I am a woman of colour with lived experiences and more than 20 years' experience as a senior manager within Students Services, Accommodation Services, and the voluntary sector.
Jenny Shaw is a values led consultant and sector leader specialising in student experience, inclusion and governance.
Sam Kingsley (she/they) is a consultant specialising in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), employee wellbeing and engagement.
I am currently a member of UAL Accommodation Services Senior Management Team, where I contribute to and lead on strategy to enhance the student's experience.
Most recently I have been working with my team and key stakeholders to encourage students with disabilities and health conditions to disclose at the point of application so that we can engage, provide support and enhance the student’s experience. As a result we have received an increase in disclosures and engagement.
I have had the privilege of being the ASRA South East representative which enabled me to work with so many wonderful colleagues across the HE and PBSA sector.
During my 4 year tenure the regional meetings covered a range of topics that were relevant to the sector such as the impact of student fees, student disciplinary issues, applications, housing management, youth breast cancer, students with disabilities, mental health, resident life, policing campus through to offering campus study tours.
I have managed several projects whilst working with homeless and vulnerable people such as implementing and facilitating various groups that offered a safe space, through to mobilising women only hostel and introducing a student Head Leasing Scheme.
I have served as Chair for UAL Black workers group which has grown and evolved to Equality of Minority Staff (GEMS) of which I am still a member.
I am a mentor and a member of the B-Mentor network facilitated by UCL and a member of Black Equity Organisation (BEO).
I have been described as having many superpowers which include personable, friendly, compassionate, trustworthy, reliable, effective listener, effective communicator and collaborative leader.
As your CUBO EDI I aim to harness my superpowers to embed EDI.
Previously a Director at Unite Students, she initiated the Living Black at University research and has co convened the national LBU Commission since 2022, helping to drive sector wide action on race equity and the student experience.
From 2023–25 she also contributed to the Government’s Higher Education Mental Health Implementation Taskforce, leading work on Compassionate Communication and the Competency Framework for Responding to Students in Distress. She is a Governor of Coventry University and a Trustee of NEON.
She develops data-driven, people-centred strategies that deliver measurable culture change. Sam co-led the delivery of the Living Black at University report and Commission, helping shape national responses and institutional action.
She received the 2023 Diversity Champion Corporate Award and International Inclusion Award from Diversiton, and was shortlisted as a Rising Star at the 2023 Property Week Student Accommodation Awards and for Diversity Team of the Year at the 2024 British Diversity Awards.
Through advisory roles with National Student Pride and Student Minds’ Anti-Racism Council, Sam continues to advocate for meaningful, lasting change. As an intersectional woman, she is committed to creating inclusive environments where people can contribute fully, feel valued and experience genuine belonging. Her work centres evidence, accountability and sustainable impact across sectors. She partners with leaders to embed equity into everyday practice globally.
Rebecca O’Hare is Assistant Director (Residence Life & Accommodation Office) within Residential Services at the University of Leeds where she has been in post for over five years.
Louise Banahene, Director of Student Success and Educational Engagement at the University of Leeds.
’Teleola Cartwright is a co‑editor of Living Black at University: Anti‑Racist Praxis Beyond the Curriculum (Manchester University Press, 2026).
She has completed an MA in Student Affairs in Higher Education and is passionate about creating inclusive spaces and experiences for and with students from all backgrounds.
Rebecca is a commissioner on the Unite Students ‘Living Black at University’ group, was previously the chair of the Association of College and University Housing Officers – International (ACUHO-I) Global Initiatives Network and a former member of the Association of Student Residential Accommodation (ASRA) committee.
Louise provides leadership of services and areas of work focused on enriching the learning experience with a strong focus on equity and inclusion, including leadership of the Access and Student Success strategy. In 2017 she was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to higher education and holds Principal Fellowship with Advance HE.
'Teleola is also the co‑founder of Liberate Us Ltd, an organisation committed to advancing racial justice and inclusive educational practice.
Her work focuses on challenging structural inequities, centring Black student voice, and supporting institutions to embed culturally responsive approaches to belonging and wellbeing. As an inclusive educational consultant, she has contributed to sector conversations on race equity, trauma‑informed practice and community‑engaged pedagogy, drawing on both professional expertise and lived experience.
’Teleola regularly collaborates with universities, practitioners and community partners, and welcomes opportunities to support institutions committed to meaningful, long‑term anti‑racist change.
Dr Nick Cartwright is Director of Student Success and Opportunities in the School of Law at the University of Leeds, a National Teaching Fellow, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Luke has been working in Student Support and Resident Experience for the last two and a half years at Unite Students, before recently moving into a new role as Resident Wellbeing and Experience Manager.
Alice Chilver is the Founder and CEO of WHEN Equality. Its award-winning 100 Black Women Professors Now programme has delivered a step change in gender and racial equity across UK higher education by turning intent into action.
His work focuses on race equity, critical pedagogy, and structural belonging in higher education.
Nick is co‑editor of Living Black at University: Anti‑Racist Praxis Beyond the Curriculum (Manchester University Press, 2026), a landmark text building on the sector‑shaping 2022 Living Black at University research.
