Our people
Meet our skilled team, expert Civic Scholars, and influential Community Advisory Board
Holly Smith
Civic Scholar
Holly is a PhD student at University College London, where her thesis looks at community action. She has a focus on high-rise estates in Britain from 1967 to 2015. An interest in social justice is at the heart of her research.
Islam Jalaita
Community Advisory Board
Islam brings 15 years’ experience, knowledge, understanding and strategic thinking, working with diverse communities to empower people to lead and nurture resilient communities.
Judith Parry
Civic Scholar
Judith is studying the wellbeing impact of grassroots ‘community-led’ housing for her PhD. Her work is focused on green space and infrastructure.
Katriya Bulutoglu
Senior Researcher
Through her work, Katriya is particularly interested in diversity and inclusion, as well as how research methodology can bring communities together and amplify the voices of those so often left out of traditional research. Katriya joined The Young Foundation after graduating from university in 2020.
Kevin Dixon
Community Advisory Board
The Chair of Healthwatch Torbay and the Torbay Patient Participation Group Network, Kevin has a particular interest in health, social care and community responses to poverty.
Louise McLaughlin-Borlace
Community Advisory Board
Louise is keen to represent peoples’ views from Co. Fermanagh and exchange skills and best practice, identifying projects that may help develop the community sector within Northern Ireland.
Marion Oveson
Evidence Officer
Marion joined The Young Foundation’s Institute for Community Studies in 2023 after completing a PhD at the University of Sheffield that explored community-university partnerships (CUPs) within the context of the neoliberal university and the civic agenda.
Nahed Ahmed
Civic Scholar
Nahed is doing her PhD in Female Entrepreneurship and social capital. She is a British council (HESPAL)-awarded researcher, and is based in York. She has worked for many years as a lecturer and tutor, and has held managerial positions at universities in Gaza.
Nahim Ahmed MBE
Community Advisory Board
Nahim serves the most vulnerable members of society through his work in the private, public and third sectors. His professional experiences in a range of sectors help create positive sustainable changes in areas affected by poverty.
Nisha Waller
Civic Scholar
A criminology PhD ESRC Scholar at the University of Oxford, Nisha’s research focuses on the application of complicity law with reference to serious youth violence and the criminalisation of young black men.
Ranjit Dhillon
Community Advisory Board
Chief Executive of a local community-based organisation, Ranjit has lived in the London borough of Richmond for 34 years and is a trustee of a local infrastructure support organisation.
Ryan McKay
Community Advisory Board
A youth worker and intergenerational practitioner with a background in community education, Ryan is based at the Citadel Youth Centre in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland.