MEET OUR TEAM

These are the people leading the revolution in youth wellbeing

WELLBEING ADVISORS

Our content is approved by professionals with an incredible wealth of experience and expertise

Helen Gormley

MEd, MA (Ed), PGTC, BSc (Hons Psy), Dip. CBH, Dip. SMRB, GHR (Reg), GHQP, MNCH (Reg), REBHP, CHFP, MAC, FRSA, FSET

Hello my name is Helen Gormley and I am delighted to join the team at Nexgen Wellbeing as a Wellbeing Advisor. I am passionate about empowering people to be happier, more successful, and to thrive in their lives. I do this by offering an integrative and innovative approach to wellbeing.

I am a wellbeing coach, consultant, teacher and therapist working with people of all ages to help them develop their wellbeing now and for the future. I am fully qualified with experience in the fields of human flourishing, methodologies, therapeutic interventions, education, research, teaching and learning. I am currently working with individuals and organisations to bring Wellbeing alive through a positive psychological lens and a mind and body based approach. My Integrative approach to wellbeing takes the form of a measured, coherent and an evidence based way of working.

I wish these wellbeing tools were available when I started my career as an educator in secondary teaching, so I am very excited about supporting you all now to bring them to life as tools to be learnt and utilised by young people globally. Everything starts with a conversation and I look forward to speaking to you soon.

Sunny Kleo
MA MSc DPhil (Oxon)

Dr Sunny Kleo is a psychologist with multiple degrees from the University of Oxford, including a PhD for which she carried out in-depth fieldwork with inner-city teenagers. She has a wealth of experience, focusing on the development of young people and building their confidence through skills and communications training.

Dr Sunny Kleo is a high-level trainer and consultant expert who is regularly requested to appear on the BBC for audiences of 300 million plus, covering a wide range of topics, from ethnicity and identity to peoples' aspirations and motivations. She began her career delivering workshops at London Business School and rapidly expanded to include Oxford and Cambridge Business Schools also. She additionally consults for tech start-ups like GameBench, Prim Digital and other private clients, training in specific skills, such as persuasive writing, body language, emotional intelligence and influence management.

Dr Kleo's other delivery work has encompassed training for local charities such as SMART, The Windsor Fellowship, and The Shoreditch Trust, as well as delivering abroad for social entrepreneurship organisations - like The Transformative Action Institute, for whom she served as their first International Director. She has presented her work at many international conferences, most notably at Harvard University.

Youth Leadership Team

Grace Lunn
Head of Mental Health Reset Rollout

Hello all! My name is Grace and I am an A-Level student currently studying RS, History and Economics. I aspire to pursue a career in law where helping people will be at the forefront of everything I do. In my leisure time, I like to play football, socialise with friends and avidly collect vinyl records as I am very passionate about music. I am so happy to be a part of Nexgen's mental health advisory board as it gives me the opportunity to be even more proactive towards destigmatizing discussions around mental health. Being in the school environment each day, I am hyper aware of students experiencing diminishing mental wellbeing through various stresses and anxieties, and this needs to be addressed and spoken about, not downplayed as a 'norm' or 'something students need to get on with'. I aim to be a dynamic, driven and enthusiastic member in the Nexgen team, and have really high ambitions to stomp conventional norms around mental health, for the greater good of my generation.

Chiara Furnari
Head of Social Media

Hi there! My name is Chiara and I am here as Head of Social Media.

I have recently graduated from university with a BSc in Psychology and joined Nexgen Wellbeing at the start of 2021 as a Content Creator for Instagram and TikTok. I then became the Editor and Content Planner of the team before covering my current role. My goal is to pursue an MSc in Strategic Communication and start my dream career in highly creative industries, which is why joining Nexgen has given me the possibility to gain experience in the field and share my knowledge and passion for Psychology. It is my daily goal to raise awareness about mental health. I try to be open in my day-to-day life about my struggles with friends and family hoping that it inspires them to do the same. I grew up scrolling through social media and feeling terrible about myself, misunderstood and alone. Now that I am older and have had my fair share of struggles, I want to provide support to people that feel exactly how I felt years ago, and social media is the perfect place to start and share positivity.

I hope to help Nexgen grow and use social media to create a comfort zone for those in need!

Kitkin Thorneycroft
Head of Partnerships

Hello everyone! My name is Kitkin Thorneycroft, I am in my final year of A-Levels studying History, Latin and English at St Mary's School Ascot. I would love to pursue a career in Law after studying History at university. Having been recently made Head Girl at my school, I am so aware of the struggles that young people face, especially during the current climate, with some people being isolated from their peers, friends, and families for so long. I am passionate that everyone, no matter of circumstance, should be able to have a voice when it comes to mental health and that is why I feel that it is so important for communication to be at the forefront of any initiative I am part of. Working with the Nexgen Well-being team, I aim to remove the stigma attached to mental health and find new ways of helping and supporting those who are struggling through a non-judgemental platform of like-minded people.

