Paperboat was established in 2012 bringing together a team of experienced practitioners from the community, voluntary and legal sectors to offer tailored professional guidance.
Meg Aubrey, Director

Meg has a strong background in community based practice, she has been working in the voluntary sector over the past 15 years, specialising in community arts and education. As an Independent Assessor and Evaluator, Meg undertakes a wide range of work for grant giving organisations and publicly funded projects. Her clients include: BBC Children in Need, the Department of Health, the European Union’s Lifelong Learning Programme, Mess Up The Mess Theatre Company, CoolTan Arts and International Alert. Meg’s work involves establishing robust monitoring and evaluation systems specialising in user led and participatory tools. Meg also undertakes detailed and comprehensive assessments of grant applications and funded projects and is an experienced fundraiser. Meg is a Special Expert for the European Union’s community programmes in the fields of education, arts and culture, youth and citizenship. She is a qualified Teacher and has trained in Participatory Appraisal Techniques with Northumbria University. Meg holds a Social Science degree from the University of Newcastle, PGCE and MA in Development Education from the Institute of Education.

Frances Brodrick, Director
Frances has worked in the voluntary sector for over 15 years, overseeing research projects and coordinating service delivery. She specialises in supporting displaced populations and in providing responses to gender based violence. She most recently worked as Director of Services at Eaves, where she developed a number of innovative schemes such as the Poppy Project for trafficked women, a peer support service for women who have experienced sexual violence, a service for women wishing to exit prostitution, and a day centre and specialist counselling service for women. She has worked closely with the Home Office and Ministry of Justice in shaping policy and the Home Office commissioned her to develop service standards for supporting victims of trafficking, and she has delivered training internationally on the subject. As a trusted expert, she has given evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on prostitution, and chaired a Greater London Assembly group on violence against women and girls. Using contacts within the Violence Against Women sector and the Home Office, she successfully negotiated a temporary housing, support and immigration solution for women with no recourse to public funds wishing to escape domestic violence. She set up a pilot scheme which resulted in permanent policy provision for this vulnerable client group. Frances has overseen the strategic development of charities, including the national expansion of Eaves and the restructuring of the St Mungo's Broadway. Frances speaks Arabic and has spent time living and travelling in the Middle East. She has specialist awareness of how conflict and displacement affects women and girls.
Frances has worked in the voluntary sector for over 15 years, overseeing research projects and coordinating service delivery. She specialises in supporting displaced populations and in providing responses to gender based violence. She most recently worked as Director of Services at Eaves, where she developed a number of innovative schemes such as the Poppy Project for trafficked women, a peer support service for women who have experienced sexual violence, a service for women wishing to exit prostitution, and a day centre and specialist counselling service for women. She has worked closely with the Home Office and Ministry of Justice in shaping policy and the Home Office commissioned her to develop service standards for supporting victims of trafficking, and she has delivered training internationally on the subject. As a trusted expert, she has given evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on prostitution, and chaired a Greater London Assembly group on violence against women and girls. Using contacts within the Violence Against Women sector and the Home Office, she successfully negotiated a temporary housing, support and immigration solution for women with no recourse to public funds wishing to escape domestic violence. She set up a pilot scheme which resulted in permanent policy provision for this vulnerable client group. Frances has overseen the strategic development of charities, including the national expansion of Eaves and the restructuring of the St Mungo's Broadway. Frances speaks Arabic and has spent time living and travelling in the Middle East. She has specialist awareness of how conflict and displacement affects women and girls.

