Our people
Kathryn Holland
Senior Innovation Practitioner
Kathryn designs and delivers community-led programmes with local authorities across the UK. She enjoys applying creative approaches to engagement and developing ways to build meaningful social connections within communities.
Ruth Stables
Innovation Practitioner
Ruth has a passion for working with people to create meaningful and positive change. Having previously worked as a Youth Engagement Performance Manager with the English Football League Trust, she brings more than eight years’ experience in youth development and social action.
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.
Stuart Haw
Civic Scholar
Stuart is a community development consultant with experience of events, research and development in federations and local authorities. He worked at Vivacity, a charity providing ownership and management of previously local authority-owned assets in sports, arts, and cultural services.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Gabriel Vivas-Martinez
Civic Scholar
Gabriel is an actor, social theatre facilitator, and researcher. Having worked extensively in The Netherlands, Italy, China, Hungary, Poland, South Africa, and the UK, Gabriel is engaged in educational programmes for the European Commission.
Gabby Keating
Civic Scholar
Gabby is a PhD student researching into the impact of crisis on educational transition in Bradford. Using interdisciplinary research, Gabby is interested in applying sociological and psychological theory to student experience in order to understand the long term impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Catherine Cartwright
Civic Scholar
A participatory artist and printmaker researching trauma-sensitive arts practice, Catherine is undertaking her PhD working with research partner Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Services, and using printmaking and artist books as creative methods.
Carina Skropke
Civic Scholar
Carina is researching the renaissance in community ownership of physical assets. She is interested in social transformation, transition processes, and alternative approaches to urgent social challenges.
