The Changemaker Team

Led by Dr Alison Wood (Academic Director), Changemakers is supported by Dr Soraya Jones (Director of Engagement and Operations), a Steering Group, and a Student Ambassadors Group.

We also draw on a network of innovators, academics, philanthropists, professionals, and entrepreneurs to offer the programme, building a courage-motivated community of people within the College and beyond.
 

Dr Alison Wood

Alison is Academic Director of Homerton Changemakers, and Fellow Homerton College. of Homerton’s pioneering programme on whole-person education, combining two decades of experience building cross-sector and cross-disciplinary initiatives (from healthy ageing to nineteenth-century studies to research leadership) with a research career in the history of intellectual institutions and universities. She recently led a British Academy Network on ‘Critical University Studies’ and is now working with colleagues - in the US, Germany, Italy, South Africa, and India - on the relationship between the future of higher education and sustainability; on scenario planning for the future university; and the future educated self.

Alison holds a BA and MA (Res) in English from the University of Adelaide, and a PhD from King’s College London. She’s worked in 7 different disciplines, including medicine; spent 10 years as a musician and music teacher; and has long-standing interests in psychotherapy, high-performance, leadership, meaningful work, and institutional reform.

Dr Soraya Jones

Soraya is driven by her passion to promote innovation, diversity and entrepreneurship, especially amongst the next generation. She feels privileged to be involved with the visionary Homerton Changemakers Programme where she is currently the Director of  Engagement & Operations. She is also an Associate Fellow of the College. .

After many years as part of the senior leadership team of Tribal Group Plc, Soraya became the first CEO of Cambridge Wireless (CW) from 2007 to 2015, where she was successful in growing the business from a one-person company to a membership cluster of over 425 companies and 20 industry-focused Special Interest Groups Forums, making it one of the premier tech clusters in the UK. She stepped down in 2015 to pursue other ventures including becoming an entrepreneur-in-residence at St. John’s Innovation Centre, Innovation Ambassador for the Bradfield Centre and setting up her own consultancy business. She sits on a few advisory boards including the UEA Innovation Advisory Board and a few start-ups. She is also currently the Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence (hosted by the University of East Anglia). Born in Malaysia, Soraya holds BSc and MSc degrees from Indiana University, USA, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge (Education).