Meet our core team
Ray Cooper
Co-founder - Partnerships & Facilitation
Collaborative Future is a culmination of all my experiences, skills and passions. I help people make meaningful connections, experiment with new ways of working and create inclusive spaces in which empower them to thrive.
I’m in : Wirksworth
Email me at: ray@collaborativefuture.co.uk
Prisca Munzemba
Co-founder - Insights & Strategy
After joining Collaborative Future as an intern in the 2020 programme, I have now started working with Collaborative Future to support the management and development of the 2021 placement.
I’m in : Birmingham
Email me at: prisca@collaborativefuture.co.uk
Sonia Tyrna
Co-founder - Creative & Operations
Having previously taken part in the 2019 work placement pilot, I have since worked with Collaborative Future in the areas of design, marketing and community engagement.
I’m in : Nottingham
Email me at: sonia@collaborativefuture.co.uk
We work together with our board members, young people and small businesses and organisations to shape the path and vision for Collaborative Future.
Meet our board
Rania Nur
Product Manager AT wILLIAM JOSEPH DESIGN / 2020 collaborative future alumni
My career journey began with a university course that I had chosen purely based on what I love to do, rather than one that led down a logical career path. That choice led me to my current position as Product Manager at William Joseph Design- a fit that turned out to be just right. Directorship on the board of Collaborative Future allows me the opportunity to do what I can to support fellow risk-takers, who know what they want to do and not necessarily what they want to be, in finding their own fit.
Shanice Blair
Education Worker at Intouniversity / 2021 collaborative future alumni
I have just started an MA in Intercultural Communication at The University of Manchester and am also working as Community Manager for Agencies for Good. Both my academic and professional endeavours enable me to further develop my passion for facilitating effective and inclusive collaboration between people of all backgrounds and identities. I therefore consider myself to be closely aligned with Collaborative Future's organising principles and am very excited to play a part in ensuring that their work continues to reach diverse audiences.
Meet our collaborators
Meet the freelancers, small businesses and organisations who have supported us, and taken part in our work placement programmes so far.
Meet our cohorts
We’re also working with a wide range of partners who bring a wealth of expertise and a variety of approaches to help deliver a transformative experience for everyone on our program.
Meet our coaches
Janice Gittens
Janice is of an African Caribbean descent, having arrived in Britain as a child in the Windrush era, she has lived in the UK since. She is a mother, motivational speaker, educator, trainer, facilitator and therapeutic coach. She has worked as a teacher of business studies, a senior manager in the fields of mental health, criminal justice and addiction. Janice holds an MA in Psychoanalysis and has a small private practice. In her work she incorporates the individual’s frame of reference, their worldview and a psychoanalytical approach that works with the repressed unconscious. She coaches leaders in organisation on issues of culture, social mobility and system change.
Tom Jepson
Tom has been working in the design space for well over a decade, starting in print and moving into product design some 6 years ago. He runs his own small design shop where he works with clients of all shapes and sizes to help them make things that their customers will actually want to use. In his coaching, he wants to help people understand themselves, their creative work and how they fit into the grand scheme of things; maybe as an in-house designer or as a freelancer.
Asma Iqbal
As a former scout leader, teaching assistant, and community worker Asma has seen the unfairness in personal development opportunities afforded to different young people. She wanted to change this narrative, so she created My Success Story, an inspirational coaching company which aims to give young people personal development tools to identify & then manage their own success. Asma is also the founder of Bespoke Life Coaching which aims to empower people to reach their fullest potential. By applying positive psychology, Asma coaches professionals, businesses , and groups to identify opportunities to progress in their organisations.
Natasha Chadwick
Natasha, a change consultant and founder of Impact People & Change, draws on psychology background in her delivery of development programmes and consultancy projects to enable organisations, teams and people to manage, change and deliver a positive social impact. Hugely passionate about youth employment, Natasha has led employability programmes in the UK and abroad, and loved contributing to the Collaborative Future pilot work placement scheme last year. Natasha prides herself on delivering impact by focusing on strengths and through getting stuff done.
