Our Team

We bring different perspectives to the table, but we’re united by a passion for purposeful work, thoughtful research, and human connection.

Gail

Founding Partner

  • With a background in psychology, Gail began her career in kids’ research at one of the leading advertising agencies of the time, before spending 25 years working across both commercial and charity sectors. Her work has taken her to more than 40 countries, including periods living in the USA and Singapore, as well as an in‑house role at global NGO Oxfam. Endlessly curious, Gail thrives on knotty, complex challenges and gets genuinely excited about almost any topic. Her core passions are research with children and young people, gender equity, and international development. Now based in Brighton with her three kids, Gail is happiest near the ocean. She channels her “alternate life as a teacher” by coaching the next generation of beach lifeguards at her local surf lifesaving club.

Jess

Founding Partner

  • Having spent her early career in marketing, Jess moved to a qualitative insight agency to focus exclusively on social purpose research, before co-founding Humankind Research with Gail and Tom. Convinced by the potential for business to help tackle the world’s most pressing problems, Jess has led much of our corporate work across sectors including FMCG, sport and education. Jess thrives on the diversity of our work, from exploring the dynamics of global scientific funding, understanding the lived experience of health conditions, or observing how six year olds play, she loves it all! She is a mum of two young boys, a passionate volunteer (having volunteered for Samaritans and in prisons for many years), and an equally passionate Arsenal fan.

Tom

Founding Partner

  • Tom started his career in research more than 20 years ago, and has worked around the world since then, leading a diverse range of projects for some of the world’s biggest (and smallest) brands and charities. He has worked with less-heard audiences from prison inmates in the UK to teenage girls in Sierra Leone, and has led work spanning the breadth of supporter engagement work, lived experience research, and corporate work across a diverse range of sectors. He’s a dad of two teenagers, a lover of the outdoors, and bit of a bird geek.

Delphi

Managing Director

  • Delphi’s insight and comms experience spans working agency-side, for a number of global insight agencies, and brand-side for mission-driven challenger brands. Prior to joining Humankind Research in 2020, Delphi was Head of Brand & Marketing at a sustainable feminine care start-up, where she launched the brand in the UK. Prior to that, she was a qualitative research Director at a leading insight agency, conducting strategic brand and comms research for clients across the FMCG, beauty, financial services and not-for-profit sectors. She is highly accustomed to running international projects, having spent time living and working in Nairobi and Shanghai. A passionate believer in the B Corp movement, Delphi is proud to name Humankind Research as the third B Corp she’s worked for.

Laura

Head of Quantitative Research

  • Laura has a journalistic background and uses her natural curiosity and storytelling skills to bring data to life. She has worked both agency and client side, in a wide number of sectors spanning FMCG, media research, retail and hospitality, but is particularly passionate about research in the third sector. With a breadth of both quant and qual experience, Laura is proficient in segmentation studies, tracking, U&A research, TURF analysis and volumetrics to name a few, along with designing bespoke quantitative approaches to perfectly fit a specific brief. Laura keeps a keen eye on methodological developments, most recently exploring the possibilities of using generative and predictive AI in research approaches.

Alex

Qualitative Director

  • Alex is an experienced researcher and social impact strategist who has worked globally with NGOs, foundations, public and private sector organisations. She specialises in lived experience and participatory research with communities facing systemic exclusion, using thoughtful methods to explore sensitive issues and translate insights into meaningful change - from strategic direction to practical policy recommendations. Passionate about international work, Alex takes an anti‑colonialist approach, collaborating closely with local partners, elevating community voice, and applying cultural theory to interpret findings across contexts. Before joining Humankind, she worked with NGOs in Nicaragua and Brazil, and later in social purpose research at a leading insights agency. She is also a trustee of Our Brain Bank, a UK-US charity working to turn brain cancer from terminal to treatable through research and advocacy.

Sarah

Qualitative Director

  • Sarah’s work at Humankind is really varied, but she has particular expertise in lived-experience projects (spanning poverty, flooding, gambling harm and cancer) and researching children & young people across the third sector and corporate brands. Before joining Humankind, she held senior insight & strategy roles at two international agencies and later ran her own qualitative research consultancy, specialising in media, tech and social impact research. An optimist, always striving for research to bring about positive change, Sarah combines research rigour and strategic thinking with creativity and kindness. She has two daughters and a perpetual itch to go out dancing!

Kerry

Head of Project Management & Operations

  • Kerry is an experienced project and operations manager who has worked at a number of global insights agencies. She has delivered complex projects across key research areas including health & lived experience, children’s and youth insight, and global and social impact, such as work focused on health equality. Kerry is passionate about research ethics, safeguarding and ensuring DEI is embedded throughout every stage of the research process. Outside of work, she’s a mum to a young boy and an enthusiastic dog‑owner, and enjoys being outdoors as much as possible, prioritising calm, grounding and wellbeing.

Cleo

Qualitative Director

  • Cleo started their research career in the charity sector, providing insight on fundraising events, campaigns and service provision insight projects for charities across the sector. They came to Humankind to work on social good in a broader sense and particularly focus on work which connects with audiences or populations who are less frequently heard by traditional research. They have worked on projects from understanding the play needs of neurodiverse children, to the future of limb prosthetics, to the experience of poverty and destitution in the UK. They particularly enjoy getting to grips with big, complicated topics and moderating conversations around sensitive issues. They are also a Childline Volunteer Counsellor, Arsenal Women's season ticket holder and Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast.

