We have a dedicated team of staff, interns and volunteers who together with the support of an Advisory Group make up our core workforce:
Michelle Lawrence – Director
Michelle set up Link Up (UK) in 2010, in order to develop a new approach to dealing with issues of citizenship and belonging.
She started her career in marketing, then moved into the voluntary sector in 1996, first of all working for Centrepoint – the youth homelessness charity – in charge of their corporate and community fundraising team. From this she started working as a consultant, doing capacity building and developing income streams for a number of charities.
Since 2005 the focus for her work has been working on issues around interfaith and citizenship, and before setting up Link Up (UK), she ran a range of initiatives that look at providing innovative solutions to overcome misconceptions and racism towards different groups.
Rianna Dunkley
Rianna joined Link Up (UK) in January 2017 and has been working on keeping the charity’s social media platforms up to date and engaging. Having graduated in Multimedia Journalism and Sociology, she saw this role as a great opportunity to merge her skills and interest in social issues together. Rianna is particularly interested in issues that affect women such as body image and how women are presented in the media. As Rianna is also a blogger who covers topics on fashion, music and beauty, she is very digitally aware and essentially believes that diversity should be celebrated across all sectors.
Bahram Shams
Bahram is a second-generation British-Iranian, born and raised in London. Bahram graduated from the University of Leeds in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Master’s degree in Global Development. He has always had a strong interest in social issues and global issues and since graduating, he has focused on working in the third sector. In early 2016, Bahram volunteered at Quilombo UK, a small charity promoting social cohesion in South West London. Since August 2016, he has been volunteering at Link Up (UK) and has written the charity’s theory of change, conducted research into issues the charity is concerned with, and assisted in the completion of fundraising applications.