The London office serves as a hub for both European and International projects including the See Now campaign to end avoidable blindness, the Help Britain Breathe initiative, and a European digital rights campaign.
We partner with some of the leading non-profits and foundations including the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, WaterAid, Oxfam, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Send us a note at london@purpose.com
Alaina Crystal is a committed feminist who has spent much of her career working on behalf of women and girls. Alaina is a Senior Strategy Director at Purpose, leading our strategy practice in the UK and across a number of international clients.
Alaina joined Purpose from AMV BBDO, the UK’s largest advertising agency, where she served as Deputy Head of Strategy and led global strategic development across Guinness; Snickers; and Bodyform, where she helped to transform the way the world views periods and women’s health. Within her role, Alaina served on AMV’s Diversity & Inclusivity committee, the Omniwomen committee (a cross-Omnicom consortium designed to lift women up in business) and led a pro-bono campaign for Plan International UK in honour of International Day of the Girl. She was awarded a WACL Future Leader award in 2019.
Alaina previously worked at BBDO NY as the US strategist across Mars chocolate and on the Barbie business, which resulted in the successful repositioning for the brand as a tool for young girls’ imagination, turned around the declining brand, and won the Account Planning Group Grand Prix for excellence in strategy in 2017. In addition, Alaina led strategy on the globally recognised and creatively awarded “Evan” film for Sandy Hook Promise, which helped Americans learn the signs of a potential shooter in order to prevent potential future gun violence.
Hailing from Connecticut originally, Alaina has spent much of her adult life bouncing between New York and London and is proud to call both home. She has a Master’s in Music Business Management (just ask her about her love of David Bowie) and a Bachelor of Science in Arts Administration from Skidmore College. When she’s not drawing strategy shapes, Alaina enjoys all things Neil Gaiman, long countryside walks around the UK, and strategizing her next nail art.
As Chief of Staff, Claire oversees People and Culture, Human Resources, Partnerships and Staffing, and sits on Purpose's Executive Team. Claire works closely with the head of each office and uses her problem solving, people skills and project management to ensure our teams are set up for success.
Prior to joining Purpose, Claire managed communications for the Australian Greens, helping Ellen Sandell become the first Greens MP elected to the Victorian Parliament. Before dipping her toe in politics, Claire was Deputy CEO at Oaktree, Australia’s largest youth run development and advocacy organization.
Claire holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne. Outside of the office she spends her time exploring London and cooking too much food for friends and family.
Gautam Raju is passionate about how technology can be used to create social change. Gautam is the Managing Director of Purpose Europe and leads a number of projects across Kenya, India, and the US. Gautam joined Purpose from Oxfam International, where as Head of Digital Campaigns he headed the digital worldwide influencing strategy – an ambitious agenda to build the digital campaigning capacity of Oxfam and partners. There, he took on campaigns from Europe, Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Asia, working with in-country teams, partners, and coalitions to mobilize around issues on land, climate change, inequality, and humanitarian crises. Under Gautam's leadership, the digital worldwide influencing strategy has mobilized of 2.5 million supporters around the world and built tools and resources that were accessible to over 2,000 partners. Before joining Oxfam, Gautam co-founded OurSay.org – an independent organization started by a team of young people passionate about harnessing the power of social media to revitalize critical participation in democracy. He has also worked on public policy and external relations for Teach For Australia and in the Australian public service.
Gautam has a Master's in International Development and a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) and Arts (Advanced Chinese Mandarin). In his spare time, Gautam loves to cook, travel and play the bass guitar. He is a native of Melbourne, Australia and has lived in Shanghai, New Delhi and London.
Laura joined Purpose as a Senior Strategy Director in 2019 with 15 years experience in corporate purpose, sustainability, CSR and brand campaigns. With a career that spans multiple global geographies, she brings strategic rigour, creative thinking and an international perspective to reimagining the ways that businesses and citizens can be a force for good in the world.
Before joining Purpose, Laura worked as an independent consultant and founded her own strategy and communications consultancy in New Delhi where she led a team that was responsible for developing CSR strategies and partnerships for major corporations including BG Group, Sterlite Technologies and Shahi Exports. She has developed purpose-led strategies for startups and nonprofits and has worked extensively with manufacturers, retailers and advocacy organisations in the fashion industry to prove the business case for investing in improved worker welfare and human rights.
