Aqeel joined SOS-UK in October 2019. He is primarily involved in furthering ethical procurement within the NUS Trading Team, working with suppliers as well as students and staff on campus to verify and improve the sustainability of the products available. He also supports related projects and campaigns, including the charity’s ethical finance work and the Fairtrade Universities & Colleges Award. 

Aqeel started his career as a tax adviser in the corporate world. He then moved into the not-for-profit sector, initially working for a children's charity as part of a befriending project, followed by community development work for a local authority.

Celine joined SOS-UK in November 2020. In her role as a Project Manager, she works primarily on delivering SOS-UK’s sustainability engagement programmes: Green Impact and Student Switch Off.

Celine has had a life-long passion for wildlife and protecting nature. She graduated with a BSc in Zoology from the University of Bristol, where she specialized in evolution, ecology and conservation-biology. During her studies, she became increasingly concerned about the climate and ecological crisis, and how current unsustainable practices are driving mass biodiversity loss, habitat destruction and social inequality across our planet.

As a student, she volunteered with the RSPB as part of their schools outreach programme, as well as with Bristol's Avon Gorge and Downs Project. Through these roles, she discovered how much she enjoyed communicating sustainability and conservation to young minds, and encouraging the public to take action through education. Prior to joining SOS-UK, Celine worked at University of Warwick Students’ Union, where she supported students and sabbatical officers in their campaigns and worked with the SU’s Environment Committee to improve sustainability at the Union.

Outside of work, Celine loves hiking and enjoying the great outdoors on long wildlife-spotting walks. She also has a keen interest in languages and travel.

Emma joined SOS-UK as a project manager for the South West in November 2020. Emma engages staff and students in a variety of sustainability projects, including Green Impact and Student Switch Off.  

Emma studied Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, where she became passionate about climate justice, and subsequently started volunteering for the UK Youth Climate Coalition. She worked for a local authority promoting recycling and community development initiatives and later worked for the Holocaust Educational Trust coordinating their Ambassador Programme. After participating in an Environmental Leadership Programme, Emma studied for a Masters in Migration and Mobility Studies at the University of Bristol and specialised in climate-induced displacement.

Outside of work, Emma enjoys reading, yoga, and being outside in nature.  

Grace joined SOS-UK as a project manager in September 2019. Grace delivers SOS-UK's Green Impact and Student Switch Off programmes, and two days a week supports the growth of Teach The Future as campaign manager.

Grace studied International Relations and Politics at the University of Lincoln, where she became passionate about the climate crisis. After graduating she ran for the position of Vice President Welfare & Community in the 2018 Lincoln Students' Union elections, becoming the first candidate to win an SU election on an environmentally focused manifesto at Lincoln. During her year in the role, she embedded environmental campaigning within the union and successfully lobbied the university to become one of the first in the UK to declare a climate emergency.

Outside of her work with SOS-UK, Grace volunteers with Student Minds as a member of their Student Advisory Committee, with Friends of the Earth as a member of their Climate Action Welcome Team, and as a trustee of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

Grace loves travelling to new places with friends, and cooks a mean veggie katsu curry.

Jade joined the team in 2012 and is a senior project manager, currently in the role of interim director of education.

Based in the London office Jade spends much of her time engaging with students across the country helping support sustainable behaviors.

Jade has a BSc and MSc in Environmental Management and previously worked at the University of the West of Scotland Student Association as part of their Climate Challenge Fund sustainability projects as well as working on improving environmental practices within the business sector for a number of years.

Outside of work Jade spends time with her family, going for long walks and getting out and about in London.

Joanna is London based and has been part of the team since October 2010. In her role as director of engagement, Joanna has oversight of SOS-UK's main engagement programmes, including Green Impact and Student Switch Off. Joanna manages a number of European projects, and currently is leading on the Horizon 2020 funded European expansion of Student Switch Off (SAVES2), focusing on energy poverty, and the Erasmus + funded Green Erasmus that aims to make the experience of an Erasmus student more sustainable.

Joanna has experience of working in different sectors in a sustainability role, including work at the London School of Economics, University of Westminster, Greater London Authority, Forum for the Future, AECOM and other sustainability consultancies.

