The Skoll Centre team

Dr Catherine Hasted is Deputy Director at the Skoll Centre, empowering changemakers within the Skoll community to drive scalable impact and effect positive societal change. Having spent the past 10 years at Cambridge University as Director of ThinkLab and Head of Business Partnerships, Catherine has worked with global strategic partners and research colleagues to translate fundamental research into life-changing impact. Previously, Catherine worked in senior leadership roles in commercial and non-profit organisations and has founded two successful companies. She completed her studies at Lancaster, Oxford and Cambridge universities and impact from her research has featured in the BBC, The Guardian and The Times. Outside of work, Catherine runs a
charity that she co-founded with friends and enjoys spending time with her family.

Elizaveta supports the delivery of Skoll Centre impact education programmes. She co-designs learning programmes with subject matter experts and coordinates various impact education activities for students, alumni, academics, and external contributors. Before joining the Skoll Centre, Elizaveta completed her Master of Science in International and Comparative Education from the University of Oxford. She also interned at the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO). Prior to that, she spent three years as an independent founder and content creator of a podcast and blog, which promoted educational opportunities for youth. Her podcast and blog reached over 8,500 listeners and 13,000 followers. Elizaveta is passionate about education, social impact, and international exchange. In her free time, she enjoys learning languages, listening to podcasts, dancing Lindy Hop, and hiking in nature.

Izzy Mohammed is the Community and Communications Manager at the Skoll Centre. With a proven track record in education and media marketing, as well as data-driven strategy, Izzy has led transformative campaigns at various companies, including Oxford University Press. Her expertise extends across multi-channel marketing at Oxford Brookes University and community engagement strategies at Amaliah. Izzy also offers strategic consultancy, contributing to marketing knowledge in publications such as 'How to Make Money' by Nafisa Bakkar. Passionate about leveraging technology for global impact, Izzy holds an MSc in Digital Marketing and is accredited by the Institute of Data & Marketing, highlighting her commitment to innovation in education and social entrepreneurship.

Jessica leads the Skoll Centre’s research portfolio, including its research fellowships, the Insights for Action seminar series, and developing new research-practice initiatives. Before joining the Skoll Centre in 2020, she worked for ten years in the international development sector, with experience in advising aid programmes, grant-making, and applied research in nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. She holds an MSc in Anthropology and Development from the LSE. Alongside her work at Skoll, Jessica is also undertaking a PGCert in Psychodynamic Counselling, and is particularly interested in issues of mental health and wellbeing in the social impact sector. When she’s not working or studying, she’s busy raising a very cool five-year-old.

Lina is the Global Impact Education Coordinator at the Skoll Centre. She was previously been Project Coordinator at the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research at the University of Bristol. In her free time, Lina enjoys bookbinding, calligraphy and illustration, baking, and being in nature.

Lydia is the Executive Assistant to the Academic Director. She has over a decade of administrative experience with expertise in scheduling, correspondence, and event planning. She has been with the Skoll Centre for much of her career, and in that time has honed her skills through working in various roles. She most enjoys the focus on working in social and environmental impact initiatives and connecting with many different people. Lydia spends her free time at home in the Oxfordshire countryside with her husband and two cats, and is most often either gardening or going for walks in the woods. 

Marya Besharov is Professor of Organisations and Impact at Saïd Business School and Academic Director of the Skoll Centre. Her research and teaching focus on leadership, social impact, and hybrid organisations. She engages with leaders and organisations worldwide to help them manage competing demands of social impact and financial performance. Marya received a BA in Social Studies, an MA in Sociology, and a PhD in Organisational Behaviour from Harvard University. She also holds an MBA from Stanford University. When she’s not doing research, teaching, or leading the Skoll Centre, she enjoys cooking, running, and spending time with her family.

Menna is the Skoll Centre Research and Partnerships Coordinator working primarily on event coordination and relationships management across the centre's research and community portfolios. She joined the Skoll Centre in September 2023 after a year of travel, in the wake of graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a first class degree in Social Anthropology and International Development. She is an activist and advocate for systems change, human rights and sustainability, and spends her time camping, hiking and reading. 

Nick Gregg leads the impact education portfolio at the Skoll Centre. His focus is on equipping learners with the knowledge, skills, and mindsets needed to create positive social change.

Passionate about advancing educational and social equity, Nick has more than a decade of experience working across the higher education and non-profit sectors to design, lead, and evaluate programmes and partnerships that address social innovation, career education, and youth empowerment.

Nick holds a Master of Education in teaching and learning from the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor of Arts Honours from Carleton University.

Pippa has worked with the Skoll Centre since 2006, supporting the centre’s programmes and activities with an operational and financial focus. Originally trained as a horticulturalist, she studied Public Horticultural Administration with the MS Longwood Graduate Program, University of Delaware before working for the Royal Horticultural Society as the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show Manager. Away from Oxford, she runs a mixed farm with environmental schemes by the River Thames, in tandem with two teenagers.

Sarah leads Strategic Partnerships and Communications at the Skoll Centre and joined in June 2024. A communications and sustainability professional with over 20 years of experience, Sarah was previously Head of European Communications for Ecover and Method. Responsible for thought leadership, she led a number of sustainability initiatives and partnerships including a set of externally facing plastic commitments and a Nature-based Solutions fund. Sarah started her career working in PR agencies and was previously Head of Communications for Coca-Cola Great Britain. She is passionate about building purpose-led organisations and has a Post-Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Leadership from Cambridge University. She is a volunteer for the Cranfield Trust and is a keen netballer as well as a novice gardener.

Susanna Kislenko is a social psychologist who studies leadership in the entrepreneurial context, focusing on founder leadership past the start-up stage. Using qualitative research methods, Susanna’s work pulls back the curtain on the challenges and potentially darker organisational consequences of long-term founder leadership, including Founder’s Syndrome. Susanna holds an IBBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University, an MA in Political Science from McGill University and a PhD in Organisational Behaviour from IESE Business School. Prior to entering academia, Susanna worked in the non-profit sector in Canada for 12 years, holding a number of leadership roles in social service organisations, including social enterprises. Susanna is also a certified yoga teacher and leads women’s leadership embodiment retreats in the Balearic Islands. When she’s not doing yoga, you can find her by the sea or watching documentaries.