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Meet our
professional team
AMOS
FOUNDER & CEO
Amos is a youth worker, activist and community organiser. He was inspired to found Our Second Home by the transformative experience he had in his youth movement, and is driven to empower and develop the next generation of leaders in migrant communities. He has a decade of experience working in community building, and is currently Deputy Director of HIAS+JCORE. Amos studied International Relations at Leeds University and has an MSc in Migration Studies from Oxford University.
AVA
PROGRAMME MANAGER
Ava is an experienced creative facilitator, programme manager and movement builder who is driven by the importance of making healing, care and self expression possible for marginalised communities as a tool to unwind trauma. Since 2016, they have been committed to developing creative wellbeing projects for young people, refugees and asylum seekers. Ava’s contribution to creating liberated futures includes educating groups in trauma informed practise and transformative justice, but it begins and ends with play. Ava loves to sing, dance, collage and seek out colourful adventures.
ALI
LONDON COMMUNITY COORDINATOR & NATIONAL FIELDWORKER
Ali joined OSH as its first movement worker in 2021 and in 2023 was appointed as London Community Coordinator & National Fieldworker. He took part in OSH's leadership training programme in 2019 and has been a leader ever since. He is a performer, advocate and activist working for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, inspired by his own experiences. As well as OSH, he is active in many other charities. including founding Babylon Migrants Project.
RACHEL
REGIONAL COMMUNITY COORDINATOR FOR BRISTOL & CARDIFF
Rachel is a project coordinator, workshop facilitator and mentor and has been working with young people since 2016 in a range of settings- from running the Young Refugee Project with the Red Cross to delivering creative workshops in Serres refugee camp. She is driven to create platforms for young people with a background of displacement to feel that they belong and have the tools, confidence and community to thrive in the UK. Rachel is supporting the growth of OSH to the West by developing an OSH Programme in Bristol. Otherwise she can be found rollerblading or making something out of clay!
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SARAH
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Sarah joined OSH in 2023 after working and volunteering in the refugee sector. It was when running a summer youth programme with people who have experience of the asylum system that she saw the importance of safe and welcoming spaces in helping to build a life in the UK. At OSH she will use her operations experience to bring together our growing list of programmes and strengthen the OSH community. Otherwise find her free-diving in a murky British lake.
Meet our
National Steering Committee
ELLA
FUNDRAISING EVENTS LEAD
Working with young people is something Ella has been doing since she was 17, rooted in her experience with Noam, the Masorti Jewish Youth Movement where she discovered the magic of youth empowerment. After studying History, she came back into the world of informal education working as a movement worker for Noam 2015-16 before segueing into the world of schools and formal education as a learning mentor and careers adviser and later at Shakespeare's Globe. Currently Ella is Senior Education Officer at Step Up To Serve, where she works to promote youth social action.
EMMA
LEADERSHIP TRAINING LEAD
Emma is a theatre-maker, performer and facilitator who is part of an international performance collective. She also runs drama workshops in schools. She has been a youth leader for a decade, starting her leadership journey with RSY-Netzer. Having started leading with OSH in 2018, Emma joined the team in 2020 to facilitate the leadership training programme.
ALEX
WELFARE LEAD
Alex has been with OSH since the beginning, believing in the importance of creating community and a safe space to empower young people to flourish. She is currently a trainee clinical psychologist, studying for a doctorate in clinical psychology with a particular interest in children and young people's mental health. Alex has 10 years experience working with young people dating back to when she began volunteering with her local youth movement.
JOSIE
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS LEAD
Josie works at the Jewish Leadership Council where she is the Head of Campaigns. Prior to this she worked as a freelancer in the arts. Her work has always had a focus on community building, telling stories and encouraging understanding across cultures. It’s also apparently ‘multi-disciplinary’. Josie joined OSH in 2021 as their Marketing and Comms lead and her aim is to showcase how joyous and welcoming the charity is.
Bethany
VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT LEAD
Bethany is a youth & family service manager for a large national charity. Her previous experience is in planning and delivering volunteer-delivered services for a huge range of beneficiaries, including children from deprived areas, young people with complex health conditions, and families with young children. She joined OSH as a leader at our very first residential and hasn’t been able to stay away since.
ALON
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Alon is a youth worker, trainer and facilitator who cares about creating emotionally safe spaces for adults and young people that foster connection, support learning and build community. He has worked in a range of educational settings exploring mental health, sex and relationships, and anti-oppression. He is currently training to be a counsellor for young people, and can otherwise be found cooking, playing football or trying to grow something in the garden.
Meet our
trustees
Alex Brookes
Trustee
Alex is the Director of Development at World Jewish Relief. She has previously worked in roles across UNHCR and the British Council.
Ezio Fabricio
Treasurer
Ezio is a project manager, who left Brazil in 2007 to work in the Oil and Gas industry in Africa. In 2012 Ezio moved to Europe, taking up the role of Corporate Real Estate manager, working between London and the Hague. Throughout his career, he has been heavily involved in financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting. Currently he works as Head of Real Estate at Northern Trust, American investment bank.
Joe Grabiner-Wolfson
Trustee
Joe is a senior child protection social worker. He works with children and families in a Local Authority in the South East. Having grown up in a youth movement himself Joe was lucky enough to be a leader of the very first OSH summer residential, and saw first-hand its' transformative impact. Joe is also the grandchild of refugees who came to the UK as teenagers fleeing Nazi persecution in Europe.
David King
Trustee
David King was born into a life of hardship and faced child trafficking at a young age. Despite the odds, he used his experiences to create a brighter future becoming an author, a publisher and a law graduate advocating for the rights of survivors of trafficking and exploitation. He worked as an Immigration Caseworker at BID, offering support and hope to refugees and asylum seekers. David joined Our Second Home as a member and board of trustees, bringing his unique perspective to the organisation's mission. David's unwavering commitment to justice, compassion, and equality serves as a beacon of hope for a more inclusive world.
Nic Schlagman
Chair
Nic is Head of Social Action and Interfaith at West London Synagogue. He has worked professionally in both education and refugee humanitarian relief. From 2009-2013 he was the Humanitarian Coordinator and then Programme Manager for the African Refugee Development Centre in Tel Aviv. He currently runs a number of direct service projects for refugees and asylum seekers in London including a Drop-in for destitute asylum seeker families, a support project for queer asylum seekers, language and employment support for refugees, and Community Sponsorship for both Syrian and Ukrainian refugees. When not working Nic can be found watching Marvel cartoons with his two daughters.
Raymond Simonson
Trustee
Raymond is the first CEO of JW3, London's Jewish Community Centre – the only one of its kind in the UK – which opened in October 2013. He came into this role with over 25 years' experience in informal Jewish education, leadership development, youth work and community building. He is a qualified Community and Youth Worker, holds a BA in Jewish History, an MA in Applied Anthropology and Community & Youth Work, and is an alumnus of the Cambridge University Senior Faith Leadership Programme. He is particularly proud to be a lay advisor to Amal, a cultural charity that utilises Muslim arts and culture to increase understanding of Britain’s Muslim communities among people of other faiths and none. Raymond is eternally grateful that his wife, an NHS Psychiatric Nurse, and two children are incredibly patient.
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