We’re very excited about our upcoming Catalyst Summit, which will empower young women to start their journey as changemakers. In this blog post, you’ll get to meet our Catalyst Summit Mentors. They will help guide our changemakers for up to 6 months after the summit.
The event is taking place over three days in July – 8th, 15th and 22nd. If you attend all three days, you will get matched with your own mentor who will be a sustainability professional. Your mentors will guide and support you for up to 6 months after the event.
Our Catalyst Summit Mentors are professional role models.They will work with you to help improve your skills and capacity to make a positive contribution in this rapidly changing world.
We hope that having a mentor will help you to realise your ambitions, by supporting you with the confidence and knowledge to achieve your goals.
So, let’s learn about some of this year’s Catalyst Summit Mentors.
We asked them to share a little bit about themselves and why they have chosen to be mentors.
Vikki Rose
I am passionate about the natural world. I’m a Chartered Environmentalist (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment) studying for an MSc in wildlife biology and conservation at Edinburgh Napier University, alongside my role as Environmental Advisor at Oxford University Press. My main field of interest is Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) with particular emphasis on interactions between habitat and species behaviours and numbers.
Why do you want to be a Catalyst Summit Mentor?
I’m thrilled to be involved in the Catalyst Summit Mentors programme, to help mentees find their area of interest, identify their next steps and fully harness the skills they already have to work towards careers that they feel proud of and enjoy.
Dr Heather Comina
I am a freelance climate action strategist and consultant. I work with schools, local organisations and community groups to improve climate literacy and develop climate action plans. After completing my degree and PhD in Chemistry, I spent some time in academia before embarking on a career as a medicinal chemist working for a contract research organisation.
During that time, I developed a wealth of experience in project management, staff development, process improvement and leadership strategies. My current work focuses on re-purposing that experience to help people to translate their climate change aspirations into tangible actions.
Why do you want to be a Catalyst Summit Mentor?
Children are our most important investment; our society’s future. I am grateful to the many people who have invested in me, it is my turn to invest in others.
Jessica Ferrow (also speaking & facilitating on Day 2, 15th July)
I am a self-employed sustainability strategy and communications expert. I’ve recently co-founded an agency called Twelve, which supports purpose-driven businesses and B-Corps as they respond to the climate and ecological crisis.
I have worked with some of the world’s best-loved consumer brands including Pukka Herbs, Ella’s Kitchen, Edgard & Cooper and Ecover, to help them respond meaningfully to the climate and ecological emergency.
I’m also the elected director of the Bristol Green Capital Partnership (BGCP) and a member of Bristol’s Environmental Sustainability Board, a team of expert advisors to the Mayor of Bristol to help the city achieve its ambitious zero carbon 2030 targets, and I helped develop the BGCP primer ‘How to Declare a Climate Emergency.
Livvy Drake (also speaking & facilitating Day 2, 15th July)
Following a profound trip in Far North Queensland where I experienced some of Mother Nature’s wonders close up, a full solar eclipse and snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef, I was reconnected with my younger environmental self and felt the calling to live in line with my values.
When I got back to the UK, I started living with less plastic and packaging and exploring raw food lifestyles. It took 9 months of a corporate (life-sucking) event contract before I committed to dedicating my enthusiasm, energy and working day to my passions.
Since then, I have immersed myself in Bristol’s sustainability world. I have worked on some great projects with FareShare South West, Bristol 2015, Bristol Food Connections, Bristol Green Capital and Bristol Food Network. I’ve also worked within the world of sustainable festivals and events, delivering initiatives as well as providing consultancy, audits and training with Shambala Festival, Kambe Events and A Greener Festival.
Emma Clement
I work as a consultant for a mission-driven smart cities consultancy. My work spans all manner of infrastructure and services, including mobility, adult social care, business innovation support, and developing functions within the public sector to help develop future-focused strategies and delivery mechanisms.
I’ve always been motivated by sustainability, cultures of continuous improvement, and using an appreciation of the wider picture to ensure that value is delivered as effectively as possible. I studied Manufacturing Engineering to masters level at university and specialised in the application of multi-dimensional strategic planning.
Why do you want to be a Catalyst Summit Mentor?
After working in the manufacturing industry for a couple of years, I made the move to consulting. Informal mentoring from friends and former colleagues has been invaluable in helping with this move, and I’m interested in helping other young professionals to navigate their motivations and their career choices through the Catalyst Summit Mentors programme.
Beth Williams
I am a Chartered Engineer and Certified PassivHaus Designer and currently the only dual-qualified structural engineer in the country!
I read Structural Engineering and Architecture at the University of Sheffield and worked in a mixture of architectural and engineering practices in Sheffield, Gloucestershire and now Bristol.
My project experience ranges from domestic extensions to new build sports halls and high-security NHS facilities. I have over 10 years’ experience in low-energy and low-carbon design and construction, with a focus on timber frame PassivHaus buildings.
Alongside practice work, I am a visiting tutor in the architecture schools at Bath, Cardiff and UWE, and group leader for the AECB Bristol & Bath local group. I’m passionate about making low-energy buildings simple to build, affordable and available to all.
Why do you want to be a Catalyst Summit Mentor?
I am passionate about low-carbon construction, not just to meet the ever-increasing demands of our climate emergency, but also to make spaces which are comfortable and affordable to inhabit.
I’m really excited to be able to share some of my experience of the low-carbon construction world with the next generation of sustainability professionals through the Catalyst Summit Mentors programme. I’m looking forward to learning about a new field within sustainability from my mentee.
Tanya Rai
I work in the broadcast media and entertainment sector and I’m a board member of Rise – a not for profit advocate group to promote gender diversity in the broadcast technology sector.
Before becoming a board member for Rise, I was a mentee on their award-winning mentoring programme last year. I want to use my board position to encourage those from BAME communities to take up careers in broadcast/ broadcast tech.
I have a love for the natural world and want to become better at living and working more sustainably and helping address issues on climate change.
Why do you want to be a Catalyst Summit Mentor?
I hope that with my 15-year long career, which has included being a freelancer, and the benefit of recently being a mentee myself, I can use my skills and experiences to bring value to my mentee’s participation on the Catalyst Summit Mentors programme. Equally, I hope to learn lots from my mentee too!
We are so excited for you to meet this year’s Catalyst Summit Mentors.
We have such amazing people on board! We’re looking forward to the wonderful things that will come to you from taking part in this mentorship programme.
So, if you think that you would benefit from the support of having a Catalyst Summit Mentor, and you haven’t got a ticket already, visit our event page or contact us via any of our social media pages – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.
If you’d like to be a Catalyst Summit Mentor, please contact traci@catalysechange.co.uk.
We would love to hear from you!