Rosie Aubrey, Director
Rosie is an experienced project manager with over 15 years experience in the research and implementation of peace building programmes in Europe and internationally. Rosie has worked with the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace, International Alert, Phaphama Initiatives, Y-Care International, Development Initiatives and the Alternatives to Violence Programme, supporting their work on peace and development. She is experienced at independent evaluation work taking the lead on paperboat’s evaluation and research projects. She has considerable experience of outreach work and training working with conflict affected and hard to reach groups and has a strong track record at engaging vulnerable groups. She is co-author of Dialogue in Conflict Transformation: A Journey Towards Understanding and Humanisation (Lesley Lelourec and Grainne O’Keefe (eds.) Ireland and Victims: Confronting the Past, Forging the Future, Peter Lang, 2012), and Teaching Peace, Building Resilience (International Alert, 2016). Rosie holds a Political Science Degree from the University of Liverpool and MA in Conflict Resolution from the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford and is a member of the OSCE's Mediation and Dialogue Expert Roster.
Rosie is an experienced project manager with over 15 years experience in the research and implementation of peace building programmes in Europe and internationally. Rosie has worked with the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace, International Alert, Phaphama Initiatives, Y-Care International, Development Initiatives and the Alternatives to Violence Programme, supporting their work on peace and development. She is experienced at independent evaluation work taking the lead on paperboat’s evaluation and research projects. She has considerable experience of outreach work and training working with conflict affected and hard to reach groups and has a strong track record at engaging vulnerable groups. She is co-author of Dialogue in Conflict Transformation: A Journey Towards Understanding and Humanisation (Lesley Lelourec and Grainne O’Keefe (eds.) Ireland and Victims: Confronting the Past, Forging the Future, Peter Lang, 2012), and Teaching Peace, Building Resilience (International Alert, 2016). Rosie holds a Political Science Degree from the University of Liverpool and MA in Conflict Resolution from the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford and is a member of the OSCE's Mediation and Dialogue Expert Roster.

Marie Francoise Umutoni, Associate
Marie is a gender specialist and has extensive experience working with NGOs and development partners operating in Rwanda and is an expert in designing and conducting gender sensitive qualitative work. She has developed qualitative research tools, conducted interviews, FGDs and participatory workshops, supervised field work and analyzed research results. She has led the informative work for the Gender and Adolescents Global Evidence (GAGE) project funded by DFID. She has participated in research design, implementation, analysis and reporting for the World Bank Study of Life History Trajectories of VUP Beneficiaries and Qualitative Research Study in the Framework of the Rwanda Poverty Assessment and in qualitative research design, implementation and supervision, analysis and reporting and the Gender Equity Assessment of the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme for the Rwanda Local Administrative Entities Development Authority. Marie has extensive contextual knowledge of the Great Lakes Region and has language skills in English, Kinyarwanda, Russian, French and Swahili. Marie has a Master's degree in Sociology from Kuban State University in Krasnodar, Russia.
Marie is a gender specialist and has extensive experience working with NGOs and development partners operating in Rwanda and is an expert in designing and conducting gender sensitive qualitative work. She has developed qualitative research tools, conducted interviews, FGDs and participatory workshops, supervised field work and analyzed research results. She has led the informative work for the Gender and Adolescents Global Evidence (GAGE) project funded by DFID. She has participated in research design, implementation, analysis and reporting for the World Bank Study of Life History Trajectories of VUP Beneficiaries and Qualitative Research Study in the Framework of the Rwanda Poverty Assessment and in qualitative research design, implementation and supervision, analysis and reporting and the Gender Equity Assessment of the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme for the Rwanda Local Administrative Entities Development Authority. Marie has extensive contextual knowledge of the Great Lakes Region and has language skills in English, Kinyarwanda, Russian, French and Swahili. Marie has a Master's degree in Sociology from Kuban State University in Krasnodar, Russia.
Rob Shorter, Associate

Rob has recently completed a Masters in Economics for Transition at Schumacher College where he explored the systemic roots of today’s social, spiritual and ecological crises including the origins of both national and global inequality and ways of being and organising that might offer pathways to a more equitable world. Prior to Schumacher College Rob worked for the Co-operative Group for 10 years in Strategy and Insight, combining research and analysis to give strategic direction to board members and business leaders. His most recent work has been exploring the role of imagination in steering humanity away from climate and ecological breakdown towards a world in which people and planet thrive in balance. As part of this he has designed a framework for the collective imagination; a framework to be used, shared and build upon by anyone who wishes to cultivate and tap into the shared landscape of imagination in all aspects of our lives. Rob has experience in facilitation and facilitation design that draw upon participatory arts practices and Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects. He also holds a Masters in Chemistry from Cambridge University.

