The Power of Place in Tackling Poverty: Speakers
A conference on the role of local places in driving down poverty and boosting living standards
We were delighted to welcome the following speakers:
Kate Green
Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester
Kate Green was appointed as Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester with responsibility for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire in January 2023. From 2010 to 2022, she served as the Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston. While in parliament, Kate held a number of shadow ministerial posts, including Shadow Secretary of State for Education, and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities.
Prior to her election to parliament, Kate was Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group and before that Director of the National Council for One Parent Families (now Gingerbread). She served as a magistrate for 16 years, and has taken a particular interest in the experience of women in the penal system and how best to rehabilitate them to prevent reoffending.
Kate is a member of the board of governors at Manchester Metropolitan University, and a trustee of Manchester Camerata.
Claire Donovan
Head of Policy, Research and Campaigns @ End Furniture Poverty
Claire Donovan, a former journalist, is the Head of Policy, Research and Campaigns at End Furniture Poverty, the campaigning arm of FRC Group, former Social Enterprise of the Year. FRC Group has been providing support to people in furniture poverty for 35 years with the provision of both new and preloved furniture, and over the past year they created over £3.1m of social value, made over 22,000 furniture deliveries and over 56,000 furniture collections.
End Furniture Poverty raises awareness of the issue of Furniture Poverty; carries out research to highlight the consequences and reality of living in Furniture Poverty; and develops solutions to ensure that everyone has access to the essential furniture items that they need to participate in society and lead a secure life. They publish an annual report examining the state of local welfare assistance across the UK and are the leading researchers in this field.
Claire is also a trustee of the Reuse Network, the membership body supporting furniture reuse charities across the UK.
Gareth Evans
Founder @ Cash Perks
Gareth is leading authority on financial inclusion, community finance and local welfare provision, with over 20 years’ experience. He is Co-Director of the not-for-profit Financial Inclusion Centre, which specialises in undertaking research/evaluation studies and implementing initiatives for diverse clients from banks and building societies to local authorities and social housing providers. He also currently sits on the HM Treasury Financial Inclusion Policy Forum.
In 2020, Gareth founded Cash Perks – a multi award-winning cash payment solution enabling emergency hardship payments to be instantly sent via SMS text message. This allows the recipient to collect their funds for free 24/7 at local ATMs nationwide – without the need for a bank card. It has already been adopted by a growing number of leading councils, housing associations and charities that have already sent over £6 million of welfare funds to struggling households facing financial crisis.
Dr Jed Meers
Senior Lecturer in Law @ University of York
Dr Jed Meers is a Senior Lecturer at York Law School, University of York, and co-director of the Administrative Fairness Lab. With other researchers at the University of York, he has undertaken research into Local Authority use of the Household Support Fund.
Abby Preston
Project Officer @ Independent Food Aid Network
Abby Preston works as a Project Officer with the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN). IFAN advocates for a cash-first approach to food insecurity and envisions a country without the need for charitable food aid where adequate and nutritious food is affordable to all.
Abby leads IFAN’s cash first referral leaflet project in England and Wales and has been collaborating with local partners across multiple local authorities co-produce ‘Worrying About Money?’ resources since June 2022. A MA Public Policy graduate from the University of Warwick, Abby wrote her dissertation on food policy under austerity in England. Before joining IFAN, Abby worked in Coventry City Council’s Community Resilience team.
Manjeet McCartney
Financial Inclusion Officer @ Resolve Poverty
Manjeet is Resolve Poverty’s Financial Inclusion Officer, on secondment from Citizens Advice SORT. She works on the Money Matters project in schools, providing advice and guidance aimed at helping parents maximise their income and take control of their finances. She is passionate about offering people the right advice and guidance to help them improve their situation.
Manjeet has worked at Citizens Advice for four years and is a fully trained MaPS Money Adviser. She has helped many people with accessing the correct benefits and ways out of debt during this time while also leading grant projects with two local authorities. These helped tackle energy poverty and also involved a pilot social prescription project.
