top of page
Finsbury Park Pioneers
My Place has recruited 14 passionate, talented, and diverse young people to be the first ever My Place young community leaders. These young people all live and/or study in the Finsbury Park area and are determined to represent their communities and creating meaningful change for everyone in Finsbury Park...keep reading to find out more about our incredible Pioneers!
Alesha
Alesha is 13 years old and lives in Highbury Corner. She is very excited to be a My Place pioneer because she wants to connect with others and hear what others have to say, and is very excited to see where this goes in the future
Channay
Channay is 17 years old and a local resident of the Finsbury Park area. She is a determined character who wants to provide local communities with a voice for future projects and improvements within Finsbury Park
David
David is 16 years old and lives in Finsbury Park. He is a highly talented footballer and is committed to going pro. David became a My Place Pioneer as he is determined to improve the local area for his family, friends, and wider community
Emily
Emily is a 14 year old living in Holloway and attending school in Finsbury Park. She is a musician and a chess player on the side and aims to use her passion for activism and politics to make changes in Finsbury Park
Hannah
Hannah is a young, passionate activist living in Highbury. She is highly empathetic and determined and became a My Place Pioneer to make great changes and impact her future in Finsbury Park :p
Hannah is also a member of the My Place advisory board
Hayden
Hayden is 15 years old, born and raised in the Finsbury Park area. He is an intelligent and outspoken individual who hopes to improve the safety of Finsbury Park for everyone in the local community
Jason
Jason, aged 13, is passionate about making a change within Finsbury Park and the community. He signed up to this project as he felt he would be a great candidate to make the area the better for both the young and older members of our local community
Julia
Julia is a young, amusing individual who lives close to Finsbury Park and spends a lot of time in the area, usually participating in sports. She is excited to implement her ideas and opinions to make local changes for the better. Julia is also a member of the My Place advisory board
Nuria
Núria, 15, goes to school in Finsbury Park and cares deeply about the safety and welfare of the local community. She is extremely ambitious and aims to become a young community activist to change people's lives for the better
Shukri
Shukri is 16 and lives and studies in the Finsbury Park area. Her favourite place in the local area is the mosque because she feels a strong sense of community there. Shukri aims to learn more about research methods and how to conduct research ethically
Ushsean
Ushsean, 17, lives in Finsbury Park and cares deeply about those who call it home. He is a creative, intelligent, opinionated young man working towards a career in music, and hopes to use all of his talents to make deep, lasting change for local communities
Jason
Jason, 15, is very motivated and believes that he can do many things if he puts his mind to it. Jason likes Finsbury Park because the community is very supportive, sociable, and everyone helps each other out
Christopher-Ellis
Christopher is 15 yrs old and lives in North London. Christopher's character is heavily influenced by his afro-Caribbean roots - he is determined, tenacious, and 100% focused on making real change in Finsbury Park
Daniel
Daniel, 15, is a charismatic individual who has been living in the Finsbury Park area for about 10 years. He loves to play sports, particularly football. He would like to get closer to members of the local community through being a My Place Pioneer
Pioneers
Our Team
Senior Project Coordinator
Rico
Junior Project Coordinator
Rico is a young community activist and Finsbury Park local with a background in education and youth empowerment. Rico leads our youth work, supporting and mentoring our young leaders
Zimmie has a background in architecture and is passionate about working with communities to create thriving places. He oversees our training program and co-design of the My Place Hub
Zimmie
Kerri
Project Director
Kerri is a long time youth champion and educator. She coordinated the national #iwill campaign and at My Place she manages the team and leads on strategy and partnership building
Naomi
Co-Founder
Naomi is an award winning architect and My Place co-founder. She uses her community listening expertise to support the team, alongside her work as Director of Operations at Footwork.
Clare
Co-Founder
Clare is a My Place co-founder and supports the project through the independent charity Footwork that she set up. Footwork identifies and supports local social innovators to create positive change for people and places
Abbie
Project Assistant
Alongside her work at Footwork and Creative Wick, Abbie lends her creative and research expertise to support the My Place team in developing our training and youth empowerment programmes
Shingai
Impact Manager
Shingai is the Impact Manager at London Development Trust and uses her data evaluation skills to ensure My Place is relevant to, and delivering beneficial outcomes for young people
Kat
Post Doctoral Researcher
Kat is a researcher interested in interested in place, mapping, and multiculture. Kat has worked with diverse communities in Finsbury Park and supported My Place to engage with young people and understand their feelings about place and change
Team
Our Advisory Board
Alvin
Owusu-Fordwo
Advisory Board Co Chair
Founder,
TAG Agency
Alvin is passionate about amplifying diverse young voices and transforming the lives of young people from underrepresented backgrounds. He is the co-founder of Tag Agency and is working with Children in Need to deliver their £10 million Black Futures Fund
Roland Karthaus
Advisory Board Co Chair
Founding Director,
Matter Architecture
Roland is a long time supporter and collaborator of My Place, and founding Director of Matter Architecture, based in East London. Roland has set up and runs many public, collaborative design workshops and also teaches and researches part-time at the University of East London
David
Prince
19
Drama Student
North East London
David is a drama student who lives in Woodberry Down. Alongside Rico, he was part of the ftwork film 'regeneration divide' in which he shared his passion for local people having a genuine say in what happens in their local area
Hani
Salih
Researcher
Quality of Life Foundation
Hani is driven by the desire to improve the lives of those who need it the most through the application of his architectural education. At QoLF Hani works to evaluate health and wellbeing in housing and neighbourhoods
Lola McLoughlin
16
Formby, Liverpool
Lola studies art at City of Liverpool College and is a passionate champion for young people’s voices. In 2020 she graduated from PLACED Academy; a programme that empowers young people to shape their local area, and has written in the Urban Design Group magazine for PLACED
Nathan Richardson
Director of Studies Alexandra Park School
Nathan grew up in Finsbury Park and recently became a head teacher. He headed a year group at Ofsted Outstanding Alexandra Park School and led the school’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy to support outcomes for all students, especially those from BAME backgrounds
Sarah Beth Riley
Associate Architect
Be First
Sarah is an Associate Architect at urban regeneration company Be First. She is a mentor for Public Practice, a member of the Hackney Regeneration Design Advisory Group, and NLA Expert Panel member for the Housing programme #NLAHousing
Simon
Donovan
CEO
London Development Trust
Simon is CEO of award winning community development organisation London Development Trust and has delivered lasting community development on numerous regeneration projects across London Boroughs of Hackney, Ealing, Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Waltham Forest
AdBoard
bottom of page