Meet the team
The ESAH team was set up by four women (Our Co-Founders) from the UK and the US following a speech at the Aspire Re-imagination Conference in June 2020.
We aim to build a movement for change. At ESAH, we believe that equality at home will enable women to fulfil their potential and will ultimately create a better society for all. We also believe in diversity, inclusion and anti-discrimination in all its forms.
The ESAH team includes our Trustees, Founders and Advisors. Learn more about them below. If you would be interested in joining the ESAH team, check out current vacancies.
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ESAH Trustees
Clare Twelvetrees: Chair & Co-Founder
Clare is a leader in the international development sector and currently Director of Strategy and Performance at Brooke. Equality Starts at Home was formed after giving her speech about equality post COVID-19 at the Aspire Re-imagination conference in June 2020.
Clare has worked on a range of issues including women’s empowerment specifically as Interim CEO at the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. She is also Trustee for Age International. She is passionate about equality at home and believes it has helped her and her partner challenge stereotypes, achieve their potential and be positive role models to their children.
Jago Brown: Trustee
Jago works in international education as Commercial Director of UKLC, a business organising English language travel opportunities to under 18’s. He is a board trustee of the national association for language travel, English UK. He’s a father of 3, working parent, dad advocate and has been a stay-at-home parent.
Jago has a passion for normalising the role men have in childcare, unpaid work and emotional labour in the home. Alongside joining the ESAH Team, he is currently working with Lead5050, an organisation promoting equality in leadership. He leads their ‘Men 4 Equality’ campaign to get more men to join the conversation about gender equality.
Frances Goodrum: Trustee
Frances is a senior campaigns professional. She currently leads national campaigns and programmes at IFAW (an international conservation charity) with a focus on wildlife and marine protection. She’s previously led external affairs, campaigns and behaviour change work for global organisations including Brooke Action for Working Horses and Donkeys, Dogs Trust and World Animal Protection.
Rita Kakati-Shah: Trustee
Rita is a sought-after global speaker and thought leader in gender equality, diversity and inclusion, which stemmed from her life’s experiences and journey as a mother. She is the Founder and CEO of Uma, a strategic diversity and inclusion coaching, consultancy and training platform. Uma empowers confidence, leadership and resilience in women and marginalised communities around the world.
A Distinguished Alumna of King’s College London, Rita serves on the Advisory Council of King’s Business School. She has won many international awards in recognition of her work as a business leader, entrepreneur and pioneer in empowering women and girls, youth development and diversity and inclusion.
Rita started her career on the equities trading floor of Goldman Sachs in London where she spent a decade before transitioning into the CNS clinical trials and drug development industry. She is also a frequent media contributor, author, and advisor to Fortune 500 companies, serving on multiple boards and committees around the world.
Drake Peabody: Trustee
Drake is a global finance leader with a background rooted in ethics and social responsibility.
In addition to being a Trustee with Equality Starts At Home, he has a passion for mentoring, championing diversity and inclusion, embracing new cultures and volunteering.
He leads the global FP&A function at IHS Towers and played a key role in successfully transitioning the company from being PE backed to listing (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Drake is also a trustee with Village Water, holds a seat on the Leader’s Plus Network Council, and is a diversity and inclusion advocate with Men For Inclusion.
Claire Thomas: Trustee
Claire is a mother of two boys and passionate advocate for gender equality and diversity of all forms.
Claire speaks openly about her personal experience of infertility and the challenges of being a working mother. She has recently been confirmed as a UN Woman UK delegate for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and is a founding member of Pregnant then Screwed.
Claire is currently Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for a global technology company. Before transitioning to the world of diversity and HR, Claire was a commercial leader helping companies across multiple sectors make the most from the technology investments.
Delia Lazaroiu: Trustee
Delia has extensive experience in data and is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, women’s rights and workplace equality.
She aims to contribute to ESAH using her experience accumulated at the Charity Commission for England and Wales and other volunteering opportunities.
Delia is also contributing to discussions on equality through her role as UN Women UK delegate to The Commission on the Status of Women 68 (CSW68).
ESAH Founders & Advisors
Jackie Carter: Co-Founder
Jackie Carter is a professor of statistical literacy at the University of Manchester. She is also a National Teaching Fellow and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. Jackie is driven by her desire to open educational opportunities to all, and to open doors to the workplace for those from less advantaged and under represented groups.