In her previous avatar, Laura worked in some of the world’s top creative agencies including Wieden+Kennedy and M&C Saatchi where she led client relationships for Nike, Nokia, Unilever and Orange, as well as the UK Home Office, NHS and Transport for London.
Laura graduated from the University of Manchester with a B.A. in Linguistics and Social Anthropology and holds a Post-graduate Certificate in Sustainable Value Chains from the University of Cambridge.
When she’s not working, Laura likes nothing more than to be on the road adventuring to new places. If there’s a hike, cycle, run or swim involved, she’s there.
As Executive Director of Purpose Climate Lab, Scott brings together strategy, communications expertise, digital campaigning experience, and a passion for climate and the environment. With a background in campaign strategy, electoral politics, and environmental campaigning, Scott devises and executes on campaigns across Europe and Africa that deliver on creating access to clean energy and the adoption climate change solutions.
At Purpose, Scott runs programs in the UK such as a consumer switching company that drives demand for household clean energy and reducing energy bills for consumers. Scott has been leading a national coalition of NGOs, health organizations, and professional bodies in an effort to create a new clean air act. Scott is also the co-founder of the UK100, a recently launched network of local government leadership to drive the transition to clean energy and a low carbon economy. In Poland, Scott has been leading a team to mobilize climate activists online and is initiating efforts to begin faith organizing with local Catholics networks and churches. Scott has also launched Purpose’s climate work in East Africa with a campaign to raise the issue of clean energy access in Kenya.
For the past decade, Scott has been an organizer, activist, and campaigner with experience working in British politics and the Labour movement.Prior to working for Purpose, Scott worked for the Communication Workers Union, spent three years as the Chief of Staff to the Labour Party's General Secretary, and – up to the 2015 General Election – was an advisor for the Labour Party's policy review and manifesto.
Aaron Parr is a Campaigner at Purpose Europe in London. He is an expert in social media strategy and digital optimisation, specialising in video content for online distribution. Aaron joined Purpose in 2016, bringing to the team knowledge of young people's issues and passion for environmental and social justice campaigning.
In his time at Purpose, Aaron has ensured that campaigns worked on impacting the largest amount of people possible. He has been involved in the deployment of a range of social media platforms including See Now, the campaign to end avoidable blindness, and Help Britain Breathe, a campaign in partnering with environmental charities to combat air pollution in the UK. He has also produced and developed a range of social media optimised video content, with videos reaching and engaging millions of social media users online across the world.
Aaron carries a BA Honours degree in English Literature and Film Studies from Queen Mary, University of London. At the same establishment, he also holds an MA in Documentary Film Practice.
Before coming to Purpose, Aaron ran a viral meme page called mEUw, which produced cat memes to inspire Brits to vote remain the 2016 EU referendum. This evolved into a drag character that saw him impersonate the UK Prime Minister, an act called 'Theresa Gay'. In his spare time, Aaron volunteers with the Green Party of England and Wales, having previously sat on the executive committee of the Young Greens as well as the London Young Greens. He is a passionate advocate of animal liberation and vegan, always looking for the latest vegan food pop-up - like every foodie should!
As a Project Manager at Purpose, Diksha brings together her strong management and organisational skills, her passion for social justice, and her background in public health and health promotion to support the team’s workflow and processes, communications and achieving targeted goals within the stipulated time frame.
Diksha has worked for the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care within the realms of primary care and cancer care programs in Canada. Her role in risk identification, stakeholder engagement, and streamlining decision making processes and subsequent actions assisted in health policy changes impacting the population of Ontario.
Diksha has a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine where she focused her research on the intersections of age, race and gender and the health adversities faced by marginalised communities.
Outside of work, you can find Diksha at various fitness studios across London varying from boxing to hot yoga, and ironically, at a food market nearby right after.