Christian Gunn
Male Mental Health Lead

My name is Christian and I am just starting my first year as a law student at the University of Durham. It has been my role to conceptualise a social media strategy for men's mental health at NexGen for just over a year, in order to raise awareness for an area that is sometimes neglected in modern society. I aim to raise awareness and promote understanding of the challenges that men face in the world through NexGen's social media platforms, as well as providing men with advice on how to overcome these challenges, in order to raise awareness and assist men in leading happy lives.

MENTAL HEALTH ADVISORY BOARD OF STUDENT PSYCHOLOGISTS

Our group of student mental health advisors study psychology, have a passion for mental health and understand the problems facing students. Their insights are invaluable.

Aryanne Brier

My name is Aryanne Brier, I'm a recent psychology graduate from Solent university.

I have a passion for psychology, especially mental health and wellbeing. For as long as I can remember, I've been baffled about how something so common can be so taboo or even neglected in society. We all have mental health. Why don't we learn how to take care of it? I made it my personal mission to learn and share my knowledge about mental health and how important it is that we treat it like our physical health. Anyone that knows me, knows that I don't shy away from difficult conversations on the matter and that I advocate mental health awareness any chance I get. My ultimate goal is to improve the mental health system and to be able to live in a society where mental health is taken seriously and no longer brushed under the carpet.

Nexgen has given me the opportunity to begin achieving my goals by allowing me to use their platform to spread the word about mental health and help improve people's wellbeing by sharing tips and reminders.

My dream is big and I can't do it on my own but together we can make a difference.

"One person can't do everything, but everyone can do one thing." - Dr Sylvia Earle

Oscar Hill

I'm a first-year Psychological and Behavioural Sciences student at the University of Cambridge who's passionate about supporting people through challenges in their mental health. When I was growing up, this was a huge part of my life as I remember both myself and many of my friends struggling with different mental health issues. However, the education and support that would have been so useful was often completely absent. I'm really excited to work on the student advisory board at Nexgen and share my experiences and insight so that we can change the stigma around mental health and start to make progress in an area that sorely needs it.

Maryam Matter

Hi, I’m Maryam, a research assistant on the eBRAIN study at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London (KCL). We are researching brain development and mental health among young people in London. I joined KCL as a part-time MSc Neuroscience student in 2018, which I completed in 2020. Prior to this, I completed a Pharmacology BSc (Hons) at the University of Hertfordshire in 2017 and have developed a love for everything neuroscience and mental health related.

I have always been interested in the human brain, its intricacies, and complications. My enthusiasm for mental health research and breaking down the stigma shrouding mental health stems from my personal experiences with mental health problems. Maintaining good mental health is one of the greatest challenges young people face today, with around 1 in 10 young people experiencing a mental health problem each year. Having the opportunity to contribute to such an impactful and important platform, which prioritises the voices of young people, like Nexgen Wellbeing is really exciting.

In my spare time, I am a volunteer befriender at Maytree, a residential respite centre for people who are feeling suicidal. I’m also an MSc Neuroscience BAME female mentor, providing mentees with personal and academic support throughout their journey on the course. Outside of work and academia, I love playing video games, mostly on the PC but I also have a Nintendo Switch! I love creative writing and have contributed a number of blogs as a member of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and the inSPIre the Mind editorial team. I hope that my blogs on the Nexgen Wellbeing platform can shed light on how crucial our mental health truly is, and why we should focus on early intervention and young people’s mental health.

Eve Dore

After undertaking a BA in English Literature at Oxford University I am now studying a Psychology Conversion MSc with a hope to eventually train as a Clinical Psychologist. I also work part time as an Assistant Psychologist and as a mentor for people with Autism. Although talking about our own mental health is slowly becoming more acceptable, a lot of us have no idea where to start when it comes to actively protecting our emotional well-being. That's why I am excited to join Nexgen as a student mental health advisor to encourage other young people to not only speak out about any struggles they are going through, but also to contribute to a pool of resources that advise on how we can all look after our mental health.

Zuleikha Sayani

I am super proud to be a part of the student advisory board at Nexgen. It’s allowing me to contribute to the growing awareness of mental health issues and achieve one of my key goals as a psychologist: to bring more attention to the issues that concern children and teenagers, and the solutions that Psychological research can offer.

