STAR is led by a team of staff and a board of trustees. The national staff team provides training and support to our student groups at colleges and universities across the UK. We work together at a number of levels to bring about lasting change for refugees.Â
Our staff
Chief Executive
Emily Crowley
I joined STAR in autumn 2009 as the Volunteering Project Coordinator, took on the role of Deputy Director in 2012, and have been the Chief Executive since 2019. I’ve been working in the refugee sector since 2006 and in the charity sector since 2004. Before working at STAR, I led a research project into mental health service provision for asylum seekers and refugees in England and Wales at Mind. Before that, I was the Volunteering Coordinator at the North Glasgow Community Food Initiative, a project originally established by the Glasgow STAR group. I am CELTA qualified and teach English to refugees and migrants as a volunteer.Â
Campaigns And Advocay Manager
Lara Cumming
Volunteering Coordinator
Loujain Baghdadi
I joined STAR in May 2024, as the Volunteer Coodinator where I work with students and local charities to develop and deliver projects that are in the best interests of refugees. I have worked for seven years with organisations that support youth education in Syria. I started a digital platform that supports youth in the MENA region to design their educational and career paths.
Student network ORGANISER
Teigan Couper
I joined STAR in September 2024 as the Student Network Organiser. My role is to support all STAR groups across the network from setting up and recruiting members to organising events and fundraising. Before joining STAR, I volunteered and worked abroad with various projects that support refugees and asylum seekers. I graduated in 2020 with a BA in History from the University of Exeter and in 2022 with an MA in Conflict, Security and Development from KCL
Student Network Manager
Alice Clarke
Our trustees
CHAIR
Raj Burman
Raj Burman is a seasoned entrepreneurial leader with 30+ years of experience in scaling ventures across diverse sectors. As a Fellow at the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs, Raj successfully served as CEO of Techfugees Foundation, a global non-profit using responsible technology to promote inclusion for displaced individuals. With a strong track record in startup investments, he also spearheaded a European Commission program for scaling businesses, empowering entrepreneurs for maximum impact. Raj’s role as a UN Global Poverty Project Ambassador underscores his commitment to international humanitarian efforts aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in maternal and child health, education, and marginalised community inclusion.
TREASURER
James Osbourne
James’ background is as a fundraiser, and he has worked and volunteered for a range of charities, including Oxfam, Third World First, and the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. Currently, he is also treasurer at National Ugly Mugs, who work to end violence against sex workers, and is on the working group for Music Declares Emergency, which supports artists in speaking out on climate change. As Treasurer, his role is to help manage STAR’s accounts, work with the STAR team on day-to-day finances and report back to STAR groups at the annual conference.
TRUSTEE
Maryam Taher
Maryam graduated from the University of York in 2019, where she was a recipient of the Equal Access scholarship. She was the Volunteering Coordinator of York STAR and campaigned for Equal Access. After graduating, she became a STAR Equal Access Activist and uses her expertise to guide the campaign. She represented STAR at the Global Refugee Forum in 2019, co-organised STAR’s Refugee Scholars Conference in 2020, and helped to establish the Equal Access Network for students and applicants from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds. She now works at City of Sanctuary as Universities of Sanctuary Coordinator.Â
TRUSTEE
Matthew Grenier
Matthew as worked with and for charities since 1993, when he joined the Refugee Council. He is currently the Business Development Director at HACT, working with housing associations across the UK to enhance the services they provide to residents and local communities. Prior to joining HACT he ran his own company, working with refugee and human rights charities to deliver strategic communications campaigns. He has written and edited numerous research reports, articles and blogs, as well as co-authoring a book on Chinese communism.
TRUSTEE
Christine Bacon
Christine Bacon is Artistic Director of Ice&Fire, a theatre company with a human rights focus. She founded Ice&Fire’s national Actors for Human Rights network in 2006, a project that has seen countless collaborations with STAR group across the UK and continues to tour on a rolling basis. She has written and produced over a dozen scripts for ice&fire and has been commissioned by a several third sector organisations because of her expertise with collecting and presenting first-hand testimony on typically thorny issues. She holds a Msc. in Forced Migration from the Refugee Studies Centre (Oxford University) and much of her work at ice&fire has focused on refugee and migrant rights. She regularly volunteers with The Unity Project and Hackney Migrant Centre.Â
Trustee
Jess Scholfield-Wood
Jess is a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer for Frontline AIDS and was previously a Partnerships Officer at Hope for Justice. She was a member of KCL STAR while at university.
STUDENT TRUSTEE
Max Altaras
Max is the President of Edinburgh STAR and was voted onto our board of trustees at the 2023 AGM.
“My favourite project we have arranged recently was where we gathered many different items ranging from kitchenware to bedding. We then gave 20 families who were asylum seekers a form where they ticked the items they needed and we delivered these objects to them. This focused our efforts on targeting the exact need of each individual to properly aid them as best we could.
I am looking forward to my role as student trustee and working with many different STAR groups on a variety of projects especially those involving volunteering.”
STUDENT TRUSTEE
Mia Hastings
Mia is a member of the Sussex STAR committee and was voted onto our board of trustees at the 2023 AGM.Â
“I am a development student at Sussex University in Brighton, but originally, I am from Essex. I am the social secretary for my STAR group but I am also the president of another society, ‘Food Waste Cafe’. My favourite thing that I have been involved in at STAR so far this year would be our Conversations From Calais event, where we met Mathilda Della Torre, the author of CFC, and she shared with us her goals and expectations for the book, and explained a bit about the different refugee stories she heard whilst volunteering in Calais. For the upcoming spring term, I am most looking forward to my STAR group reigniting the Mitie Must Fall campaign on campus with Divest Borders, and seeing what progress we can make towards ethical university investment policies.”
STUDENT TRUSTEE
Shreeja Skrikanth
Shreeja Skrikanth is the President of Bath STAR, and was elected onto the board of trustees at the 2023 AGM She is a student of Psychology at the University of Bath. Shreeja loves to meet new people and hear their life stories. STAR has helped her grow as an individual and meet some of the most wonderful people. As a part of Bath STAR, Shreeja has been instrumental in implementing various projects including working with Somerset Council to support refugees, mentoring for UCAS, and university open days for refugees.Â
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