Ericka is a Visual Storyteller who creates inventive ways to express campaign concepts that drive people to engage in global issues through the application of traditional and digital media. In her role at Purpose she works across a diverse range of campaigns, from mobilising creators and asking MEPs to fix digital copyright in the EU, to engaging the British people on the issues of air pollution and building assets and a collaborative space for people to openly discuss period poverty and to advocate for female empowerment.
Moving to England from the Philippines at the age of 10 with English barely as her third language, Ericka adopted the performing and visual arts as a way to express herself through other means. This artistic foundation would later propel her into the world of campaigning for brands and social issues. With a background in video production and a degree in Film & TV Studies at Brunel University, she learned to capture the moving image through the camera lens from conception and preparation, to editing and final delivery on platforms online or offline.
Prior to Purpose, Ericka has ventured in shooting and creating stop motion animations, written short films and viral videos, designed web content, explored photography and has been known to have a fascination for 2D 3D motion design. She has worked on campaigns for Disney Pixar, The Times and the Sunday Times, Tesco and for like-minded self-starter creatives.
Her collaborative nature, love for the arts and relentless curiosity creates the perfect balance to craft and continuously evolve as a creative in an ever-changing digital landscape where people grow hyper-connected every day. When Ericka is not making videos or other content, she has an unhealthy obsession with crafting miniature clay figurines, traveling far and wide to reach for aesthetic inspiration and using memes to add colour to any situation, big or small.
Gabriel is an optimist. He believes in the power of people and a couple of cups of really amazing coffee to change the world. Born in Arizona, he has slowly migrated east: first to New York and now across the Atlantic to London, with side trips to Argentina, Central America and Ethiopia along the way.
At Purpose, Gabriel serves as an Associate Campaign Director, and he believes that the most challenging problems we face can and will be addressed through collective action and creativity. His job at Purpose is to help facilitate that action.
Gabriel carries a bachelor's degree in Sustainable Development, Coffee Production and Latin American Studies from New York University and a master's degree in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has campaigned against hydraulic fracturing in New York State, pushed for fossil fuel divestment at the LSE, co-founded an ethical green coffee importing company that has completed several development projects in Ethiopia and Nicaragua and served a brief stint in a vegan ice cream shop.
Outside of the office, Gabriel enjoys Mexican food, outdoor markets, yoga, reading, running and living life with friends and family.
As a Data Scientist at Purpose, Guy supports online research and analysis projects. He is passionate about working to address challenges relating to trust in the digital age and using this knowledge to help tackle today’s challenging social issues.
Guy joined Purpose from Avaaz, where as an Anti-Disinformation Researcher he worked as part of the team responsible for a Europe-wide investigation into networks of disinformation online.
He is currently studying for an MA/MSc in Digital Journalism at Goldsmiths, University of London. When not at Purpose or studying, he loves to exercise but only the kind that takes him somewhere - long country cycles to the coast or a wild swim.
Hannah believes that culture can bring about positive social change; enabling connection, amplification and empowerment. As a senior campaigner at Purpose, she has applied creative techniques and worked with cultural partners to campaign for freedom of expression, Internet access, and women’s health issues.
Before Purpose, Hannah worked across Europe, Australia and Canada in community building and audience development for arts charities, publishers and nonprofit galleries including Crafts Council UK, Phaidon Press and Art Monthly.
Hannah completed a Fine Art degree at Central Saint Martins, London and has a diploma in digital marketing.
Jess Hines is a Senior Advisor at Purpose.
With over two decades of experience in fundraising and creative campaigns development, as well as the execution of celebrity-branded digital content across three continents, she has a deep understanding of best practice and cultural specificity. Her work has been focused in the UK, USA and India.
Jess Hines is an active contributor to India Today, with over 30 articles on design, film, travel, property and fashion published. She is the author of Looking for the Big B: Bollywood, Bachchan and Me about Indian megastar Amitabh Bachchan written about her years of lived experience in Bollywood.
Jess has a BA in Comparative Religion from SOAS, an MA from the BFI in Film and Television and is also a trained clown (the Pochinko school - Mump and Smoot). This unique combination allows her to see connections across disciplines and easily comprehend and translate complex information to different audiences. Jess is a firm believer that culture is the best path to creating lasting social change.
