Ashoka in the UK & Ireland

Kelly, a former Wales and Professional Footballer, is an award-winning Social Entrepreneur and an Ashoka Fellow. She is the youngest woman to obtain an MBA in Football Industries and came up with the idea of her own business, Vi-Ability, a 'for purpose' business that could simultaneously tackle the issues of commercially unsustainable football clubs and youth disengagement from education scaling to 16 European countries, India, and named UK Social Enterprise of the year in 2016. Kelly has successfully exited another start up 'The Good Wash Company' which she co-founded in 2018 to change the mindsets of luxury consumers to ethical purchasing; and been an advisor to Welsh Government on 'Good Business' where she has taken up roles on the Business Wales board and chaired Social Business Wales for several years. Most recently, Kelly directs strategies for Ashoka’s vision of building an Everyone a Changemaker world across multi-stakeholder collaborations.

Karen is the Director of Finance & Operations, responsible for overseeing all financial, project/program and grants accounting in both offices. Karen has worked in the arts and cultural sector for the last 20 years in Senior Finance, Operations and Project Management roles in non-profit, charity, community benefit and business settings. Karen champions new entrepreneurial models, multi-stakeholder engagement and new systems for robust organisational development. Karen undertook a PDip in Arts and Cultural Management at Sussex University with a focus on change management and is currently working towards being an AAT professional member.

David Bonbright is a serial social entrepreneur whose four decades of work focus on organizational effectiveness through a lens of mutuality. The Constituent Voice performance measurement and learning system that he co-created has been widely adopted by foundations and nonprofits around the world and is now making its entrance to the business playbook. He says, “We have entered the Age of Agency. The only winning way to work now is by doing things with people, not to people or for people.”

He describes Ashoka as his Hotel California, where “you can check out but never leave”. Over 35 years, since 1987, he has frequently engaged with Ashoka as grantmaker, volunteer, staff member, and consultant. His current work involves growing Ashoka’s leadership team in Europe.

Carolina is the HR & Operations Lead. Carolina has a background in Global HR, HR Operations and recruitment. She also has strong experience in working with global leaders and entrepreneurs and for the last few years she has been supporting global leaders affected by career transition.

Tatiana is the Community Lead at Ashoka in the UK & Ireland and, also holds the position of Senior Research and Design Lead for Ashoka’s global Impact & Evidence team.

Tatiana served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco from 2013 to 2015, and she holds an MSc from the London School of Economics in Gender, Development, and Globalisation. Recently, she completed her PhD in Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh, where her research delved into elite philanthropy, philanthropists, and their advisors. Her current focus lies in exploring power dynamics, accountability mechanisms, and the dynamics of social change within the philanthropy ecosystem.

A native of Asheville, North Carolina, she was a field organiser for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign in two states. While working in Ashoka’s headquarters in Washington D.C., she organised collaborations on water, launching initiatives in Africa, Asia and South America. She is a published poet and Artistic Director for Lingo, Ireland’s first spoken word festival. Erin holds a B.A. in Anthropology & Communications from the UNC Chapel Hill, and completed her M.Phil. in Creative Writing at Trinity College in 2014.

Anu is Senior Manager Strategic Partnerships, catalysing and managing funding and strategic relationships with organisations that support Ashoka’s vision. Anu is a former stockbroker at Morgan Stanley, with several years of experience in sales and relationship management. She is also an On Purpose Fellow with experience and interest in social and impact investment. Her change in career was sparked by experiences with purpose-driven organisations, fighting food waste with FoodCycle, and supporting the opening of the world's first Partition Museum in India.

Shafat is the Community & Partnerships Manager, stewarding a thriving network of leading social entrepreneurs, young changemakers, business leaders, donors, supporters, and partner organisations. Shafat has a background in building programs to activate changemaking journeys, facilitating ideation sessions, marketing and communications having worked at various startup organisations. He led his own sustainable clothing brand and is extremely passionate about human rights within supply chains. Shafat grew up in Dhaka, Bangladesh and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia. Prior to being on the UK & Ireland team, Shafat worked at the Ashoka Global HQ.

Rhea is Senior Partnerships Manager, Climate & Media, building a unified media and frame change strategy to further Ashoka's vision of Everyone a Changemaker. She has spent over 9 years working in the field of content strategy and multimedia design, in industries ranging from corporate marketing and financial products to current affairs and youth education. Rhea is passionate about education, climate and sustainability and powerful storytelling as a medium to affect change in the world.

Lulu (she/her) is the Community and Communications Associate - Youth Years at Ashoka UK, she focuses on engaging, listening to and learning from young people. She previously worked at the Edge Foundation where she founded the Youth Network, a group of passionate young people who use their lived experiences of education to contribute to change in the sector; she also worked on the digital marketing at Edge, running webinars, publishing reports and managing social media channels. Alongside her work with young people, Lulu works on our communications strategy in the UK, where she is based. Outside of work, Lulu loves cooking, particularly making bread.

Elena is a Partner at Ashoka Europe where she is part of the strategic partnerships as well as the management team. She is also the co-director of the Ashoka Carry4Good pledge - a concept pioneered by Ashoka that helps forward-thinking VC and Private Equity funds to become agents of change in social impact. Previously, Elena was the co-director of Ashoka in the UK and Ireland.

Before joining Ashoka Elena worked for the Anglo-german think tank Convoco, convening some of Europe's leading thinkers, politicians and high court judges to engage in interdisciplinary debate. Elena obtained a Masters degree in Philosophy and Public Policy from the London School of Economics where she specialised in the Politics of Climate Change. Before, she studied Business Administration and Management at the Freie Universitaet Berlin. She has a particular interest in human rights, animal welfare, food systems and more broadly a passion for social innovation.

Since 2022, Felix has served as the Director of Global Talent at Ashoka, overseeing all aspects of talent management with a strategic approach. This includes topics such as performance reviews, conflict resolution, and performance management; ensuring alignment with organizational goals through close collaboration with the CEO and Leadership Team.

Felix joined Ashoka in 2017 as the Director of Finance & Operations for the UK & Ireland, where he led financial management and worked closely with the UK Board of Directors. His leadership extended to HR and governance topics; he also contributed significantly to operational excellence across Europe.

With a commitment to cultivating a culture of accountability and trust, Felix is dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace that supports team members' growth and development globally.

Alexandra is the Director of Community, stewarding a thriving network of leading social entrepreneurs, senior business leaders, donors, supporters and partner organisations. Alexandra has a background in marketing and communications having worked in brand management roles at Procter & Gamble before setting up her own coaching and consulting practice. Through that she supported early stage purpose driven ventures with creative problem solving, business strategy and leadership development. She is an On Purpose Fellow and actively involved in numerous organisations as a volunteer.

Temitope Isedowo is a Senior Technology and Platforms Lead at Ashoka UK. In this role, he leads the development of Changemakers’ core technology products—providing strategic expertise in utilizing digital platforms to drive large-scale social impact.

Temitope has an extensive background in technology and innovation. He holds an MBA and is pursuing a part-time Doctorate in Business Administration. He is passionate about leveraging technology to empower changemakers globally.