Simone is a Trinidad and Tobago-born, brewed and bred entrepreneur, Diversity and Inclusion activist specialising in the field of International Development at The Open University. She has worked in the Higher Education sector for more than a decade, with the responsibility for ensuring that universities remain mindful of, and prioritise, regulatory and sector requirements and standards. As part of this, she has helped universities to investigate, interrogate, mitigate and prioritise barriers to success of their marginalised staff and students. She is passionate about safeguarding the interests of marginalised groups in the UK’s higher education sector. She strongly believes that research evidence and data are our friends, and has a strong disdain for leaders who rule based, solely, on their perspective and (privileged) experience.She weaves this experience into her International Development work by ensuring that the design and deliverables of international development research projects are collaborative, inclusive, bottom-up and impactful, from the perspective of the Global South.