Our team
Our team
Dr Jenny Foster, Co-Director
Jenny has 20 years’ experience in international development and campaigning, as Bristol and South West Fairtrade Co-ordinator and Regional manager at the Leprosy Mission.
Jenny was a founder of Global Goals Centre and has been Director of the charity since 2018, and is also Co-Director of Sparks Bristol.
In 2025, Jenny was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Education from UWE in recognition of her contribution in the fields of international development, sustainability and social justice.
Manu Maunganidze, Co-Director
As a teacher for 10 years, Manu has engaged with hundreds of children and families to raise awareness of sustainability issues, coordinating events and activities through schools to raise awareness and drive action.
He set up and runs Nature Youth Connection & Education, providing ecological education for marginalised young people in Bristol. Manu is a Director of Bristol Green Capital Partnership, focusing on engaging young people and other diverse communities with nature and the environment. He is also Co-director of the RACE Report at SOS-UK, shaping systemic change in education & sustainability.
Ayan Climi, Content Coordinator
Ayan has over six years of experience in arts coordination and production, with a career centred on supporting artists at every stage of their creative development. Her practice has always been driven by a commitment to nurturing artistic growth and creating the right environment that allows other creatives to thrive.
Outside of work, she is committed to her own personal creative practice and has previously co-founded a Somali feminist art collective that centres co-creation and collaboration through everyday materials such as cassette tapes, food, and textiles to create spaces of healing, communion, and joy that celebrate the richness of Somali diasporic experiences.
Dr. Verity Jones, Associate Professor and Educator
Dr Verity Jones is an Associate Professor at the University of West of England Bristol.
Her international research focuses on young people and sustainable futures in relation to education, fast fashion, food production and consumption, drought and well-being.
Alice Flannery, Digital & Design Lead
Alice is an experienced charity communications professional and freelance graphic designer. She is motivated to create engaging and thought-provoking content that educates and inspires audiences, ultimately working to address some of the most pressing issues of our time.
Dr. Pen Williams, Workshops Manager
Pen has over 20 years’ teaching experience across secondary and work-based contexts. She has recently completed her PhD in outdoor learning for sustainable citizenship focussing on creative research methods and education for social justice.
Lucy Willoughby, Sparks Volunteer Coordinator
Lucy has worked in the third sector for over a decade and has worked with volunteers in the UK, Nepal and Tanzania. She loves the opportunity to create connection and community through volunteering and has enjoyed volunteering herself in many different roles, including a turtle conservation project on the beaches of Costa Rica, a people’s supermarket in Oxford and as a Gaia’s Guardian in the bushes at Glastonbury!
She is also the founder of Good Things, championing gifts that create meaningful change for people and planet.
Jehad Alrefaie, Inclusion and Communities Lead
Jehad has over 10 years of experience in the humanitarian and development fields, working to empower the most vulnerable groups and promote equality and diversity. Jehad has an MBA and an MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Bristol University, and is now studying for a doctorate.
At Sparks, he is working to develop a network of community champions and enhancing the social interaction of different communities in Bristol, especially those that are often excluded.
Sara Bjerking, Finance Manager
Sara has a circus performer background working for traditional circuses in both the UK and abroad. For the last 5 years she has been working with finance for limited companies and charities and has in that time completed a Level 3 AAT diploma in Accountancy and Bookkeeping.
Sara also works for Artspace Lifespace, a charity who specializes in meanwhile use buildings providing affordable studio, gallery and training spaces for artists.
Emily Marsay, Fundraiser
Emily is an experienced writer, researcher and fundraising consultant. She loves partnering with climate campaigns and social movements, helping them to grow to the next level. She has worked in fundraising & partnerships for The Carbon Literacy Project and previously Co-director of youth climate justice movement, the ‘UK Youth Climate Coalition’, with whom she volunteered for almost ten years.
Emily is also a surf and kayake instructor!
Charlie Keenan, Repair Manager
Charlie has worn many hats over the last few years. She completed her PGCE Primary during the Covid pandemic and has applied this to a variety of educational settings- most notably a two year stint as an employability, life skills and art teacher in a men’s Cat B prison. She also held a senior role within a charity supporting people out of homelessness- providing service users with the skills and experience needed to facilitate positive move-on outcomes. Charlie also runs her own small business, Paper Tales, exclusively stocking local writers and sustainably made bookish gifts with an element of reuse. The variety of skills learned from these experiences will come in handy for the Repair Manager role.
