About Us

Chloe has worked with young people for 10 years and is driven by the impact of seeing them realise their ambitions. She is a policy adviser within the Civil Service, a part time PhD researcher and full time Black girl enthusiast! Chloe's research centres on the importance of role models and representation for Black students in British higher education.

Olivia has over five years experience working with young people in the charity and education sectors. Having personally benefitted from mentoring at different stages of her life, Olivia is passionate about the role that mentoring can play in people's lives. When she's not working at the Catalyst, she's building Sistren - a community-building app for Black women.

Amara is studying towards an undergraduate degree in French and Geography. She loves working on various projects for the Catalyst, whether that's research, content creation, or taking minutes! Amara is passionate about encouraging and uplifting other young people, and hopes to continue working in the third sector in the future.

Porscha is a qualified teacher with 10 years of experience closely working with young people in various roles, spanning from the charity sector to teaching and pastoral lead. Throughout her journey, she has embraced the roles of both mentor and mentee, advocating the transformative power of mentoring. Her unwavering passion lies in empowering black girls and women who, like her, aspire to reach remarkable heights and unlock their boundless potential.

Renuka has worked with young people for over a decade, and has always been passionate about supporting them to be the best version of themselves. She currently works in public affairs and policy in the financial sector, and actively lobbies those around her to understand the importance of diversity. She does this, with the hope of encouraging meaningful change that results in her seeing more people that look like her in these sectors, in the future.

Laide leads the University of Hertfordshire’s access and participation work, ensuring the delivery of their access and participation plan commitments. She has a varied range of experience and has worked in education for 12+ years.  She has also worked in the charity sector in both strategic and operational roles. She is pssionate about race equity and social justice which is why she joined the Catalyst Advisory Board. She has experienced her own challenges on her journey to success and wants to empower others to achieve success.

At The Philanthropy Workshop, Sam leads the design and delivery of donor education programmes, covering the core principles and practices of strategic philanthropy. He have a strong interest in what it takes for social change and social justice.

Sam joined the Catalyst Advisory Board because he believes deeply in the mission and the approach, and is excited about the impact the organisation can have going forward.

Carol is Head of Programmes and Pastoral Care at Eastside Young Leaders Academy - a leading black youth organisation in London. She's passionate about their work, enabling and encourages young people to ‘be’ the best version of themselves. They create a magical space of talent and curiosity; building confidence and reinforcing self belief to unlock a reservoir of opportunity and potential. 

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Carol joined The Catalyst Collective because she is excited by the opportunity to accelerate access and outcomes for girls in school and higher education, and has seen first hand the impact of the organisation's work with Eastside's own young people.

Eilis has always been passionate about the power of education and social mobility. She started her career as a project manager in digital marketing and then moved into teaching English and Psychology in London. Eilis left teaching and began to work into Widening Participation so that she could support more young people to experience the rewards of attending university, regardless of their background. Her current role involves overseeing learning centres in the south of the country and our student opportunities work.

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Eilis is excited to be part of the Catalyst's organisational development.

Kathryn has worked in media and advertising for WPP ad agencies for almost a decade now – first in London, but more recently from Amsterdam! Whether on this side of the North Sea or the other, she's always focused on widening access for young people into media, marketing and advertising as a career path, alongside her own professional journey.  

Kathryn was a mentor for the Catalyst Collective in 2020-2021, and found it one of the most rewarding experiences she's ever had. Kathryn is looking forward to being able to keep contributing to the incredible impact Catalyst has on its network of vibrant young people.

Kerris is an experienced policy and programme management professional and UK/US Fulbright Postgraduate Award recipient (2022/23).

She spent 12 years in the UK government, first as a policy analyst at HM Treasury. Kerris then joined the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, where she served in UK High Commissions (i.e. UK embassies) in Freetown and Nairobi and UK embassies in Khartoum and Kabul, as well as a range of roles in London.

Kerris is very excited to work with the Catalyst Collective to support and inspire young black women and girls.

Lateesha has always had an interest in the educational journeys of young people, and this was further driven by her recent completion of a PhD in psychology. Her research focused on Black students’ sense of identity and belonging of in higher education in the UK.

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As a consultant and trainer specialising in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Lateesha has extensive experience working with clients in the education sector. Her focus has been working with institutions to ensure that they are as inclusive as possible and take responsibility for anti-racist efforts on campus.

Having served as a mentor in the first Catalyst cohort in 2020-21, Lateesha found the experience to be incredibly rewarding. She is eager and excited to continue contributing to the program's incredible impact on young Black women and girls.