Our Team
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DONNA JOHN
Director
I have lived in Harrow for most of my life and mother to two grown up children. I am deeply committed to helping young people succeed, and passionate about helping those affected by the criminal justice system or who face systemic discrimination. With over 15 years operational and strategic management experience in the voluntary and criminal justice sector I am always at my best when I feel I can make a difference to someone's life. Experience has shown me what can happen to youngsters when things go wrong ... but equally how important positive interventions are in helping young people to overcome barriers and turn their lives around.
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ABDUL AHMED
Operations Manager
Abdul has over 10 years experience working in the voluntary sector providing support to vulnerable people, many of which have been affected by the criminal justice system. He lives locally and is passionate about helping marginalised young people, and supporting them to transcend unseen barriers that prevent them in reaching their full potential; especially with education and employment. In his spare time he tutors young men who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it, in addition to being a father of two young children.
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MICHAEL LUKE
Youth Worker (Criminal Justice)
Came to youth work twelve years ago with a passion to help fatherless young males make positive choices for their lives and to use his own story to bring hope for change and a better way of life. Hot on showing respect for females, hard work and healthy family values, Mike believes young people are our future, and therefore just wants to help, support and encourage them to success. Michael joined Ignite in 2013.
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SERENA NWOKOYE
Youth Worker (Girls)
Serena has well over a decade of experience working with children, young people and young adults in a variety of settings and lives local to Harrow. Having started her youth work journey as a generic youth worker she then progressed into project based youth for a charity in South London and has also worked within social housing to support young residents, in young offenders prisons and in secondary schools as a school mentor. Serena is also very active with youth work in her church, having volunteered with them since she was a teenager.
‘I have a real desire to see young people thrive, grow in confidence, build their resilience, feel safe and experience joy while they develop and achieve’.
Outside of youth work, Serena has a real passion for music, singing and song writing, self-care and natural hair care and has spoken at different events on these topics. In her spare time she loves spending time with her family, husband and two children.
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RAKHI SHRESTHA DALI
Finance and Office Administrator
I joined Ignite Youth in 2020 as Finance and Admin Administrator. I am originally from Nepal and now live in the UK with my husband and son. I have several years of experience in accounting and bookkeeping back in Nepal and 7 years bookkeeping experience in the UK. Working at Ignite is my first experience of working with a charity and I am loving it! In my free time I like to do gardening and being outdoors - I love nature.
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PATRICIA MITCHELL
Data Analyst
Patricia lives local to Harrow and has previously worked in Sustainability, primarily focused around data analysis.
Now, I'm very much looking forward to supporting Ignite through its work and the positive impact it has on the community.
