Meet the team
Dylan is the founder and Director of Pop Up Projects. Prior to Pop Up, he worked with hundreds of schools producing and teaching large-scale creative literacy projects for 5-21 year olds, including National Youth Theatre, University of the Arts, Shoreditch Trust, The Ideas Foundation, London South Bank University, as well as major strategic, multi-year programmes for Camden, Waltham Forest, Hounslow, Southwark and Hackney local authorities.
Medhat lived, studied and worked in several countries which has shaped the person he is today. He began studying and working as an engineer at the beginning of his career, but soon became intrigued by the world of finance and spent many years in the Banking Management sector. Then, Medhat transitioned to Charity Management, working on UK-based and overseas projects. Medhat is passionate about Pop Up’s work with children and young people, since it cultivates a deep respect for diversity and inclusion at an early stage of their development. He thinks this respect is essential for their future success.
Results-focused digital marketing professional with 10+ years of experience and a thorough understanding of social media, analytics, content marketing, customer engagement, online advertisement & community building strategies.
Prior to joining Pop Up, Chris managed the Games department at a creative college, where he supported the development of an accessible and inclusive curriculum, as well as ensuring the success and positive experience of his students.
Chris has lectured in subjects including art, storytelling, accessibility, and representation within games and the creative industries, and he has mentored a range of neurodiverse and SEND learners. He firmly believes in ensuring equal opportunities to high quality education and employment, and he is eager to continue promoting these beliefs alongside Pop Ups partners, and the diverse range of illustrations upon the Pathways programmes.
Marianna started working at Pop Up at the start of 2022. Prior to this, she had secured her QTS and was teaching English in a secondary school with a high proportion of SEN students. As well as having a deep passion for literature, Marianna has always understood the importance of every child and young person having access to literature, and the importance of seeing themselves in the books they read. Marianna is excited to see where her journey with Pop Up will take her.
Kiana has moved from across the pond to successfully pursue furthering her education and obtained her MA in Public Relations while achieving a high Distinction. She has undoubtedly carried a passion for events throughout her four years of event industry experience while carrying a soft spot for youth education as she was an art instructor for three years prior. Being an Iranian-American woman, her passion for inclusion in the creative industries was developed at a young age. Kiana wishes that all young creatives, including authors and illustrators, of all ethnic backgrounds, receive the opportunity to shine bright with no boundaries.
Meet the board
The staff at Pop Up are supported by a board of trustees.
Charlotte Eyre is a freelance journalist and reviews children’s books for The Bookseller magazine, where she was children’s editor for eight years.
Rachel Boden is Lead Content Editor at the charity BookTrust, which gets children reading. Prior to that, she worked in children’s editorial for over 20 years. She believes passionately that reading for pleasure brings huge benefits, and that children’s books should reflect the wonderful diversity of the world in which we live.
Ruthine Burton is an illustrator who graduated from Pathways Into Children’s Publishing in 2021. Ruthine has a teaching background and also worked in the games industry as a programmer, artist and animator. She now works in the education sector managing and administrating e-learning systems but her principle passion is being creative. She loved reading as a child and recognises the importance of books as a way of influencing and supporting a child’s development, perception of self and perception of others. She thus strongly supports the development of books that represent all children and greater inclusion in the publishing industry.
Priya is a transformative global leader, leveraging passion and influence to build successful businesses, high-performing teams, and collaborative working relationships. She is an outside-the-box marketer recognised for agility and grit in successfully launching new innovative products/services and running profitable businesses by leveraging D2C and subscription-based strategies that drive brand prominence through acquisition, loyalty, and recurring revenue. Throughout her 27-year career, she has successfully launched and elevated over 20 brands and worked in North America, Asia and Europe.
Elorine has been working in publishing for over 30 years. She is currently Art Director for HarperCollins Publishers Children’s Department. Elorine has the great privilege of working with some of the most talented authors and illustrators in the business: Michael Morpurgo, Judith Kerr, David Walliams, Michael Foreman and Steven Lenton to name a few. She feels passionate about children’s literacy and believes a book is a ’pathway’ to the world and beyond; that they should reflect a diverse range of people and experiences.
Daveena is a creative thinker with experience of transformational leadership. She is currently Head of Case Management at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Prior to this, she worked as a senior social services lawyer for nine years at a local authority in Essex. She possess a keen sense of community service and volunteering her time to support organisations working to improve opportunities for young people from diverse backgrounds. Daveena is also passionate about inclusivity in the arts and understands the power of representation in literature and how empowering it can be for children to identify with the characters in the books they read. Daveena is proud to be working with Pop Up Projects to empower a more diverse next generation of children’s illustrators, writers and publishing professionals.
Sarah is co-founder of Inclusive Books for Children, a new not-for-profit organisation striving to make inclusive children’s books the norm. Her background is in finance and the creative arts.
Current Vacancies
Assistant to Guest Editor @ Pop Up
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Assistant to join our team.
Board Secretary
We are seeking an enthusiastic Board Secretary.
Board Treasurer
We are seeking a Board
Treasurer.
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