Theme: Elements of Change

Theme: Elements of Change

Royal Holloway, University of London
Egham Hill
Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX
United Kingdom

Anna McNuff

Structural Engineer

Anna McNuff is a London based endurance athlete and adventurer. Once upon a time she represented Great Britain at rowing, but after ‘retiring’ in her mid twenties, she began darting around the world on the hunt for new and exciting endurance challenges. In 2013 she set out to ride a beautiful Pink bicycle 11,000 miles through each and every state of the USA, and more recently became the first person to run New Zealand’s Te Araroa trail, solo and unsupported - covering 1,911 miles on back country trails. Voted as one of the City of London's 50 most inspirational people, Anna runs 'Project Awesome': London's fastest growing free fitness initiative, designed to get people of all ages moving and loving life. Passionate about the positive impact that adventure and sport can have on the lives of youngsters, Anna uses her projects as a platform to inspire and enable kids to get outside, and get exploring.

Bonnie Chiu

Consultant

Bonnie Chiu Born and raised in Hong Kong, Bonnie moved to London in 2013 at 20 years old to complete a MSc International Relations at the London School of Economics (LSE). She now works as a Consultant at The Social Investment Consultancy, a philanthropic advisory firm where she advises leading charities and net worth individuals on social innovation. Prior to London, she worked with HSBC, international NGOs like Amnesty International and Equality Now and the government. She is also a social entrepreneur and co-founded Lensational, aiming to empower women through photography. Bonnie has received awards for Lensational globally, notably receiving the Hivos Social Innovation Award. She is one of the 15 students to be endorsed by the LSE for the Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur Visa. Bonnie has received global media coverage for Lensational. Prior to London, she has studied and worked in Denmark, the United States, Singapore and Pakistan.

Dr Bahijja Raimi-Abraham

Pharmacist

Bahijja is a pharmacist and an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded postdoctoral research associate at the University College London (UCL). Her research interests lie in the area of formulation science (small and biological molecules), pharmacoengineering, nanofabrication and the interface between pharmacy practice and pharmaceutics. Bahijja is the founder of a social enterprise called STEAM:ED Collective (www.steamedcollective.com) which aims to raise public awareness of the significant role that Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) play in our everyday lives. In addition to raising awareness, the focus of STEAM:ED Collective is to educate by forming a link between the public and STEM research through the arts.

Dr Cosima Gretton

Doctor and health tech consultant

Cosima is a doctor and health tech consultant. She is currently working with Outcomes Based Healthcare on a project funded by Innovate UK using machine learning and smartphone behaviometrics to monitor health outcomes in diabetics. She is an alumnus of the Singularity University Graduate Studies Programme and currently on the Academic Foundation Programme at St Thomas's Hospital. She is the founder of AXNS Collective, a curatorial collective funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Arts Council. AXNS work with artists and scientists to create new ways of engaging the public with science.

Dr Rozina Ali

Plastic surgeon

Rozina Ali is a highly trained and experienced plastic surgeon, with a specialist expertise in microvascular reconstructive surgery. She graduated from St Thomas' Hospital Medical School, London with first-class honours in Anatomy and went on to pursue postgraduate surgical training in London and various international specialist units. Rozina is a warm and approachable surgeon with a relaxed personality and forthright communication style that has endeared her to patients, peers, and the media. Her first foray into celluloid involved filming the Royal College of Surgeons of England training video on “Core Skills in Plastic Surgery”. Since then, she has widened her audience with the BBC2 Horizon documentary “The Truth About Looking Young” and as expert co-presenter on Channel 4’s prime time TV series “How Not to Get Old.” Daily Pakistan Global recently depicted her as one of very few worldwide “super women who are earning respect for Pakistan.”

Geoffrey Williams

Freelance Theatre Director and Associate Artist at York Theatre Royal

Geoffrey Williams Geoff began studying psychology in South Africa. In 2010, he was working on a Masters degree in psychology, teaching psychology to undergraduates and supplementing his income by teaching music in high schools. But life wasn’t exactly right. He knew that he wanted to try working in the theatre. So he came to the UK to embark on a new life. He knew no one here, he had no idea how to begin in this new profession, but he was determined to try. He studied drama and theatre at Royal Holloway, and managed to put on a number of student productions during his time there. In 2013 he was accepted to do an MA in directing at RADA, where things really took off. He’s worked on shows at RADA, on the London fringe and in the West End, notably being an assistant director on The Railway Children. He is currently directing an amateur production of Singing in the Rain, and is in development for a show with his newly formed theatre company, Stormblast.

Karoline Wiesner

Associate Professor in Complex Systems

Karoline Wiesner studies complex systems, searching for similarities between seemingly unrelated systems such as bee hives, brains, or the economy, finding insights through the mathematics of information. Karoline Wiesner trained as a physicist. She joined the School of Mathematics at Bristol University in 2007 and is now a Associate Professor in Complex Systems. She is co-managing the Centre for Complexity Sciences and has won several awards for her work on the mathematics of complex systems. She is currently writing a book about the mathematics and philosophy of complex systems, to be published by Princeton University Press.

