Georgina Brewis
Georgina Brewis’ research interests lie in the historical and contemporary study of voluntary action in Britain and the British world. Georgina is currently completing her PhD research at the University of East London, exploring how colonial encounters shaped patterns of charitable giving and voluntary service in metropolitan Britain and colonial India before 1914. Georgina read Modern History and Politics at the University of Oxford and before commencing her PhD worked for two years as a research officer at the Institute for Volunteering Research, where she was involved in projects for the National Trust, Barclays Bank and University College London. Georgina was a trustee of Toynbee Hall 2004 – 2007, where she chaired a steering group working towards Investing in Volunteers and was involved in a review of the organisation’s governance. She has taught on history and social policy courses at the University of East London and the University of Surrey. Georgina has been the Secretary of the Voluntary Action History Society since 2006. Most recently Georgina has produced a report on the Volunteering Hub 2005 - 2008 for Volunteering England. Georgina has worked with VE and IVR on the following projects: Report on Volunteering Hub (for VE), Crisis, Previously National Trust, Barclays Bank, University College London, College Governors and various other projects.
Kim Donahue, Consultant, Kim Donahue Consulting
Kim is an experienced consultant specialising in the areas of volunteering, equalities, partnerships and organisational development. She received an MSc in Voluntary Sector Organisation from the London School of Economics and has more than twenty years of experience working in the voluntary sector. She is currently a self-employed consultant working with organisations across the UK and abroad and is an NCVO Approved Consultant since 2007. In addition to being an IVR Research Associate, she is affiliated with Urban Inclusion, a regeneration consultancy based in East London. Recent projects have included a survey of volunteering in Tower Hamlets, writing guidance on monitoring volunteers, researching the state of volunteering infrastructure in London, training for the board of trustees of a women’s health organisation in London, advising groups in London on commissioning and writing a ‘jargon-buster’ on equalities language for community leaders. Before relocating to London, Kim was the Regional Manager of Outreach and Training at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation from 1992 until 2002, a post which included responsibility for the organisation’s volunteer programme. Kim has extensive applied research and report writing experience and has worked with hundreds of organisations including local, national and international groups.
Katherine Gaskin, Director, Gaskin Research and Consultancy
Kathy is a freelance voluntary sector researcher and consultant, specialising in volunteering. She has worked with IVR for many years. She has also carried out evaluations of national volunteering programmes for the Home Office and worked directly with voluntary and community groups, from international to local. Kathy does both quantitative and qualitative research – and is committed to producing work of practical benefit to organisations and individuals in their volunteering. Kathy has worked with IVR and VE on the following projects: VIVA in Europe; VIVA in Hospice Volunteering; What Young People Want from Volunteering; Literature Review of Young People, Volunteering and Civic Service; ‘A Choice Blend’ What Volunteers want from Organisation and Management; Risk Reports and Toolkit; Volunteer Impact Assessment Toolkit; ‘Check it Out’ VDA Impact Assessment Toolkit; Literature Review of Volunteering in the Children’s Workforce; Commission on the Future of Volunteering - analysis of evidence; ‘A Winning Team’ Sport Volunteers Impact Assessment
Dr Jurgen Grotz, Visiting Research Fellow
Dr Jurgen Grotz is a Research Associate of the Institute for Volunteering Research, an independent researcher and a Visiting Research Fellow at Roehampton University’s Centre for the Study of Voluntary and Community Activity. Jurgen has been actively involved in the voluntary and community sectors of Germany, China and the UK for over 30 years. He has 20 years' experience as a social policy researcher and project manager, with a particular interest in community action and disability issues. He spent three years at RNIB as the co-ordinator of a policy initiative and five years as a research grants officer for the Big Lottery Fund, responsible for delivering aspects of a specialist grants programme for research by the voluntary and community sector. Over the last three years he has successfully completed work for the Institute of Volunteering Research, the Volunteering Hub, the Commission for the Future of Volunteering, Turn2us, NCVO, Compact Voice and Volunteering England. He has recently co-ordinated two research teams, one designing a toolkit for the development of local volunteer centre infrastructure for Volunteering England and the other establishing user need and user awareness for a new national charity, Turn2us. He recently also provided training for LVSC and VE. Jurgen received his PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies and trained as a Chinese speaker in Berlin and Beijing. He teaches as a visiting lecturer and regularly presents at academic conferences. Jurgen is a Board member of the Association for Research in the Voluntary and Community Sector and edits its bulletin.
Judith Unell, Research Consultant, Unells Research Consultants Ltd
Judith has been an independent social researcher for many years and has accumulated a wide range of research interests, with voluntary and community sector issues as an important theme throughout her career. In this context, she particularly enjoys policy analysis, project and programme evaluations, case study work and agency reviews. Judith has worked with VE and IVR on the following projects: Evaluation of the Volunteering Initiative for the Third Age programme (2006), Case studies of the use of the Volunteer Impact Assessment Toolkit (2007), Evaluation of English Heritage Education Volunteers Programme (2007), Telephone survey of organisations involving volunteers in environmental work in North East England -as part of a broader study undertaken by IVR on behalf of Natural England (2008) , Analysis of the links between the aims of the Diana Award and current government policy objectives for children and young people (2008)
