Biographies

Report team

Hal Arnold-Forster has just finished studying politics and international relations at the University of Bristol. He is interested in local government and the role it can play in facilitating community mobilisation. In the future, he hopes to work more with these kinds of community initiatives and grassroots projects.

Tom Burnett works for Voscur, the support and development agency for Bristol’s voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. He is currently working on several research projects with academics and students from the University of Bristol and representatives from the city’s VCSE organisations.

Derek Edwards is a freelance designer, poet and rapper. His design work is community based, covering arts, racsim, education and health. His music is Hip Hop fused social commentary, reflecting lived experience. He released his debut album this year in response to the fallout over race amidst the Covid pandemic in 2020. Jamie Ellis is a University of Bristol law student who is pursuing a career in socio-legal and economic research. Jamie is currently writing a dissertation on austerity as a means of class control and is hoping to continue exploring the law’s role as a social reformer through postgraduate study.

Tahlia Jurkovic is a third-year social policy and sociology student at the University of Bristol. She has had experience of volunteering with many charities in the past, including living in Calais, France in 2018, where she worked with refugees. Tahlia is looking to do a master’s next year to continue her passion for social research, with particular focus on gender, migration, and homelessness.

John McGoldrick completed his doctorate at the University of Bristol in 2017. This research was a study of how individuals manage and defend their sense of self in their workplace. Prior to that, he had a long commercial career across several industries and, after retiring, worked within Bristol’s social housing sector as a non-executive board member. Ethel Ng is an undergraduate at the University of Bristol’s School of Education, and alumni of the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. Particularly involved in social mobility initiatives within the VCSE sector, she is interested in pursuing a career in social science research and policy.

Martin Parker is Professor of Organisation Studies and Lead for the Inclusive Economy Initiative at the University of Bristol. His work is aimed at helping to tilt the city region towards a low carbon, high inclusion and high democracy economy.

Will Romain recently graduated from the University of Bristol after completing a degree in law. Will has a particular interest in environmental concerns and was part of the newly formed Environmental and Energy Law Society at the University. Will has recently joined Ashfords as a paralegal.

“This sort of grassroots action teaches us an important lesson about hope, because it shows us that many small actions can add up”

Professor Martin Parker, University of Bristol