Contemporary Identities.

Before joining the Youth Endowment Fund, Ema worked on various mental health research projects with both adults and children, including investigating resilience in adolescents and comparing pharmacological agents in depression. She has also been involved in providing direct care to a variety of clients in a range of services, including talking therapies, residential care and school settings.

Ema graduated with a BSc in psychology from the University of Exeter and an MSc from King’s College, in psychiatric research.

Emma has spent 15 years in the youth and community sector, initially focused on fundraising and strategic development before moving into programme design and operations. Most recently Emma designed and developed a new model for youth social action and employability which is now a central part of London’s youth strategy and which operates nationally as a core part of many high-street businesses’ entry-level recruitment strategy. Emma also oversaw work with the Department for Education on T Level policy design, piloting and evaluation.

Emma is a Trustee for the Hilden Charitable Fund, a grant-making trust which supports small, grassroots refugee, homelessness and youth charities.

Franca previously worked at the Young Foundation, where she set up and managed their national network of peer researchers and worked on several commissioned research projects, including an ethnography into the lives of low-income families in Thamesmead.

Franca brings a passion for participatory research, ethnographies and digital methods to the Youth Endowment Fund and where she will be responsible for including the voice of young people in the fund’s evidence and evaluation work.

She holds a BSc in Psychology from University of Witten/Herdecke in Germany and an MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology, from London School of Economics.

A social worker by profession, Gail has over twenty years’ experience of working in the public sector – predominantly in the fields of mental health, young people, policy development and commissioning.

Between 2014-2020, Gail was CEO of Sheffield Futures – a young people’s charity providing specialist support and mentoring for young people in Sheffield and the surrounding region. Whilst there, she led on two Social Impact Bonds and was both an Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations Fellow, and a Fellow of Practice at Oxford University’s Government Outcomes Lab.

An experienced Board member and Chair, Gail is especially interested in collaborative partnership working, in user voice and participation, and in outcomes based delivery programmes.

Georgia joined the Youth Endowment Fund following 10 years of working in the education and charity sectors, with a focus on the personal development of young people through mentoring and coaching interventions.

Previously she designed mentoring programmes for both children and adults, implemented a Randomised Controlled Trial to measure the impact of peer-support for improving self-efficacy, and scaled various local projects nationally. This broad range of experiences means Georgia is well-placed to support grantees and share her lessons learned to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people.

Hashim is a Research Officer with an MSc in Social Research Methods from City University, London.

He has extensive experience in mixed methods research in a variety of policy areas, from education and skills development to health and wellbeing. Previously Hashim has worked at NatCen Social Research, Ecorys UK and M&C Saatchi World Services. With experience managing and conducting fieldwork throughout the UK as well as in Bangladesh, China, Pakistan and Uganda, Hashim is very much a global researcher.

Helen has spent the last two decades supporting work which enables communities to rethink their identity and what it means to connect and belong in an increasingly fragmented world. She comes to the Youth Endowment Fund from More in Common, which she helped set up in order to understand the forces driving us apart and to help bring people together to tackle our shared challenges.

Iesha leads on building relationships across the education sector to learn and share what works in reducing youth violence so we can create lasting change.

She has 15 years’ experience in the education sector including time as an assistant headteacher and a school governor. After teaching, she led on research projects for corporate, charity, and government clients at the Centre for Education and Youth think tank. Topics included youth homelessness, and teacher recruitment and retention. She is passionate about using storytelling alongside research to create positive change.

Before joining the Youth Endowment Fund, Iesha was Head of Policy and Strategy at national youth charity, YHA.

Jon Yates has two decades of experience in the youth and community sector. He started his career as a community worker in Newham before joining McKinsey and Company where he advised charities, companies and government on strategy and organisational development. He left McKinsey in 2004 to work in social enterprise, first in Kenya, supporting small businesses to scale up. When he returned to the UK, he co-founded the youth charity The Challenge, and supported the founding of the community organisation More In Common.