She has spent over a quarter of a century teaching school children to corporates how to become statistically literate. In a world awash with data her mission is to enable citizens to critically evaluate the numbers they encounter. Jackie’s recent work has taken her to Latin America. She is working with schools, colleges and universities as well as civil society in Colombia, Mexico and Brazil to help train those who both produce and consume statistical data. All of her recent work is framed by the SDGs.
Lesley McNiven: Co-founder
Organisational Development, Diversity & Inclusion consultant and mum of two Lesley underwent a mid-life revamp in 2015. As a writer, coach and campaigner, her non-fiction work-in-progress ‘This Woman’s Work’ exploring equality of opportunity at work and equality in the home, was long-listed in the 2020 Myriad Editions First Graphic Novel Competition.
After contracting Covid19, Lesley joined the LongCovid.Org UK team campaigning for for recognition, research and rehab for the now 28,000 strong patient support group, before co-founding Long Covid Scotland. Interviewed on Radio 4’s Women’s Hour, Lesley discussed the disproportionate impact of Covid19 on women. As more women experience prolonged symptoms than men, are their role as carers impacting their ability to recover?
Venise Vinegar: Co-Founder
Venise lives in Los Angeles, California, USA. She has enjoyed a career in the entertainment industry supporting Corporate Executives and creative talent at Fortune 500 studios such as DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures, Fox Studios and The Walt Disney Company. During a career break Venise took a spontaneous trip to South Africa, that led to a pivot into the field of education. She is an advocate for quality education, particularly children in underserved, marginalized, and economically challenged communities locally and around the world.
Venise believes that lack of quality education is the number one underlying cause of systemic poverty, racism, and inequality in the world. She is inspired by the profound timeless quote attributed to Mark Twain: “The two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” She believes that discovering one’s purpose is a significant milestone and essential for a meaningful, prosperous, and happy life. She is convinced that finding our innate gifts, talents, and expertise at the earliest age possible will break the cycle of poverty. She is working with Amazon Self-Publishing on a holistic self-help, transformational book. The offering contains 365 days of curated personal and career development best practices for finding passion, purpose, dream jobs and our ‘why.’
The COVID-19 Pandemic was Venise’s wake up call to action. Her favorite catch phrase by Maya Angelou is “When we know better, we do better.” She believes quality education for all is what will bring about the change that is needed in the world, and that change starts at home.
Rachel Akiboye: Director
With over ten years of experience in the charity sector and creative industries, Rachel currently works in Business Development for a London-based film production company. She joined the ESAH team as Director to lead our efforts.
Rachel’s unwavering passion for diversity and equality has seen her become a mentor for young adults currently looking for employment. She is also a trustee for a medical racial equality charity. Utilising her background in digital marketing and account management, Rachel enjoys helping organisations grow and reach their full potential.
Helen Unwin: Strategic Advisor
Helen left the corporate world in 2019 to set up her Life & Confidence Coaching business. In her earlier career Helen worked in major organisations simplifying their digital and customer experience. She is a passionate advocate for equality at work and home, and a key member of the ESAH team. All too often, she sees main carer roles taken on by women, pushing them to take on too much, causing stress, frustration and mental health issues.
In 2021 Helen was introduced to the world of ADHD through a family diagnosis. She now offers ADHD Coaching to support those with Executive Functioning difficulties in leading a less stressful and overwhelmed life.
Sarah Painter: Strategic Advisor
Sarah is a marketing leader with a passion for DEI. She currently leads Dentsu’s UK Experience Marketing team as well as the Dentsu Employee Resource Groups for Women in Tech and Parents & Carers.
A full-time working mother of two, Sarah knows firsthand the importance of equality in the home and has joined as a Strategic Advisor to help make a difference beyond her organisation.
Karla Vanessa Silva: Strategic Advisor
Karla Vanessa Silva has extensive experience in finance, accounting and partnerships. Her experience has seen her work with international non-profit organisations in various sectors across the Latin American region including Cuba, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and also with non-profits in the USA.
Karla also has a background in security analysis, risk assessment and due diligence as well as expertise in designing processes and procedures relating to accountability.
In addition to her role at Equality Starts At Home, she is passionate about sharing knowledge, understanding new cultures and volunteering.
