Agenda How to Find Us Campus Map Bio's Sponsors

Jim Dickinson

WonkHE
Jim Dickinson

Jim is an Associate Editor (SUs) at Wonkhe, with a particular interest in student experience, university governance, and regulation – and leads our work with students' unions, including our Study Tours to Europe. His background is in supporting student leadership. He has held senior roles at the National Union of Students – leading on SU development, campaigns and political strategy – and was CEO at the SU at UEA, providing strategic management for the union's charitable and commercial vehicles and policy support for elected officers. He's served as a governor and trustee, and is an obsessive Eurovision fan who dreams of visiting Moldova.

Chris Dears

Crowe UK LLP
Chris Dears

Chris joined Crowe UK LLP in November 2001. Chris worked as a VAT officer at Customs & Excise for six years, and in that time specialised in the charities and land & property centres of operational expertise. Chris then made the move to the private sector with sojourns at Littlejohn Frazer accountants and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Chris's experience in the land and not for profit sectors, both within the public and private sectors, have been a source of strength for the team. Chris is also specialising within the firm on the VAT sector covering charities and not-for-profit bodies, including Students' Unions, where he is the UK’s leading adviser.

Nicola Mason

Student Minds
Nicola Mason

Nicola leads Student Minds' influencing and advocacy team and workstreams, with a focus on student engagement, campaigns, policy and research. Her role involves working with students, student leaders and students' unions to ensure Student Minds' influencing activity is rooted in student voice and experience.

Natasha Neal

Bucks Students' Union
Natasha Neal

Tash has worked for the Students' Union for six years, starting as an Education and Welfare Officer and developing into a permanent role as a Student Engagement Coordinator in the Representation team. Through the support of the Students' Union, and access to training and development opportunities, including an apprenticeship, her role has developed into Senior Student Engagement and Welfare Coordinator where she oversees representation at our Nottingham campus, supporting our Advice Centre with appointments in addition to the traditional representation role. Tash is based at our Uxbridge Campus, working predominately with mature nursing students and she has thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Students' Union over the past nine years during her Psychology and Criminology degree and further into working full time.

Michelle Malone

Essex Students' Union
Michelle Malone

Michelle has worked at Essex Students' Union for nearly 14 years and have held a variety of roles. Currently, she holds the position of Education Manager.

Muhammad Sakib

Hertfordshire Students' Union
Muhammad Sakib

Muhammad joined Herts SU in 2024 as a Data Analyst through the inaugural year of the University of Hertfordshire’s Graduate Scheme. During his first year, he immersed himself in uncovering insights ranging from the realities of local bus services to student perspectives on blended learning in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Following this successful placement, Muhammad became a permanent member of the Insight Team, where he has continued to strengthen the Union’s evidence-led approach to enhancing the student experience. He has since led on the analysis of Herts Unfiltered, the Union’s largest insight project to date, capturing nearly 9,000 student voices during the 2025–26 academic year. Passionate about translating data into meaningful stories, Muhammad specialises in uncovering the narratives behind the numbers. His work is driven by a commitment to using robust evidence to advocate for positive, student-led change across the University.

Bill Sheate

Imagination Therapy

Bill Sheate is a registered cognitive behavioural hypnotherapist in private practice based in Central London (and Emeritus Reader at Imperial College London), specialising in anxiety and stress in higher education. He is highly experienced in treating stress and anxiety-related issues, from worry and low self-worth to eco-anxiety and perfectionism. He runs a wide array of practical resilience skills training workshops for external organisations and university students and staff.

Imogen Sanders

Bucks Students' Union
Imogen Sanders

Imogen works within the Training and Development team at Bucks Students' Union, providing students with recreational activities and additional skills throughout the year. She is also a Leadership Academy facilitator, and has one-to-one meetings with students to help them develop and build their skills.