Ramzi Suleiman
Policy and Public Affairs Manager @ Carers Trust
Ramzi leads Carers Trust’s work on carer finances, working to improve the financial situation of unpaid carers – whether through better support to find and stay in work, or through the social security system. Previously at Carers Trust he has led the organisation’s work within the Health and Wellbeing Alliance – a partnership between national government departments and charities representing those who face health inequalities, and a project enabling unpaid carers and local carer organisations to campaign on issues that matter to them. Carers Trust is a national charity for unpaid carers working through a network of local carer organisations supporting unpaid carers in their area.
Hannah Webster
Co-Founder @ Care Full
Hannah is co-founder of Care Full, a new organisation exploring an ambitious and optimistic role for care in a new economy. Before launching Care Full Hannah was Head of Research at the RSA and Turn2us, in both roles exploring experiences of economic insecurity and inequality in the UK. Alongside her work, Hannah is an unpaid carer for her husband.
Gemma Munday
Senior Story Producer @ Save the Children
Gemma Munday is the Senior Story Producer for Save the Children, a global children’s charity keeping children safe, healthy and learning. Here she works with children around the world to share their stories of change: through writing, art, documentary film, and photography.
Gemma is also a local councillor where she lives in London, with a focus on children’s services. She is also a trustee for InHive – a charity helping young people make the most of their networks.
Meghan Meek-O’Connor
Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor @ Save the Children
Meghan is the Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor within Save the Children’s UK Child Poverty team. Meghan leads on the policy development for her team, in areas including the social security system, childcare, and services for children. Prior to joining Save the Children, Meghan worked at the NSPCC, and in London local government.
Julie Wilson
Executive Lead for the Smallshaw Hurst Children’s Community @ Save the Children
Julie Wilson is Executive Lead for Smallshaw-Hurst Children’s Community at Save the Children where her focus is on systemic change to support the next generation. Embracing a ‘cradle to career’ approach, the Children’s Community tackles poverty’s root causes by strengthening communities and amplifying children’s and families’ voices in advocating for vital reforms.
Julie has a background in community empowerment and public service leadership, including as a Transformation Development Manager and Head of Neighbourhood Services, fostering a culture of collaboration and inclusivity throughout her career.
Laura Burgess
Senior Policy and Research Advisor @ Resolve Poverty
Laura is Senior Policy and Research Advisor at Resolve Poverty and she leads on all the advocacy, policy and research work for the organisation. Working with the policy team, she oversees the research we conduct, and the policy reports we produce. Laura also represents Resolve Poverty in meetings with stakeholders and a number of forums we are part of. Laura leads on the advocacy of a number of Resolve Poverty’s message and is involved in national campaigning on topics such as the Household Support Fund and the socio-economic duty.
Prior to working for Resolve Poverty, Laura worked for nearly a decade as a researcher in the trade union movement.
Jess McQuail
Director @ Just Fair
Jess joined Just Fair in April 2020. A passionate advocate for human rights in the pursuit of social justice, Jess has spent over 30 years in the UK and international not for profit sector working as a campaigner and senior leader. Alongside her Just Fair role, Jess is an independent consultant in the not-for-profit sector. She has held several CEO, Director, and board roles in the charity sector, and in her spare time is a keen swimmer.
Claire Wood
Director @ Datesand Group
Claire Wood is Director at Datesand Ltd, a family business supplying solutions to the global bio medical industry for over 40 years. Previously Claire held roles on the leadership teams at British Sugar PLC and BOC Linde PLC. She has led Datesand to award-winning health and wellbeing in the workplace, enabling employees to thrive. Claire holds a Masters from Leeds University Business School and is a ‘reluctant runner’ who has completed the challenges Man Vs Horse and Man Vs Mountain.
Dr Helen Wareham
Senior Data Analyst @ Bridge Group
Helen is the Senior Data Analyst at the Bridge Group, a non-profit consultancy that uses research to promote social equality. We do this by supporting organisations of all kinds with independent expertise, research and practical know-how to enable them to make real and lasting impact on socio-economic diversity. In addition to working directly with organisations the Bridge Group has collaborated on a number of practical toolkits aiming to increase socio-economic diversity within different employment sectors.
In her role Helen predominantly works with employers, advising on quantitative data approaches and methodology as well as looking at what data organisations already have available and how this can potentially be utilised. She has carried out analysis for individual organisations such as: KPMG, the Civil Service, and Cognizant, consortiums in the legal and financial services sectors (Progress Together, Access Accountancy), and charities such as: the Social Mobility Foundation and Jerwood Foundation.
