Our Team.
Tina Ajuonuma - Founder and CEO
Tina Ajuonuma is a practitioner and academic researcher in organisational development and behaviour with a focus on justice in organisational settings. Tina is also a certified Psychological Safety practitioner. Tina has extensive experience working within organisations to interrogate and challenge oppressive cultures and systems, and to reimagine liberatory and care centred ways of existing.
If you could describe yourself in two words, what would they be?
"Perpetually Curious."
What are your areas of interest?
"Behaviour in organisations, specifically the role of culture, learning, and impact. Strengthening individual and institutional capability and competency around equity, inclusion, and justice. Social Change and Eudamonia."
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"An organisation that has care at its core. An organisation that is ready to do the hard work of transformation"
What are your learning recommendations?
"Strategies for Building An Organisation With A Soul by Hope Chigudu and Rudo Chigudu – this is essential reading for any leader who is committed to building a robust, authentic, and care-filled culture."
Tina's pronouns are she/her/they/them
Sherifat Adeniyi - Senior Research and Projects Associate
Sherifat Adeniyi is a graduate with an MSc International Development with Economics and holds experience in the UK civil service and non-government organisations. Outside of work Sherifat actively participates in activism and advocacy work and is currently a Youth Ambassador for End FGM European Network.
If you could describe yourself in two words, what would they be?
"Compassionately Critical"
What are your areas of interest?
"International Development, Gender Equality, advocating against Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), the African diaspora, Decolonisation and Economics"
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"A better org to me looks like a workplace that is able to foster positivity, growth and creativity both internally and externally. I believe that an organisation’s ability to produce positive social outcomes is entirely determined by its ability to serve its employees. A ‘better org’ is also one that remains reflective, even in the face of success, to grow from its shortcomings and remain open to change. Through being open to criticism and reflection, organisations should constantly strive so that they are better workplaces and better in producing results for their clients and the local community they operate in. These attributes also enable organisations to be transparent about their operations and accountable when they make mistakes."
What are your learning recommendations?
"‘De-centring the White Gaze’ of Development by Robtel Neajai Pailey and All About Love by bell hooks"
Yasmin Nestor - Operations Manager
Yasmin is an Operations Manager, who brings experience in project, program, and event management to the TBO team. Previously, serving as an operations and program manager within the refugee sector, where she played a key role in supporting refugee and asylum-seeking communities across the UK.
If you could describe yourself in 2 words, what would they be?
"Spirited & Conscientious"
What are your areas of interest?
"I’m specifically interested in building community, strategic execution, process improvement and redesign. My background is in organisational and business support, with a focus on day-to-day operations, enabling teams to focus on their mission."
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"An organisation dedicated to prioritising its people, recognising that genuine service to the external community begins by caring for and supporting its internal team."
What are your learning recommendations?
Busy Being Black Podcast Episode with Farzana Khan – Extending Ourselves to Each Other’s Aliveness.
Not for all, but further learning Unworlding: An Aesthetics of Collapse by Jack Halberstam.
Dr. Lateesha Osbourne - Senior Consultant
Lateesha is an experienced Equality, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) consultant and trainer, working across public, private, and third sectors. She delivers evidence-based solutions, drawing on her academic background. Lateesha has developed bespoke courses on Unconscious Bias, Diversity in Practice, Decolonising the Curriculum, and Micro-Inequities for clients like HiTech GP Formula 2, University of Oxford, Meta, and World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
If you could describe yourself in 2 words, what would they be?
"Audaciously Authentic"
What are your areas of interest?
"Self and organisational development, conflict resolution and effective challenging, building and nurturing inclusive environments, using psychometric assessments to gain insight into how we are perceived by others, inclusive leadership, transformation, facilitating difficult conversations, authentic and safe learning environments."
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"An organisation that is truly self-reflective and continues to strive for improvement. One that sincerely values, recognises, and respects its staff, and is invested in creating an environment where people can be their authentic selves"
What are your learning recommendations?
Dr. Laura Batatota - Senior Consultant
Laura is a social researcher and evaluator with an extensive portfolio. She is deeply interested in understanding the role that contexts and ecosystems play in how we understand the world, and in turn, how we use these insights to shift systems, so these are equitable and grounded in lived experiences. Laura has extensive experience in designing and delivering research and impact projects across the social and not-for-profit sectors and grounds her practice in social justice.
