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 Global Head of Strategy at Purpose, uniting our diverse bunch of strategists across 6 offices and developing new processes and IP to help our partners create impact backed by strategic rigor.
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.
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.
Aaron Parr is a Senior 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 Campaigner at Purpose Climate Lab, Anna works both strategically and creatively to support innovative climate and public mobilization campaigns in Poland. At work, she uses her professional experience from advertising, non-governmental organizations and marketing. Anna believes that creative communication and understanding of the audiences is a key to success in building social change.
Anna holds a BA in Media Management and an MA in Law from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. She also studied abroad in the Netherlands and Singapore. Anna gained experience as a long-term volunteer and intern, among others at Amnesty International and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Poland.
Prior to joining Purpose, Anna worked as a PR specialist and communication specialist focusing primarily on the digital world, cooperation with influencers and producing creative visual content. She spent 3 years building an engaged online community around one of the largest foundations in Poland dedicated to helping adults with intellectual disabilities.
Outside of work, Anna is an avid traveler with 70 visited countries on her list, using photography as a tool to capture the brightest moments and people on her way. Time between journeys she spends at home with her old doggo, the Beast.
As Creative Producer of Training & Learning at Purpose, Corina Kwami is responsible for the planning, management and execution of the Voices Incubator curriculum as it pertains to stakeholder learning sessions, community engagement, participant coaching, and other virtual touchpoints. Through her role, Corina works to build Purpose’s approach to curriculum-building and execution, particularly for future workshops and other interactive learning opportunities.
With a decade of experience in over 20 countries across Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia, Corina’s career includes stakeholder engagement and advocacy in global health, infrastructure policy and sustainability planning. She has extensive experience in systems thinking, human centered design and collaboration through the arts to cultivate meaningful engagement. Most recently, Corina spent the last 2 years at Royal Academy of Engineering as a Policy Advisor where she led the 'Sustainable living places' work that maps current challenges in creating sustainable homes and infrastructure.
Corina holds a bachelors from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, masters from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a doctorate from University College London.
As a former competitive swimmer, Corina is never too far from water. Onstage, Corina is a jazz musician often found performing in London and around the globe (voice and tap) and has been recognised for her impressive grasp of what jazz can teach us about leadership, partnerships, and innovative thinking at the UNLEASH Innovation Lab.
As a Campaign Director, Faith Lead and member of the London leadership team, Daniel brings together campaigning flair and organisational development. With a background in community-based campaigning, as well as non-profit management and leadership, he makes sure Purpose’s campaigns deliver across the political spectrum from hyper liberal to deeply conservative. At Purpose, he’s worked across Labs and Agency, delivering campaigns on global health for the Gates Foundation and climate for the Ikea Foundation and Corporation.
Before arriving at Purpose, Daniel led the campaigning at Catholic development agency CAFOD, driving action on net zero and refugee rights by reaching a younger and more diverse audience. He ran ActionAid UK’s successful women’s rights campaign. Daniel also co-founded a youth empowerment non-profit.
Daniel holds a PhD in geography from the University of Leeds and an MBA from the Open University. He’s a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Pope Francis once met Daniel at the Vatican. And despite living in Central London he’s surprisingly outdoorsy.
As the London Office Manager, Dani works to provide a comfortable and uplifting environment for her colleagues in Europe, while also collaborating with the global team to keep the Europe team connected and enable them to build impactful campaigns. Dani's background in production within the arts and a passion for people allows her to bring creativity to her management of Purpose Europe work spaces and experience.
Before joining Purpose, Dani worked within many of the leading Post Production houses in London producing fashion advertising campaigns and editorials. Outside of work she volunteers each year at Crisis at Christmas, which led her to make the move from fashion to social impact.
Dani graduated from Kingston University with a BA Hons in Illustration & Animation.
Outside of the office you’ll find Dani in the Tate Modern or Victoria & Albert Museum looking for inspiration for her next painting or print. And if not there, she’ll definitely be in one of the many restaurants of South London, ordering one of everything off the menu.
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.
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!
Based in Berlin, Sophie is a Campaign Manager who works on projects in Germany, France and the UK. Focusing on campaign strategy, she has participated in projects for the Gates Foundation and the UN, among others, and has helped to set up the Purpose Climate Lab in France.
Prior to joining Purpose, Sophie worked in the development sector, concentrating on evidence-based programme design; monitoring and evaluation; and thought-leadership strategies. With the British Council she spent two years in Mexico City and a further two in Islamabad, and subsequently consulted for a range of organisations in the arts and education sectors, including UNESCO, Save the Children and Arts Council England.
She has a BA (Hons) in Politics, Psychology and Sociology from the University of Cambridge and a MSc in Education (International and Comparative) from the University of Oxford. She speaks English and French fluently, and good Spanish.
Outside of work, Sophie loves trawling Berlin’s flea markets and vintage stores. She has a growing collection of Risograph, silkscreen and lithograph prints from around the world.
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.