Joanna has a BA in Human Sciences from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Environment, Science and Society from UCL. Joanna is a full member (MIEnvSc) of the Institution of Environmental Sciences, and is a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv). In her spare time, Joanna enjoys hiking and camping, discovering new places, playing netball, listening to podcasts and doing yoga.

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Katie is homebased in Birmingham and joined the team in 2015 and project manages our UNESCO award-winning change and engagement programme, Green Impact, within healthcare, educational institutions, councils, and research institutes across the UK. Whilst supporting the delivery of Green Impact with our international delivery partners in Europe and Australia, she also supports the SOS-UK team to deliver Green Impact in over 110 organisations nationally and leads on innovating the programme. Katie achieved Practioner Membership in Environmental Management and Assessment (PIEMA), in 2019 accredited by IEMA.

Before working for NUS, Katie graduated from Keele University with a BA Geography degree. Previously she worked at The Conservation Volunteers as a Project Officer on their Health for Life programme, where she project managed and helped build food growing community gardens in Birmingham, working to create healthier and happier communities.

As interim director of education Meg oversees SOS-UKs education work, programmes and campaigns. This involves working across the student movement and with partner organisations to reform the education sector by enhancing the embedding of learning for sustainability for all students, at all levels of study, in the UK and internationally. Meg is also currently seconded to University and College Union (UCU) for 1 day/week to progress UCU's work supporting members on the Green New Deal for Universities and Colleges.

Previously, Meg worked at the University of Gloucestershire and their students' union leading on student, staff and community engagement for sustainability, this also involved the coordination of a Regional Centre of Expertise for Sustainability Education. She found her passion for education transformation through her background in outdoor education and learning outside the classroom, working with young people out of mainstream education.

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Mel joined the SOS-UK team in March 2020. She is working our Invest for Change campaign, calling for university money to be invested in the interests of students, not against them; centring environmental and social justice solutions. She also leads on our Carbon Targets campaign.

Mel studied Geography at The University of Sheffield and was elected as their Students' Union Development Officer, leading on sustainability, as well as commercial and financial activity, across the university and students' union. At Sheffield, Mel successfully campaigned to embed Education For Sustainable Development into the curriculum and worked with university leaders to ensure the commitment to divesting from fossil fuels was fulfilled. Before joining SOS-UK, Mel worked at the University of Bristol on staff and student engagement campaigns in the Sustainability Team.

Outside of work, Mel enjoys running, cooking and getting out on her bike.

Michelle joined the team in 2013, and usually leads on programme and networks development, but is currently providing maternity cover for our senior project manager-wellbeing, launching our harm reduction programme Drugs and Alcohol Impact.

In this role Michelle is working with universities to change the way they approach issues around drugs including alcohol, and exploring the opportunities to move away from 'zero tolerance' to an evidence based approach that centres student health and wellbeing.

Outside of work Michelle is a keen reader, and last year read 65 books! She also enjoys visiting London's parks with her dog Bones.

Odette is home-based in Wales and co-manages the Student Eats programme with Tilly. Our aim is to work with students to create a more equitable food system by putting healthy and sustainable food at the heart of the campuses across the UK. This includes supporting students to set up social enterprises selling sustainable food as well as supporting food growing initiatives on campus. Odette also works with the NUS Wales team on sustainability issues.

Odette has a masters in 'Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture' and has previously worked in a science lab looking at a fungus to help farming. While at university, she ran many campaigns often focusing on sustainable fishing and local food as well as volunteering on a community growing space. Odette achieved Practitioner Membership in Environmental Management and Assessment (PIEMA), in 2018 accredited by IEMA.

While not at work, Odette can be found working on her no-dig growing space, avidly listening to podcasts about our food system and adventuring in the Welsh hills.  Odette also coordinates a food buying group to give local residents access to healthy & sustainable food at a more affordable price.