He served as Senior Advisor and external peer reviewer for the original LB@U project, ensuring rigorous and ethical representation of Black students’ lived experiences. His wider leadership includes designing structural models for student success - such as Student Success Champions and academic baseline standards - which have influenced institutional policy and practice.
Nick’s scholarship spans international collaborations, including work with UN on global pedagogical resources, and he speaks regularly on anti‑racist education in national and international forums.
Luke works with Universities across the Midlands, North of England and Scotland to ensure Unite and Universities are aligned in how they provide students with an excellent experience and whilst ensuring students receive the right support.
He has led on development of resident wellbeing and experience training for operational staff across the PBSA sector, spoken at conferences about some of the research completed by Unite Students including how to support Neurodiverse students at university, and presented at higher education roundtables around student mental health trends and the student Applicant Index.
Operating nationally as an organisational change leader and leadership development specialist, Alice works with institutions, governing bodies, and senior leaders to redesign career pathways, promotion systems, and leadership pipelines. Her work combines best-in-class private-sector leadership development with deep expertise in the structural realities of higher education.
Alice previously led people and organisational development at the University of Oxford and University College London. She leads a growing team at WHEN and was named Business Leader of the Year in 2025 for her values-led, high-rigour approach to systemic change.
Through her consulting, writing and public speaking, Osaro contributes to national conversations on race, belonging and governance in higher education and beyond.
James graduated from the University of Nottingham with an MEng in Aerospace Engineering (Hons) and is an Associate of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
A Commissioner for the Living Black at University group.
Osaro Otobo was the Project Lead for the Living Black at University report, coordinating delivery, contributing as a researcher and author, and coining the phrase “Living Black at University.” The report became a catalyst for sector-wide reflection and action on belonging, safety and the lived experience of Black students. She is also an author and editor of the forthcoming book Living Black at University, due to be published in November 2026.
Osaro is a strategic transformation consultant at Huron (formerly Halpin), working with higher education institutions to strengthen governance, strategy and organisational performance. She is the Founder of Make Diversity Count, a social impact organisation that began as a movement and now supports both institutions and individuals to turn equity into measurable change across leadership, culture and decision-making.
Alongside his academic achievements, he is passionate about building communities where students feel valued, supported, and empowered to succeed.
During his time as a Residential Ambassador, James gained first-hand insight into the lived experiences of Black students at university. Recognising both the challenges and opportunities within student life, he used this platform to collaborate and advocate for meaningful change. Through his roles as a Residential Ambassador and JCR Halls Committee Treasurer, he contributed to developing events and initiatives that foster inclusivity, representation, and a strong sense of belonging across halls and campus communities.
James now brings this experience, perspective, and commitment to the Living Black at University co-creation group, where he hopes to help shape practical solutions that strengthen community, amplify Black student voices, and ensure universities become spaces where diversity is not only welcomed but actively supported.
Katy Lemmon heads up Kaplan Living: an arm of Kaplan International that provides accommodation for International Pathways College Students and University Students across 5 cities in the UK. Prior to her time with Kaplan, Katy lead the Accommodation Team at University of Liverpool where her passion for delivering an inclusive and supportive accommodation service began.
As a former ASRA Regional Representative, and a current Inclusion Champion for Kaplan Living, Katy strives to advocate continuously for black and marginalised student communities living in her accommodation, and across the wider sector.
Melissa has worked within the student accommodation sector since 2009 and has gained invaluable experience within the Private and HEI sectors.
I am a final-year Psychology student at the University of Kent with a strong interest in organisational psychology, equity, and sustainable institutional change.
She has extensive experience gained in managing both in-house and 3rd party contract staff, with direct strategic and operational management responsibilities, including managing Soft Services Contracts, New Builds, Mobilisation and Refurbishment Projects, Capital Investment works, Third Party Lettings/Commercial Summer Lettings and Outsourced and Inhouse Catering.
Melissa has been a member of various Senior Leadership Teams throughout her career. As a trained life coach Melissa has focused her career on the importance of investing and developing people to create effective, diverse and happy working environments which will allow teams to ‘thrive’ and achieve organisation goals and objectives. She specialises in Leadership development, building training programmes, managing teams through organisational change, promoting Culture and EDI initiatives within organisations whilst meeting commercial objective and targets.
Melissa's vision for her role at CUBO is to create a CUBO L&D framework that supports the goals and ambitions of the CUBO members. Working actively with current and new members to create impactful training and mentoring opportunities for leaders and their teams which will add value to organisations and the people within them.
My work is grounded in understanding how culture and leadership practices shape individual experience. I am particularly interested in how responsibility for inclusion is distributed and how organisations can redesign structures to reduce unequal burdens.
Through academic research, leadership roles, and sector engagement, I have developed strong skills which I am confident in translating complex psychological theory into practical, actionable insights for real-world contexts. I value evidence-based decision-making and long-term sustainability over performative change and collaborative approaches that prioritise structural accountability. My goal is to contribute to environments where inclusion is embedded into systems that are properly resourced and not dependent on the unpaid labour of those most affected.
