Meet Our Associate

Naomi is a research, evaluation and development professional with over 15 years’ experience working across the charity, public and academic sectors in the UK and internationally.

Her work centres on participatory research, impact evaluation and community-led approaches, with particular expertise in poverty and social justice. Naomi has held senior leadership roles in both practice and policy environments, including serving as Chief Executive of Feeding Liverpool, where she led city-wide work addressing hunger and food insecurity through systems change, partnership development and community engagement. Through her consultancy practice, Rooted Research, she has worked with organisations including The Children’s Society, Church of England and Church Urban Fund, designing and delivering research, evaluation and strategic development projects.

Her approach combines rigorous qualitative and participatory methodologies with creative and relational ways of working. Through this work she has developed a particular interest in storytelling and the use of arts-based methods as powerful tools for participation, reflection and social change – helping organisations not only evidence impact, but communicate lived experience in ways that influence policy, practice and public understanding.

Naomi holds a PhD in Human Geography from Newcastle University, where her research focused on youth participation and community engagement, and an MSc in Social Research from The University of Edinburgh, specialising in research with children and young people. She has published widely in academic and professional contexts, contributed to policy and practice development, and designed evaluation frameworks for charities, public bodies and community organisations.

Naomi is currently supporting a number of Santra’s projects, including the impact report for the Access Folk project.