Quinn is the director of education at SOS-UK and is a homeworker based in Sheffield. Quinn's role includes managing the Responsible Futures programme; supporting universities, colleges, and students’ unions to embed education for sustainable development throughout the formal and informal curricula; and working across the student movement and with partner organisations to improve the inclusion of sustainability knowledge, skills, and attributes in education across the UK and internationally. Quinn also supports the team of 40+ young people to lead the Teach the Future campaign.

Previously, she managed the Students' Green Fund project at the University of Bristol Students’ Union and delivered student sustainability engagement and education programmes at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

Alongside work, Quinn is pursuing a Doctorate in Education at the UCL Institute of Education and holds a BA in Geography and Political Science with a concentration in Sustainability from the University of British Columbia. Quinn achieved Practitioner Membership in Environmental Management and Assessment (PIEMA), in 2018 accredited by IEMA.

In her spare time, Quinn enjoys podcasts, board games, yoga, and eating veggie food.

Quinn is currently on maternity leave. Please contact Meg Baker in her absence.

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Rachel has worked in sustainability-focused research roles since 2007, joining NUS' Sustainability team, prior to the creation of SOS-UK, in 2011.  She leads the management, design, implementation and delivery associated with research and evaluation projects in order to enhance SOS-UK's ability to be effective in its sustainability-focused work with students' unions and in its projects, programmes and campaigns across the education sector through use of insight.

Rachel has previously worked for research and strategy consultancy Brook Lyndhurst and Green Alliance.  Here she worked on projects for a range of public sector clients across a range of different issues, utilising quantitative and qualitative skills to investigate community action on climate change, evaluating behaviour change and developing pilots to promote energy efficiency.

Rachel studied Geography at Durham and has a Masters in Environment, Science and Society from UCL. In her spare time, Rachel enjoys experimenting in the kitchen (which mostly works out!), complemented by keeping active by running, swimming outdoors or cycling.

Rachel joined the team in 2014 and is currently based in Leeds as a home-worker. Rachel is currently interim senior project manager for education, delivering educational programmes, training workshops and consultancy. Rachel also works part-time as a Project Manager with organisations in the North of England and further afield, engaging staff and students in a variety of sustainability engagement projects such as Green Impact and Student Switch Off. She also worked on our Horizon 2020 funded programme, SAVES 2, collaborating with universities across Europe on the issues of energy use, fuel poverty and sustainability.

Rachel is a graduate from the University of York with a BSc in Environmental Economics and Environmental Management and now works on delivering projects that she volunteered with as a student. Outside of work, Rachel enjoys spending time with the family rescue dogs - Stella and Ada.

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Sonya joined the team in November 2020. She is based at the NUS-Scotland office in Edinburgh and supports SOS-UK's programmes and campaigns in Scotland, including Teach the Future Scotland, Green Impact, Responsible Futures, For Good and various education work.

She has a BA in International Development from McGill University and an MSc in Environment and Development from the University of Edinburgh. Prior to joining SOS-UK, she worked with EAUC to support universities and colleges in responding to the climate emergency. She also worked with Networking Key Services, an Edinburgh-based South Asian women's centre on sustainability programmes and led student research teams in developing a sustainable food standard for universities and colleges with Canadian charity, Meal Exchange. 

She believes decolonising work and climate justice is imperative to real climate action and is learning how to advance justice in her personal and professional life.
In her spare time, she enjoys video-calling her two-year old niece as well as reading, cooking and writing (often attempting to combine all three). 

Tilly joined the team in 2016 and manages the Student Eats programme with Odette. Our aim is to work with students to create a more equitable food system by putting healthy and sustainable food at the heart of UK campuses. This includes supporting students to set up social enterprises selling sustainable food, supporting food growing initiatives on campuses and developing work around university owned farmland and edible campuses.

In addition to working for SOS-UK Tilly is a co-founder and Director of Six Legs Farm, a family business breeding crickets, a trustee for Worcester Roots Foundation, and a Director of Stockwood Community Benefit Society, a community-owned organic and biodynamic farm and business park in Worcestershire.

Tilly is a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) and full member of the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES), has an MA in Sustainable Development Advocacy and a degree in Law. Previously, Tilly coordinated the Food Co-op project at Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, and spent over ten years working on local and international youth sustainability initiatives. Spare time passions include family travels without flying, music festivals and crickets (the chirping kind rather than the sport).

