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The Equity & Inclusion Officer is a full time Sabbatical Officer of the Students’ Union working full time to provide leadership to the Students’ Union’s services; and representing the interests of students to UCL, including participating in UCL committees and regular meetings with senior staff. They will lead on equity and inclusion work across the Union to ensure that UCL is truly inclusive and welcoming for all students and that all students are able to participate in the Union’s activities. 

Read the full role description here.

Candidates

Ruqaiya Asim (She / Her)
Listening, Advocating, Improving
What do you hope to achieve in the role if you are elected?

As a blind student, I understand students' challenges, including isolation and loneliness. I will make UCL more accessible and inclusive for all. I will create a community where everyone feels included. I will turn these goals into reality by identifying and removing barriers across our campus. I will ensure that the student union listens to your voice and acts on it. My focus is on building a space where accessibility and inclusion are standard, and no one is left behind. I will work hard to ensure that every student at UCL has the support they need to succeed and feel at home.

What will you bring to this role (e.g. experience, skills or qualities)?

I am a blind 3rd-year student and a guide dog owner. I reside in university halls and understand the student experience at UCL. I am also an award-winning artist, disability advocate, run accessible art workshops, public speaker, mentor for disabled students, EDI rep for my course and a trustee of a charity. For my disability advocacy and related work, I was awarded the "Women of the Year 2025" by my local council. Using my lived experience, I will bring a listening ear, a proactive attitude, and a commitment to ensure that every voice at UCL is not only heard but also empowered. 

Please summarise why students should vote for you.

I am running because I am a student who understands the challenges at UCL and navigates them every day. As a blind student and guide dog owner, I bring lived experience, but my perspective and approach go beyond that: I am an award-winning artist, disability advocate, trustee, and a mentor who has learnt how to turn talk into action. I don't just speak about inclusion; I live it. I want to build a UCL where accessibility isn’t an afterthought, but the foundation of our culture. Let’s make UCL work for everyone. 

Katia Massa
Scintilla project: A Human Bridge for Help
What do you hope to achieve in the role if you are elected?

As a first-generation student, I battled for survival and education through financial issues and the uncertainty of immigration. I know exactly what it feels like to be a lost student trying to study while their world is falling apart. I want to be the bridge that connects housing, finance, disability services, and mental health, ensuring that when a student asks for help, they are held by a safety net.

What will you bring to this role (e.g. experience, skills or qualities)?

I bring the heart of a caregiver and the resilience of someone who fought for their education. As a student representative, I improved my leadership and made friends while managing communication between students and teachers. I did charity for Cystic Fibrosis and made a movie to help people be sensible to invisible pain. I successfully lobbied to add an important subject to our curriculum. I want to be the person who bridges gaps between offices, helping those with ADHD, immigration, or domestic abuse. I have the passion to do something meaningful and make sure everyone feels seen.

Please summarise why students should vote for you.

I have lived on the sharpest edges of the student experience. As an immigrant and first-gen student, I faced housing and financial issues. I know the pain of trying to study while your world falls apart. UCL has amazing offices, but they don't talk to each other. I want to be your bridge for help. I will introduce a model to reunite our services so students, especially those with disabilities, aren't lost in bureaucracy. Vote for me because I have the passion and the lived experience to help turn our struggles into a safety net for all.

Rawleka Wilson (she/her)
ABC 4 Equity: Access, Belonging, Change
What do you hope to achieve in the role if you are elected?

💸 Access Students miss out on extracurriculars because they need to work. I’ll push for paid opportunities in arts, sports + leadership, and expand the hardship fund so income never determines who gets involved.

🤝 Belonging I'll centralise Report + Support so one caseworker stays until resolution. No student should be passed between departments or left without answers. Racism, sexism, ableism + harassment will not go unchecked.

📣 Change Students are silenced for being too political. I'll defend your right to speak and shape policy while making sure that inclusion never means platforming hate.

What will you bring to this role (e.g. experience, skills or qualities)?

