Senior Leadership Team This team co-ordinates the work of Young Citizens so that we're focused on increasing the number of young people we help to be active citizens. Expand Ashley Hodges, Chief Executive Ashley was appointed Chief Executive of Young Citizens in 2021. She has previously held Chief Executive and Director roles within education and social mobility charities, including Speakers for Schools. A former Obama Campaign employee and programme architect, Ashley is passionate about building stronger communities and empowering young people for a fairer, more just society. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 4141 (switchboard) Yvonne Richards, Director of Programmes and Learning Yvonne oversees the development of our programmes and resources, including lesson plans, mock trials competitions, student conferences and our social action programmes. She is also our Designated Safeguarding Lead. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 4151 Ray Ayivor, Director of Finance and Operations Ray manages the overall operations of the charity – including our finances, governance, ICT, performance management, HR and premises. He basically keeps things (and us all) on track. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 4141 Richard John, Director of Partnerships and Communications Richard has been with us for over a decade overseeing the development of programmes in schools and building bespoke partnerships with corporates. He also leads on our communications strategy so we can expand our reach and depth of engagement to benefit even more young people. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 4152
Programmes and Learning Team This team delivers our wide range of programmes, resources and training events - ranging from our Mock Trials, to our Social Action Programmes, to providing teaching resources for teachers. Expand David Kerr, Consultant Director of Education David advises us on citizenship curriculum issues, and takes the lead in much of our European and overseas work. He is Head of Initial Teacher Training at Reading University. He has a huge amount of experience in citizenship education, and was co-leader of the Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study. E: [email protected] Ted Huddleston, Consultant in Civic and Citizenship Education Ted is an international consultant in citizenship and human rights education. He has published widely in the field, both in the UK and abroad. A Council of Europe ‘expert’ for many years, he has experience of professional training and consultancy in a range of countries in Europe and the Middle East. E: [email protected] T: 0207 566 4141 Naomi Kennedy, Education Manager Naomi leads on the production of all our resources – ranging from SMSC lesson plans, to materials about the law and young people, to special resources on topics like Brexit or elections – for both primary and secondary schools. E: [email protected] T: 0207 566 4158 Victoria Quijada, SMSC Quality Mark Manager Victoria manages the SMSC Quality Mark, which helps schools improve the quality of their SMSC provision. She also provides advice and guidance to schools around SMSC. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 4141 Akasa Pradhan , Programmes Coordinator Akasa co-ordinates our Mock Trials Competitions, for secondary school pupils, working alongside the wonderful magistrates and legal professionals who volunteer their time to make our competitions possible. She also develops our programme of student workshops. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 4142 Kieran Burch, Programmes Administrator Kieran supports the whole of the Programmes and Learning team, making sure that the many events we coordinate each year go smoothly, whilst also helping people with bookings. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 4155 Stella Baynes, Programmes Manager Social Action Programme Manager, coordinating our recently launched online Make a Difference Challenge programme which provides a framework for primary practitioners to deliver social action in schools. Previously she set up the Democracy Ambassadors programme which supported young people aged 13 – 16 to talk to their peers about the importance of, and their role within, our democracy. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 4141 Madeleine Herbert, Programmes and Learning Administrator Madeleine is our Programmes and Learning Administrator, supporting The Make a Difference Challenge, SMSC Quality Mark and Mock Trial programmes by providing admin support, taking bookings and answering queries from schools. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 1501 Niamh Mawhinney, Volunteer Coordinator Niamh’s role is funded by Time to Shine at the Rank Foundation for 12 months. Niamh coordinates and provides support to the 2,000 plus volunteers who are involved in Young Citizens programmes, resources and events. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 4154
Partnerships Team This team develops our strategic partnerships – including with corporates, other charities and the public sector. The team leads on the development of our Experts in Schools programmes. Expand Therri Tait, Partnerships Manager Therri oversees our partnerships programmes, including developing our Experts in Schools to reach more schools and expert volunteers. She is always open to exploring ways in which Young Citizens can compliment your organisations. More recently she developed our student Brexit conferences. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 5035 Mathilde Fell, Partnerships Coordinator Mathilde works closely with our corporate partners to broker education programmes in schools. She has a passion for interventions that support better education outcomes for young people and ensuring first class service to our valued partners. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 5038
Communications and Sales Team This team makes sure that those who need to know about our work most - teachers, youth workers, and the media, for example - get to do so. It also handles sales and bookings for our projects. Expand Leah Hardy, Digital Marketing Executive Leah looks after our social media - persuading people to write posts for our blog, and regularly posting on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram about our work. Make her happy, by following us and joining in the conversation! E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 4141 Tara McCarthy, Sales Executive Tara looks after our sales, particularly to schools. She'll sign you up, remind you when you need to renew...and gently nudge you to pay (well, we are a charity!). E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 5036 Rachel Drayton, Digital Projects Coordinator Rachel keeps our CRM in great shape - which is the engine behind much of our campaigning, communications and programmes. E: [email protected] T: 0207 566 4130
Support Services Team This team helps to keep things running smoothly - things like governance, HR, IT, premises, finance and so on. Expand Valentina Graham, HR Coordinator Valentina looks after all aspects of the human resources - if you apply for a job at Young Citizens, it's likely that Valentina will be involved. E: [email protected] T: 020 7566 4145