CEO

A trained teacher, with more than a decade’s experience of working in educational and social care settings, Sanchia’s former role was as a senior manager in the charity sector, running a project which provides a diverse range of support services to families and children.

Sanchia has also run her own successful training company, providing training commercially and in the third sector; and is a trained restorative justice practitioner.

In addition, she has lived experience of overcoming trauma and is currently studying for a Diploma in Human Givens Psychotherapy, a trauma informed and solution focused approach to working with mental health challenges.

TRUSTEE

Alex always wanted to be a journalist, but, following her degree in Hispanic Studies from Queen Mary University, she ended up at Goldman Sachs working on the Fixed Income trading floor.

After several years of the heady City life, she restarted her career as a work experience girl on a local magazine - and never looked back. Alex has been writing features and helping businesses tell their story for the last 20 years, whether that was flying around Europe reporting from conferences or conducting in-depth interviews with everyone from CEOs to filmmakers.

Alex is now Head of Commercial Development at digital communications agency, Formative Content, still helping blue chip clients tell their stories.

TRUSTEE

Emma has a 20-year+ history of driving company change and transformation across many geographic locations and cultures, setting up her own business in 2014 to specialise in programme delivery setup and execution.

In her early career, she spent six years working in the NHS driving change, including the set up of an adolescent facility which drove a passion to help young people, leading to volunteering to support looked after children outside of work.

Whilst working hard to raise her family, Emma has continuously studied over many years and is very proud to have achieved an MSc at Oxford University and entry into a cohort of specialist delivery professionals.

 Emma is committed to helping The Juno Project grow and support young girls to aspire and drive their true potential.

TRUSTEE

Geoff has been working in schools for almost 25 years and has been in a leadership role for 20 years. He is currently the Headteacher of a school for children with a wide variety of complex needs. Geoff also has a daughter with complex learning and health needs.

Geoff has a Master’s Degree in specialist education and has a passion for empowering young people with additional needs. He has extensive experience in supporting young people and their families with accessing support.

Geoff is delighted to be part of The Juno Project team and is particularly looking forward to working with education settings to support young girls in developing their confidence and sense of identity.

He loves live music, Lego, African grey parrots, and seeing young people meet their potential!

YOUTH TRUSTEE

Chloe is a young person with lived experience of overcoming childhood challenge, who completed The Juno Project programme when she was 16: Chloe found the workshops extremely beneficial and learnt a lot about herself! In the future Chloe aspires to become a pediatric doctor and is currently in university studying for a related degree. Chloe feels the work of The Juno Project is vital because growing numbers of young women today are struggling, particularly with mental health. It is vital for young women to know they are not alone: with the right help and knowledge things can, and do, improve. Chloe comments, ‘I am so lucky to be part of such an amazing team and charity but most importantly I am so excited to help shape the lives of many young women who are in the position I once was, to help guide them to be the best version of themselves!’  

FOUNDER

“You are your only limit”

These are the words of our founder, Ali Golds. Today, Ali is a successful businesswoman and award-winning entrepreneur, mentor and author. But getting there wasn’t easy.

Ali experienced a range of challenges from a young age, including abuse, homelessness, and an attempt on her life. Today, Ali is passionate about social equity, supporting and speaking up for those who believe they have no voice, living and teaching the mantra that each of us is our only limit.

Ali founded The Juno Project in 2017 to address issues that vulnerable teenage girls in West Sussex were facing, having witnessed her own daughter struggle with similar problems in her formative years.

Keen to ensure that other people’s daughters didn’t experience the same consequences, Ali was determined to do all she could to support young women to better understand their behaviours, and reach their potential by developing programmes that use simple, experience-led techniques and tools, delivered in a non-judgmental, positive environment, by facilitators with extensive lived experience.

LEAD FACILITATOR

Ruth has a background in media research and also teaching, before retraining to become a transformational coach. She has a background in working with women and teenage girls, and feels honoured to guide them towards their most authentic self.

She likes running and fitness and long walks. She also loves creative writing. She is still trying to work out if she is an introvert/extrovert or an extrovert/introvert!

Ruth's goal is to help create a world where every teenage girl knows her worth, recognises her own unique gifts and talents, and feels empowered to bring her own unique self unapologetically into the world. She is thrilled to be able to do this through the excellent work of The Juno Project.