Della Duncan, Associate
Della Duncan is an economic advisor, teacher, and broadcast journalist. After graduating summa cum laude from the University of California, Davis with a Bachelors in International Relations and Sociology, Della worked in the fields of sexual violence prevention and intervention, higher education, leadership studies, and international development. Della also holds a Masters in Economics for Transition with Distinction from Schumacher College and a graduate certificate in Authentic Leadership from Naropa University. Della currently convenes and facilitates courses on Economics for Transition, Gross National Happiness, and Right Livelihood at Schumacher College, facilitates Work that Reconnects workshops and retreats and is a co-producer for Upstream, a podcast exploring New Economics stories and initiatives around the world.
Della Duncan is an economic advisor, teacher, and broadcast journalist. After graduating summa cum laude from the University of California, Davis with a Bachelors in International Relations and Sociology, Della worked in the fields of sexual violence prevention and intervention, higher education, leadership studies, and international development. Della also holds a Masters in Economics for Transition with Distinction from Schumacher College and a graduate certificate in Authentic Leadership from Naropa University. Della currently convenes and facilitates courses on Economics for Transition, Gross National Happiness, and Right Livelihood at Schumacher College, facilitates Work that Reconnects workshops and retreats and is a co-producer for Upstream, a podcast exploring New Economics stories and initiatives around the world.
Kate Aubrey-Johnson, Associate

Kate combines her consultancy work with her role as Director of the Youth Justice Legal Centre. She is a youth justice specialist barrister at Garden Court Chambers and having qualified in 2001 has represented many children and adults in criminal and prison law cases. Kate has delivered training programmes for Just for Kids Law and the Prison Reform Trust and given expert evidence before the Joint Committee on Human Rights as well as providing expertise on a number of national reviews and reports. Kate has an extensive knowledge of children’s rights law and also works as an SEN mediator. She is the author of Making Mediation Work For You: a practical handbook (LAG, June 2012). Lord Woolf, former Lord Chief Justice, describes her “excellent book” as “breaking new ground”. Kate worked as a youth worker and teacher in England, Kenya and Uganda before training as a barrister. She co-founded a small charity working in Uganda and is a board member for Little Crickets, a support group for deaf children and their families in West London, and she is also a trustee and board member for a number of organisations supporting and empowering children and young people.
John Kabia, Associate

John has 18 years’ programme experience in promoting human rights, peacebuilding and civil society capacity building across the world. John is a Program Officer for the Global Fund for Human Rights and has managed grant making portfolios to support the work of local human rights and social justice organisations in Africa and beyond. He has proven experience in conducting applied and policy-oriented research leading to the publication of several books and papers on human rights, security and peacebuilding in Africa. Previously, he was with the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace based in the UK, where he developed and facilitated peace and human rights training programs for victims and survivors of conflict and human rights abuses. John holds a PhD in conflict, security and development from the University of Bradford.

Toby Cann, Associate
Toby is Student Wellbeing Leader at Halcyon London International School and an established consultant supporting wellbeing interventions in education. Toby has worked as a Wellbeing Team member in schools in Switzerland, France, the UK and the Czech Republic. He regularly presents at conferences on wellbeing issues and was invited to join the 2020health initiative group at the House of Commons, and is a contributing member of the European Network for Social Emotional Competencies (ENSEC) and was a consortium member for the IBO's Social and Emotional Literacy Resource Group. He recently created a website - School of Ren a blended learning platform for teachers and practitioners. He has contributed to a range of publications on Wellbeing issues including the NAPCE (National Association of Pastoral Care Educators), the International Schools Guide 2016 and the Human Givens Institute Periodical.
Toby is Student Wellbeing Leader at Halcyon London International School and an established consultant supporting wellbeing interventions in education. Toby has worked as a Wellbeing Team member in schools in Switzerland, France, the UK and the Czech Republic. He regularly presents at conferences on wellbeing issues and was invited to join the 2020health initiative group at the House of Commons, and is a contributing member of the European Network for Social Emotional Competencies (ENSEC) and was a consortium member for the IBO's Social and Emotional Literacy Resource Group. He recently created a website - School of Ren a blended learning platform for teachers and practitioners. He has contributed to a range of publications on Wellbeing issues including the NAPCE (National Association of Pastoral Care Educators), the International Schools Guide 2016 and the Human Givens Institute Periodical.