Our team

Carina’s career began in the business world working as a sustainability consultant for Environmental Resources Management, before she realised our planetary ecological crisis would not be solved in the corporate boardrooms in which it was created. She has since worked with several  system change campaigning and movement building organisations, including Changing Markets in the UK and the New Economy Coalition in the US. A committed permaculturalist, she founded The Orchard Project, a charity working with community groups in cities across the UK to plant and nurture community orchards in public urban spaces. Carina has also been a Visiting Research Fellow of the Global Development and Environment Institute of Tufts University and is a Research Fellow of the Schumacher Institute. Her book, Frugal Value: Designing Business for a Crowded Planet (Routledge, 2017), provides a blueprint for organisations in an ecologically viable system of production and consumption.

Spokesperson on: Food corporations; Alternative food economies; Food systems

Natasha oversees Foodrise’s campaigning work on aquaculture, industrial livestock, sugar and food waste. She previously ran a series of high-profile campaigns for the Changing Markets Foundation targeting irresponsible practices in corporate supply chains and campaigned on climate change at the Environmental Investigation Agency, an international NGO with offices in London and Washington D.C. Prior to that she coordinated a push to ban environmentally unsound carbon offsets from the EU Emissions Trading System at Carbon Market Watch and spent five years in Belgium where she worked for the European Commission and in strategic communications and public affairs.

She spent her formative years in France and speaks French, Spanish and German with a smattering of Greek, Swedish, Italian and Dutch. She holds a first-class degree in European Politics from the University of Leeds in the UK and a Master’s in EU Political Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. Alongside her role at Foodrise she is a trustee for Somerset Wildlands, a game-changing new organisation creating space for nature through rewilding. She has a lifelong passion for food, people and the great outdoors.

Lucy has extensive research skills and is a research associate at the University of Liverpool, and a member of the International Commission on the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition. Lucy is engaged in several research projects with the N8 AgriFood group. She is an active participant in the Sustainable Food Cities Network, Co-founder of the Knowledge Quarter Sustainability Network and supported the creation of the AgroEcoCities European Network. Lucy held the post of Sustainable Food City Liverpool Coordinator for the Liverpool Food People project. She spent 10 years working in food and hospitality within London, running bars in Soho, managing a cookery school and being a PA to a chef; before working for 13 years as Operations Manager & Project Developer for environmental charity the National Wildflower Centre. Lucy joined Liverpool Food People in 2014 and co-founded The Food Domain a network that seeks to provide better access to fresh food for everyone and supports the Alexandra Rose Voucher project in Liverpool.

Spokesperson on: Regional food economies; Food access

Martin currently works in policy and campaigns for a variety of Foodrise projects focused on food waste, meat, anaerobic digestion and sustainable animal feed. He was previously Foodrise’s Pig Idea Policy Officer and Stakeholder Coordinator from 2018-19, and the Coordinator for Foodrise’s Gleaning Network between 2011-2017. In 2016 he gave a TEDx talk on gleaning.

He also worked for This Is Rubbish on their EU food waste campaign, and previously worked on their Stop the Rot campaign. Martin also founded a chapter of Food Not Bombs in South East London.

Spokesperson on: Farm level food waste, Food waste in supply chains, Measuring food waste

Amelia is a campaigner at Foodrise, focusing on industrial aquaculture. She has previous corporate experience working in sustainability teams within a range of food businesses, dealing with net zero strategies, sustainability data, comms and all things B Corp. However, with the growing belief that systems change best occurs best in the ‘fringes’, rather than a corporate setting, made the transition to campaigning. Outside of work she is a keen runner, bookworm and member of her local Friends of the Earth group, organising local events and campaigns.

Paula oversees the development of the Big Fertiliser campaign. She previously worked at international development and environmental justice organisations working on the intersection between climate, inequality, and food systems. She has an MSc in Food Policy from the Centre for Food Policy, City University, London and an M.A in International Political Economy. Outside of work she is Vice Chair of The Vegan Society, an advocate for the Plant Based Treaty and loves all things music and film.

Ali has worked to expose and advocate on environmental and human rights abuses for over a decade across investigations, policy and advocacy, predominantly on commodity supply chains and natural resource governance. She has been instrumental in pushing for reforms within industries linked to environmental destruction, most notably through her groundbreaking work with the investigative watchdog Global Witness on the natural rubber industry’s involvement in land grabbing and deforestation.  

