Core team
Rickie Josen
Community Lead
Rickie is an accomplished learning and development specialist with over 15 years’ experience supporting charities, social enterprises, and community organisations. She brings extensive expertise in digital skills training and inclusive programme design, including delivering digital marketing programmes for Birmingham community leaders through the NNS networks.
Adding to her long list of initiatives supporting Birmingham’s third sector, Rickie serves as Chair of ecobirmingham and is a former trustee of FareShare Midlands. She is enthusiastic about embedding inclusivity and collaboration into everything she does.
Fatima Safana
Admin & Communications Officer
Fatima is drawn to work that has a clear purpose and meaningful impact. With a background in marketing and communications, she enjoys finding creative ways to connect people with opportunities, amplify community voices and turn ideas into action. She believes the best communications don’t just inform people, they inspire people to get involved.
Lily Hale
Project Coordinator
Lily is a Project Coordinator with a background in psychology, marketing and digital communications, alongside hands-on experience in customer-facing roles. She brings strong communication, organisation and relationship-building skills to her work with communities and partners.
Passionate about community engagement and digital inclusion, Lily is committed to helping people build the confidence they need to stay connected in an increasingly digital world. Her volunteering experience with organisations supporting people with additional needs has shaped her empathetic, inclusive and collaborative approach.
Faraza Anderson
Project Co-ordinator
Faraza brings extensive experience in community development, partnership building, and citizen engagement, with a strong track record of connecting organisations, fostering collaboration, and supporting community groups to grow and thrive. Drawing on a diverse professional background spanning community development, journalism, communications, and support services, she has worked with a wide range of communities and partners to create meaningful opportunities for participation and inclusion.
Gena Ng
Admin & Communications Officer (Currently on maternity leave)
Having been in love with words and the digital world for most of her life, Gena began her career as an online news producer. Not one to shy away from challenges, she has taken on other roles across the public and private sectors that include digital marketing, corporate communications and teaching.
Project Advisory Group
The core team is further supported by an independent Project Advisory Group.
Dipali Chandra
Dipali is Secretary of the West Midlands Funders Network, Trustee of Birmingham Community Matters, and works as freelance consultant on funding for Handsworth Charity and City of London Corporation, City Bridge Foundation.
Kate Gordon
Kate has worked in the voluntary sector for many years in various roles from front line support to regional infrastructure. She is lo-tech but interested in how voluntary organisations can capture and present data, and use it to evidence impact and need.
Laura Creaven
Laura is an experienced and award-winning communicator with a demonstrated history of working in marketing, events management, public relations and communications, both online and off. She is currently a Trusts Executive at St Basils charity.