The Team
The team currently consists of two full time employees, a joint PhD student with the Open University, a team of associates and a Steering Committee. Dr Linda Shaw is Head of Research and Project Development; Dr Samantha Lacey is employed as the Researcher for the project and Sally Griffiths is the PhD student, jointly supervised by Dr Shaw and Professor Hazel Johnson of the Open University.
In addition there are several associates who undertake individual pieces of research including Stirling Smith, Barbara Rawlings, Rowshan Hannan, Louise Taplin, Geoff Brown, Vipin Chauhan, Cilla Ross and Norman Chipakupaku.
Dr Linda Shaw, BA PhD
Linda has worked for many years in adult and continuing education, and more recently in international development. Her career has included a variety of roles in teaching, research and writing as well as in administration and management.
In the adult education sector, she has worked for the Workers Educational Association and for the trade union movement, both for the TUC and for individual unions. In the higher education sector, she has worked for the Universities of Manchester and Leeds as well as having a long involvement with the Open University teaching both undergraduate and graduate level courses.
She has been active in the voluntary sector in both paid and unpaid capacities. Following the experience of living and working in India (including working for the UN there) her interest in development issues has led to work with agencies such as Oxfam, Action Aid, One World Action, as well as the Department for International Development. She is currently director of the Manchester based organisation Women Working Worldwide for whom she just completed a book about the global garments industry. Linda has also written widely and spoken on issues such as Fair and Ethical Trade in the UK and internationally.
Phone: 0161 246 2922
Email: linda@co-op.ac.uk
Dr Samantha Lacey, MA PhD
Dr Samantha Lacey works as the Researcher for the Co-operatives for Development project. Samantha has recently published a paper investigating the role of co-operatives in the growth and development of Fair Trade. She is currently writing a paper on the role of co-operatives in helping rural people in developing countries to adapt to environmental challenges such as access to water. She is also advising on the establishment of smallholder tea co-operatives in Kenya to supply a Fairtrade labelled tea to the Co-operative Group. She previously worked for Co-operative Asset Management as a Responsible Shareholding Analyst, investigating the ethical performance of FTSE companies and encouraging improvements through engagement. During this time she was a member of the Executive Board of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil. Samantha studied for her doctorate in microbiology and game theory at Imperial College, London and completed her undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at Cambridge in 2001.
Phone: 0161 246 2952
Email: sam@co-op.ac.uk
Sally Griffiths, MA
Sally Griffiths is a PhD student with the Development Policy and Practice Faculty of the Open University. Her research is examining the contribution of young people to learning and development in African co-operatives, aiming to build an understanding of how young people are engaging with the co-operative movement. More specifically she will be examining how young people are learning about, and through, co-operative enterprise, what co-operatives they establish, whether young people are bringing about new co-operative forms, processes and products, and whether such engagement offers new opportunities to build citizenship and support development. The research will be based on case studies conducted in Uganda and Lesotho.
This research is a partnership between the Development Policy and Practice Group at the Open University and the Co-operative College in the UK, funded by the ESRC. It began in January 2009 and will finish in December 2011.
Phone: 01908 659644
Email: s.a.griffiths@open.ac.uk
Rebecca Forecast, MA
Rebecca Forecast works as a research assistant with Co-operatives for Development. She is currently researching the capacity-building impact of co-operative development amongst producer co-operatives in Kenya. She is also involved with the research and writing of policy briefs discussing the scope and scale of the co-operative movement and its role in the fight against poverty. Rebecca has spent time researching the National Co-operative Archive, examining the radical history of the co-operative movement and demonstrating the campaigning role of members in shaping its ideals both historically and today. She has also worked with the Schools Development team, promoting the Young Co-operatives project to both students and teachers nationwide. Rebecca has previously worked for the British Red Cross, developing and delivering humanitarian education projects, as well as for the Olive Co-operative.
Rebecca studied African Studies and Geography at the University of Birmingham and completed her MA in Development Studies at the University of East Anglia.
Phone: 0161 246 2971
rebecca@co-op.ac.uk
Sally Griffiths, MA
Sally Griffiths is a PhD student with the Development Policy and Practice Faculty of the Open University. Her research is examining the contribution of young people to learning and development in African co-operatives, aiming to build an understanding of how young people are engaging with the co-operative movement. More specifically she will be examining how young people are learning about, and through, co-operative enterprise, what co-operatives they establish, whether young people are bringing about new co-operative forms, processes and products, and whether such engagement offers new opportunities to build citizenship and support development. The research will be based on case studies conducted in Uganda and Lesotho.
