Rylee's story
Rylee Spooner (they/them) - University of Chichester
LGBTQ+ UGOY WINNER 2023
Rylee is most proud of curating a trans-awareness e-learning package for staff at their university in collaboration with the Vice-Chancellors' Group, HR, Academic Registry and The Students' Union. They also took the lead with the wellbeing team to update the Transgender and Gender-Non-Conforming Policy for staff and students. Their undergraduate and postgraduate research focuses on LGBTQ+ issues to aim to improve psychological service provision for this demographic. Rylee ensured training and updated policies were rolled out so conversations could be facilitated amongst staff and students and their work was even featured in their local press. Rylee hopes the changes they made have created a solid basis for the university's inclusivity to improve as years go on. You can read more about Rylee's experience of winning the UGOY award, the journey leading up to the award, and completing their internship within the Diversity and Inclusion team at Clifford Chance.
Read MoreJoel's Story
Joel Mordi (he/him/they/them) – University of East London, Social Sciences
LGBTQ+ UGOY WINNER 2022
Joel Mordi is the founder of M.I.F Nigeria, Nigeria’s largest charity focused on achieving the United Nations sustainable development goals.
He is a Young Leader advocate for Safe Passage, part of a group of people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds campaigning for change.
He organised Nigeria's first ever pride protest (spanning one month) and notably won the Sheila McKechnie Foundation award. He takes a varied approach to campaigning, which includes working with and amplifying the work of existing charities already doing groundwork in the UK, Nigeria and throughout the African diaspora.
George's story
George Barker (he/him) – University College London, Medicine and Surgery
LGBTQ+ UGOY WINNER 2021
During his first year at University College London, George undertook a module in Relationships and Sex Education (RSE), which involved teaching a comprehensive and LGBTQ+ inclusive RSE curriculum in schools across North London. He has gone on to train over 130 students to deliver RSE and has delivered sessions to over 500 pupils. He went from being co-ordinator of the project at UCL for a year, expanding the programme to include additional talks on topics such as HIV, blood donation and the importance of teaching about consent, to becoming the National Director of the charity Sexpression:UK, which oversees and co-ordinates the running of similar projects involving over 1,000 students at over 25 universities across the country.