Our Head Office

Dr Rachel Carr is the Chief Executive and co-founder of IntoUniversity. Previously, she was a university lecturer and Head of an English Department. She has over 20 years’ experience working with children and young people.

Hannah Purkiss is our Chief Operating Officer based at our Head Office. Hannah joined us as a graduate-trainee Education Worker in August 2010.

Dan Century joined us in March 2014 and is our Chief Finance Officer. Dan has a degree in Medieval and Modern History and has more than nine years experience working in the financial services sector.

John Bleasdale is our Director of Development. John joined us in 2018 and has over 17 years of fundraising and grant making experience. He was previously Head of Trusts and Foundations at Teach First, and prior to that worked at the British Red Cross and the Big Lottery Fund.

Lizzie Boyce is our Assistant Director of Development. Lizzie has a degree in Biology and joined us as an Education Worker in August 2013. She previously interned at our Hammersmith centre, and has worked at Explore Learning and The Science Museum.

Hannah Padfield joined us in January 2022 as the Head of People and Culture. Hannah has an English degree from the University of Warwick and Masters degrees from King's College London and the University of Sheffield. Hannah is a Chartered Member of CIPD and has over 10 years of experience working within HR. Hannah was previously Head of HR-Corporate Centre at Royal Mail Group.

Adam Rahman joined us in June 2022 as Head of Communications. He has over a decade of communications experience including roles at TASO (The Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education), National Zakat Foundation, The Silver Line and Four Paws UK. Adam has a BA (Hons) in International Journalism from the University of Central Lancashire and a Postgraduate Diploma in Charity Marketing & Fundraising from Bayes Business School.

Alex Quinn is our Head of Data and Impact. He has a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and previously worked for the Zoological Society of London.

Hannah Margetts joined us in September 2015 and is our Head of Fundraising, with a specific focus on managing our corporate partnerships. Hannah has a degree in French with International Relations from the University of Exeter.

Elly Rundle is our Head of Operations (Impact and Strategy). She has a degree in Modern Languages: German and Italian from the University of Oxford and a Masters in German and Italian Literature. Elly was previously Team Leader at our Haringey centre.

Becky Kendall is our Assistant Head of Operations. Becky joined us as an Education Worker in January 2014 and was Centre Leader at IntoUniversity Hackney South.

Anna James is our Policy and Inclusion Manager. Anna was part of the set-up team for our Haringey North centre, and was Centre Leader and FOCUS Manager, leading a team to design and pilot the Secondary FOCUS Programme. She re-joined the charity in April 2019 and now works on policy and research projects for our HR Team.

Farrell Monk joined us in March 2021 as our Financial Controller. Farrell has spent the best part of the decade working in finance for various charities, most recently at Causeway Education and The Royal Society.

Hannah Starr joined us in September 2022. Hannah has degrees in Geography and Psychology and over 15 years experience working in a variety of education and charity roles. She was previously part of the Senior Management Team at our sister charity The ClementJames Centre.

Laura Morley joined the charity in September 2008 and has a degree in Communication and Media Studies from Loughborough University. Laura supports the HR team with onboarding new staff, overseeing HRInternal and ensuring staff are supported during their time at the charity.

Rebecca Marsh joined us in June 2018 and is our Partnerships Manager. Rebecca studied History and Politics at the University of Leeds. She was previously a mentor at our Leeds South centre.

Vicky Beard joined us in 2018 and is our Communications Manager. Vicky has a degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Hull. She previously volunteered for a campaign group in Bedford.

Adam Drew joined us in January 2018. Adam has a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and a Master’s in Plastic Electronic Materials from Imperial College London. He previously worked as a Senior Education Worker at our Hammersmith centre.

Leah​ ​Boyne​ ​joined us in January 2018. Leah has a degree in Politics from the University of Sheffield. She previously worked as an English Language Teacher in China, and was our Centre Leader at IntoUniversity Hammersmith.

Alex Bowes joined us in January 2019. Alex has a Masters in Chemistry from the University of York. She previously worked as an Education Worker at our Brent and Hammersmith centres.

Millie Radley joined us in August 2019 and is our Trust and Foundations Manager. Millie has a degree in English Literature and Italian from the University of Exeter and has worked as an Travel Coordinator for Discovery Summer, a summer school for international students, and as an English teacher in Vietnam.

Lois Plummer joined us in January 2021. Lois has a degree in Sociology from the University of Nottingham and a MSc in Ethnicity and Multiculturalism from the University of Bristol. Previously, she interned in the Widening Participation team at the University of Bristol and worked as an Education Worker at our Bristol East centre.

Sharif is our Senior Corporate Partnerships officer and joined us in January 2022. He has over 8 years’ experience working in charities for children & young people having worked at ELHAP, an adventure playground for children & young people with disabilities, and The Kids Network, a mentoring charity for primary school aged children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Sharif has a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Birmingham.

Anwar Malik joined us in July 2021 and is our Partnerships Officer. She has a degree in English Literature from King’s College London and a Master’s in Postcolonial Literature from the University of Oxford. Previously, she has volunteered for various education charities and worked as an English Language Assistant in Spain.

Conor Tallon joined us in October 2021 as our IT Assistant. Conor has a background in Computer Science and Maths. Conor has had work experience at Credit Suisse and previously worked at Tescos.

Shazia Ghamai joined us in March 2022. Shazia has a degree in BSc Psychology from Brunel University and a masters in Clinical Mental Health Sciences from University College London. Previously, she volunteered with Victim Support and The Forward Trust and has research experience from her placement at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.

Caitlin Runciman joined us in June 2022 and is our Corporate Partnerships Officer. Caitlin has a degree in Politics from SOAS and previously worked as an English Language and Literature tutor and a Senior Mentor at Debate Mate.

Nathaniel Jones joined us in August 2022. Nathaniel has a degree in International Relations from the University of Durham and is currently studying a Masters in Psychology at UCL. Previously, he taught English as another language in Spain.

Maria Atter joined us in October 2022. Maria studied Social Sciences, on the Politics pathway, at the University of Manchester. Previously, she worked as a Programme Support Executive at Bookmark Reading Charity, a literacy charity supporting Primary school aged children and as an intern at Human Appeal, an international development and relief charity, supporting their volunteering team.

Adam Stevenson-Emmett joined us in November 2022. Adam has a BA and MA in the Social History of Art from the University of Leeds and has previously worked in a variety of hospitality jobs.

Beccy Davies joined us in January 2023. Beccy has a degree in History and Politics from Queen Mary University. Before joining IntoUniversity, she worked in retail and as a carer.

Sumaia Rahman Mim joined us in January 2023 and is our Finance Assistant. Sumaia is currently in her final year at the University of Greenwich studying Accounting and Finance. Previously, she worked as an intern in Tax and Credit Risk.

Taylor Ferguson joined us in June 2023 and is our Fundraising Officer. Taylor has a degree in Criminology from the University of Exeter and previously completed international volunteering placements in Fiji and Nepal.

Jordan Lee joined us in June 2023 and is our Fundraising Officer (Philanthropy). Jordan has a degree in Geography and a masters in Political Theory from The University of Sheffield. Previously, he worked for a philosophy journal and in music PR.

Elliot Owers joined us in August 2023. Elliot has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Warwick and previously worked in Retail.