Staff & Trustees

Sohail has a lifelong commitment to tackling social inequality and barriers to inclusion and social mobility, partly driven by his own lived experiences but also from a sense of social justice. A key barrier is a lack of functional English and tackling educational inequality is a prime personal endeavour for him as education unlocks positive life chance opportunities.

Sohail has worked as a Director of Education in local authorities and been a Chief Executive of a city council, as well as holding a Regional Director role in the civil service. For the last 13 years he has worked in the charity sector, first with a Learning Disabilities charity and prior to joining LEAH, with an education and social mobility charity.

Over the years, he has benefitted from volunteering experiences and been a trustee of several charities.

Coming soon.

Elena leads the LEAH Coordinator Team to ensure we achieve our funded commitments as well as directly supporting volunteers and learners.

Elena has extensive experience working with refugees and asylum seekers in reception centres in Greece. Elena has a background of ESOL teaching, organising activities and helping displaced children and adults from countries including Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen integrate in the local community.

In 2019, Savannah worked for a NGO in a refugee camp in Samos Greece, teaching English. During that time, a fire in the camp broke out and there was a real emergency crisis. This led to Savannah volunteering and then working for The Refugee Council in the UK, supporting refugee children with their asylum process.

Since that time, she has worked for several refugee and mental health charities.

Savannah also lived and taught English in Thailand for a year, and in her free time she enjoys upcycling furniture.

Alice is responsible for our Richmond community classes, as well as supporting tutors with their 1:1 work.

Alice has been working in education for over twenty years. She started as an ESOL teacher in Germany, then became a classroom teacher, educational consultant, and university lecturer in the UK.

Alice has spent the last four years working as a volunteer English teacher and community support worker for a charity that supports asylum seeking women; she is passionate about the positive impact providing accessible learning can have on people’s lives.

Keri is responsible for our online community classes, as well as supporting tutors with their 1:1 work.

Keri completed her CELTA training in 2015 and has since worked in a variety of ESOL settings, including working abroad in India and Serbia. She has also worked for West Thames College and Kaplan International College, where she was the Welfare and Special Educational Needs Coordinator.

Keri is passionate about inclusion and access to education and excited about helping LEAH volunteers to support vulnerable learners.

Anna is responsible for recruiting, training and supporting our volunteer tutors. Anna has worked in education for over 20 years, from outdoor adventures as a forest school leader to supporting adults in classroom settings. She has extensive experience in creating training materials and supporting volunteers, with a particular understanding of the language learning journey through her own Polish heritage.

In addition, Anna has volunteered for a charity working with children and has led volunteer-based projects in schools. Her holistic approach to learning values both outdoor education and creating inclusive, supportive environments where learners can experience those magical “aha!” moments when everything suddenly clicks.

Aileen is responsible for helping to grow fundraising income for the charity, and liaising with our funders to feedback on how we are using their money to help our learners.

Aileen has 20 years’ experience of working in the UK and international charity grants sector where she has worked on human rights, women & girls, HIV/AIDS, refugee, and carers’ rights projects.

Aileen also has experience of teaching English as a Foreign Language in Taiwan, and learning Mandarin Chinese.

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Nicky is responsible for all ESOL assessments and registration for learners.

She is also an experienced Volunteering Manager, and coordinates our Merton volunteer programme.

Nicky has a BA (Hons) in European Languages (Spanish and French) and Economic Politics, and also has a TEFL teaching qualification.

Nicky works two days a week travelling across the Borough of Merton meeting ESOL learners for assessment.

Emma coordinates all our Merton classes and liaises with teachers and learners. She also supports with a range of office tasks, including web updates, publicity, supporting the coordination of volunteers and updating documents.

Emma is degree educated with a CELTA qualification. In addition to her coordinator role, she also teaches a class.

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Ruth is responsible for keeping the LEAH office running smoothly, providing administrative support to the staff team, volunteers and learners, to ensure the successful delivery of LEAH’s services.