Tracy joined SOS-UK in October 2019. She delivers Alcohol Impact and Drug and Alcohol Impact supporting universities and students' unions to deliver programmes to embed social norms of responsible drinking on our campuses, develop drug harm reduction policies and interventions to reduce the negative outcomes of student drug use, and build healthier, safer, more productive student communities.

Before working for SOS, Tracy worked for 6 years in community drug and alcohol services coordinating the care for adults affected by drugs or alcohol and providing training to health care professionals, support workers and students into the facts and risks associated with alcohol. Tracy has a degree in Medical Science from the University of Birmingham.

In her spare time, Tracy enjoys visiting new places, going to the theatre and trying to get out of an escape room!

Tracy is currently on maternity leave.  Please contact Michelle Hemmingfield in her absence.

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Zoe started as a project manager in October 2017 and works on some of our engagement programmes and the campaign Mock COP26.

Zoe studied Anthropology and International Development at the University of Sussex, where her research had a particular focus on issues of social justice and she spent a term working for a water and sanitation charity. After graduating, Zoe joined the students' union at Sussex as an Environmental Assistant, helping to integrate environmental good practice and reporting on the impact.  

Zoe achieved Practioner Membership in Environmental Management and Assessment (PIEMA), in 2019 accredited by IEMA.

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Abbie joined SOS-UK in March 2021 as a Wales Campaign Coordinator with Teach the Future. Abbie joined Teach the Future when the Wales campaign branch was set up in October 2020. She is 19 and based in Flintshire, North Wales. She is currently at Lancaster University studying a degree in Natural Sciences. Outside of Teach the Future, Abbie is a volunteer for UKSCN Wales, YS4C Manchester and Earth Uprising as well as being a project engineer for Recyclone, a Lancaster University society.

In her spare time, Abbie enjoys reading, watching Netflix and baking.

Anna joined SOS-UK on October 2020 as a campaign coordinator for Teach the Future Scotland. Anna first joined the campaign in April as a volunteer after being a member of Fridays for Future Scotland, Save Congo Rainforest Campaign and a representative for FFF Scotland in the COP26 Coalition. Anna is currently studying Politics and Spanish at the University of Glasgow whilst also being a Girlguiding leader and Speakout Champion for Girlguiding Scotland.

In her free time, Anna enjoys walking, spending time with her family and ice skating.

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Charlie joined SOS-UK in May 2020, as a campaign coordinator with Teach the Future working on the England campaign and volunteer wellbeing. At 14 years old, Charlie is the youngest team member in both SOS-UK and Teach the Future and is currently studying his GCSEs in Year 10. Aside from his work with us, he is also a Youth Councillor with the Wiltshire Youth Union and a Member of Youth Parliament for West Wiltshire, volunteering with local communities and calling on systemic action against climate change and lowering the voting age!

Charlie enjoys travelling to new places, scuba diving and camping.

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Cherop is an ecowarrior, living in Kenya, devoting her time and passion towards Mock COP26 as a campaign coordinator with a keen focus on themes: Protecting Biodiversity and Mental Health & Wellbeing. She is seeking to collaborate with young climate activists and individuals to implement the Mock COP26 treaty, especially in Africa.

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When she is not busy steering the translation of the MC26 campaign plan, she is deeply engrossed in writing for a cause: documenting her going-green journey, through her blog www.ecowarriorkenya.com Furthermore, she has also opened up a segment on her blog dedicated to climate education for elementary school children, where she is drafting an environmental awareness curriculum.

Jamie Burrell is a 15 year old youth activist who began working with SOS-UK in April 2020 as a volunteer for Teach the Future, then working over the summer to shape Mock COP26 before being employed as a Mock COP26 event coordinator to take that project further.

After the great success of this event in late 2020, in February 2021, Jamie came back on board at SOS-UK to help support the Green Mentors project, aiming to run projects in Norwich and Southampton which empower and involve secondary school students into taking youth social action around environmental issues.

