Building a catalytic, lifelong community of Leaders

Evie is Executive Director of the Atlantic Institute. She is responsible for the strategic leadership of the Institute and the building of a global community of change-makers, diverse across every measure but united in their pursuit of equity. She is also an Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity, based at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Evie has an extensive background in educational leadership, having held executive leadership positions at higher education institutions across New Zealand. Prior to joining the Institute, she was Deputy Chief Executive at Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi (Indigenous University). Her teaching and research areas are social change leadership, leading change in complex organizations and the development of high-performing and inclusive teams. She is passionate about values-based leadership and transformation.

Khalil is an Associate Executive Director (Community Engagement, Programing and Impact) at the Atlantic Institute. He previously served as the Director of Dialogue and Advocacy at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg where he was also a Senior Director with the Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity program. Prior to this, he was a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies where he conducted analysis on the impact of organised crime on governance. He previously lectured at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, from where he received both his undergraduate and Masters degrees.

Abi is the Associate Executive Director of Communications and Impact at the Atlantic Institute. She is responsible for supporting a learning culture and leads on the design and implementation of the Institute's learning and evaluation plans. Prior to joining the Institute Abi was Managing Director of the social research organisation CFE Research for eight years and she brings over a decade’s experience designing and developing evaluation tools to evidence the impact and effectiveness of social change programs. Abi is passionate about innovative evaluation methods and participatory approaches, and aspires to ensure that stakeholders all have ownership of and investment in the learning and evaluative process.

Alice is experienced in using augmented and virtual realities to interrogate power structures and drive change and has worked at the intersection of art, technology and social justice. She has worked for leading institutions and brands, including Magic Leap, U2, The Gates Foundation, The Global Goals for Sustainable Development, Tate and Penguin Books. Driven by developing virtual experiences that do not compromise the humanity of the user, she says she is looking with hope to a future where technology enables everybody to reach their full potential and creates a fairer and more inclusive society.

Amanda will design and deliver an exceptional, non-precedent setting fund for Atlantic Fellows’ collaborative projects, with responsibilities including the design of the fund’s objectives, and application and review processes. She has significant experience in the international development sector with a proven track record in Programme and Grant management, MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Learning) and fundraising. She is passionate about creativity, innovation, co-creation and collaboration and intrinsically believes in the greater ideals of service and transcendence.

An Atlantic Fellow for Social & Economic Equity, Daniel has a background in journalism and has most recently been working as a Data Researcher at Data4Change. As a fellow he is deeply committed to this community and "family". Daniel has devoted the past 11 years to communication projects relating to tax accountability, climate change and media literacy. He has also taught students of journalism how to analyze data as part of a drive to investigate issues like corruption and advance a fairer world.

David provides operational and administrative support to the Atlantic Institute team to ensure the smooth running of its meetings, events and special projects. Previously, he worked in events at Oxford Brookes University and as a primary school teacher.

An Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, Fionnuala leads on multimedia content by creating and delivering films, animations, and podcasts to amplify the Institute's and Global Atlantic Fellows' work both within the global Atlantic community and externally. She is also responsible for the development of the atlanticfellows.org website and creating content for it, working closely with Fellows to tell their stories in their collaborative pursuit of equity. Before becoming an Atlantic Fellow, Fionnuala was an anchor and correspondent with CNN International. She was part of the broadcast team which received an Edward R. Murrow Award for coverage of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, a Peabody in 2012 for coverage of the Egyptian Uprising, a 2012 Emmy for Outstanding Live Coverage of the Egyptian Revolution and an Emmy nomination in the same category in 2012 for Breaking News Coverage of the Libya Revolution.

Jemma is a feminist, passionate about values-based practice that centres collective leadership and local knowledge in the work of shifting power for greater social equity. At the Atlantic Institute, Jemma is Programme and Impact Lead for Innovation and Special Projects, supporting an ecosystem in which Atlantic Fellows lead the changes they wish to see for equity. Jemma has held a range of roles focused on gender justice and social justice, supporting survivors of gender-based violence, women involved with the criminal justice system, and men serving custodial sentences. Most recently, at Oxfam International, she focused on feminist organisational development, co-leading Oxfam’s Global Culture Strategy, and working to embed feminist principles and practices to address power inequalities. Jemma is an experienced facilitator and curriculum designer in face-to-face and virtual settings.

Katherine is responsible for the Partnerships strategy for the Institute and the community of Fellows it supports. She believes passionately in the power of collaboration to drive social, economic and health innovation and brings extensive experience of working across international communities and multi-stakeholder environments. Prior to the Institute, Katherine was director of the Cultural Institute at King's College London, working at the interface between the university and the creative and cultural sectors; she has also held leadership roles within creative, policy, diplomacy and non-governmental organisations. Katherine began her career directing theatre and music and continues to advocate for the arts as a platform for health and social change as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Kim provides high-quality support as coordinator for grants and funding in support of the work of Global Atlantic Fellows and program staff. Before arriving at the Institute, she was involved in managing student fees, academic records and scholarships. She has worked with charitable organizations, corporations and foreign education ministries to promote and manage the University of Oxford scholarships schemes.

Lucy provides administrative and editorial support to the Communications team, working alongside the Communications Lead and Multimedia Editor on a wide range of digital communications for many different audiences, from Atlantic Fellows and policymakers to the media and other interested stakeholders. Previously, Lucy worked in marketing for Oxford University Press, promoting educational resources and professional development opportunities to teachers and also helped coordinate conferences, exhibitions and webinars. Lucy wants to inspire and enable young people to have extraordinary futures and fulfil their potential, regardless of background. She carries out voluntary work to assist University of Oxford access and admissions schemes that encourage young people from non-traditional backgrounds to consider going into higher education.