Charlotte Stewart

Bucks New University

Charlotte Stewart serves as Head of Disability & Inclusion at Buckinghamshire New University. In this role, she oversees multidisciplinary support teams, designs and commissions staff training programmes, and shapes policy to ensure that disability and accessibility considerations are embedded across all functions of the University. Charlotte brings to the role a unique blend of legal expertise and academic insight. Prior to her current appointment, she worked in legal settings and in higher education, giving her a strong foundation in regulatory frameworks, advocacy, and evidence-based policy. Within the University, she has led cross-institutional initiatives to enhance student experience, promote accessibility, and drive cultural change. Charlotte is Chair of the Higher Education Network for Disability Leads, where she convenes colleagues nationally to share good practice, and she serves on the EDI Committee of NOTA (the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abuse), helping to integrate inclusive and equitable approaches beyond the higher education sector.

Leena Patel

Hertfordshire Students' Union
Leena Patel

Leena has worked as a HR Generalist for over 30 years and for Herts SU for nearly 12 years. She is passionate about sharing and learning together as a group of SU's. Leena enjoys working for Students' Union as they are the most unique charities where members are at the forefront and where we shape the future of society.

Suzy Allinson

The Office for Students
Suzy Allinson

The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education in England. The OfS protects the interests of students by supporting a diverse and independent higher education sector. Suzy Allinson is a Senior Regulation Manager within the Equality of Opportunity team. With oversight of the OfS’s policy work on disability and mental health, Suzy is working closely with key sector stakeholders on the collaborative approach to developing the statement of expectations on disability.

Julie Ellis

Bucks Students' Union
Julie Ellis

Julie is a part-qualified CIMA management accountant and has worked across various organisations including banking, manufacturing, medical communication, recruitment and IT. This is her first role working for a charity or Students' Union. Her focus is to add value wherever possible and streamline processes to become more efficient.

Kelly Wiles

Bucks Students' Union
Kelly Wiles

Kelly is the Volunteering and Fundraising Coordinator at Bucks Students' Union. She assists students with cocurricular activities to enhance their employability.

Abbie Blunt

The SU Network

Abbie Blunt is Head of Business Development for SU Network and Kent Students' Union, leading SU Network's partnerships with students' unions and commercial organisations across the UK. Joining SU Network in 2024 after a successful career in the golf and hospitality industries, Abbie brings extensive experience in business development, partnership management, and commercial growth.

Brad Owen

Kent Students' Union

Brad is Director of Commercial Services at Kent Students' Union. His career spans museums, galleries and the not-for-profit sector, where he has led commercial transformation, organisational change and strategic growth. Passionate about the role of commercial services in purpose-led organisations, Brad champions the idea that sustainable income and social impact go hand in hand, enabling students' unions to reinvest in the student experience.

Laurel Wood

Kent Students' Union

Laurel is Deputy Director of Commercial Services at Kent Students' Union. With over a decade of experience in hospitality, she has worked across every level of venue operations. She believes great commercial services are about more than revenue, they create welcoming spaces where students connect, belong and thrive, demonstrating how commercial teams can directly support a students' union's mission in addition to much needed income.

Harvey Wright

Bucks Students' Union
Harvey Wright

Harvey is the Senior Venue, Events and Production Manager at Bucks Students' Union.

Jessica Hughes

Bucks Students' Union
Jessica Hughes

Jessica is the Senior Training and Development Coordinator at Bucks Students’ Union. Before joining the Union, through her degree in Sport and Exercise Science, Post Grad in Sports Therapy, varied professional experiences, and involvement in university and senior rugby; Jessica discovered a common theme in her experience was training, coaching, and the development of others. Jessica brought this passion and range of experience into Bucks Students' Union in 2022 and has worked to continuously cultivate the developmental offer available to BNU students through the Bucks Students' Union Big Deal initiative.

Annabel Mabin

Kingston Students' Union

Annabel has been at Kingston Students' Union for 9 years and has been CEO for two of these years. As CEO and as Interim Deputy CEO she has led KSU through an extension turnaround programme transforming the organisation and creating strong foundations to unleash the Union's potential.

Lucy Ryan

Bucks Students' Union
Lucy Ryan

Lucy manages our Representation and Advice teams, working closely with our student representatives to ensure feedback on the student experience is presented to the University. Lucy also oversees the work the team does with our student leaders and is responsible for progressing student campaigns, making sure they are supported by the wider team. Lucy also leads our Advice Centre, managing the team, supporting welfare campaigns, and reporting on trends affecting the student body.