Joe joined SOS-UK in May 2020, after volunteering with Teach the Future since he founded the campaign in October 2019. Teach the Future is SOS-UK's joint campaign with the UK Student Climate Network to reform the UK education system. Joe completed his A-levels in 2020 and is currently working whilst on a gap year.

He started Teach the Future whilst studying for his A-Levels because he realised that having spent over 13 years in education he had learnt next to nothing about the climate crisis which will define his future.

Joe has been heavily involved in the climate strikes, representing the UK at the European Fridays for Future conference and helping organise in both Bath and Bristol. Joe enjoys going on walks, designing website and like most teenagers, sleeping.

Josh joined SOS-UK in September 2020 as event coordinator for Mock COP26 having previously volunteered with Teach the Future. He is currently on a gap year focused on climate activism with a deferred place at Imperial College London to study Mechanical Engineering, with a plan to focus on renewable energy and low carbon systems.

He works as a campaign coordinator for Mock COP26, supporting the over 500 volunteers and delegates to work with their elected representatives and governments to implement the Mock COP26 Global Declaration and raise ambition ahead of COP26. Building on the international theme Josh also works as the international campaign coordinator at Teach the Future, supporting climate education groups globally. Josh is delighted to have been appointed by the UK COP26 Presidency to be the UK Youth Representative on the Government of Italy's Youth4Climate Advisory Committee.

In his spare time Josh loves to be outside hiking and wild camping.

Kelo is working as a campaign coordinator on Mock COP and lives in Nigeria.

Kelo is a Clinton Global Initiative Fellow and founder of Gray2Green Movement.
He is passionate about building a just, equitable and sustainable system.  Over the past 4 years his leadership strategy in transformative activism is rooted in environmental conservation particularly climate justice and air-quality advocacy, youth engagement and grassroot mobilization for system change.
Kelo is a member of the Global Coordination Team (GCT) YOUNGO the official youth constituency of UNFCCC.

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Laura is working as a campaign coordinator on Mock COP and lives in Colombia.

Laura is an audiovisual and multimedia communicator, climate activist and ecofeminist. She has been involved in the process of building the Latin American and Caribbean climate message to nourish international conversations. She’s part Fridays For Future Bogotá / Colombia / International, Pacto X El Clima and Unite For Climate Action. She believes that to achieve climate justice it’s needed to create safe spaces where diversity is the rule and decoloniality the way. Laura participated in Phase 1 of Mock COP26 as a Colombian delegate.

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https://www.instagram.com/lauraveronica.ma/

Lily joined SOS-UK in October 2020 as a Scotland campaign coordinator with Teach the Future and is based in Inverness. She is 16 years old and currently in S5, studying her Scottish Highers which they will be sitting in 2021. Outside of Teach the Future, she is a member of her school’s Right Respecting group and Fridays for Future Scotland. After going to her first strike in September 2019 with some friends, she felt inspired to join and since has played a key role in organising the climate strikes in her city.

In her spare time, Lily enjoys playing netball and cycling to a new place.

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Malaika is working as a campaign coordinator on Mock COP and lives in Canada.

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Mana is a Master’s student at the University College London’s Sustainable Development Programme who was a campaign coordinator for Phase 1 of Mock COP26, and currently lives in Japan. During her studies she focused on advocating rights for refugees, indigenous communities and equal gender. She recently returned to Japan where she grew up and quickly learned about the lack in sustainable knowledge and action in the country. To fasten the pace of sustainable education and innovation she established SWiTCH Association of Sustainability and is teaming with youth, academics, and scientists in Japan to fasten the achievement of the carbon neutral goal nationally.

Mary joined SOS-UK in January 2021 as an Teach The Future England campaign coordinator, after a year of volunteering for Teach The Future. Mary is based in Birmingham and has been involved in organising locally around climate and social justice for around 3 years. Mary is 17 and is currently studying for her A-levels!

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Shreya is working as a campaign coordinator on Mock COP and lives in Nepal. Over the past 5 years, Shreya has actively been involved in spreading awareness, advocating policies, and taking action for the climate. She was a recipient of the Youth Climate Scholarship 2019 and a delegate to COP 25. She has a keen interest in climate education and NDCs.

