Meet Our Team
Our Core Team
We are a team of high-energy, enthusiastic, and engaged facilitators who bring fun, playfulness and dedication to the workplace, every day.
Antonia Dixey
Antonia is our Founder and CEO. Her vision is for every child and young person to have a voice, for them to be listened to and have their views acted upon. She is a nationally respected youth engagement strategist, public speaker, and systems change leader with 20+ years’ experience of co-producing impactful programmes with young people
Priya Shah
Priya is a dynamic and values-driven Programme Manager with specialist expertise in co-designing solutions with children, families, and young people, particularly those with lived experience of SEND, exploitation, care, mental health and marginalisation. With a track record of designing inclusive and trauma-informed engagement strategies, Priya leads with empathy, curiosity, and creativity.
Temi Oluwadare
Temi is a dynamic and values-driven leader with a proven track record in scaling impact, embedding quality assurance, and enabling award-winning delivery across complex systems. She oversees all operational functions, including delivery assurance, contract performance, and stakeholder relationships, ensuring that every programme is delivered with precision, ambition, and compassion.
Em Priest
Em is a dynamic engagement specialist with a rich background in entrepreneurship, journalism and marketing. They collaborate with young people and professionals to craft compelling impact stories that resonate with diverse audiences. They are adept at translating complex insights into accessible content, utilising various media to engage stakeholders and drive meaningful change.
Collette Debono
Collette is a highly experienced operations and logistics professional with over 15 years’ experience in administrative coordination, early years leadership, and safeguarding systems. Calm under pressure, proactive by nature, and deeply trusted by colleagues and young people alike, she is the glue that holds delivery together, ensuring Participation People’s creative excellence is matched by operational precision.
Jessica Akinbodunshe
Jess is a creative strategist, digital facilitator, and youth engagement expert with a unique ability to transform young people’s voices into compelling, media-rich outputs. She specialises in engaging 11–25-year-olds, particularly those from marginalised or underrepresented communities. Jess brings deep experience in building trust, creating safe digital spaces, and empowering young people to co-produce insight, strategy, and influence through multimedia tools.
Omolayo Oluwadare
Omo is a dynamic and dedicated youth leader and program facilitator with extensive experience in community engagement, workshop delivery, and theatre direction. She specialises in inspiring and managing diverse groups, fostering creativity, and implementing impactful, authentic programs. Omo is adept at building strong interpersonal connections and driving measurable results in education, leadership, and community settings.
Finlay
Finlay is our unofficial mascot and furry companion to our CEO, Antonia. He likes lots of cuddles and lives in Dorset but regularly travels across the UK to help the team empower youth voices. Finlay specialises in supporting our young people when they are stressed or upset and brings a smile wherever he goes.
Our Young Consultants
Our Young Consultants are trained young researchers, facilitators and advisors who sit at the heart of our co-production model. They bring lived experience, insight and professional skill to every project, helping organisations engage with young people in ways that are ethical, inclusive and meaningful.
Working alongside our core team, they support consultations, workshops, research design and analysis — ensuring participation is never tokenistic. Their work is grounded in children’s rights and the Lundy Model, with specialist knowledge across areas including mental health, education, social care, youth justice and equalities.
We wouldn’t be who we are without them.
Our Contractors
Our Contractors are former Young Consultants who continue working with us as independent specialists. Having progressed through our youth programme, they support projects as facilitators and trainers with deep expertise, delivering high-quality engagement and helping organisations embed sustainable youth participation in practice.
With experience across statutory services, charities, health and education, they strengthen our work with continuity, credibility and impact — supporting organisations to move from listening to action.