People & Planet Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is the team of people who oversee all the work that the People & Planet does and tries to keep the organisation working in the best interests of the network.
This is your portal to finding out all about the Board of Trustees (also known as the BoT) — who we are, what we’re currently doing, and how you can get involved. Check here regularly, and watch out for announcements, to find out about which consultations we’re currently running on our work, so that you, as part of the network, can continue to be involved in how People & Planet is run.
- Find out more about how the BoT is democratically involved in the network.
- Read the Meetings Minutes And Papers for past and upcoming meetings.
Student trustee elections
Elected student representatives make up over half our Board of Trustees. Elections take place every year in February. Nominations to be a student trustee are open all year round.
Current Trustees
People & Planet's trustees in random order.
Kate Tokley
Lavanya Rajendran
Hi, I’m Lavanya Rajendran – wellbeing and community officer in the East London Students’ Union. I graduated with MSc in Information security and digital forensics at the University of East London in 2021.
I have been working to make sure that the university is a safe space to take care of students’ wellbeing. I’ve been elected by the students to represent them for two years. I have been campaigning on issues that affect students nationally including the cost-of-living crisis, sexual violence awareness, environmental sustainability, etc.
I have been working together with People and Planet constantly for two years working on the Fossil free campaign. I’m super excited to be on their board!
Pete Ferguson
Hi I’m Pete and I’m a final year International Politics student at the University of Surrey. I’ve been involved in People and Planet for several years as well as housing and climate activism.
Adam McGibbon
Christina Laird
Hello!! I'm Christina, I am so excited to introduce myself as a new student trustee for People and Planet! I am currently in the 4th year of my undergraduate degree at Edinburgh University, studying English Literature. I got involved with People and Planet Edinburgh last year, it has been a busy year with us making some serious headway with our Undoing Borders Campaign, and continuing divestment strategies. I've thoroughly enjoyed working alongside passionate and hardworking student activists, and I cannot wait to get involved further as a trustee. I have learnt so much in such a short time, and I'm so proud to be part of such an impressive organisation which strives for impactful social and environmental justice.
Guillermo Lluch
I am Guillermo (or just Gee). I completed a Politics, Philosophy and History BA at Birkbeck University in London, where I have been an Environment and Ethics Officer for two consecutive years. During this time at Birkbeck, we re-launched a fossil-free campaign and started a Green New Deal coalition between staff members and students. I also work at a large college in London with young adults with learning disabilities. Through university and work, I have experienced the importance of adequate, sustainable and fair education, and I believe that fossil fuels have no place in the curriculum. I became a Student Trustee at P&P in 2022.
Ellen Carter
I'm a student trustee, studying a Master's in International Development and Diplomacy at SOAS. I've just finished my undergrad degree at Loughborough University and I've been actively campaigning with the Loughborough P&P group since 2018. I'm a huge advocate for grassroots activism and I've loved watching P&P achieve so much over the past few years.
Annie Pickering
Ria Patel
Hi, I’m Ria, a second year Psychology student at King’s College London. I’ve people involved with the Undoing Borders campaign at KCL P&P, as well as the Divest Pride campaign. I’m involved in fighting for climate action, migrant rights and Queer rights, as well as ending the hostile environment. I’m passionate about community organising and grassroots activism, and am so excited to be a trustee at People and Planet.
Diana Volpe
Diana is a student trustee and a migrant justice campaigner. She is a DPhil Candidate in International Development at the University of Oxford, where she focuses on the ethics and politics of migration control in Italy and its cooperation with Libya. She has been involved in campaigns and activist communities around migrant and asylum rights, reproductive justice, and LGBT rights for eight years. She has campaigned with People and Planet and in 2020 founded the Oxford chapter of the Divest Borders campaign.
Paris Palmano. Student Trustee
Verel Rodrigues
Verel is a climate activist and an environmental campaigner with a passion for influencing sustainability and creating social change. Since 2019, he has been involved with climate movements like Extinction Rebellion, Animal Rebellion and Just Stop Oil. His work revolves around building awareness, challenging the status quo, and influencing action on the climate crisis and its solutions.
Verel has a background in mechanical engineering and has previously worked in various industries including construction, manufacturing, renewable energy, and communications.
Verel currently works as a Sustainability Consultant at Element Four where he specialises in creating net zero pathways, championing and creating sustainability strategies and provides workshops on climate change for the built environment sector.
Cora Morris
Hi everyone! I’m Cora, a mature student studying Politics and Social Anthropology at Cambridge (focusing on the anthropology of care work). I have been involved in community campaign spaces for the last seven years, and since starting at Cambridge, have organised with People & Planet to launch an Undoing Borders group at the university. I’m so thrilled to be part of an organisation that has student activists at the helm!
Trustees: How We Work
Our Jobs
The Board of Trustees has a lot of responsibility for making sure People & Planet is fulfilling its aims: it approves our accounts and annual budgets, and comments on and approves staff plans, ensuring that the office is working on the best projects to support your campaigning.
It’s also involved democratically with the network: student members are elected every year to represent the student network on the Board of Trustees, and it works to be open with the network about the work it’s doing — both keeping the network informed about the decisions being made and providing spaces for the network to be involved in decision-making.
Our Membership
The Board of Trustees is made up of democratically elected student members and also non-student members drawn from other organisations such as Oxfam, Friends of the Earth or ActionAid, who are chosen for their areas of expertise. The elected student members always make up more than half of the Board of Trustees, and meetings are chaired by the student members in rotation.
Our Processes
The Board of Trustees currently meets four times a year, and all members try to attend. Office staff are also invited along to meetings in an advisory capacity when needed. You can find summaries of our meetings and important information about what we’re discussing below.
Summary of BoT meeting December 2021.
Summary of BoT meeting March 2022.