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Information on the members of the LGBTQ+ Equality Steering Group
Chairs of LESG
Noël Caliste
I have been in my current role, Executive Assistant to the Pro-Vice Provost of Library Services at UCL since November 2018, having worked in the Higher Education sector for over 10 years. I am honoured to have the opportunity to represent the UCL LGBTQ+ community as a queer black person. In recent years I have become very conscious of representation and visibility and want to take this opportunity to bring a differing perspective to the LGBTQ+ Equality Steering Group, to celebrate our differences, while educating and inspiring others around me, as I have been.
Jayne Flowers
I have worked as the Equity and Inclusion Unit Coordinator in the Students' Union since 2021. Apart from a direct passion and drive to assist students in efforts towards a more equitable and fair UCL, I am also a Sociologist by second trade. I am deeply interested in Gender and Sexuality Studies, Queer Theory and how these intersect with Decolonisation. This comes as I reflect on my life as someone who is Trans and Non-Binary, as well as my experience researching queerness in higher education and varying decolonisation portfolios for varied university subjects.
Members of LESG
Max Hill
Sponsor / Senior Champion
I'm Max, and I became involved when I first joined UCL over 14 years ago. Whilst the level of tolerance for LGBTQ+ people has increased since the dark days of 80s Britain when I was growing up, there are still very definite issues to be addressed regarding acceptance of LGBTQ+ people and lifestyles, and the UCL networks can have a positive influence on this. Also, I believe, having a safe LGBTQ+ accepting environment is particularly important as we are a university with a high percentage of students coming from all areas of the world where homosexuality may still be illegal. My day job at UCL is working as an Occupational Health Advisor, advising staff and employees regarding work related health issues. I started my career as a staff nurse and worked in the NHS for over 10 years before joining UCL in February 2009.
Kate Boldry
Knowledge and learning coordinator
I joined UCL IoE in 2015 as a lecturer and tutor in Initial Teacher Education. I particular enjoy delivering lectures on the Equalities act, social justice and allyship and have been working with my student teachers on how they can be effective pro-active LGBTQ+ allies in the classroom, for the pupils they teach in school. I have worked with colleagues to develop a more inclusive curriculum in teacher education as well as train student teachers and staff on how to deliver LGBTQ+ inclusive Relationship and Sex Education, alongside the charity Sexplain. I became a 'Friend of Out' in 2019 and joined LESG in 2020 as I am interested in being involved with a wider UCL network to raise the profile of LGBTQ+ equality across the university supporting LGBTQ+ students and staff. I am particularly interested in helping develop Friends of Out and the important role proactive LGBTQ+ allies have in combating homophobia.
Edward Wild
Sponsor / Senior Champion
I’m a Professor of Neurology at the Institute of Neurology, Associate Director of the Huntington’s Disease Centre, and a Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. When I started university in 1996, the medical profession and academic medical research were both very hostile to gay or queer people. Thanks to successful and sustained campaigning, much has changed for the better in society over the past 25 years, and I am hugely fortunate have benefited from this progress to become a proud, openly gay senior academic and clinician. We cannot take anything for granted though, and our rights are constantly under attack. I particularly want to use my position and privilege to benefit others in the queer community who still need to be lifted up to true equality - especially people of colour and our trans siblings, whose representation and protection against hate speech clothed as "academic freedom" needs dramatic and urgent improvement.
Fiona Leigh
Academic Research Champion
(she, her, they) I am Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, where I specialise in ancient Greek philosophy, particularly Plato’s dialogues. I also have a side interest in feminism and queer theory, though currently that is restricted to teaching students about Plato’s theory of erotic love (which incorporates same-sex love), his remarks on gender, and his proposal that women should share in the rule of the ideal city in the Republic. I moved to the UK from my native Australia in 2007 to take up a postdoctoral position at KCL, and started at UCL in 2009. Identifying as gay/ lesbian/ queer, I was thrilled to be moving to a country that had more progressive LGBTQ+ laws than my own, and was delighted when marriage was extended to same-sex couples in the UK in 2014. In 2013 I joined LESG (formally LEAG) because I feel strongly that it is vital for UCL to be a welcoming and inclusive space for all LGBTQ+ staff and students.
Johanna Novales
Events Coordinator & Chair of Trans Network
Johanna Novales (they/them): I’ve worked at UCL since 2011; currently I am the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Coordinator at UCL Engineering and a co-chair of the UCL Trans Network. It’s more important than ever that inclusive, intersectional values are infused in all we do at UCL -- especially regarding the inclusion of trans and nonbinary people. I see sitting on LESG as part of those efforts. Several years ago I started the We Are Out@UCL project to bring more visibility to the wonderful LGBTQ+ people who work here; you can read my own profile if you want to know more about me!
