BrightsideUNIAID

Chief Executive

Dr Tessa Stone

I joined BrightsideUNIAID in January 2009 and my broad-ranging role can be summarised as doing everything I can to develop and promote the work that we do and to support the wonderful BrightsideUNIAID team who make it all happen. This includes everything from strategy, fundraising, policy, networking and PR, to making the tea and kicking the recalcitrant printer whenever necessary.

Favourite BrightsideUNIAID resource: Bright Knowledge - a fantastic resource, always useful, always interesting, and free to use - almost too good to be true!

Ideal mentor: Dame Jane Trefusis-Forbes - first director of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in the Second World War. A formidable, inspiring, dedicated, energetic and creative leader who established the WAAF on the basis that equality was the key to women's successful role in the RAF - a view that was decades ahead of its time.

Read Tessa’s Blog for news and discussion on fair access to education.

Email Tessa on tessa.stone@brightsideuniaid.org

Programme Director

Viki Nicholson

I joined the charity in 2006 and have developed over 4 years’ experience in managing and delivering ementoring projects. I currently oversee a wide array of ementoring programmes and I lead on the operational finances within the charity.

Favourite BrightsideUNIAID resource: The MASH test – I loved understanding how I manage my money - a brilliant game!

Ideal mentor: Steve Redgrave (so he can give me one of his Olympic gold medals!) Not only is he completely inspirational, but he uses his fame to help others and, as my mentor, I am pretty sure he would keep me motivated, fit and healthy and the best I can be!

Email Viki on viki.nicholson@brightsideuniaid.org

Programme Director

Sue Maskrey

I joined the team in 2005, in order to help roll-out Bright Journals, our first ementoring project, to universities across the UK. I oversee a number of ementoring projects and have a particular passion for supporting hard-to-reach groups such as children in care and young offenders. I am also responsible for the charity’s operations.

Favourite BrightsideUNIAID resource: the online debates that are generated by the news articles we develop on Bright Knowledge. This story definitely got people going!

Ideal mentor: The girl in this article. I’d love to learn how to win a fight with a shark!

Email Sue on suzanne.maskrey@brightsideuniaid.org

Programme Director

Jemma Samuels

Back in 2004, I joined UNIAID, a start-up student finance charity with not much to its name. I’ve been proud to be part of its growth, developing innovative award-winning projects and culminating in the merger with Brightside in 2008.

I now oversee a number of projects, including ementoring schemes and the online tools and teaching resources which aim to help make student finance understandable – no easy task! I am also responsible for communications for the charity.

Favourite BrightsideUNIAID resource: The MASH Test - how can a game be this fun when it's about personal finance?!

Ideal Mentor: Jamie Oliver would be rather helpful, but I’ll have to say Shami Chakrabarti. She became Director of Liberty aged 34 and is an inspiring leader. In the most challenging of debates and interviews, her powerful communication style, her passion and knowledge makes her a force to be reckoned with.

Email Jemma on jemma.samuels@brightsideuniaid.org

Programme Coordinator

Stephanie Saffrey

I coordinate the day-to-day running of a number of ementoring schemes, including delivering training sessions all over the UK, monitoring activity and conversations, developing materials, and generally helping to ensure that ementoring is a fun and rewarding experience for all involved.

Favourite BrightsideUNIAID resource: Ementoring in general! It's a really quick and easy way to keep in touch. You can even jazz it up by choosing from a range of profile pics, from goldfish to funky fairies.

Ideal mentor: Mary Poppins - I would love to be able to pull a hat stand out of a bag at will and, of course, be 'practically perfect in every way'. But also it would be great to be mentored by any of our fabulous mentors and mentees so I could learn how to make ementoring even more informative, fun and appealing!

Email Stephanie on stephanie.saffrey@brightsideuniaid.org

Programme Coordinator

Dorothy Spencer

I joined BrightsideUNIAID in February 2009, and work to support ementoring schemes across the organisation.  I also work a lot with our online tools and finance resources, to promote and improve them.

Favourite BrightsideUNIAID resource: Student Survivor - you can build your own student and keep it alive!

Ideal Mentor: Kate Bush - the first woman in the UK to have a number 1 hit with a song she wrote herself, first person to use a wireless headset microphone on stage, all that and sings about Bronte novels... What a woman!

Email Dorothy on dorothy.spencer@brightsideuniaid.org

Web Development Manager

Anna Jayde-Faaris

I joined the charity in early 2010 to manage the development and deployment of our new e-mentoring platform. I also oversee and manage other technical and digital projects related to the charity and support my colleagues with any technical issues they may encounter.

Favourite BrightsideUNIAID resource: That would have to be our Bright Knowledge library - information is key to everything and having a strong library resource at our fingertips is such a brilliant asset. You haven’t seen anything yet though! The new ementoring platform’s knowledge base is bigger and better than before and fully searchable. A fantastic resource!

Ideal mentor: Most definitely Richard Branson – he epitomises dedication, hard work, initiative and motivation. He came from nothing but by making the right decisions and taking a few calculated risks is now a world famous entrepreneur with a fun (if not slightly crazy side) to boot!

Email Anna on anna.jayde-faaris@brightsideuniaid.org

Web Editor

Paul Clarke

I joined BrightsideUNIAID in 2010. My job is to plan, research and write content across our websites, making them all accurate, factual and fun. I’m always keen to hear from our users about things they want to read about, so drop me an email if you’ve got any great ideas.

Favourite BrightsideUNIAID resource: The Bright Knowledge library –with all those essential facts for student life, thought-provoking topics for debate and some really weird stories to make you laugh, the only problem with this resource is finding the time to read everything you want!

Ideal mentor: Film director Wim Wenders, who trained as a doctor and then a philosopher before going on to make some classic films and music videos, not to mention being an amazing photographer, playwright and author as well. Not only would I love to talk to him about his inspirations – I’d love to get some tips on multi-tasking from him too!

Email Paul on paul.clarke@brightsideuniaid.org

Web Projects Assistant

Mark Taylor

I joined BrightsideUNIAID in January 2010 to bolster the webteam as BrightsideUNIAID expanded. I deal with various day-to-day web tasks, including writing news articles and resources, helping users with technical problems and lots and lots of testing.

Favourite BrightsideUNIAID resource: The Bright Knowledge library - anywhere you can learn top motivation tips, how the courts work and that kittens can't taste sweets all in one place has to be worth a visit.

Ideal mentor: Heston Blumenthal: completely self-taught and became one of the best chefs in the world by sheer dedication. He always pushes for perfection even at the risk of looking a bit mad - not many chefs would cook a pig in a jacuzzi!

Email Mark on mark.taylor@brightsideuniaid.org