Meet our team
Christina Vlahakis
Christina Vlahakis
Christina joined the Foundation in January 2019. She has previously worked in the charity sector in executive support and project management roles at health and volunteering charities including Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie, CLIC Sargent and Volunteering Matters.
You might be interested in
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30 September 2024Youth-Led Creativity: 10 organisations awarded funding
We're excited to announce the 10 organisations awarded Youth-Led Creativity funding, totalling £1.1m. Organisations will also be supported through a Learning Programme, which will run alongside the funding, and will be co-designed with them and Esmée's Involving Young People Collective.
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Pre-application Q&A webinar: 23 September 2024
Watch a pre-application Q&A webinar we held on 23 September 2024 for organisations interested in applying to Esmée for support who have questions about our application process or guidance.
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Invitation to Tender: Review of diversity, equity and inclusion support received through Funding Plus
We are looking for a researcher to review the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) support received through Funding Plus.
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Place Matters to research Esmée's place-led funding
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation has commissioned Place Matters to research the impact of our place-led funding pilots: Every One, Every Day in Barking and Dagenham (Participatory City Foundation), Plymouth Octopus Project in Plymouth, and Sandwell Council of Voluntary Organisations in Sandwell.
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Blue Spaces programme: highlights and learning so far
Esmée’s Freshwater Partnerships Development Manager, Jenny Wheeldon, shares an update on our Blue Spaces programme. Launched in early 2023, learn more about the brilliant organisations and activities being supported through the programme, along with highlights from what we have learnt so far.
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Designing a Senior Leadership Development programme for People of Colour in the Environment sector
Invitation to Tender: We're looking to work with a consultant to support the co-design of a senior leadership programme for people of colour in the environment sector.
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Pre-application Q&A Creative, Confident Communities: 14 November 2024
We're hosting a pre-application Q&A webinar on 14 November 2024 for organisations interested in our support for Creative, Confident Communities.
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Our support and solidarity
To all the organisations and people we fund, we want to offer further support, encouragement, and flexibility at this time of racist violence and threat from the far right.
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Youth-Led Creativity funding: update
An update on our Youth-Led Creativity funding, which launched earlier this year. In it, we share more about the design of the fund, our approach to assessing applications and what’s next.
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Working towards A Fairer Future: reflections so far
Catherine Hillis, Director of A Fairer Future at Esmée, shares her reflections on her first year leading the team to deliver the first full year of our new A Fairer Future strategy and how the wider context is shaping our work.
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Annual Report and Accounts 2023
Our 2023 Annual Report and Accounts gives an overview of our funding, investments and operations during the year.
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Research to analyse DEI Data Standard's impact on UK funding
We are pleased to announce that the National Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise Data and Insights Observatory, in partnership with The Social Investment Consultancy, has been commissioned to analyse the impact of the DEI Data Standard on the UK funding landscape.
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LocalMotion secures £18m funding until 2031
LocalMotion's original funders, including Esmée, are continuing their involvement in the social justice network, ensuring six places in England and Wales can realise their long-term plans for change.
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Making partnerships work
Read our new Insights report, which shares learning and advice from organisations we fund on what makes good partnerships, and how to make them work.
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What do people think about Esmée Fairbairn Foundation 2024
Read the findings of a 2024 survey of successful and unsuccessful applicants about their experience of Esmée. Gina Crane, Esmée's Director of Communications and Learning shares her reflections on the findings.
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Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition shares new objectives
The Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition (CIFC) is a group of independent funders working together to enable women’s access to justice by supporting women-centred, holistic and trauma-responsive approaches.
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Using social investment to secure a fairer future
Tom Colborne, Esmée’s Social Investment Portfolio Manager, writes about our social investment plans to support in a fairer future. This is part of a series of blogs on how our social investment strategy will contribute to Esmée’s mission.
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Esmée and the Involving Young People Collective, Year 3
To help us reflect on how Esmée and the Involving Young People Collective are working together, staff and young consultants complete an annual satisfaction survey, based on the 10 values for co-production with young people.
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Pre-application Q&A webinar: 13 May 2024
Watch a pre-application Q&A webinar we held on 13 May for organisations interested in applying to Esmée for support who have questions about our application process and guidance.
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Increasing Funding Plus support for wellbeing
We are committed to targeting more Funding Plus support towards preventing burnout and improving wellbeing for the people we fund.
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Esmée’s allocation to social investment increased to £60m
We are delighted to announce that Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is increasing our allocation to social investment to £60m.
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Diversity, equity and inclusion: progress in 2023
A summary of key actions we have taken during 2023 to make progress on our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
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Who our funding is reaching 2023
To help us understand who our funding is reaching, we ask all applicants and organisations we fund to complete a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) monitoring form. See a report analysing the data we collected for grants awarded and applications decided in 2023.
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Webinar: Effective partnership working
Watch a webinar we hosted with Take Note exploring a series of practical tools and approaches they've developed to support more equitable and impactful partnership work.
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Proposed changes to the Sentencing Council's guidelines
See the joint response of the Corston Independent Funders' Coalition to the Sentencing Council's consultation on the Imposition of community and custodial sentences guideline.
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Supporting a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment sector
A new report by Hybrid Consulting and sam-culture reviews activity to address the lack of diversity in the environment sector. Commissioned by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Simon Wightman, Esmée's Funding Manager Lead for Our Natural World shares his reflections on the findings and Esmée's role.
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Foundation Practice Rating Year 3: How Esmee did
The Foundation Practice Rating (FPR) has published its third annual report assessing foundations on three areas of practice: diversity, accountability and transparency. Below, we share more about how Esmée did.
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Invitation to Tender: Equity in funding practice
We are looking to work with a researcher to deliver a report analysing UK funding through the DEI Data Standard.
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Collaborative learning about investing for environmental impact
Jenny Sansom from Environmental Funders Network and Tom Colborne from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation share progress from the Environmental Finance and Learning Fund.
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Invitation to Tender: Racial Justice consultant
We're looking to work with a consultant to help us think through how we best support organisations under our Racial Justice priority.
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