Leslee was voted by the NY Times the No 2 Most Impactful Woman of 2015 (second to Hillary Clinton), and has been awarded the prestigious Swedish Anna Lindh Human Rights Prize (previously won by Madeleine Albright). In 2019, she received the Activism in Arts and Education award from the UN Women for Peace Association, UN Association USA’s Global Citizen of 2019, and the Gandhi Foundation International Peace Award. She has also been named Safe’s Global Hero of 2015, and Global Thinker by Foreign Policy. A BAFTA and multi-award winning filmmaker and Human Rights Campaigner, Leslee’s documentary “India’s Daughter”, has been critically acclaimed around the globe, won 32 awards (including the Peabody Award and the Amnesty International Media Award for Best Documentary 2016) and sparked a global movement to end violence against women and girls. The searing insights yielded by the 2 and a half year journey making “India’s Daughter”, led Leslee to turn her back on filmmaking and devote herself to Think Equal.
Giulia has expertise in technology, education, social transformative projects and government relations, with a special focus on emerging and developing countries. For over a decade she has been developing products, programs and youth policies for LEGO, MIT Media-lab One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), the Italian Government working closely with international institutions. As CEO of OLPC, she led the growth of the program expanding it in over 85 countries across the world. Her work with the United Nations agencies focuses on developing public-private partnerships frameworks to support Governments and local stakeholders in innovating their school systems and fostering employability to their young populations.
Vijay has a passion for charity work and has been working in the charity sector for the last 15 years. He has the experience and skills to set up a charity’s financial policies and make the charity sustainable. He has been part of the leadership teams and helped create the vision, mission and strategies for organisations. He is a Registered Chartered Manager with Chartered Management Institute, UK and he holds an MSc. in International Accounting and Finance from London. He moved to the UK in 2008 from India. In addition to English, he can speak Gujarati and Hindi fluently. He has an interest in politics and religion. He enjoys spending time with his 2 little children.
Amber Paulson
Amber has been working in education settings both internationally and in the U.S.A for over ten years. After teaching primary school in the United States for several years, Amber achieved an MA in Education and International Development from the Institute of Education at University College London. Following this, she joined the Think Equal team, as the programme’s vision and mission statement are well aligned with her past experience and future goals. She has trained in multiple Social Emotional Learning techniques and holds a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, which includes Cross-cultural, Language and Academic Development authorisation. As Think Equal’s Director of Education, Amber has guided curricular and pedagogical developments, including the expansion of the programme’s age reach, development of teacher training content, alignment of Think Equal’s core content with international curricula and extending the programme to be implemented in home settings.Director of Education
Dayo Okewale
Dayo has over 12 years of leadership experience in implementing corporate citizenship and international development programmes for some of the largest organisations worldwide. Dayo’s former role was Chief of Staff in the House of Lords (UK Government), providing political, diplomatic and strategic insight to Crossbench Peers. Dayo has previously worked on citizenship and lifelong literacy learning and development programmes with KPMG, ‘Junior Achievement’, One Young World and Enactus. Dayo has formerly served as a Board Member for UNESCO, and is currently Equal Justice Co-Chair for NEXUS global, School Governor of Stormont School and an international sport for social change and development advocate.
Manavi Bahl
Manavi is a graduate in Sociology from Delhi University and post graduate in Gender Studies from Pune University and has a keen interest in working with children to be able to provide them with tools for an empowered life. In the past, she has conducted workshops in India on various issues such as Child Sexual Abuse, Gender and Sexuality, Menstruation and Menstrual Hygiene, Self- Esteem – to name a few. At Think Equal, she is responsible for the partnerships and projects being carried out in India. Apart from English, Manavi is fluent in Hindi and Punjabi and is an ardent animal lover.
Sasha Lawless
Sasha is a recent graduate from the University of Birmingham, having studied a four-year undergraduate degree in Political Science and International Relations. Whilst studying abroad for a year as part of her degree in Bologna, Italy, she immersed herself in the discipline of Humanitarian Communication with in-depth studies of organisations such as Amnesty, Méditerranée and UNHCR. In her spare time, she loves reading books about American politics, as well as spending time with animals. As Programme Officer at Think Equal, she is responsible for the UK rollout of the programme, as well as supporting the Programme Director.
Natalia Tertusio
Natalia has a degree in Psychology and a background in children’s books illustration, education, and technology. After participating in the making of +5 educational and literacy projects with the UNHCR, the Panamanian government and independent authors, she believes art and education are the sunflowers of the present. She is the guardian of Think Equal’s original narrative picture books and the digital voice of the charity through social media.
Soham Banerjee
Soham is a Film School graduate, with a BA in Media Practice from the University of Sussex and an MA in Directing and Film Production from the Metfilm School. He has always been attracted to the art of film as a medium for change, and over the course of his studies, developed an affinity towards documentaries that make a difference in the world. Soham enjoys all facets of filmmaking, especially editing and screenwriting; as Video Editor, his responsibilities include the filming and editing of the online training videos that comprise the Online Training Platform, as well as working on the Think Equal animation series. Soham also manages the dubbing process for the Online Training Platform in languages other than English.
Lara Ibrahim
Lara is a recent LLB Law graduate from the University of Sheffield and is shortly due to commence further postgraduate study at the University of Oxford. She has worked and volunteered with several charities in the past, predominantly in the sphere of human rights, international relations, and asylum and immigration law. As Executive Assistant, she works closely with the Founder and Executive Chair, and supports other members of the Think Equal team in various ways. In addition to English, Lara is fluent in Arabic, and in her spare time enjoys reading classic feminist literature.
