Meet the NCE team
Nottingham Civic Exchange is hosted by NTU in the School of Social Science and coordinated by a core team of two staff – Rich Pickford, and Haya Fakoush. We work regularly with university staff and partners on active projects and programmes of work and also maintain an extensive network of contacts and partners to activate when needed.
Rich Pickford, Manager
Email: richard.pickford@ntu.ac.uk
Rich manages the strategic direction of NCE and leads on facilitating connections between researchers, communities, business and citizens and maximising the impact of Nottingham Civic Exchange's work. He has a passion for research on labour market exploitation (submitting to REF 2021 where his work influenced national and local policy), the way civil contingencies operate in the UK (seconded to the C19 National Foresight Group through the pandemic) and health and wellbeing of emergency service colleagues (having supported a research and policy programme to pave the way for the next Fire and Rescue Wellbeing strategy across the UK with the NPCC). Rich has a background in outdoor education and youth work, and prior to working with NTU he was based with the RSA supporting their work across Wales and the Midlands.
Haya Fakoush, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Officer
Email: haya.fakoush@ntu.ac.uk
Haya supports the development and delivery of NCE projects which aim to enhance the engagement of NTU’s research with communities and policy. Her work is centred on the role of culture and place and she is keen to develop new community-based initiatives.
Haya holds an MA in Educational Leadership and an MA in Social Science Research. Previously, Haya held research and teaching assistant positions in higher education and worked on research projects with international development organisations. She contributed to research projects on refugee education, international migration, vocational education and the informal work sector.
Learn more about NCE
The Nottingham Civic Exchange offers
We encourage the development and direct application of academic work that has the potential to make positive changes locally, regionally and nationally.
Nottingham Civic Exchange Projects
Our themes draw together the expertise, skills and knowledge of our team and our colleagues to help make a positive difference.