‍https://twitter.com/KCShreya1

Stella joined SOS-UK in March 2021. Her role is Wales Campaign Coordinator with Teach the Future. Stella is French & Welsh, based in Neath Port Talbot and currently studying for her GCSE’s! Stella joined Teach the Future in November 2020 after being introduced to the campaign through her other work as a youth climate activist. Outside of Teach the Future, she is a volunteer for UKSCN Wales, Trees of Music and her local strike group: YS4C Swansea, campaigning for climate justice in Wales.

Outside of her activist work, Stella plays the cello & trumpet, enjoys painting, and plays rugby for her local women’s team!

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Tess joined the SOS-UK team in October 2020 as a campaign coordinator for Teach the Future. She is based in Perth and is 16 years old, currently in fifth year and studying for her highers. Tess joined Teach the Future when the Scottish branch of the campaign was started in April 2020, and has been working on the Scottish branch of the campaign since. She got involved through Scottish Youth Climate Strike, which she had been volunteering for since May 2019 when she was inspired to join after attending strikes.

Tess’s hobbies are climbing and walking.

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Vinzealhar is working as a campaign coordinator on Mock COP and lives in Papua New Guinea.

Over the past 10 years, Vinzealhar has been a climate advocate educating local communities about climate change using writing and verbal awareness outreach. Within the last two years she has been the youth climate champion in her country and has been the voice of youth in her country. She was named the youth representative for the Small Island Developing States in 2019-2020 for the SAMOA Pathway.

Yasmin joined SOS-UK in March 2021 as a Wales Campaign Coordinator with Teach the Future and is based in Cardiff. She is 16 and is currently in sixth form studying for her A-Levels. Yasmin joined Teach the Future when the Wales campaign branch was set up in October 2020 and got involved through the climate justice movement. Outside of Teach the Future, Yasmin is a volunteer for Cardiff Green New Deal, Save the Northern Meadows and UKSCN Wales, campaigning for systemic change against the climate crisis. In her spare time, Yasmin enjoys playing cricket and football and is learning to play the guitar.

Ellen Fearon is the current president of NUS-USI

Ellen was elected by representatives of Northern Ireland’s students’ unions on a promise to “build a grassroots, mass movement of students, learners and apprentices across NI.”

Ellen is a former Law & Politics student from Queen’s University Belfast. She was elected as QUBSU’s  Student Activities Officer and is passionate about student engagement, climate activism, workers’ rights, reproductive justice and free education. During her time at Queens she formed the award-winning QUBSU Climate Action Group which created and passed via referendum a ‘QUB Green New Deal’, demanding a carbon neutral University by 2030, fossil fuel divestment and embedding sustainability into curricula.

Larissa Kennedy was elected NUS UK National President, for a two-year term, taking up her position on 1 July 2020.  Larissa also serves as president of SOS-UK alongside her role at NUS.

As president, Larissa chairs the NUS board, leading NUS from transition into reform and completion of a three-year turnaround programme.

Larissa has been active in the student movement since they were 16 years old and has organised against sexual violence, marched against student fees and is a member of the Black student’s campaign. Larissa wants to build a movement that stretches across the whole of the UK, across students’ and trade unions across the world.

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A leading headteacher known for his work on Harmony Education, Richard is helping us extend our work into pre-16 education and advises us on Teach the Future.

Co-founder of Forum for the Future and The European Greens, Sara is an expert in sustainability education and advises us on organisational management.

Zamzam was the President of the National Union of Students (NUS) from 2019–2020 where she was elected to represent the views of learners across the UK. Zamzam was SOS-UK's inaugural President alongside her role at NUS.

Zamzam is currently Vice President of European Students' Union and Vice Chair Muslim Leadership Foundation alongside her role as trustee at SOS-UK.

She’s finance graduate from the University of Salford, Manchester. She’s been a student representative for almost a decade leading work on a fully funded and just education system to tackle societal injustices, leading campaigns from; climate justice to tackling racial injustice.