I'm a student, like you. I know what it's like to want to get involved but have barriers in the way. I’ve spent 4 years in Union leadership fighting to remove them, as your twice-elected People of Colour Officer and now as your Volunteering Officer and Student Trustee. I sit on the Board of Trustees, scrutinising budgets and shaping decisions at the highest level. I know how change happens and where it stalls, and I will use that experience to make the Union fairer, more inclusive, and responsive to all students.

You’re voting for someone already fighting for you in every room where it counts.

Please summarise why students should vote for you.

UCL named me a Face of UCL for building community. That's what I do. 

I’ve delivered:

  • Liberation Month cocktails with profits reinvested into marginalised students
  • Founded 1st pop-up toy giveaway @UCL with Camden Council for low-income families
  • Action to reduce awarding gaps and decolonise the curriculum
  • More funding for intercultural events

Next Steps:

  • 🚌 Commuter-friendly scheduling so students aren’t excluded
  • ♿ Accessible spaces, reliable SoRAs, support for neurodiverse + disabled students
  • 🎭 Paid extracurricular roles so access isn’t a privilege
  • 💼 More bursaries/internships for minoritised students
Hannah Mabasa (She/her)
Acceptance without action is a rejection of progress.
What do you hope to achieve in the role if you are elected?

My priority is to ensure everyone feels welcome at UCL and sees me as someone they can confide in if this is not the case. Whilst UCL is already diverse and inclusive, intentional inclusion is not just about acceptance, it’s about action. I hope to make events that celebrate this more accessible, as well as events and schemes that increase academic opportunities for all protected communities. I’d also like to increase cross-society collaborations to encourage communication and friendships between different people from different backgrounds, and aid students looking for their community here.

What will you bring to this role (e.g. experience, skills or qualities)?

Being an equity and inclusion officer isn’t something new to me. Although its values are those I clearly agree with as a law student, I was also a Inclusion, Diversity and Equity officer for three years in secondary school and throughout Sixth Form. This role allowed me to exercise my leadership, organisation and time-management skills but also allowed me to study what bring different types people together and actually engages students, what different events could be successful in the future and what everyone tends to look for when surrounded by so many different groups of people; belonging.

Please summarise why students should vote for you.

My participation in the role will also affect me. I pridefully surround myself with friends of many races, religions, genders, sexual orientations etc but am also a black women and understand the importance of feeling comfortable with who you are where you are, and safe where you are, regardless of who you are. I also understand that there will always be discriminatory offensive beliefs in thia world, but as recent events have taught us, also understand that the only way to minimise their harmful impacts is love, which is the main way I strive to operate as a Christian and decent human being.

Nadya (She/Her)
Institutional Reform & Equitable Outcomes
What do you hope to achieve in the role if you are elected?

I intend to spend my tenure working within the committee structure to scrutinise how our curricula and assessment methods might be inadvertently disadvantaging specific groups. My goal is to move beyond the discussion stage and implement practical reforms in student support and departmental resources. I want to ensure that every student, regardless of their background, has an equal opportunity to achieve the highest possible classification for their degree. By addressing these structural inconsistencies, we can ensure that a UCL degree represents excellence that is accessible to everyone.

What will you bring to this role (e.g. experience, skills or qualities)?

I believe that meaningful change is the result of consistent, meticulous work within a committee structure. I bring a disciplined approach to governance, ensuring that I am thoroughly prepared for every UCL Education and Equality committee meeting. My ability to digest complex policy documents and institutional data allows me to advocate for students with evidence-based arguments that the university administration can engage with professionally and seriously.

Please summarise why students should vote for you.
  1. I will focus on the practicalities of the "Academic Equity" gap, using data and evidence-based arguments to hold UCL accountable for student outcomes.
  2. I will act as a dedicated administrative bridge for our POC, Disabled, LGBTQ+, and Women’s Networks, providing them with the institutional support and resources they need to thrive.
  3. My goal is to implement sustainable, codified policy changes that will benefit the student body long after my tenure has concluded.