Maria delivers the Institute's communications strategy, using internal and external channels to build connections across the Atlantic community, and capture and amplify the voices of the Fellows. She spent many years as a reporter in fast-moving TV and radio newsrooms before working in media relations and communications roles for Oxfam GB, the Public Affairs Directorate of the University of Oxford, and one of the Oxford colleges. Maria provided media support for emergency work, development programs, fundraising and campaigns. At the University of Oxford, she dealt with media issues relating to signficant University policy; supported the vice chancellor and chancellor on their media work overseas; and promoted the University's social sciences division.

Mel will take up a newly created position as Finance Coordinator. Previously, Mel handled the management accounts for a Bicester-based company, Memoria, which has 12 sites across the U.K. She also worked for the Oxford Women’s Training Scheme, an organisation advocating gender equality that offered skills workshop opportunities to women.

Patronella is part of the team seeking to develop the Atlantic community and broaden its global impact, particularly in strengthening the links with Global Atlantic Fellows who live in Africa or have links with the continent. Previously, she was the Network Director for Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity and concurrently held a leadership position at the Nelson Mandela Foundation (AFRE’s anchor partner). At AFRE, she led the program’s strategic outreach to identify and recruit applicants from diverse international networks and communities and led the program’s Senior Fellow community. She also contributed to network development and program planning. At the Nelson Mandela Foundation, she conducted analysis on governance and social activism and supported the Foundation’s anti-racism activities and efforts to build democracy.

As XR (Extended Realities) specialist, Richard Smith leads the day-to-day running of the XR Lab at Rhodes House, Oxford. The role is shared between the Atlantic Institute and the Rhodes Trust. He leads demonstrations in virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed/merged reality and other immersive technologies. Richard also manages the equipment loan store, assists with workshops and supports Fellows to help them realize their XR projects. Richard has almost 10 years of experience in working with XR, 3D printing, 3D scanning and other new technologies. Previously, he spearheaded the establishment of the first free VR equipment lending service at the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford. He introduced the University to XR through creation events, training and the establishment of the Oxford X-Reality Hub. He also led the development of several University of Oxford XR research projects, including EdTech in the Cloud, a VR app aimed at bridging attainment gaps experienced by disadvantaged secondary students. He works with Alice Wroe, XR Lead, supporting the Atlantic and Rhodes community with XR projects for storytelling.

Shanjitha provides support for the Atlantic Institute's convenings and programming. A Tamil-Canadian, she has a passion for social change, equity and inclusion. She spent has six years working in the philanthropic sector, working previously at the Catherine Donnelly Foundation in Canada. She has a batchelor's undergraduate degree in Women & Gender Studies and Sociology from the University of Toronto; and holds a postgraduate certificate in digital media marketing from George Brown College, Toronto. In her spare time, Shanjitha loves teaching yoga and is a great believer in its transformative, healing and uplifting powers. She supports people in living physically well and mentally resilient lives.

Sukh administrates, maintains and develops the technology offerings at the Atlantic Institute. He is also responsible for supporting the Fellows and Program staff with the Atlantic Fellows platforms (such as The Atlantic Fellows Hub). If you are a Fellow or a member of Program staff, feel free to get in touch directly with Sukh for any training and support requirements you may have. He works closely with the team to help ensure the Institute's vision and programming is supported and achieved with the use of online technology.

Tanya is an African feminist who has years of experience working to advance women’s rights and gender equality. She has expertise in designing bespoke curriculum, training materials, and in conducting operational research which she has done for Oxfam Zimbabwe, Oxfam South Africa and others. She holds a Masters degree in Social Sciences and Inequality from the London School of Economics and is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity. At the Atlantic Institute, her responsibilities center on co-creating and facilitating virtual and in-person learning and community building opportunities for Atlantic Fellows and staff globally.

Tyler recently completed his MSc in Evidence-Based Social Intervention & Policy Evaluation at the University of Oxford. He also served as a research fellow with the United Nations and the Oxford SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Impact Lab. He is excited to bring new, innovative methodologies to evaluation, connecting his systems engineering and Spanish backgrounds to help create a quantitative and qualitative library of methods.

Originally from California, Vincent moved to England in 2019. He has been a personal/ executive assistant for over seven years, with experience in providing support to high-profile individuals, including HM King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales. Outside of work, you can find him tending his garden alongside his 11-month-old son and their three chickens.

Yan Chen strives to foster connectivity between people, cultures, and worlds through international exchange, transcultural collaborations, and interdisciplinary dialogue. She is especially interested in civic engagement through the arts and humanities, and in making these fields more affordable and accessible for a wider range of people. Yan has worked extensively in the creative industries as a writer, editor, dramaturg (theatrical advisor and researcher), translator, and journalist. She has hatched projects in collaboration with leading directors, writers, and Tony Award-winning theaters; served as Chief of Staff for a Y Combinator startup, promoting financial inclusion; and organized local, national and transnational efforts in education, communications, outreach, and community building. A Chinese Rhodes Scholar, Yan studied literature, theater, and anthropology at Oxford, Harvard, and Nanjing Universities, where she researched cultural perspectives on loneliness, aging, and disease.