The Bridge Group is a remote working organisation, Helen is based in rural North East England.
Ian MacArthur
Director @ Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter
An exiled Scotsman, Ian has spent his career working on environmental and public health issues – and the socioeconomic policies that underpin them – from community to international levels. Starting his career as an environmental health officer with Carlisle City Council, he has worked for Edinburgh City Council, the Health and Safety Executive, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, The World Health Organisation, the UK Public Health Association, Groundwork UK and STaR Procurement.
More recently he led the GC Business Growth Hub’s priority sector development and relationship management activities, before becoming the Director of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter – a key Mayoral priority initiative established in 2019.
Ridhi Kalaria
UK Programme and Partnership Manager @ Oxfam
Ridhi is UK Partnerships and Programme Manager for Oxfam Great Britain. Her focus is on Domestic Poverty in the UK and in particular the poverty that is perpetuated by the undervaluing of the work that mainly women do. She is working with partners on more inclusive ways of supporting the community organising that is pushing movements forward.
Bekele Woyecha
Senior Campaigner @ Centre for Progressive Change
Bekele is a Senior Campaigner at the Centre For Progressive Change working with politicians, stakeholders and wider partners on the Safe Sick Pay campaign. Prior to joining the Centre, Bekele worked in different organisations including as the Founding Director of UK Welcomes Refugees, Senior Manager and Community Organiser at Citizens UK for about 10 years. Bekele was the Human Rights Defender Fellow of the University of Nottingham in 2009, where he studied International Human Rights Law. He also studied Advanced Study of Nonviolent Conflict at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston, USA. Bekele also attended the Global Change Agents Program at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University. Bekele was the 2018 Churchill Fellow which took him to Canada to study about Canada’s Refugee Sponsorship program.
Rivka Shaw
Policy Officer @ Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit
Rivka Shaw has been the Policy Officer at Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit for three years. Her work focuses on the impact of immigration controls on children, young people and families in the North West – documenting this impact through research, fighting for change through campaigning and advocacy, and building power with people directly affected by immigration control.
Hannah Al-Othman
News Reporter @ The Sunday Times
Hannah Al-Othman is a news reporter at The Sunday Times, based in Manchester, where she has broken stories including the murder of Kenyan woman Agnes Wanjiru by a British soldier, which won a Paul Foot Award and an Orwell special prize. Previously she was a political correspondent for BuzzFeed News, based in Westminster, and has worked online and in print for regional and national newspapers.
Abi O’Connor
Researcher in Local Economies @ New Economics Foundation
Abi O’Connor is an urban sociologist whose expertise centre on understanding the relationship between urban governance, local politics and the (re)structuring of place, specifically focusing on the impact of this on communities and areas impacted by regional inequality. She has a keen interest in democratising knowledge through grassroots movements.
Abi has extensive experience in undertaking place-based empirical research, with degrees in Sociology (BA), Social Research Methods (MA) and recently submitted her PhD in Sociology and Social Policy (University of Liverpool). Her thesis explores how financial capital is extracted from housing markets in communities deemed to ​‘lack value’, focusing on the role of the local state in enabling this process. She has written about and been invited to present her research to various international audiences, and is frequently asked to respond to current issues on local and national media platforms.
Nicole Sykes
Director of Policy and Communications @ Pro Bono Economics
Nicole leads PBE’s communications and influencing work, in addition to overseeing a number of key policy themes in relation to the effectiveness of civil society, philanthropy and relationships between civil society, business and government. She joined PBE in 2020 to help deliver the Law Family Commission on Civil Society, and is responsible for maintaining the successful delivery of policy change that ensures the Commission continues to deliver impact. Nicole has extensive experience influencing policy, and specialises in working across the public, private and charity sectors to build partnerships and systemic change.
Prior to joining PBE, Nicole led the CBI’s work on Brexit, and has worked at Microsoft, for MPs and in political campaigns. She has experience on boards of a charity and social enterprise, and a multi-year international research project run by Queen Mary’s University London. She is presently on the advisory board of leading think tank UK in a Changing Europe, and a volunteer with a local community garden.