As a Senior Project Manager, Jordan brings her expertise in project management and partnership building to the London office. She’s passionate about harnessing the collective potential of global teams and operationalising ambitious strategies.
At Purpose, she works across our teams to ensure projects are delivered on time and within scope and budget. Jordan has worked in the social innovation field for the past 8 years, working for a range of organisations and sectors including startups, nonprofits, a PR agency, and the UK's innovation foundation, Nesta. Most recently, she was the Chief Strategy Officer at a tech startup. Prior to that, she spent 5 years at the Social Innovation Exchange as Programme Director, developing their flagship programmes, which included supporting over 200 foundations to be more innovative in their approach and practice, and launching the Unusual Suspects Festival in 4 cities.
Her accent is hard to place - resulting from growing up in the US and living in the UK for the past 11 years. She received her MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and a BA in International Politics and Conflict Resolution from the Queen’s University in Belfast.
Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, hiking, yoga, and running off to join the circus every Tuesday night with aerial rope and silks.
Manuela works at the intersection of strategy and creativity, with a focus on brand development and sustainable business models. At Purpose, she helps shape campaigns, brands, and organisational models from an analytical standpoint. She has worked on campaigns in Kenya, India and the EU across avoidable blindness, youth participation in governance, and freedom of expression.
Before joining Purpose, Manuela contributed to the development of a citizen engagement hub in Colombia for post-conflict integration. Prior to entering the world of social impact, she worked as a brand strategy consultant for major Latin American corporations, identifying stakeholder insights and integrating compelling narratives into corporate strategies, in order to better connect brands to target audiences.
When not at Purpose, she can be found advancing her personal project to transform civic spaces in Colombian territories that are affected by violence.
Manuela holds a Masters in Strategic Design and Management from Parsons – The New School and a Bachelor in Service Design with a focus on Business and Social Psychology. She has lived in Bogota, New York City and London, and speaks English, Spanish and German.
As a Campaign Manager with Purpose Climate Lab, Natalia leads on the development of integrated campaigns that move people to action and change public narratives. Natalia brings together over ten years of experience in campaigning, communication and project management for nonprofit organizations in the UK and Poland.
Natalia joined Purpose directly from her role as PR Coordinator at Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. Before that she was at Amnesty International, where she was involved in developing campaign strategies for individual cases, led the urgent campaigning work for individuals through the Urgent Action programme and was a spokesperson for the organisation in Poland.
Natalia graduated from the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and holds a master’s degree in International Relations. Outside of work, you can find Natalia running - but watch out, it might be really early in a morning! She loves spending time with Momo, her English Springer Spaniel and reading a good book.
Ravneet is a Associate Visual Designer that has a passion for ‘design for change’ and focuses on exploring creative solutions in which we can tackle important issues. She specialises in editorial design, UX design, brand & identity and animation, which she has implemented across various campaigns at Purpose.
Before joining Purpose, Ravneet studied at the Arts University Bournemouth where she graduated with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design. As a designer she focused on creating work which is both striking and is able to evoke numerous emotions of the public to create a lasting impression.
When Ravneet is not working she enjoys being outdoors and exploring new surroundings on her bicycle! She also be found creating makeup looks in her bedroom. Follow her on Instagram to see more @Ravneetbains.
As Creative Director at Purpose, Sara El Dabi takes on multi-dimensional responsibilities within the creative team as an art director, graphic designer, creative strategist and producer, merging attention to detail and innovative execution. She is passionate about delivering conceptual reasoning and in-depth research, working right from the inception of a project to its completion. Working as lead creative, Sara brings a pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit to tell stories and solve problems. At Girl Effect, Sara launched a number of youth-led brands and digital platforms, whilst nurturing and empowering other creatives in Malawi, Ethiopia and India.
Sara received her MA in graphic design from Central St Martins and previously ran her own company and creative collective for 10 years, working with clients like Nike, BBC, Vans and Urban Outfitters. This diverse and talented creative network continue to inspire her.
Before joining Purpose, Sarah worked for Her Majesty's Government (Civil Service) in the UK. Sarah was instrumental in the successful passage of the Charities and Social Investment Bill in the House of Lords. And for the two years prior, she worked within the coalition Government for the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.
