Gemma is Deputy Chief Executive of the regional youth organisation NE Youth and is also working towards a PhD in Leadership and Human Resource Management at Northumbria University Business School. Her research is focussed on the professional status of youth work in England and its impact on professional identity.

Gemma is passionate about the continued development and recognition of youth work. She is a founding member of the North East Youth Alliance (NEYA) which provides strategic and practical support services to the north east’s youth sector and which has directly attracted nearly £1.5million of funding since its creation in 2020. Gemma’s roles with NEYA include: being a member of the leadership group overseeing the programme; lead for the development of the region’s workforce development offer and co-lead of the Regional Child Poverty Network.

Gemma has spent more than 20 years employed in the voluntary and community sector and has also held a number of other voluntary roles including being an elected council member of the Institute for Youth Work. She has recently completed a 12 month SME visiting fellowship at Durham University.