Ruth has over 30 years’ experience working in the charity sector, for both national and international organisations.

Ruth has taught English in China and The Gambia with VSO, and was a LEAH volunteer tutor from 2014 to 2020.

Alena is a charity sector finance expert with over 10 years’ experience in consulting and finance in emerging markets.

She is excited to be able to use her financial skills to help LEAH fulfil its mission, and shares the team’s enthusiasm for teaching English to vulnerable individuals in need.

Having moved to the UK from Russia in 2020, Alena fully understands the challenges of having English as a foreign language. She strongly believes in the value of learning, and how it can help people to integrate into British society.

Sharon is a retired senior manager who has managed complex teams across many countries, cultures and nationalities. She first volunteered as an English language mentor when she lived in America. Once she returned to the UK, she became a volunteer with another charity before discovering LEAH. She became a volunteer with LEAH in 2021. Sharon has also worked with an adult social care charity and currently volunteers with her local foodbank.

Harprit is a Londoner and grew up in a Punjabi speaking household, with parents who struggled to speak English but valued education, and told wonderful stories. Harprit brings a wealth of experience in education, has served as a school governor for 13 years and sits on ‘The Equity Awards – Campaign Development Board’ at Goldsmith’s College (University of London). Harprit is Company Secretary for The UK Foundation of the University of British Columbia. She is interested in equality and diversity, and believes LEAH’s services can positively impact and improve lives.

A retired Finance Director, Ruth spent the majority of her career in the not for profit sector. Working in a variety of roles across a wide spectrum of organisations, she gained experience in finance, facilities, IT and project management which she hopes to use in support of LEAH and its mission. She is delighted to be joining the Board of Trustees of such an exceptional charity and looks forward to helping LEAH develop and achieve their long term goals.

Qualified in the law in Canada and England and Wales, with a legal postgraduate degree from University of Cambridge, Harbinda has extensive experience in the charitable and nonprofit sectors in the areas of health, social exclusion and education. Throughout her professional career she has been fortunate to work with diverse ethnic minority and other marginalised groups. LEAH feels like coming home as English is not her first language and she has direct experience of the challenges that learners at LEAH face. She also volunteers as a LEAH tutor. Harbinda is delighted to be able to work with LEAH staff and volunteers to play a part in the charity’s continuing essential work and development.

Sue is a semi retired teacher and has taught in a wide variety of settings in South London. Having retired from school teaching, Sue took the CELTA English language teaching qualification. She also wanted to experience the challenges of learning a difficult new language as an adult, so she is now in her fourth year of learning Mandarin Chinese. Sue has been a volunteer with LEAH since Autumn 2021 and finds her experience as a learner invaluable in her work as a teacher.

Sue is looking forward greatly to contributing to the continued success of LEAH’s invaluable work as a Trustee.

Alan is a senior commercial leader with extensive experience in digital transformation, primarily across the health and education sectors. He began his career as a primary school teacher before transitioning into the business sector as an IT trainer for a start-up. With an Executive MBA from Cass Business School, Alan has led high-performing teams to drive growth and innovation. Having worked across global markets, he brings strategic insight and a deep understanding of public sector needs. Alan is excited to join LEAH and support its vital work in empowering people through language, education, and community inclusion.

Audrey is French and has a background in sales and marketing. She has worked with top brands from the retail industry in France, Belgium and the UK to help them build their brand awareness and customer loyalty. An arts and design aficionado, Audrey likes to discover new artists and she recently joined the board of Young Arts Fundraisers to help develop partnerships in the arts sector. She is interested in building LEAH’s public awareness and fostering partnerships with the private sector to help LEAH expand its services to a wider public.

Barbara retired in 2019 following a career in software development and Project Management, both for large telecoms companies and for start-ups, and in a number of countries.

Inspired by her mother’s previous work in adult literacy, she joined LEAH as a volunteer tutor in 2021, and is looking forward to continuing this as well as contributing to the activities of the Board. Barbara is also a Trustee of a local bereavement charity​.