Amy

Quantitative Director

  • Amy’s career started in integrated qual/quant work before specialising in quantitative research across a diverse range of clients in retail, leisure and finance, including an in-house stint at a global retailer. Seeking to create a positive impact on day-to-day lives, she pivoted to lead a research initiative geared towards accelerating workplace diversity, equity and inclusion before joining Humankind. She believes in building better representation of marginalised groups across research and business.  Amy supports brands and charities by better understanding the challenges facing the people they serve and uniting them with the supporters that believe in their cause - this could be through bespoke audience surveys, segmentation and if she's feeling fancy, more complex statistical approaches. She has a habit for taking on ambitious craft challenges, decorating with obscure charity shop finds, and running (slowly).

Joanne

Qualitative Director

  • Joanne began her career as a secondary school English teacher before pivoting into the world of research. She brings much of this skill into her research as well as things she's picked up along the way from her previous roles across advertising and copywriting. Joanne is experienced at moderating a range of audiences from teens right up to retirees, and is passionate about creating safe spaces where all feel empowered to share. She is also involved in much of our work with minority ethnic audiences, from exploring health inequalities to pension inequalities to Black girls in sport and beyond. 

George

Qualitative Director

  • After several ad agency internships left his research itch unscratched, George moved to a leading global insight agency, running multi‑method projects from Shanghai to New York and helping relaunch its trends proposition. A pivot toward socially impactful work led him to Humankind. Here he’s focused on strategic, knotty challenges: profiling audiences for a major cancer charity, understanding what stakeholders need to translate discovery‑stage research, and identifying solutions to early‑years development gaps in Tower Hamlets. He’s especially driven to spotlight under‑researched experiences, such as young men who gamble for The Gambling Commission, and to help research drive meaningful change, including informing The FA’s first South Asian Inclusion Plan. Outside work, he fuels a time‑intensive crate‑digging habit by moonlighting as a vinyl DJ.

Lisa

Head of Fieldwork & Recruitment

  • Lisa is an experienced recruitment, project and ops manager – she has a wealth of experience managing research projects across all research sectors from consumer to UX testing and beyond. Lisa has managed multiple Government recruitment contracts in her career where she developed a specialist DEI recruitment provision sourcing participants outside of mainstream research audiences. This experience led her to Humankind where she applies this knowledge to support research for good, with a strong focus on inclusivity.

Sacha

Associate Director

  • Sacha’s background spans both quantitative and qualitative research, though in recent years she’s found herself increasingly drawn to quantitative approaches. She spent most of her early career agency-side, working across a broad range of sectors, from retail and finance to FMCG and beyond. Since joining Humankind, Sacha has loved the opportunity to contribute to projects that go beyond commercial outcomes, work that drives positive change and genuinely makes a difference. She thrives on the diversity of the work, from animal welfare to medical research, and brings both rigour and curiosity to everything she does. Her experience includes audience understanding and segmentation, tracking studies and proposition development, always with a focus on making insights meaningful and actionable. Outside of work, she is a committed dog spotter, always has a new craft on the go (with mixed success) and loves being in nature, especially by the sea.

Honor

Associate Director

  • Trained in both qualitative and quantitative methods, Honor has delivered research for clients across the commercial, public, and third sectors. She went on to work client-side for an environmental nonprofit and a national medical research charity, deepening her focus on research that drives real impact. At Humankind, she has delivered foundational insight into the world of librarians, explored barriers facing energy consumers, and helped charities understand donor perspectives. She brings expertise in brand tracking, segmentations, bespoke surveys, and creative testing to help organisations better understand and support the people and communities they serve. Like Aman, she also has a budding interest in sourdough baking!

Aman

Aman

Project Director

  • Aman is a Project Director at Humankind Research with a background in Global Affairs, where she explored various policy issues including climate goals, international security, and the wider context of universal human rights. She is passionate about accessible and inclusive research, especially work that amplifies the experiences of minority ethnic groups and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Aman is energised by projects that involve young people, centre lived experience, and embrace knotty, complex questions. She is also interested in global philanthropy, cocreation with participants, and finding meaningful ways to give research participants a more central role in shaping the insights and narratives that emerge from their stories. Outside of work, she enjoys experimenting with new sourdough recipes—always curious about where the next batch will take her.

Malaika

Senior Researcher

  • Malaika began her career as a qualitative researcher, drawn to the power of open, thoughtful conversations on complex and sensitive topics, from cancer and mental health to racism and identity. With particular expertise in engaging people from minoritised backgrounds, she is committed to ensuring every voice is heard and valued throughout the research process. Her passion for social justice extends beyond her professional work: Malaika has volunteered with Diversity House, supporting young girls and women on empowerment projects, as well as with the Black and Minority Ethnic Young People’s Project, where she worked closely with refugees. She is especially passionate about issues affecting Black and minority ethnic groups, gender justice, and activism. When not immersed in research or community work, Malaika can be found knitting or at a concert.

Aphie

Senior Researcher

  • Aphie is a qualitative researcher and insight practitioner working at the intersection of people, narrative, and technology. With a background in sociology and social research methods, his academic work explored the sociotechnical dimensions of AI. Now in consultancy, he works with charities, regulators, and impact-driven organisations to turn complex qualitative evidence into clear, strategic insight. He has a particular interest in storytelling as a research tool, using narrative and framing to shape not just what organisations know, but how they act as a result. He is especially motivated by work in the ethical tech and digital rights space, and by helping organisations embed lived experience into strategy in thoughtful and meaningful ways.

Mia

Researcher

  • Mia joined Humankind Research as a Researcher in October 2025. She has a BSc in Sociology and has previously worked in the charity sector - teaching primary Maths and English for a tutoring charity throughout her degree and most recently working for a charitable foundation funding London based charities working with young people. Since starting at Humankind, Mia has worked on projects ranging from creative development and audience testing for corporate clients, to helping charities and non-profits to understand their supporters through segmentations. Mia is an avid reader and loves watching documentaries, especially true crime.