Change makers

I am Shenna Darcheville and I am the youth voice and participation lead for StopWatch. Born and raised in Hackney, I am a criminologist with several years’ experience working with young people. I have worked for the Youth Offending Team, in education and within the charity sector. I have developed and facilitated workshops for young people affected by issues such as knife crime, gangs, county lines, substance abuse and stop and search. I am extremely excited to be leading the StopWatch Girls and young women's research project. Young women and girls are often left out of the conversation around stop and search, so I am pleased to be able to provide a platform to have their voices and stories heard. I wanted this research project to be led entirely by girls and women, as I think we are best placed to research and tell our own stories, research about us, done by us and presented by us. The young women who will be conducting the research are an amazing group of educated, assertive and passionate future change makers and leaders and I am honoured to be working with them!

Deji is currently the strategic director for the One Flow One Brent. He is an active member and facilitator for Father 2 Father. Deji comes into this space having previously spent 8 years in Hackney developing their youth leadership model and developing what we know today as Hackney Account. Deji is working to improve police engagement and understanding on both sides and though he understands that both the community and the police will never hold hands and walk off in the sunset, there is opportunity to foster mutual respect on both sides and this is what he strives for on a daily basis.