Leadership
Jess Thompson
Before setting up Migrateful, Jess supported refugees and migrants on the front line in different settings across Morocco, Mexico, Spain, France and the UK. In 2017, she completed the Year Here Fellowship, which gave her the training and network to set up Migrateful, age 25. She was featured on the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 List, the 2020 Women of the Year List, and the 2021 Great British Entrepreneur Awards List, in recognition of her achievement in founding Migrateful. She has a master’s in International Migration and Public Policy at the LSE and is passionate about how ‘contact’ interventions like Migrateful can mitigate perceptions of migration as a threat. In 2022, she gave a TEDx Talk called “A Migrant Crisis or Crisis of Belonging?” exploring how fear of the ‘other’ drives resentment towards migrants, and has advocated for Migrateful’s work in publications such as The Independent and I-News.
Vickie Wambura
Vickie grew up in Kenya and is passionate about social impact. She founded two organisations, Nafisika Trust, Kenya, which works towards integrating prison inmates into society, and Spaces International, UK, promoting awareness of social barriers and empowering individuals to engage with social inclusion meaningfully. Vickie joined Migrateful because it combines her passion for social inclusion and food.
The Chef Training & Support Team
Elizabeth Kolawole-Johnson
Elizabeth trained as a psychologist in Nigeria before moving to the UK in 2010. She joined Migrateful as a chef in 2017 and was able to finally regulate her immigration status in 2018. Her first-hand experience of working as a Migrateful chef and how life-changing the journey has been makes her the perfect candidate to step into the role of our Chef Support Officer.
Najad Osman
Ysella Fish
The Operations Team
Tammy O’Reilly
Tammy O’Reilly was born in South Africa and after her studies moved abroad. The move put her in contact with expat and migrant communities and opened her eyes to the global challenge of migration, and in particular to the personal challenges faced by vulnerable migrants when attempting to integrate.
By joining Migrateful, she enters a motivating community of peers who are working to change the way people think about migration through the unifying force of food.
Tia Moxon-Riedlin
While pursuing a degree in Anthropology and Sociology, Tia co-founded a community fridge. This experience gave Tia a true insight into the strength and bonds that sharing food can foster. Tia combined her skills and her experience in business development to join Migrateful as a Public Booking Coordinator. She aims to drive social change and empower individuals through her love of food!
Georgie Curtis-Iddiols
Georgie has worked as a professional chef in street food, gastropubs and event catering for over ten years. Her passion for food came from her experience cooking in community kitchens and supporting refugees and migrants in northern France, where she saw how important food was for personal autonomy and how powerful sharing a meal was at bringing communities together. She has always been interested in learning about different foods from all over the world and the role it plays in social and cultural identity.
The Business Development Team
Tamara Mcqueen Ozdeniz
Tamara was brought up in Turkey, has a background in events management, international development and experience volunteering in a humanitarian innovation social enterprise. At Migrateful, Tamara manages our corporate operations. Tamara is passionate about cooking and its potential to bring people together and create much-needed cultural exchanges and connections for a more integrated society.
Alice Warren
Alice is a marketing specialist with a passion for growing and engaging digital communities and comes with six years of experience working for cause-led organisations. After living in Brighton for ten years and tiring of the Thameslink commute, she moved to London where she enjoys exploring the city, the vibrant food scene, and growing a community through the Migrateful family.
Halima Aro
Halima, originally from Nigeria, brings over a decade of experience in people management to her role at Migrateful. Since joining the organization in 2022 as a chef, she has taught numerous classes, sharing her passion for food and culture with diverse audiences. Halima is a dedicated advocate for multiculturalism, a commitment that aligns seamlessly with Migrateful’s mission to celebrate and promote diversity through cooking. Her expertise and enthusiasm make her an invaluable asset to the Migrateful team.
Juliette Stokes
Juliette was born in London, and has always been passionate about the community that food creates. She studied Geography and Business Management, tailoring her modules to understand and address the global food system’s challenges while promoting social justice.
Her experience in the food industry spans various roles, including working in FMCG marketing and with smaller, sustainable food suppliers. Her passion for food extends into the kitchen and on social media, where both, her and her sister share about there experiences in London, and around the world (@seasonedstokes).