He is also an experienced policy maker, working as the Chief Policy Adviser to the Secretary of State for Education between 2018 and 2019, where he oversaw the Department for Education’s policy and strategy on schools, colleges, children’s services, nurseries, universities and apprenticeships.

Lara is a qualified social worker (MSW), with an MSc in evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation from the University of Oxford.

Having previously worked directly with children at risk of offending, as well as individuals following imprisonment or alternative sentencing, Lara is passionate about developing the evidence base for ‘what works’ to prevent youth offending.
Before joining the Youth Endowment Fund, Lara worked at Lumos, an international NGO working to end the institutionalisation of children. She led on developing Lumos’ approach to measuring child outcomes and systems change, primarily focusing on their work in Africa and Latin America. Prior to this Lara worked at the Early Intervention Foundation, working across the breadth of the organisation’s research portfolio, including interparental relationships, child development and mental health, and programme evaluation.

Laura joined the Youth Endowment fund from the lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality charity Stonewall, where she was responsible for the planning, development and delivery of campaigns, research projects and policy interventions. She previously led the policy and public affairs team at reproductive rights charity FPA and worked in corporate communications.

She’s also a trustee of Brook, a national charity empowering young people to make informed decisions about their sexual health and wellbeing.

Before joining the Youth Endowment Fund, Lottie completed an MSc in Social Research Methods at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research specialised in quantitative analysis, particularly data science and using social media data to explore public perception of social issues. She also holds a BA in Criminology with Quantitative Research from the University of Kent where she focused her degree on youth justice and penal reform. During this degree, she completed a work placement at Gingerbread, the charity for single parents, leading quantitative projects and developing a statistical framework for future work.

Lucy is a mixed-methods researcher with a background in social work practice. She previously worked at the Social Care Institute for Excellence, where she led research relating to social care, health and youth participation. Prior to that, she worked at the Early Intervention Foundation, where she focused on evaluation methodology. This included assessing the evidence underpinning school-based and parenting programmes to inform commissioners’ decision making. Lucy has an MSc in evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation from the University of Oxford. 

Mark has led a number of programmes across Government aimed at preventing violence and protecting vulnerable people. As the former Head of Ending Gang and Youth Violence, Mark has worked with areas across the country to help them strengthen their partnership arrangements and identify local solutions to tackling violence and deterring young people away from violence. Mark has also worked with forces and PCCs on a wide range of issues in his role as Director at HMICFRS, Chief Executive at Bedfordshire OPCC and, more recently, as a management consultant.

Matt has over ten years’ professional communications experience, working in both the private and charity sectors. Prior to joining the Youth Endowment Fund, he headed up the marketing and communications for Sport for Social Change charity, Sported.

Matt has 15 years’ experience in the charity sector focused on using research and evidence to improve outcomes for children and young people. Prior to joining the Youth Endowment Fund in November 2020, Matt worked for eight years at the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), a What Works Centre dedicated to improving educational outcomes for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

His role at EEF focused on managing large-scale research trials and developing guidance for schools. In particular, he led EEF’s work on early years education, social and emotional skills, and parental engagement. Prior to that, Matt worked for charity consultancy and think tank, NPC, where he published research on children’s mental health, youth justice, and early intervention.

He is currently completing a PhD at UCL Institute of Education, focused on longitudinal analysis of children’s social and emotional development, using the Millennium Cohort Study and National Pupil Database.

Nicola joins the Youth Endowment Fund after spending 11 years working for Surrey Police as an intelligence analyst and manager, supporting operations and investigations into local crime, homicide, serious and organised crime and sexual offences. Over the past three years she has focused on serious violence and knife crime, completing extensive research and strategic analysis on the subject. Nicola has more recently managed a police-led early intervention project within the Sussex PCC’s office delivering youth coaching, sports diversion and family workshops.

Nicola has an undergraduate degree in education and is a qualified teacher, and currently training to become a volunteer youth worker.