Simon Worth
Simon is a Certified Personal Coach and is the founder of Catalyst Wellbeing Ltd and Worth Talking. He is focused on helping people to maximise their potential, achieve their goals, boost their wellbeing and overcome challenging times. Simon is also a qualified mental health first aider for both adults and youths. Working with young people is a real passion and Simon has previously coached rugby to girls and boys, women and mens teams and also volunteers with young offenders, helping them to find direction and focus. Simon has worked in the renewable energy, IT and telecoms sectors and with businesses ranging from independently owned start-ups to large corporates.
Meet our trainers & panelists
Rachel Gertz
Rachel Gertz is Co-founder and Digital PM Trainer at Louder Than Ten. She trains tech companies how to knock their old project management flows upside down by refining the most valuable steps in the process. Rachel helps companies understand what project numbers really mean, and how to turn blocks into opportunities to build strong relationships with their teams, customers, and clients. Her mission at Louder Than Ten is to transform the tech industry by training digital companies how to give back power to the people leading their projects.
Georgianna Scurfield
Georgianna Scurfield is an award winning independent film maker based in Nottingham. She’s worked on a wide range of projects, from feature length documentaries to poetry videos to corporate films. In the 5 years in the industry she’s worked in Milan, Bosnia and Kenya producing people led, heart felt films, particularly those with a community focus which are at the core of her work.
Josh Hepple
Josh Hepple is a law graduate who has severe cerebral palsy. He is also a campaigner and a writer published in the Guardian, Huffington Post and many more. He lectures on disability and equality law, and regularly delivers classes on social work law. Josh's own impairment and his extensive legal training give him a unique insight into both the individual experiences and the wider social status of disabled people, which he shares through practical and honest sessions.
Emma Torrence
Emma is a SFEDI qualified independent business adviser helping with running & understanding complexities of running a business including business planning & finances. Founder of ThiNK, she has been involved in supporting and mentoring other businesses for two decades, so understands both the theory and the practical realities of running your own business.
Daniel Tuitt
Daniel is a corporate misfit and a catalyst for change for challenges people face across the real world. As a senior service and business designer, he facilitates complex challenges and designs with evidence. He has inspired large organisations, social enterprises and start-ups to think differently, and his expertise lies in the cross-section of systems thinking, human-centred design, business models, ecosystems and co-innovation.
Abigail Handley
Abi is a worker owner of tech Co-operative Outlandish, and has been since 2011. For those 10 years she has mostly been figuring out how to run a business that not only delivers fantastic work to its clients, but just as importantly, supports and grows the people within the organisation itself. Outlandish embeds Sociocratic principles in the way it make decisions and are structured so that workers can affect and choose the direction the organisation develops, from the clients we work with, to the pay we are set and the process we use to deliver our work. Abi believes that building a culture of openness, understanding and trust will lead to truly informed choice from people within that culture, and with that the autonomy to act on those choices.
Christina Weiberg
As a facilitation expert, writer and public speaker, Christina empowers companies and individuals to move from operations to conscious impact. She helps clients simplify day to day processes and interactions through psychology, innovation, economics and historical context. Christina is a Latinx woman who has lived and worked around the world, including Colombia, Ecuador and various parts of the US. She is currently completing her MBA at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and is interning with the Amazon RME Launch team for the summer.
Rachel Liu
Rachel is at the intersections of human-centred design, well-being and leadership. She'a passionate in enriching the human experience through deep inquiries into the human mind, behaviour and needs. In the last 6 years, she focused on shaping the future of education by helping teams translate unmet needs to new programmes, products and services. In a parallel journey, she’s been on a journey to well-being and leadership. She built two teams from scratch and fostered a culture of creativity, collaboration and inclusion. She has a lived experience of chronic and mental health conditions and learned to heal herself. She supports others to grow and evolve by leading within - for human beings to thrive with wholeness and wonder.
