Kelly Walls is the Executive Director of The Guardian Foundation, leading the team in our purpose to promote global press freedom and access to liberal journalism.
Kelly is a dedicated advocate of quality, independent journalism as a fundamental underpinning of democratic society. She has led the Foundation since 2019, addressing the needs for news literacy and a more diverse and accessible media industry that has the capacity to thrive in today’s challenging landscape.
Prior to joining The Guardian Foundation, Kelly began her career in B2B media, specialising in data, insight and project management, before joining the Guardian in 2014 where she led several major change and transformation programmes to further the Guardian’s strategic goals.
Esmat Jeraj is the Director of Programmes at The Guardian Foundation, overseeing the programmatic delivery and operations. Contributing towards building an inclusive world where all people can tell their stories, access the truth and hold power to account is what drew her to the Foundation. Esmat has previously held roles across the charity sector; including leading a national Commission exploring barriers to participation in public life, and most recently as Chief Operating Officer at a charity focused on building confidence and resilience amongst young people from underserved communities while promoting their participation in British democracy and civil society.
Outside of work, she acts as a strategic advisor for several community organisations and charities. Esmat is a skilled trainer, community organiser and facilitator with a keen interest in EDI and social mobility.
Max works across the Foundation’s various programmes and teams, coordinating logistics and finance processes, and generally ensuring that other members of the organisation are well equipped to excel in their roles. He provides support to the Foundation’s Executive director and board of trustees, as well as working on event planning, team coordination and data management. He loves being able to engage with the full range of the Foundation’s work, and the variety this brings to the role.
Before joining the Foundation, Max worked in operations and partner relationship management at the book distribution charity Book Aid International, and has also previously worked in brand strategy and insights at the digital marketing agency KRPT.
Charlie is responsible for overseeing The Guardian Foundation's communications, making sure that as many people as possible know about, support and get involved with the charity's work.
She previously worked for the NSPCC's creative team, where she realised both her love for charity comms and her passion for supporting young people. She has a BA in English Literature from the University of Sheffield.
Emma project manages the Incubator for Independent Media in Turkey as well as developing and managing the charity's other international initiatives. She works closely with the various partners and stakeholders, and oversees project activities. Working with aspiring media professionals from a range of backgrounds is one of the aspects of her job she enjoys the most.
She has previously worked in research, communications and education. She has a BA in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies and an MSc in Inequalities and Social Science.
Elli leads the NewsWise news literacy programme. She is passionate about making the world of news and media accessible to all young people, raising aspirations and giving them opportunities to make their voices heard.
She has worked in news literacy for over a decade, developing particular expertise in digital literacy and critical thinking. Previously, she was an English teacher in London comprehensive schools as well as in various special educational needs settings.
Sorcha is the NewsWise Programme manager and is responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the programme for all teachers, pupils and journalists involved. She was previously the NewsWise volunteer coordinator, creating opportunities for children to meet real journalists.
She has several years’ experience of running education programmes targeted at underprivileged young people, including running employability skills programmes for secondary school pupils in East London. Before this, Sorcha studied French at UCL.
Paul is NewsWise's Education officer. His role sees him facilitating workshops in schools and community settings, delivering CPD sessions for teachers and developing resources. Paul has spent his career working with children and is driven to see them become informed, global citizens, capable of shaping and changing their world.
Paul has taught for over a decade in both the UK and USA and is a previous winner of the Participate Learning Teacher of the Year award. He has also been a subject leader for English, taking an active role in school improvement and leadership.
Margaret manages the Foundation’s award-winning Behind the Headlines programme, based at the Education Centre at the Guardian offices. She loves devising and teaching news, media and digital workshops for secondary and university groups, teacher training seminars and conferences, and opportunities for young people to engage with the media industry.
She sets up educational partnerships and is passionate about expanding the reach and impact of the charity in empowering young people to understand, critically analyse, engage with and participate in the media. Prior to setting up the news and media programme in 2002, Margaret was Head of History and Careers in a London secondary school.
Angela Green is the administrator for the Behind the Headlines programme. She manages the school booking process and helps teachers prepare for a visit to the Education Centre as well as virtual workshops. She also deals with teacher conference bookings and a whole range of general enquiries. She ensures that everything that the programme does runs smoothly.
Angela was previously Head of Registration for the London Stock Exchange.
Mena facilitates workshops in the Education Centre and loves being able to combine two things that are important to her: teaching and current affairs. She updates digital content and has enjoyed developing the centre’s social media presence, as well as researching and writing articles linked to the Guardian Archive. She has also developed and currently oversees the centre’s features workshop for Year 11 and sixth form students.
Before this, Mena was an English teacher and KS3 Lead at a secondary school in London. She also has experience of mentoring and delivering training sessions to new teachers.
Philippa manages the Guardian News & Media archive. She has responsibility for the day-to-day running of the archive, which collects and preserves the historical business records of The Guardian and Observer. The role includes coordinating acquisitions, appraisal, cataloguing, preservation and access to the archive, as well as outreach activities designed to promote the histories and values of the newspapers.
Philippa began her career as The Guardian’s first trainee archivist and went on to complete her MA in archives and records management at UCL. She worked in the archives at SOAS, The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Royal College of Surgeons of England before returning to The Guardian News and Media archive.
Emma is a professionally qualified archivist and supports the running of The Guardian News & Media Archive. Her role includes collections management, outreach and supporting volunteers and researchers in accessing the archive.
Emma has over 15 years experience of working in the information and heritage sectors including roles in local government, higher education and museums. She loves engaging people with history and has a particular interest in 19th and 20th century history and politics.