Gabi Garcia
The Regions Team
Hannah Charter
Hannah is a dedicated advocate for social justice with experience supporting vulnerable groups, particularly migrants and refugees. She represented the UK as a youth delegate at the UN Commission on the Status of Women and organised events that amplified the voices of refugee rights organisations at University. Her volunteer work with the Refugee Community Kitchen in Calais demonstrated to her how food as a tool for connection and resilience.
Hannah began her journey with Migrateful as a volunteer before taking on roles as a Facilitator and Chef Mentor, eventually becoming the Operations Support Officer in Bristol. In this role, she draws on her experience in social justice advocacy, food service, and team coordination, to support the facilitators and volunteers in Bristol. She is passionate about empowering migrants and celebrating cultural diversity through sharing food and stories.
Simone Raven Dougall
Simone has over 20 years’ experience in the charity sector and now leads operations and growth for Migrateful’s Bristol school. She is also a business entrepreneur and partner in Bruhaha, a Bristol-based brewery and bar, and loves cooking, eating great food, exploring markets and events, walking her dog, and spending time with friends and family.
Our trustees
Mary Locke
After a career in international development and social investment, Mary now focuses on ways to constructively deal with conflict and differences. She works as a mediator and is exploring ways to evaluate the efficacy of community mediation and dialogue. Mary was drawn to Migrateful, recognising the power of its model – supporting vulnerable migrants while also bringing people together through the universal love of food. She is also an active fellow of the RSA.
Emily Miller
Emily heads Learning and Partnerships at the Migration Museum in London, coordinating all their work with schools, universities, and organisations across different sectors. Through this role, she met Jess and became familiar with the wonders of Migrateful. Emily takes pride in her role as a trustee and in supporting the organisation’s development and growth – all while helping more people affected by hostility and divisions.
Edin Basic
Edin Basic joins the Migrateful Board of Trustees as a highly accomplished entrepreneur with nearly 30 years of expertise in the food and beverage industry. Arriving in London in 1992 from Bosnia with no English and limited resources, Edin built a thriving career in the sector. As the founder of Firezza Pizza, he scaled the business to 17 locations and successfully sold it to Pizza Express. He now runs Amplify Studio, a consultancy supporting founders in the food and beverage industry, helping them navigate growth from concept to exit. Passionate about giving back, Edin actively supports refugee entrepreneurs through public speaking and mentoring, and his personal migration story aligns deeply with Migrateful’s mission to empower migrants and foster community integration.
Nicola Baker
Nicola joins the Migrateful Board of Trustees with over 30 years’ experience in finance, risk, strategy and corporate governance. As Director of Operations & Delivery for Economic Crime at UK Finance, Nicola led significant industry-wide initiatives, including securing multimillion-pound funding and designing strategies to tackle fraud. She has also worked with the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, strengthening economic crime prevention frameworks, as well as at Board level in the Finance sector more broadly. Nicola’s personal connection to migration stems from her mother’s experience as a post-WWII immigrant to the UK from Germany, which shaped her understanding of the challenges of acceptance and integration. This background, combined with her professional expertise, aligns deeply with Migrateful’s mission to empower migrants and foster social inclusion.
Paul Kane
Paul Kane joined the Migrateful Board of Trustees in September 2023, bringing over 35 years of global experience in human resources and organisational development. Having held senior leadership roles at an International oil company, including Vice President of HR Capability, Paul has designed and implemented cutting-edge HR strategies, managed large multicultural teams, and driven organisational change across Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. He continues to contribute through consultancy work on World Bank-funded projects in Africa. Passionate about education and inclusion, Paul also volunteers as an English language teacher for young asylum seekers, aligning closely with Migrateful’s mission to empower migrants and build cohesive communities.
Wayne Holder
Wayne Holder brings over 30 years of experience as a senior creative and digital design expert to the Migrateful Board of Trustees. As a child of Windrush generation migrants, Wayne has a personal connection to Migrateful’s mission, drawing from his family’s journey of resilience and integration. Professionally, he has excelled as Digital Creative Director at Redwood BBDO, where he led digital transformation initiatives and managed campaigns for global brands like Google and IKEA. Wayne’s expertise in digital marketing and user experience design, coupled with his dedication to promoting inclusivity, will be invaluable in supporting Migrateful’s growth and impact.