FACILITATOR

Sam has over two decades of experience working with teams developing websites, apps and software, as an Interactive Producer, Product Manager, Agile and Lean Coach, in the male dominated space of technology development. She feels strongly about inclusivity and gender balance in the workplace.

Sam is a certified Master Workshop Facilitator: a problem-solving and decision-making expert and a freelance workshop facilitator. She has a passion for empowering girls and women to achieve their potential, which she’s hoping to do, one workshop at a time!

FACILITATOR

Alison has been a teacher for 16 years, across a range of subjects and ages, and has a mental health focused MA in Education. She has worked as a Mental Health Lead, embedding whole-school mental health strategies, in addition to working as a Mental Health First Aid trainer. Along with working in supportive and mentoring roles with young people, her passion for mental health and wellbeing is rooted in her own lived experience.

In both her own journey to heal adverse childhood experiences, and as an adoptive mother of two, Alison has explored therapeutic and trauma-informed modalities that can support young people to thrive. Her learnings inform her communication style, and approach to working with staff, students, and parents/carers.

Alison loves sports (particularly netball and hockey), and the summer sees her on the beach with her two dogs (Betty and Piper): she loves being outdoors! Alison is delighted to be working with young women and supporting them to thrive as their true selves.

FACILITATOR

Bethany is a qualified play therapist, who has worked in a variety of roles with young people, including nanny, nursery practitioner, teaching assistant in a special needs school and family support worker. Bethany is passionate about supporting young women to understand how important they are, and to realise their ambitions. She uses play based approaches to connect, explore and support young people facing challenge, so they can come to know themselves better, and to recognise that they have the power within themselves to overcome, and to thrive.

She likes to run (especially Parkrun) and goes to comedy gigs as ways to connect with her playful self!

FACILITATOR

Christina has been a Secondary School Teacher for twenty years. Most recently she was the school’s lead on creating and maintaining the Relationships, Sex and Health Curriculum. The embedding of these vital elements of education led to Christina working as a consultant with external schools supporting their curriculum delivery to ensure all young people were receiving high quality education in this area. This has built up a wealth of knowledge and experience in supporting young people with building strong, healthy relationships and supporting their mental health.

Christina’s support for the Juno Project stems from her own childhood experiences and has been reinforced in her time spent as an educator; driven by the belief that it is vital to empower young people to feel worthy and deserving of happiness. As mother to three young girls, Christina now has first-hand experience of how difficult this can be sometimes!

An avid cyclist, Christina spends a lot of time taking her bicycle (called Mabel) on adventures. She loves nothing more than heading off with no real plan, other than wanting to be amongst the trees or alongside the sea.

FACILITATOR

Karen is a qualified Adult Yoga Teacher with a specialism in Adolescent and Children’s Yoga and Mindfulness. She has over 25 years' experience working in Health and Social Care environments, providing valuable 1-1 and group support.

Karen previously worked as an Assistant Clinical Psychologist and from her training and qualifications has a robust knowledge of theories and interventions that can really make a positive difference to a person’s wellbeing.

Karen is deeply committed to improving the lives of children and young people and also recognises from her own experience, that childhood adversity isn’t always easy to overcome. That is why she is passionate about providing safe spaces for children and young people to build their resilience and learn healthy coping mechanisms, through the healing power of yoga, mindfulness and transformative interventions.

FACILITATOR

Jenny enjoyed 25 years in Education, and for the last 10 years has been working in her own business as a Coach, with young people, sports people and adults.

As a qualified Life Coach she predominantly works 1-2-1 or delivers workshops in all areas of Social & Emotional Learning, as well as Sport Mindset and Human Behaviour/Personality.

“I am fascinated by people, how different we all are, how we celebrate that, and how we can get to that place where we are ‘at our best’ more often!”

Her skill set is eclectic… from neuro-linguistics to behavioural psychometrics, golf psychology to working with metaphors, laughter yoga to walk-coaching. With a background in PE she tries to make learning visual, dynamic, and wherever possible, fun – all tailored to the individual or group.

Jenny’s lived experiences as an anxious teenager are what motivates her to educate, encourage, enthuse, empower.

When Jenny is not working, she is either in the gym, on a bike, or hiking in Wales. For Jenny the outdoors is a place to be in-the-moment, grounded and grateful.