Ana-Sofia leads FLEX’s work on labour exploitation in supply chains, through advocacy and direct engagement with businesses. She is delivering a project to develop more sustainable corporate responses through a worker-informed human rights due diligence process. Prior to this role, she was Policy and Research Project Manager at Stop the Traffik, where she worked on multi-country projects to prevent the exploitation of migrant workers, with a focus on generating quantitative evidence to inform targeted interventions. Ana-Sofia has also worked conducting impact assessments and supply chain risk mapping for businesses operating in high-risk environments. She has an LLM from Suffolk University Law School and an MSc in Countering Organised Crime and Terrorism from UCL.

Jacob joined FLEX in August 2023 as Research Officer. Previously he taught at the Royal College of Art in London, and at the Critical Practice Studio in Palestine. He completed a Masters at the Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths in 2022, focusing on logistical labor. Outside of FLEX, he co-runs the Abandoned Seafarer Map, an online platform mapping maritime labour exploitation. He is also part of the research duo Liquid Time, producing essays and films on the political economy of logistical systems. 

Oliver joined FLEX as Research Manager in August 2022. He has a background in labour rights, labour migration, the care economy, and gender equality and women’s rights. Prior to joining FLEX, Oliver worked with the Italian National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (INRCA), conducting research that focused on improving the sustainability of migrant care worker markets in Europe. He also previously worked with the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Thailand and Cambodia on a regional migration project that aimed to protect migrant workers in South-East Asia. Oliver has an MSc in International Development and Management from Lund University and a PhD in Economics from Marche Polytechnic University.

Lucila joined FLEX as CEO in 2019, having worked with a range of organisations and campaigns in the areas of labour rights, migration, and women’s rights. Prior to joining FLEX, Lucila was Director at LAWRS, a London-based ‘run by and for’ feminist organisation supporting 5,000 Latin American women every year. She was chair of the Labour Exploitation Advisory Group and a FLEX trustee, and also founded and led CLAUK, a coalition of Latin American organisations campaigning for ethnic recognition and improved access to health and labour rights. She is currently a Board Member at the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) and a Trustee at IRMO, an NGO based in Brixton. She holds a PhD on migration and ethnic identity from Aston University.

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Gina joined FLEX in March 2023 to focus on developing our training programme, working with front-line organisations to help them identify and support potential victims of labour exploitation. Gina’s background is in providing support to communities experiencing forced displacement. She has worked with an organisation in Cairo providing legal assistance to refugees and migrants facing protection difficulties and exploitation. Additionally, with the International Refugee Assistance Project, she has worked to develop pathways supporting refugee children in East and North Africa to access family reunification procedures. She holds an MSc in Labour, Activism, and Development from SOAS, University of London. 

Olivia supports FLEX’s staff team and Board of Trustees, helping to ensure the smooth running of FLEX’s operations, as well as providing assistance to the research team. She has experience working with a number of NGOs that support people in migration, both in London and Mexico City. Olivia has a BA in French and Spanish from University College London and an MA in Postcolonial Culture and Global Policy from Goldsmiths, University of London.

Eleonora works on conducting research and leading on the training and coordination of community and peer researchers for FLEX’s participatory research. She has an MSc in Development Studies from SOAS University of London. Her dissertation explored the structural roots of exploitation of migrant workers in the agricultural sector in Italy, analysing the impact of supply chains and immigration policies on workers’ rights.

Matthew works on delivering FLEX’s research, directed at achieving policy change and improvements in the field of labour exploitation. He joined FLEX as a Research Officer in Spring 2022 from the University of Zurich, where he has been working on a PhD in anthropology focusing on Vietnamese agricultural supply chains. He previously worked for the Royal Society of Arts in London where he led research projects on community participation, health and social isolation. He has degrees from the University of Oxford and SOAS, University of London, and has also worked in community outreach for a professional football club. 

Poppy joined FLEX as Communications Officer in May 2023. Prior to joining FLEX, she led on regional communications for the homelessness charity St Mungo’s, specialising in press and amplifying the voices of people with lived experience while challenging harmful narratives around homelessness and related social justice issues. Previously Poppy worked for Unseen UK, which operates the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline and before that she worked in Public Relations for a private agency. She has worked as a volunteer with numerous organisations supporting asylum seekers and refugees in Cardiff and Bristol. She holds a BscEcon in Politics and Modern History from Cardiff University and an online certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the London School of Economics.

Kate leads FLEX’s policy work. She has over 15 years’ relevant experience in workers’ rights, campaigning and advocacy as well as anti-trafficking work. Kate has previously worked as UK & Europe Manager at Anti-Slavery International and headed the Human Trafficking Foundation. Kate has also worked at Kalayaan, where she gave immigration and employment advice to migrant domestic workers in the UK as well as leading the organisation’s policy and campaigning work. Previously Kate worked at a Sure Start local programme and in International Development. She has a BA in Social Anthropology with Development Studies from Sussex University and an LLM (Distinction) in Human Rights from Birkbeck University, School of Law.

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Angeli Romero joined FLEX as a Research Officer in September 2023. She is a
qualified lawyer in the Philippines, where she has worked in the private and public
sector. Prior to joining FLEX, she worked with International Justice Mission’s Center
to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children, designing and piloting a survivor
engagement program. She also worked with the British Institute of International and
Comparative Law, examining determinants of anti-trafficking policies to improve
national governments’ anti-trafficking efforts. In her spare time, Angeli contributes to
UNODC’s SHERLOC human trafficking case law database and provides legal
consultancy to Hear Their Cries, an organisation fighting child sexual abuse in the
aid industry. She works actively with East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) communities
through ESEA Hub, an initiative she co-founded to build ESEA community
infrastructures of care, knowledge and representation. She holds a Juris Doctor
degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law and an LLM in Human
Rights Law from Queen Mary University of London. She is a Filipino migrant in the
UK and speaks Tagalog fluently.

