I am the Founder and Lead Consultant at my charity Streets of Growth, based in east London. We specialise in intervention approaches that re-engage young adults aged 15-25 years who, for a multitude of reasons, have become stuck and are caught up in harm's way in their neighbourhoods.

For my Fellowship in 2000 I researched in the USA, studying gang intervention and prevention, and social enterprise models that are led with and by young communities.

The purpose of my research was to give myself the time and space to put myself up against some of the best international practitioners in this field and to learn and share insights that I could bring back to the UK to transform current policy and practice here.

I grew up on one of the UK's most socially deprived council estate wards myself and saw at first hand how young people can be drawn into dangerous lifestyles due to poverty and being misguided and exploited. I became involved in this work because I wanted to play a role in helping the next generation break the cycle. On my return, I founded my award-winning charity Streets of Growth, which celebrated its 20th anniversary as field leaders in 2021.