If you could describe yourself in 2 words, what would they be?
"Critically minded"
What are your areas of interest?
"Social research and decoloniality, participatory approaches and innovation, community development and engagement, systems change, including reimagining systems, spaces and places."
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"An organisation that centres care in all forms, and is committed and accountable through self-reflection and learning. "
What are your learning recommendations?
Grace Adelakun - People & Culture Advisor
Grace is a deeply passionate People & Culture Strategist with over 15 years’ experience in global organisations that extend across a broad spectrum of sectors, including private, business, government and non-profit. As a HR leader, Grace’s areas of specialism include; UK employment law, global HR compliance, DEI, Performance Evaluation, Change Management, Operating model and Organisational Design. As an accredited Executive Coach, Grace regularly partners with a diverse range c-suite and senior leaders supporting their commitments to growth and transformation within their respective organisations.
Guided by values and a deep commitment to ethical practice, Grace is a care-led and deeply compassionate practitioner and combines strategic insight with a pragmatic people-first approach. Grace is passionate about fostering positive workplace cultures and dedicated to making a positive difference by improving the experiences of others, both personally and professionally.
If you could describe yourself in 2 words, what would they be?
"Authentic, Kind"
What are your areas of interest?
"Organisational psychology, workplace culture, building healthy and thriving organisational cultures & teams, Developing Leaders and helping them reach their potential."
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"An organisation that is rooted in its values and relentlessly pursues the best and healthiest experience possible for its People. An Organisation that is committed to care and willing to grow- but also willing to confront, challenge and take action where needed to ensure behaviours (be it their own or that of its people) aligns with values"
What are your learning recommendations
Rebeca Ortiz
Carol Tavernier
Carol Tavernier
If you could describe yourself in two words, what would they be?
"Grounded and Inquisitive"
What are your areas of interest?
"Nurturing cross-cultural relationships by leading with an inquisitive mind, an advocate for ethical travel and a continued connection to the heritage and cultural identity of forcibly displaced people. Working toward creating greater accountability and racial equity in the global development sector."
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"An organisation rooted in care and growth - one that embraces radical change to better its ways of working and leads with grace."
What are your learning recommendations?
"1) Beyond Guilt Trips is a deep and wise look at travel - a tool to aid us in our attempt to ethically explore this world with all its contradictions and varieties of fairness. 2) The Ungrateful Refugee is a must for anyone wanting to go beyond the political narrative of immigration and seeking asylum. An at-times uncomfortable look at what it's like for those who've been forced to flee and the internal turmoil that plagues the forcibly displaced once they're resettled."
Carol Tavernier
Carol Tavernier
Carol Tavernier
If you could describe yourself in two words, what would they be?
"Thoughtfully reflective"
What are your areas of interest?
"I would scoop all of my interests under the term 'culture'; the human relationships, behaviours, structures, power and how the lens of EDIJ can be applied to broaden thinking and notice areas for improvement."
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"An organisation that truly recognises, cares and values what everyone brings. An organisation that hears without judgment & acts with integrity."
What are your learning recommendations?
"Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by Adrienne Maree Brown - Not for all, however if your gut has been telling you that there has to be another way, that does not throw away the old but combines thinking to create new ways forward this is for you."
Carol's pronouns are she/hers
Shana O'Brien
Carol Tavernier
Cyriella I. Maliko
If you could describe yourself in two words, what would they be?
"Empathetic and analytical"
What are your areas of interest?
"Staff well-being, team dynamics, and organizational culture. I have a background in human resources, so I like to help organizations to embody their values in their HR and ways of working. Outside of work, I have a passion for boardgames and petting dogs!"
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"An organization that knows what its values are and lives by them – not only in how it does its work, but how it treats its staff and how staff treat each other. An ideal organization for me would embody the values of empathy, authenticity, and justice. It would be an organization where all staff felt comfortable to be themselves. And where staff can have fun! We so often forget to bring joy into our work.."
What are your learning recommendations?
“The Vulnerable Humanitarian: Ending Burnout Culture in the Aid Sector by Dr. Gemma Houdley. I would recommend this book for anyone working in a purpose-driven organization – it brings to light a lot of those things many people feel intuitively but don’t have words for. It combines academic research with practical recommendations for exploring a feminist, anti-racist, and decolonial organization."