Anthony Smith
UMC Champion
I joined UCL in 2012 and have been Vice Provost (Faculties) since 2021 where I support all the Faculty Deans and the Pro Provost UCL East to deliver their work. As a member of the University Management Committee and its LGBTQ+ champion, I am pleased to be able to represent and advocate on behalf of our community at the most senior level within UCL. My hope is that through the work of LESG, all staff and students can be their authentic selves at UCL, irrespective of whether they are out, partially out or not at all.
Lord John Sharkey
Council Champion
I am a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords. As an undergraduate, I was taught mathematics by Robin Gandy, Alan Turing’s only doctoral student and his closest friend. I knew, from an early age, what had happened to Turing and to others convicted as he was simply for being gay. When I was appointed to the Lords, I tried to persuade the Government to grant a pardon to Turing and to all others, living and dead, similarly convicted. The Government resisted and eventually I brought forward a private member’s Bill to grant Turing a pardon. I made it clear that should the Bill succeed, then a more general pardon should be given. The Bill was enthusiastically supported by the Lords and, eventually by the Government with the grant of a Royal pardon. I followed this up by successfully amending another Bill to extend the pardon to all those, living and dead, convicted as Turing was. I learned an enormous amount about the gay community in the course of the pardon campaign. I became even more convinced of the continuing need to protect and advance the interests of the LGBTQ+ community.
I am very proud to be UCL’s LGBTQ+ champion.
Kata Kyrölä
Events Cordinator
I’m a Lecturer in Media Studies at the Department of Culture, Communication and Media, the IOE, and I teach in the MA programme Digital Media: Critical Studies. Before joining UCL in 2021 and moving to London, I worked in both Gender Studies and Media/Cinema Studies in Finland and Sweden. My research focuses on queer, feminist, and critical race studies of popular media, and I am excited to work on LGBTQ+ justice and liberation at UCL not only on the level of theory but also practice. I am queer and non-binary and a big believer in solidarity and collaborative work: no-one is free until we are all free. Outside of the academia, I play roller derby which is a full contact team sport on roller skates – and an explicitly welcoming community for LGBTQ+ folks.
Rebecca Jennings
Knowledge and learning coordinator
I’m an Associate Professor in Modern Gender History in the History Department, where I have worked since joining UCL in 2016. I’ve been researching 20th century lesbian history for the last twenty five years, which I love and I’m also lucky to be able to teach the history of gender and sexuality. Having been at school through the early Section 28 years, I’m passionate about having LGBTQ+ experience recognised and visible in education and about the importance of UCL being an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone.
Riccardo Privolizzi
Communications Coordinator
I am a Senior Research Fellow in the Gene Therapy Accelerator Centre at the UCL Institute of Neurology. I'm also an Honorary Research Fellow and Visiting Lecturer in Gene Therapy at the UCL Institute for Women's Health, and an ECR Board member of the Bristish Society for Gene and Cell Therapy.
I am proud and honoured to serve the role of Communications Coordinator within the UCL LGBTQ+ Equality Steering Group. For years, I have been striving to be part of a community to give and receive support to/from my LGBTQ+ peers, as well as to bridge a generational gap in LGBTQ+ societal and historical perceptions. I moved to London from Italy in 2010 and I joined UCL as a student in 2013. Throughout my academic journey from student to staff at UCL, I have always been lucky to have a positive experience in terms of inclusion and safety. I am passionate about this becoming a reality for everyone at UCL and in our wider community.
Simon Liu
Events Coordinator
By profession, I am a specialist English language teacher who trains foreign students to meet the demands of their postgraduate studies at the Centre for Languages & International Education (CLIE) at UCL. I have been doing this from around the summer of 2019, however, since joining UCL full-time in 2020, I have been involved in EDI advocacy in pursuing the Athena Swan Silver Award for the IOE faculty, working as the LGBTQ+ Intersectional Lead. Since 2023, I have been appointed the IOE's first and only Faculty LGBTQ+ Equity Lead to date - which has given me even wider remit to improve LGBTQ+ advocacy. I am an openly gay and proud Scottish-born Chinese cisgender man. I am also proud to have been coordinating the IOE's first and only to date Trans-inclusivity Seminar Series to promote awareness of Trans-inclusive academic work.
Tone Walford
Events Coordinator
Simon Lock
Academic Research Champion
Members of the committee lead on specific areas. Please contact the most suitable individual/s however if you are unsure, please reach out to the Chair/s.