She has worked with civil society across Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America to address environmental and social harms driven by corporate operations. With an in-depth understanding of global environmental and human rights laws, frameworks and mechanisms, Ali is interested in the nexus between litigation, campaigning, and broader systemic change.

Phil oversees the Gleaning Network and runs Sussex Surplus, our community food project in Brighton. He studied Sustainability Science at Lund University in Sweden, attended Shift Bristol’s Practical Sustainability Course and has experience working in organic horticulture. He previously led on Foodrise’s involvement in the Flavour project, an international partnership with organisations in Belgium, France and England, geared towards developing social enterprise models for food waste reduction, which enabled the launch of Sussex Surplus.

Since graduating from the University of Leeds with a BA in Liberal Arts, Caela has been involved in numerous grassroots community food projects, and campaigned on a variety of environmental and social justice issues with the Environmental Justice Foundation. She has also organised local music and arts events across the UK and the Netherlands, and enjoys growing food on her allotment or in community gardens. As Foodrise’s Senior Digital Coordinator, Caela works to spread awareness of the charity’s exciting campaigns and empower people to take action and help transform our food system.

Liam works across Foodrise’s campaigns including industrial meat, aquaculture, and sugar. He achieved his BA in Politics with Spanish from the University of Exeter in 2020, with a focus on political language, psychology, and environmental activism. Since then, he has worked across the London environmental sector and also been involved in vegan activism, voluntary urban wildlife conservation, and has a budding interest in moral philosophy.

Shirley’s background is in the arts, studying Fine Art at university, and later working in operational roles within arts charities. Since having the opportunity to lead the sustainability working group in a previous role, becoming an active member in the Gallery Climate Coalition, her interest broadened to environmental charities. Shirley’s role at Foodrise oversees HR, governance, IT, and operations. Outside of work, Shirley enjoys reading and visiting galleries.

Joining us in 2020 as our Community Engagement Officer in Buckinghamshire for the Food Citizens Project, she is now project managing Green Futures. Rebecca’s background has been centred in youth work and community engagement. She has been involved in both local and international youth mobility projects, alternative learning provision, as well as project managing creative youth arts projects for a local authority. She has experience of fundraising and income generation for both statutory and voluntary sectors as well as front line face to face delivery. All this gives a fresh approach to community engagement and grassroots work in Buckinghamshire through our seed funded projects, youth engagement, employability and partnership working.

Sunita leads Foodrise’s campaigning on the shift away from destructive diets, towards healthy, resilient and equitable food environments. 

Previously, Sunita spent over four years as an environmental communications specialist. She has attended three UN climate conferences, supporting communities on the frontlines of climate breakdown to amplify their demands and influence policy outcomes. 

Sunita has delivered numerous talks on climate justice, intersectionality and communications – including at the BBC Broadcasting House and UCL’s Sustainability Leadership Conference. Based in London, she is also involved in grassroots climate activism, and is an avid hiker and vegan baker.

In her role at Foodrise, Laura is responsible for all financial management of the organisation. She previously worked in the arts, making the move to the environmental sector in 2018, working for OrganicLea, a community food growing project in north east London. Outside of work she is a Trustee for EXAUDI vocal ensemble and loves outdoor adventures and vegan baking.

Ingrid is a chef who has been working with surplus food for over 5 years. After appearing on Masterchef and heading up several commercial kitchens and her own event catering company, Ingrid began leading field kitchens for Real Junk Food Project, Refugee Community Kitchen and Foodrise. Her own project SoulFood teaches kitchen confidence, self-care and international cuisine to disadvantaged groups across Brighton, enabling people to explore their food narratives and access better physical and mental health through food . Ingrid leads our Sussex Surplus brand with colleague Phil, training interns, leading outreach kitchens and creating a sustainable and local project in Brighton by using surplus food from our Gleaning Network.

In her role at Foodrise, Helen leads on the coordination of our trust and foundation fundraising and grant management. Helen has worked in the third sector for over 13 years, primarily as a fundraiser for various charities focused on bereavement, mental health, global health advocacy, and on ending modern day slavery. Helen recently completed an MA at UCL in Philosophy, Politics and Economics of Health where her dissertation focused on food justice in the UK. Outside of work, Helen loves to cook and bake, and is always on the hunt for the next best place to eat!