I’m currently pursuing an MSc from King’s College London and hope to continue on to a career in Clinical psychology. My academic interests lie in childhood trauma, trauma therapy and personality disorders. In addition to my commitment to my degree, I self-publish articles on mental health, productivity and general wellness.

STUDENT WELLBEING BOARD

Our students who are advising us on how to improve the wellbeing of young people

Shirley Mason
Oxford University

My name is Shirley and I am just finishing my first year of being a law student at the University of Oxford. I am so excited to be working with NexGen as their objectives and goals are exactly what society needs, now more than ever. Everybody's mental health is quintessential to their day-to-day wellbeing, as well as how we treat others, and so it is extremely important to create first-line resources for anyone to be able to access, which I am so grateful to be a part of. I have a passion for making mental health a less 'taboo' subject, as well as discussing the intersectionality that comes with mental heath problems, as help is more readily available or particular people than others. I look forward to everything we are going to achieve together on this journey towards better recognition for mental wellbeing, particularly with aiding university students.

Nadia Fourie

My name is Nadia Fourie, and I am a student at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, doing a double major in Economics and Computer Science. I was born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa, but attended Groton School, a prep school in the countryside of Massachusetts, from grade ten through twelve. There, I served as president of our Active Minds chapter, a group that focuses on mental health awareness in educational institutions across the United States. I am very passionate about mental health awareness because I have first-hand experience in seeing how it affects students at high pressure academic environments. I hope that society can reach a point where there is no stigma around mental health, and where help is freely available to anyone that needs it. I aim to provide a unique perspective on the Advisory Board, and work with similar minded people to spread education about mental health matters.

Lizzie Lukosevicius
King's College London

I am a neuroscience and psychology student at KCL who is particularly interested in the biological aspect of mental health. With mental health conditions increasing worldwide, it is alarming that some people are still hesitant to raise a discussion on the matter. I do believe that schools are beginning to discuss this topic more openly but unfortunately, many of us still lack knowledge on how to take care of our mental wellbeing. This is why the work that Nexgen does is crucial to educate individuals and consequently protect them. Therefore, I am grateful for the opportunity to work with them to spread educational resources and destigmatise the topic of mental health.

Berta Jimenez Santos
University of Sussex

Hola! I am Berta and I am studying Anthropology and International Development at the University of Sussex. I am a huge student advocate and during my years representing peers I have witnessed how students' mental health has declined substantially. NexGen Wellbeing are doing a fantastic job at spreading awareness and teaching young folk how to take care of their mental health, so I am honoured to be part of their Advisory Board. I am passionate about social justice, development studies and education too; areas that have historically overseen the role that mental health plays among young people. I look forward to sharing my expertise with the Advisory Board, but most importantly, I hope to keep educating myself on how to best support people in their personal journeys with mental health.

Rachel Sharp
Durham University

Hi there, I'm Rachel. I am a Psychology student at Durham University so I hope I can use my degree to Nexgen's advantage. Nexgen's focus on prioritising wellbeing is what initially drew me in, with being outdoors and exercising some of my favourite things to maintain a healthy mindset. The peak of the pandemic was when I realised the importance of discussing mental health, which led me to write blogs for charity about this topic. I am looking forward to making mental health less of a taboo subject by working with Nexgen Wellbeing!

Madeleine Sautelle
Exeter University

My name is Madeleine Sautelle, I am a 2nd year Exeter University Student, studying Philosophy and Mandarin. Mental health has been one of the biggest challenges of my life and something I continue to struggle with everyday. I am very passionate about the cause and I want mental health to be something that we openly talk about as a society. It’s ok not to be ok!

Hannah Boucher
Edinburgh University

Hello! My name is Hannah and I'm a Linguistics student at the University of Edinburgh and I'm delighted to be part of Nexgen's Wellbeing Advisory Board. I am passionate about food, travel, Art and Photography and received a Merit in my Art foundation, prior to University. After devastatingly losing my best friend, I ran the Leeds Half Marathon for Epilepsy Research, which has become a charity close to my heart. Running has kept my mental health afloat during the pandemic, getting out of head and into my body. I pride myself in being incredibly honest and open, and believe vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. I wholeheartedly agree with Nexgen's mission statement that there shouldn't be a stigma attached to mental health and I'm incredibly eager to support the fight against the mental health crisis as a team.

Oliver Gibbs
University of Manchester

Hi everyone! My name is Oliver and I am currently studying Business & Management and French at the University of Manchester. I have worked with charities in Switzerland and United Kingdom tackling and raising awareness for problems such as homelessness, refugee crisis’, and hunger in communities. Combatting such vast issues has left me with the desire and determination to tackle a problem that can affect us all, mental health. I am excited to join Nexgen as a member of their mental health advisory board as I truly believe collectively we can raise awareness for mental health and provide valuable resources that will vitally help people.

