Director
Graeme Atherton studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Trinity College Oxford and has been working in the field of education research and management since 1995. After 6 years leading Aimhigher work in London, he founded AccessHE and NEON in the UK. He now leads both the Centre for Levelling Up at the University of West London and NEON. Graeme holds Visiting Professorships at Amity University, London and Sunway University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is a member of the board of the National Union of Students (NUS) and has produced over 200 conference papers, and publications.
Deputy Director
Martin Webster has been working within widening access since graduating from Liverpool Hope University in 2000. Between 2005 and 2011 Martin was Head of Widening Participation at Nottingham Trent University. During that time he was Co-Director of the East Midlands consortium for Routes into Languages, a national outreach project. In 2011, he helped to establish NEON, and became its Operational Consultant, taking an overview of all NEON activities. In July 2022 Martin became the Deputy Director of NEON leading on its day to day operations. Martin has contributed to many NEON research reports and has regularly presented and spoken at widening access events.
Email Martin - martin.webster@uwl.ac.uk
Education and Events Officer
Tatiana studied Public Relations and has worked in Brand and PR management, Conferencing and Events marketing internationally since 1998. She moved to the UK in 2010 and got involved with a not-for-profit residents’ association. Having to raise children with English as an additional language prompted her a career transition. In 2020 Tatiana obtained Cambridge CELTA qualification; she has been teaching English to speakers of other languages for 4 years. Passionate about bringing up social, ethical, epistemological and technological change in education, in 2023 she completed MA in Social Justice and Education at University College London.
Email Tatiana - tatiana.tolkacheva@uwl.ac.uk
Policy and Communications Officer
Frances Sit is a professionally trained journalist and content creator who has devoted her career to fostering a more just and equitable society. Since 2013, she has crafted compelling content for a diverse range of platforms and organisations, including newspapers, magazines, radio, websites, blogs and social media. Having developed a keen interest in the intersection between education and social justice through her work, Frances has transitioned from journalism to advocacy in recent years. In 2023, she completed a MSc Human Rights and Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Email Frances- frances.sit@uwl.ac.uk