Fraser is Communications & Media Manager at Foodrise. This involves building the profile of the charity’s key areas of work, galvanising public support for its campaigns and centring communities in storytelling. Fraser has a background in charity comms having previously worked at leading HIV organisation Terrence Higgins Trust for a decade focusing on tackling the stigma still surrounding HIV and sexual health.

Nathan is a mathematics graduate from Kings College London. Nathan started out at Foodrise as a Finance and Operations intern before being offered a permanent role. Currently in his role as a Trainee Accountant within the Finance and Operations team, Nathan assists the team in matters of financial administration whilst studying for his CIMA qualification.

Ruth is a respected environmental advocate and has worked with a wide range of not for profit and public sector organisations, helping them to engage with and influence government and parliament. She has been working with Green Alliance since 2017 to provide strategic leadership to the environment sector on major legislation and parliamentary issues. She is an experienced board member, currently serving on the board of a London Housing Association, and served as Senior Independent Trustee at the London Wildlife Trust and Chair of the Campaign for Better Transport. She is the lay member on COMEAP, the expert committee that advises the government on the effects of air pollutants on health and an honorary professor of practice at the UCL Centre for Law and the Environment.

Sophie is a senior lawyer and the Environment and Climate Change Practice Lead at international law firm RPC. She is part of RPC’s growing multi-disciplinary ESG advisory practice, working with in-house counsel, business leaders and sustainability teams to support their organisations’ sustainability initiatives by advising on a range of regulatory, commercial and consumer matters. She is also responsible for coordinating the firm’s environmental and climate change work globally. She recently completed a masters in Environmental Law and Policy at University College London.

View Sophie’s LinkedIn profile.

Darren Hughes is a food systems science, policy and communications consultant with over 30 years of experience working in Government, academia and the charity sector, across food, nutrition, agriculture, the environment and health.

His current clients include: the Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition, a group tasked with providing independent evidence to inform equitable, healthy and planet-friendly school food programmes, in support of 95+ national governments signed up to the School Meals Coalition; and Innovate UK where he serves as an assessor for Government research grants on innovation.

His previous clients and employers have included the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, Rothamsted Research, the UK Department of Health, the Food Standards Agency, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Government Office for Science, where he served as Private Secretary to the Government Chief Scientific Adviser.

Darren holds a MSc in Human Nutrition from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a PhD in human energy metabolism and appetite regulation.

See Darren’s LinkedIn profile.

Matthew is a Chartered Accountant with 20 years of experience working across Finance, Risk Management and Governance, oversight of insurance programmes, implementing compliance programmes and providing ongoing assurance, and internal controls.

He’s worked overseas on new business ventures and helped with international onboarding of new companies within the wider organisation.

Over the last seven years, he’s focused more on governance and has been involved in strategy on a range of projects, including energy transition projects such as creating biofuel from waste.

See Matthew’s LinkedIn profile.

Sarah is a chartered accountant with extensive experience of audit and assurance in the charity sector having lead the not for profit division of PKF Littlejohn for many years.  Following her time at PKF she undertook a number of interim finance roles for London based charities and consultancy assignments for Cass Business School.  She is also an experienced board member having served on the boards of several mid tier charities, and as chair of the NCVO audit committee.

See Sarah’s LinkedIn profile.

Jenny leads Greenhouse Communications’ portfolio of food, land use and ocean protection campaigns.

Examples of her work include directing communications for the Food Systems Pavilion at COP27 and COP28 on behalf of a coalition of leading international food organisations, campaigning to restore and protect the world’s mangroves with WWF, IUCN and Wetlands International, exposing destructive trawling with Oceana UK and supporting smallholder farmers adapt to the climate crisis with One Acre Fund.

Previous to Greenhouse Communications, Jenny worked with the organic charity the Soil Association and the surplus food charity FareShare.

Libby is a leading researcher, commentator and advocate for the circular economy and is head of resource policy at Green Alliance, the UK’s leading environmental think tank. There, she works closely with other NGOs, academics, policymakers, politicians and businesses to promote better use of resources throughout the economy. She previously spent nearly ten years as an editor at Resource Media, an environmental publishing and communications company aiming to lead discussions around sustainability and resource use. She has been on various advisory boards, including the steering advisory group for the previous government’s resources and waste strategy and for academic consortia including  the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions and the Circular Economy Centre for Technology Metals.