Daisy Peterson
King's College, Student

Hello everyone! My name is Daisy and I'm a Law student at King's College London. Outside of University, I am passionate about reading, food and dogs. I am really excited to be working with Nexgen and cannot wait to see what we accomplish. I hope to use this opportunity to raise greater awareness for the mental health issues that face us all every day. Having completed my first year of University almost completely online, I have learned how important it is to check up on yourself and your friends. Mental health is so challenging but I hope that together, the Nexgen Advisory Board will help many to realise that it's normal to not be okay and help those who need it.

Oscar Gibson
Eton College

Hi everyone! My name is Oscar and I am a year 12 student studying A-level Maths, Biology, Chemistry, and Theology. I am passionate about pursuing a career in medicine when I leave school as I have a desire to improve people's lives and love the idea of lifelong learning. I also enjoy philosophy and I am hence fascinated by neurology and neuropsychology. I am also passionate about improving people's mental health as mental health issues can often go unnoticed but are some of the biggest challenges that people face. As such I am a member of my school's 'Wellbeing Advisory Board’. It is my aim to raise awareness of the importance of mental health in my school and amongst my generation.

Farheen Khan
Morpeth School

I’m Farheen Khan, 17 from East London. I’m an enthusiastic individual who strongly believes in personal development. I want to inspire and advocate strong and empowering messages to help people realise their genuine worth. I have a huge passion for public speaking and journaling and I truly believe in our right to be expressive. As well as this, I aspire to become a lawyer one day as well as a motivational speaker, I want to raise awareness and create a social change. I’m also a current mentor for the metropolitan police as well as an ambassador of The Girls Network. Mental health is something I value with huge prosperity. Mental health is something so precious, it’s defined and characterised by our emotional and psychological well-being. Sometimes you have to experience the bad so that you can learn to appreciate the good in life. Don’t be in a world where you feel alone because In order to elevate you must eliminate, you have the right to step back and take time for yourself and never feel guilty about caring for your mental health. Advocate mental health awareness, we all go through our rough days, realise your feelings and take action for support.

Jared Webb Plater
Wilson's School

Hi. My name is Jared & I am a 17 year old Sixth Form Student at Wilson’s School in Croydon. I believe that mental health is a super important, and often neglected, aspect of personal health for all ages but especially teens. I am super excited to be working with Nexgen to help my own generation learn how to deal with and manage their own mental health. I believe in openness about mental health and a commitment to make everyone feel valued and make sure nobody feels alone in any struggles they have with mental health.

Maya Tajuddin
Thomas Telford School

Hello everyone! My name is Maya and I am a second year A-Level student, currently studying English literature, Politics and History. I am eager to pursue a career in law as I would love to be involved in shaping the law to meet the needs of future generations in a changing world. I am particularly passionate about improving people’s lives through justice and helping those who have little support. Alongside this, I enjoy sports activities and public speaking. I am a current member of the Youth Person Forum which meets each week to discuss the issues on the minds of the youth in my area. I am super excited to be a member of the Nexgen Well-Being school advisory board! I feel that especially during the pandemic, it is important to de stigmatise the discussion of mental health as it comes in all shapes and forms. It such a taboo subject that we should not be afraid to talk about. I want to help shape mental health strategy to provide support in education and teaching for not just our generation, but all generations. Thanks to my enrolment on the Nexgen board, I am glad to help use my platform to spread the word and connect people together on such an important issue as mental health. I am committed to making sure no one feels alone with their issues. We are all in this together!

Edward Hodson
Prince Henry's Grammar School

Hello everyone! My name is Eddie, and I am currently studying A-Level Law, History and Philosophy and Ethics in Leeds, West Yorkshire, aspiring to be a lawyer and help ensure justice in the UK. I plan on going to a Law University after my A-Levels, after travelling and earning work experience for a year beforehand. I am currently partaking in a Political Futures Programme, which aims to make students between 16-17 more politically aware and independent. I also participate in an Academic Pathways group in my Sixth Form which poses controversial debates and requires students to confidently and sufficiently participate in the conversation.

I am extremely passionate about mental health, especially in our generation who are recognisably in a difficult state whether it be due to COVID-19, School stress, or mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. I have had bad waves of anxiety and know many others who have too. I aim to encourage students to speak out about their mental health, know that they are not alone, and connect to others who may be in the same boat. I aim to be motivated, confident and represent the best interests of students who are my age and have high ambitions of relieving the mental health crisis which our generation is facing. I am thankful to be enrolled on the Nexgen team, and I believe I am a great addition to this organisation.

Revolutionising the youth wellbeing landscape