Cyriella I. Maliko
Cyriella I. Maliko
Cyriella I. Maliko
If you could describe yourself in two words, what would they be?
"Curious and Perceptive"
What are your areas of interest?
"I’m interested in bottom-to-top approaches in green initiatives, circular systems, and the discourse around Africa’s place in the ecological transition. I care a lot about language especially how it shapes understanding across roles, intentions, and lived experience."
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"A Better Org sees your commitment to a cause and appreciates it but it doesn’t weaponize it by asking for more than what’s fair. It listens, works with care, and stays aligned. The best work doesn’t come from pressure or tight control. It comes from a place that recognizes that being alive means being flexible. Fluidity is part of what makes good work possible and a Better Org makes room for that.."
What are your learning recommendations?
"I believe everyone should read more fiction. It expands your ability to imagine more, to create more, and to hope more. And in this field of work, I think hope is very much needed. Through your capacity to retain hope, you learn about yourself but even more about others. However, if I had to recommend one nonfiction book in terms of learning, it would be She Has Her Mother’s Laugh by Carl Zimmer."
Cyriella's pronouns are She/her
Wynn Aung Myint
Cyriella I. Maliko
Wynn Aung Myint
If you could describe yourself in two words, what would they be?
"Grounding and Evolving"
What are your areas of interest?
"Coming into this work that is deeply personal and political, I’m always thinking about the bigger picture: connecting systems with the people who inhabit them and the relationships that keep them moving. Slowing down to make sense out of chaos. Offering both a listening ear and a gentle nudge towards transformation."
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"A Better Org is one that stays true to its core, whatever that may be, while being open to tough conversations and the difficult work of transformation. One that prioritizes care, quality relationships and equity among its people. One that recognizes that growth isn’t always just on paper."
What are your learning recommendations?
"I’ve recently come back to Paulo Freire’s ideas in Pedagogy of the Oppressed. It reminds me to keep a foundation of love, trust, and the courage to name what is harming us in order to learn and grow."
Wynn's pronouns are He/him/his
Mervin Taylor
Mervin Taylor
Mervin Taylor
Mervin Taylor
Mervin Taylor
If you could describe yourself in two words, what would they be?
"Curious Fluidity"
What are your areas of interest?
"Personal & Organisational Growth & Awareness. Anti Racism and All Other forms of Allyship. Accountability, Education, and moving beyond the performative."
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"An organisation that has respect, love, honesty, and learning as its foundations. An organisation that is in a constant state of flux."
What are your learning recommendations?
"Rebel Ideas- Matthew Syed: This showcases how diversity goes well beyond the surface level and how it is nothing without inclusion & equity."
Uma Mishra
Mervin Taylor
Uma Mishra
If you could describe yourself in two words, what would they be?
"Grounded, Relational"
What are your areas of interest?
"I’m interested in how care, power, and responsibility operate within organisations under pressure, particularly in justice-oriented, movement-adjacent, and values-driven spaces. My work sits at the intersection of facilitation, organisational development and design, leadership transitions, and somatic practice, with a focus on helping groups make real decisions without collapsing care or accountability. I’m especially drawn to work that supports leaders, ERGs, and facilitators as they navigate ambiguity, informal power, burnout, and long-term change."
What does a Better Org look like to you?
"A Better Org is one where care is built into the structure, not carried informally by a few people. It has clear roles, transparent decision-making, and boundaries that protect both people and the work. A better org doesn’t confuse harmony with health; it can stay with conflict, change, and uncertainty while remaining accountable, humane, and durable over time."
What are your learning recommendations?
"I’m drawn to learning that bridges theory and practice. That includes feminist and abolitionist writing on power and care, somatic approaches to leadership and group dynamics, and practical work on organisational design, governance, and people systems. I value learning that is grounded in lived experience, especially from global majority and movement-led contexts, and that helps leaders think clearly and act responsibly under real constraints.
Some favourites include: Báyò Akómoláfé (https://www.bayoakomolafe.net/writings), Shilpa Jain (https://shilpajain.substack.com/), The Humanity Archive (https://thehumanityarchive.substack.com/)."