Paul joined the Youth Endowment Fund in July 2020 as Director of Change.

He and his team focus on building a movement to put the knowledge of what works in preventing children becoming involved in violence into practice across England and Wales. He leads the charity’s public affairs and communications strategies and its partnerships with police, schools, youth and community groups, local authorities, healthcare trusts and businesses who’ll work together to improve the support children and young people at risk receive in their communities.

Paul joined the Youth Endowment Fund from the lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality charity, Stonewall, where he was Director of Campaigns, Policy and Research for four years and from August 2019 – June 2020, interim Chief Executive. During his time at Stonewall he helped secure key improvements in LGBT+ equality including LGBT inclusive relationships and sex education in all schools and questions in 2021 census on sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as leading campaigns for LGBT inclusion in sport and healthcare, reducing discrimination against trans people and working with partners to support campaigns for LGBT inclusion across the world.

He has 15 years’ experience in the voluntary sector, having also worked in communications and campaigning roles in CLIC Sargent, the youth cancer charity, and the Royal Voluntary Service. Prior to that he worked in local government.

Peter has over a decade of experience in evidence and evaluation, with a particular emphasis on ensuring that evidence is practical and widely used.

Previously, Peter worked at Prime Advocates, where he led their impact and evidence practice, and was a Director at the Social Innovation Partnership.

Peter has also worked with a range of foundations to create effective evidence systems across their funds, including Nesta on their Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund and UnLtd’s Big Venture Challenge.

Peter is leading the development of the Youth Endowment Fund’s Toolkit, an accessible summary of the best available research on preventing young people getting involved in violence and crime.

Peter works with practitioners, academics and policy makers to ensure that research is useful and has a positive impact on young people. Previously he worked for seven years at the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the What Works Centre dedicated to improving educational outcomes and equity. Peter led the EEF’s work in special educational needs, literacy and mathematics.

Richard has joined the Youth Endowment Fund as a Programme Manager, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge and experience from a career history that spans over 15 years. From his time of working within various teams across children’s services, youth justice and the voluntary sector,  Richard is highly dedicated to finding new, exciting and innovative ways to implement change, which brings about positive outcomes for children, young people and their families.

Ronke is a seasoned chartered accountant that has spent most of her career working in the educational sector, especially with young people. She was formerly Finance Director at City YMCA at the Barbican, Director of Corporate Services at Crossways Sixth Form and Financial Controller at Leigh Academy Trust. Ronke is passionate about helping young people, especially from deprived backgrounds, get good education to reduce poverty, crime and improve social mobility. She has initiated projects to help children in Africa access good education.

Before Joining the Youth Endowment Fund, Serena completed her MPhil degree in criminology at the University of Cambridge. Her research focused on how the police identify child victims of county lines exploitation and explored the boundaries between victims and offenders. Following her research, Serena provided participant police forces with recommendations on how they could better identify child victims of county lines.

Serena also holds an undergraduate degree in human geography from the University of Durham.

William leads on quantitative research for the Youth Endowment Fund, focused on data gathering, analysis and reporting.

Previously, he held the position of senior economist at Early Intervention Foundation, working on UK early years education, cost/benefit analysis and the organisation’s approach to late intervention spending. Before that, Will was at the Department for Education, where he worked on a diverse array of policy and analytical areas, from demographic projections and capacity planning through to school choice and access.

Before joining the Youth Endowment Fund, Yasmin spent five years working in a Young Offender’s Institution directly with young people who had often been involved in serious youth violence.

She started off by delivering an effective thinking skills programme to young people who had been involved in incidents within custody, and moved on to become an engagement and resettlement worker. This involved having her own caseload of young people, monitoring their time in custody and then preparing them for either release into the community or transition to the adult estate. Her experience has led to a passion in wanting to see ‘what works’ in preventing young people becoming involved in violence and the outcome of custodial sentences.

She holds a BA degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology from the University of Leeds.