Kusal Ariyawansa

Financial advisor

Kusal Ariyawansa is an award winning Chartered Financial Planner and Chartered Wealth Manager at Appleton Gerrard with over 16 years of experience in advising highly successful people. He specialises in accelerating the financial development and achievement of their long term goals and aspirations. Kusal is a regular contributor on financial matters to the national weekend broadsheets and prides himself above all on explaining in simple straightforward language to clients and readers alike what can at first sight seem to be mystifying financial jargon.

London Faerie

Sexual adventurer and spiritual seeker

London Faerie is a sexual explorer and spiritual seeker with a passion for empowering people to be all they can be. Faerie believes that those who seek the life they want are kinder, happier, more abundant people. Faerie leads Sacred Pleasures, a sex-positive learning community based in London. Here Faerie offers workshops and individual sessions focused on love, sex and relationships. Bringing presence and awareness to sexuality enables people to discover their authentic desire, both in and out of the bedroom. Faerie’s approach emphasises authenticity, creativity, vulnerability, boundaries and communication. Faerie also regularly presents his work in Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Prague. He has taught at an array of festivals in the UK, in Germany, in Finland, in France and in Czech Republic. Faerie founded After Pandora, a friendly members community, which he led from 2007 to 2012. He’s the co-curator of The Summerhouse & The Winterhouse

Mariam Jade Tuma

Politics and International Relations student at Royal Holloway University of London

Mariam Jade Tuma is a second year International Relations student at Royal Holloway. Although she is of Iraqi descent, Jade grew up as a child of expats in diaspora in Saudi Arabia. This was the case until her own family was effected by the war in Iraq. Suddenly, all the numbers became people. She started a blog called Voices of the Middle East, in which she began to publicize the stories of those who experienced the struggles and hardships of growing up in war torn areas. After a few posts, more and more submissions came through, from Iraq, to Syria, to Egypt, to Palestine; Jade was attempting to make people’s voices heard. This summer she was able to spend her time working with the huge refugee population that came through Austria. Jade was able to speak to refugees about their experiences, their journeys, and the reasons for fleeing their home. She worked alongside other Austrian residents at Train of Hope at Hauptbahnhof (Vienna Main Train Station), as a translator.

Roma Agrawal

Athlete and adventurer

Roma Agrawal is a structural engineer and has worked with signature architects during her ten year career designing footbridges, towers and sculptures including six years on The Shard, the tallest tower in Western Europe. A multiple award winner, both for her technical prowess and her contribution to raising awareness of engineering as a career, she was given the ‘Diamond Award for Engineering Excellence’ by the Association for Consultancy and Engineering. She has appeared as an expert in documentaries and has been featured in many UK broadsheets, magazines and online; on the BBC, ITV, and selected as a ‘Leading Lady’ in the M&S campaign 2014. Outside work, she actively promotes engineering, scientific and technical careers to young people and particularly to under-represented groups such as women. She is an ambassador for the 'Your Life' campaign, working with industry and government to increase the number of students studying maths and physics.

Sian Vandermeulen

International consultant

With over five years experience across international markets, Sian Vandermuelen works in the field of fashion, cultural community development and corporate engagement with extensive experience in Australia, Asia, UK, UAE, and the United States. Currently working across a diverse portfolio of clients, Sian specialises in marketing & global communications, press and buyer relations, and production. Sian has an exceptional understanding of the interaction required on major multi-discipline projects - having served to a range of international fashion businesses. Applying her high level of creative and strategic knowledge to achieve outstanding creative and business outcomes, Sian is a key driver in creating a culture that supports a commercial creative-led practice with a focus around creativity, sustainability, innovation, and the empowerment of creative thinking.

Steve Emecz

SVP Business Development

Steve Emecz is an ecommerce veteran with more than twenty years experience with global organisations including Xerox, Venda and Powa Technologies. In his role as SVP for Strategic Solutions at Powa Steve works with some of the world’s leading banks and telcos on their mobile commerce strategies. Steve is a seasoned entrepreneur having founding MX Publishing in 2006. MX has become the largest independent Sherlock Holmes publishers in the world with over 100 authors and around 200 titles. The publisher is a non-profit which supports several causes – the main one being the Happy Life children’s rescue program in Narobi. Steve lives in London, but spends most of his time traveling across EMEA for Powa. He sits on the CSCSS (Cyber Security) Advisory Board, writes on LinkedIn and is a regular speaker on eCommerce and mobile. He also enjoys swimming and sporting challenges, and has completed seven triathlons, two marathons, a European Lake Race and an Olympic Bobsleigh over the last decade.

Yvonne Neuman

VITAL's Board of Trustees

Yvonne fled from Indonesia to Australia with her family at the age of two. After graduating with a degree in pharmacy from the Victoria College of Pharmacy, Australia, she married an American and lived in New York City for three years before settling in Devon to raise their two sons. Having spent the last two decades devoted to family, Yvonne has now focused her efforts towards helping vulnerable children in Kolkata (Calcutta). She is the Founder and Executive Director of VITAL , a non-profit, whose vision is of a world where no child must suffer the injustice of poverty. Today, VITAL funds five projects in health care, education,vocational training and child protection. Yvonne’s interest in sports led her to undertake a number of triathlons in London and Switzerland to raise thousands of pounds for VITAL.