Caroline joined FLEX as Worker Engagement Officer in June 2023. Prior to this, Caroline worked as Policy Research Manager for Refugee Action, where she conducted research investigating the economic impact of giving people in the asylum system the right to work and developed a peer research approach to understanding people seeking asylum’s perspective on race and racism. In addition, she led policy research projects at Citizens Advice, focusing on debt and housing issues. She has also worked as a frontline adviser at a student union and a drop-in Legal Advice Clinic. She has a BA in English Language and Literature and a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Studies. 

Peter leads FLEX’s advocacy at the London level and coordinates the work of the Labour Exploitation Advisory Group (LEAG) and the Taskforce on Victims of Trafficking in Immigration Detention. Prior to this, he was Senior Research Analyst at Trilateral Research, where he worked to identify trends and combat forced labour in Greater Manchester, and on projects looking at crime victims’ experiences with law enforcement in Ireland and human security in conflict zones. Peter also worked as a paralegal, visiting prisons and working on extradition cases. He has an LLB in Law & Human Rights and an LLM in International Humanitarian Law from the University of Essex.

Lynda provides financial support to FLEX as an independent consultant.  Lynda is a qualified Chartered Accountant and trained with BDO.  After leaving BDO in 2004, Lynda has worked in the not for profit sector initially as a Finance Manager for a Fairtrade charity, Twin and since 2011 as an independent consultant to a number of charities. Lynda has a wealth of experience in preparing SORP accounts and project reporting for major donors (EU, Comic Relief, DFID).  Lynda has acted as a project consultant to the International Division of the British Red Cross and currently works with a portfolio of smaller charities.

Peter is Director of Consumer Rights, Innovation & Impact at Consumers International. Prior to joining Consumers International as Director of Consumer Rights, Innovation & Impact , Peter was the Head of Sustainability Policy at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the trade association for retailers, where he was responsible for the development and delivery of the retail industry’s sustainable and ethical trade policies, including the Better Retail Better World campaign. He has also worked on environmental issues for the representative body of the food industry, FDF, and co-chaired the Home Office Modern Slavery Strategy and Implementation Group on Transparency in Supply Chains.

Vash currently works at Dechert LLP and is a Chartered Member of CIPD. Her experience as a senior HR manager spans legal and not for profit sectors having previously worked for Bolt Burdon Kemp, Leigh Day, Merlin, ThreeCs and WarChild. She has significant experience in talent attraction, performance management, diversity and inclusion, employee experience, wellbeing, engagement, learning and development, and pay and benefits. Vash has a MBA with a specialisation in HR and began her career in India, where she worked as Senior HR Manager with Edelweiss, a full services investment bank, before moving to the UK in 2007.

Claire was co-founder and Legal Director of FLEX from 2013 until 2018. Claire now works as Head of Global Initiatives and Movement Building at the Freedom Fund, where she oversees the Fund’s corporate accountability and survivor leadership portfolios. Claire has also previously worked as an expert consultant on projects for international organisations, including the ILO, UNODC, and OSCE, and as lawyer and former prosecutor, Claire holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law (Honours) from the University of Adelaide, and a Masters in Human Rights Law from the London School of Economics.

Rachel has worked in the INGO sector for 10+ years, in Finance Director/Chief Operating Officer roles with International Rescue Committee UK and CARE International UK. Prior to this she worked for the British Council in a range of programme and finance roles in the UK and India. She brings significant experience of NGO financial management as well as a passion for fighting inequality and injustice.

Shereen is a medical demographer and statistician by training and an expert in the organisation and delivery of social care and their interactions with health policy. She is an established multi-disciplinary academic with extensive social care research experience working directly with policymakers in the UK and internationally. Shereen has advised the UK Government and parliamentary committees on issues related to adult social care and is currently a specialist adviser to the House of Commons Committee on Health and Social Care. Internationally, she has acted as a senior expert for the World Bank; UN-ESCWA; UN; WHO and UNICEF. She now works at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Ian has worked in immigration since 2002, initially with the Home Office and now as a Partner with Vialto, a global law firm.  Over the last ten years Ian has advised employers of all sizes on navigating immigration systems, briefed Parliamentarians, spoken in the media and advised governments on how to develop immigration policies and practices.

Dora-Olivia Vicol is co-founder and Director of the Work Rights Centre. A trained anthropologist, she became interested in employment justice during her doctoral study, where she conducted an ethnography of Romanian migrants’ trajectories into precarious jobs in London. At the Work Rights Centre she takes the lead in policy development and research. Outside of that, she continues to straddle the line between charitable work and academic research on migration, work, and migrants’ encounters with the state.

Adam is a lawyer who previously worked for NGOs defending victims of human rights violations in Europe, particularly migrants and ethnic minorities. Before joining ClientEarth, he had a wide-ranging practice at the European Roma Rights Centre, including litigation spanning eighteen countries, with cases before national courts, the European Court of Human Rights, UN treaty bodies, and the European Committee of Social Rights. Adam is a member of the board of several NGOs, has published numerous academic articles and blogs, and has trained lawyers, judges, and NGOs. He holds an LLM from King’s College (University of London), a JD from Columbia Law School, a diplôme d’études approfondies from the University of Paris-IV (La Sorbonne), and an undergraduate degree from Harvard University. He speaks English, French, Spanish, and Hungarian.