In her Senior Program Manager role at Purpose, Sarah uses her varied and deep skills in project management, event planning, and administration. Sarah carries a BA degree in International Relations and Modern History from the University of East Anglia, which served in spurring on her interest for international and humanitarian development.
Sarah is a strong believer in recognizing mental health as a global issue and tries to champion this message as much as possible. Sarah has run the Brighton Marathon 2016 and a half marathon in order to raise money for Mind, a mental health charity in the UK, and she also worked with mentally and physically disabled children in a respite centre in New York in 2011.
Simon has over 6 years experience in advertising, marketing and strategic communications across both private and public sector clients. His experience has developed his approach to both media, research and creative strategy.
Simon's previous role was as a strategist at M&C Saatchi World Services, a strategic and creative consultancy (part of the M&C Saatchi network agency). Here he focused on work in the Middle East and North Africa tackling issues around extremism, violent extremism and counter-terrorism. Projects included communications interventions around deradicalisation in the Sahel and the securitization of young Iraqi men vulnerable to the divisive narratives of violent extremism by leveraging the influence of community gatekeepers. His specific focus was on the planning and placement of communications products to reach desired audiences, a job made even more challenging in the closed and immature media markets the projects were operating in.
Simon started out working at Publicis' agency Starcom as a media planner and junior strategist. Here he learnt the intricacies (and pitfalls) of strategy from research to audience understanding to delivery. Clients such as Samsung and Yahoo helped sharpen his toolkit and accelerated his learning.
When away from work Simon, much like the family dog Otis, can be found chasing a ball around a playing field whether it be football, basketball, golf or cricket!
As a Campaigner, Tate Soller supports both online and offline campaign activations. She loves bringing diverse communities together to support social movements. At Purpose, she has worked with non-profits, foundation clients and corporate donors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Oxfam Europe and Google.
Before joining Purpose, Tate worked for the communications team at Lendlease, supported the digital strategy for STREAT’s crowdfunding campaigns and worked in the events and fundraising team at Oxfam Australia.
Tate received her BA in politics and economics at the University of Melbourne. She also completed a masters degree in Media and Communications and Development from the LSE, with a focus on ethical campaigning. At the LSE, she was the recipient of the Media and Communications prize for Excellence in Media and Communications and Development.
When Tate isn’t campaigning you can find her escaping the city for a hike, cosied up with a book and a cup of tea, or listening to her latest Spotify weekly playlist.
As a Senior Strategist at Purpose, Taylor combines her background in international human rights and digital campaigning to work with cross-sector partners to find bold, creative solutions to today’s most pressing social issues. During her time at Purpose she has worked across a plethora of issues and geographies —from campaigning in New York on issues of climate change and sustainability, to working domestically in the UK on bringing an end to the use of torture, to campaigning internationally on youth empowerment.
Prior to coming to Purpose, Taylor held a number of positions in campaigning and fundraising at human and civil rights organisations. She has extensive experience in audience engagement and strategic communications, most recently serving as the Outreach Coordinator at Human Rights Watch where she helped to build the organisation’s digital campaigning capacities. Before that, she worked at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York City and People in Need’s Human Rights Center in Prague, Czech Republic.
She is currently based in London and serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Young Professionals Committee.
As a Strategist, Zoe has worked on an array of social change campaigns since arriving at Purpose. From research projects digging into audience insights, to branding and campaign exercises, she has really enjoyed the opportunity to work on important issues she cares about. Since at Purpose, she has worked with non-profit and private sector clients including Amnesty International, Ben & Jerry’s and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Before joining Purpose, Zoe worked at M&C Saatchi World Services where she helped handle a variety of charity and public sector accounts, including pro-bono work for More in Common. Here, she first became intrigued by strategic communications and the tactics surrounding behaviour change approaches. Prior to this, her experience lay in public sector communications and humanitarian policy research for Oxfam GB.
Zoe graduated from the University of Oxford with a BA in History. Outside of the office, you'll find Zoe listening to (basically any) podcast, cooking lots of pasta or looking forward to her next Cornish camping trip.