Matt Walton
Matt is an experienced product leader who loves to inspire and empower teams to build digital products with purpose. Most recently, he was Chief Product Officer and member of the founding team at one of Europe’s leading EdTech companies, FutureLearn. He’s now advising companies on defining new products and building inclusive product cultures. Before FutureLearn, he spent many years creating and delivering innovative music, culture and education websites and apps for the likes of BBC, BBC Studios, Harper Collins and BSkyB. He’s passionate about online education, lifelong learning and products that put people and the planet first.
Jaz Broughton
Jaz of Just Jaz is a coach for life and work; championing the importance of creating the life you want while doing the work you love. Integrating years of tech expertise with coaching, consulting and personal development to deliver memorable events and impactful services. Multi-passionate and proud founder, techie and Hustle Crew consultant helping others to grow through personal development.
Daryl Cecile
Daryl Cecile is one of the co-founders of ProjectFunction, a start-up which aims to educate and encourage under-represented and marginalised people to get involved in the tech industry, since 2018. Daryl is a developer and educator, committed to opening up the tech industry to a more diverse group of people; instilling a philosophy of discovery and collaboration into those taking their first steps into the industry, especially providing support to those who are marginalised and overlooked.
Rizwana Khan
Rizwana Khan is one of the co-founders of ProjectFunction, a start-up which aims to educate and encourage under-represented and marginalised people to get involved in the tech industry, since 2018. Rizwana is a designer-developer, poet, podcaster, and occasional-speaker. As a third-culture adult, she has grown up valuing diverse work environments and will always stand for, and behind, spaces where people who may be seen as outsiders are given centre stage.
Esther Akpovi
Esther’s passion for youth culture was obvious from a young age, at 17 she was the Chief Strategy Officer for a Gen Z Media company interviewing top musicians before they rose to popularity. Now aged 21, Esther is studying Law (LLB) with Legal innovation and technology at the University of Law in London. Alongside studies she is active in her areas of passion including all things Gen Z, culture and youth.
Sonya Barlow
Sonya Barlow is an Award-Winning Entrepreneur, TEDxSpeaker, Diversity Coach & Author. With 5+ years in the technology industry, Sonya has transitioned from working in technology consultancy to running her own diversity & inclusion consultancy.
She founded the LMF Network CIC which is changing the narrative of inclusion through life skills workshops, community building and corporate mentoring programmes. Focused on enabling and empowering women and underrepresented groups into tech, digital & entrepreneurship.
Catherine Ainsworth
Cat is the co-founder of DOT PROJECT, a cooperative supporting social sector organisations to build confidence and capacity to deliver change through digitally enabled services and ways of working. Cat has a deep rooted passion in understanding how people can thrive and deliver collective change - she began her career in humanitarian response working at the United Nations and within medical NGOs, this led to embedding digital solutions into emergency responses which was the catalyst for Cat to move into the digital space and support charities to become more confident in using digital.
Paul Spiers
Founder of The New P&L – Brand Purpose Institute & Host of The New P&L - Principles & Leadership in Business podcast series, Paul is a consultant, speaker and author on topics and trends around Principles & Leadership in Business as well Commercial Creativity and business innovation.
Noshua Watson
Noshua Watson is the founder of Interwoven, an online community for sustainable business creatives and founders, and co-founder of the Ethically Woven sustainable fashion event production company. Noshua has transformed sustainable business education by making it entertaining, participatory and inclusive. This approach led to a partnership with the Conscious Fashion Campaign, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships.
Laura Paine
Laura is a project manager at a small design agency in Birmingham. Her background is firmly rooted in the charity sector and tech for good space, and more recently focused on working with companies who have sustainability and environmentalism as a core value. She loves getting under the skin of a company and understanding what motivates the team, and how people can be supported and challenged in order to do their best work in a healthy, happy and productive space.
Naomi Alexander Naidoo
Naomi is Movement Builder at Chayn, building Chayn’s movement fighting gender-based violence around the world. An experienced network builder for systems change, Naomi previously led Community and Communications at the Finance Innovation Lab, a charity transforming the financial system for people and planet. Naomi is an organiser with POCIMPACT – a community connecting, recognising and supporting people of colour working in social impact. She sits on the advisory board for the Make My Money Matter campaign and Friends of the Earth’s Own It initiative.