Rachel Bray

I am motivated by the transformative effects of engaging with young people in discussions and decision-making about big societal issues.

Currently I try to facilitate these gains in the spheres of education and mental health via research, partnership-building, team facilitation and individual coaching. I am also a keen, experimental batik artist, and am developing my skills in facilitating accessible, nature-based art processes designed to help people explore a question or theme that feels important to their lives.

I trained as an Anthropologist in the UK, then conducted PhD and further research with young people living and working on the streets in Nepal. While living in South Africa for twelve years I studied the experiences of children becoming adults in the post-apartheid South Africa, bringing them in as co-researchers and worked with businesses, government and public services to apply the findings to everyday practice. Examples include appropriate siting of a new HIV clinic, designing and pioneering a careers indaba for teenagers growing up in townships, and working with teachers in local schools to support pupil engagement in governance. 

My recent roles in the University of Oxford include social policy researcher, careers adviser and founding lead of the Researcher Hub, which supports the 4,500 postdoctoral researchers working across the academic departments.