John Valerkou

Anglia Ruskin Students' Union

John is CEO at ARU Union - a Union spread over 5 campuses from Peterborough to Cambridge to Chelmsford, Writtle and London.

Libby Brown, ACII

Howden Insurance Brokers Ltd

Libby is a Client Director and Team Leader at Howden Insurance, specialising in students’ union insurance. She has been working with SUs since 2017, and in the wider insurance sector since 2011. She works with unions ranging from small and specialist, through to large commercial operations with hundreds of student groups. Libby is involved in a number of student union focused projects, including co-delivering risk management training for co-ordinators, delivering a variety of SLT-focused risk and product sessions at conferences, and most recently on the steering group for Safe Adventures, which is a project bringing together a variety of unions to look at current practices, and engaging with NGB and other institutions such as RNLI, to build a guidance framework aimed at making student led adventure activities safer. Howden are committed to supporting this project and are currently exploring how we are best placed to provide that support.

Catherine Lymer

Bucks Students' Union
Catherine Lymer

Catherine has been with Bucks Students Union for over 10 years as the Student Activities Manager. Her areas of responsibility include competitive sport, recreational sport, volunteering, societies, RAG, sustainability and transport. Please feel free to ask me any questions when you see me.

Jumara Stone

UEA Students' Union

Jumara is the Chief Executive of the University of East Anglia Students' Union, with a specialist background in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and wellbeing. Trustee of the YAD Fellowship, a charity dedicated to building interfaith relations across the UK, and The Launchpad Collective, which supports the integration of refugees and asylum seekers through education and employment.

Sarah Jackson

Bucks Students' Union
Sarah Jackson

Sarah ensures the wellbeing and safety of our staff at Bucks as well as leading on our equality, diversity and inclusion work. She supports department managers on all things HR and manages our Training and Development team to enhance the employability of our members through the Leadership Academy, developmental programme, JobShop, and Bucks Award.

Tristan Tipping

Bucks Students' Union
Tristan Tipping

Tristan has been the CEO of this year's hosts, Bucks Students' Union, for over 15 years and has seen significant change in the portfolio of services offered and partnerships built.

Sam Launder

Reading Students' Union

Sam is Head of Commercial Services at Reading Students’ Union, where he leads a diverse portfolio of commercial operations, including Mojos Bar & Kitchen, 3SIXTY and Up! Coffee Shop. He also oversees retail, security, technical services and business development, and leads the delivery of the Students’ Union’s annual Summer Ball, welcoming more than 4,500 students. Before joining Reading Students’ Union, Sam was an Accredited General Manager within a premium branded restaurant group, where he led a significant improvement in site performance, taking a venue from 126th out of 130 restaurants to 1st place nationally. Passionate about developing high-performing teams, he has extensive experience leading venues through major refurbishments and new openings. A Business Management graduate from the University of Sheffield, Sam is committed to creating exceptional commercial experiences that enhance student life.

Alex Sablich

University of Essex Students' Union
Alex Sablich

Alex Sablich recently completed his term as President of the University of Essex Students' Union, where he led campaigns, championed student democracy and delivered community-led initiatives. During his presidency, he launched the SU Gender Affirmation Fund, created the Community Market, raising over £6,000 for clubs and societies, and worked on national campaigns including Pay the Placement and Fix University Funding. Passionate about strategic communications, community organising and social justice, Alex will begin an MSc in Politics and Communication at the London School of Economics this autumn, where he hopes to continue exploring the intersection of politics, media and grassroots campaigning.

Leah Buttery

Bucks Students' Union
Leah Buttery

Leah is the new Representation and Welfare Coordinator for Bucks SU. Based in Nottingham, her role involves organising student rep elections and supporting reps throughout the year to improve the student experience on campus, as well as signposting students to . Before coming to work for Bucks, Leah was the Wellbeing Officer at Lancaster University Students’ Union, where she worked on campaigns such as tackling period poverty, improving mental health support, and improving student safety in the city. Leah is particularly passionate about fostering a strong sense of belonging within the student body, especially for students from underrepresented backgrounds.