About me
I’m an academic pathfinder and entrepreneurial adventurer passionate about reshaping sustainable food systems, driving innovation, and sparking entrepreneurial success by shaping a growth mindset.
Over 18 years, I’ve designed transformative learning experiences, including an MSc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation that inspired over 260 start-ups founders. As a senior academic in Innovation and Marketing at the University of Westminster, I dive deep into sustainability, marketing strategy, and innovation ecosystems, blending bold ideas with hands-on action to empower students and start-up founders to thrive.
When I’m not co-founding ventures in education, food, and tech, you’ll find me cracking complex problems, translating big ideas into ventures that matter, and championing resilience through community innovation. Whether mentoring, cooking, travelling, or crafting creative solutions, I believe in making connections that count, and always leaving things better than I found them.
My key strengths?
> Structuring complex problems into actionable insights.
> Translating innovative ideas into start-up ventures.
> Collaborating across cultures and disciplines to inspire change.
> Joining the dots… and building conceptual models.
My superpower? The ability to explain in simple terms complex ideas, always with a bit of humour.
Teaching
On the teaching front, I have a preference for a Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach to teaching. This is a preference I developed during my studies for my ATAPand PgCHE teaching qualifications. I possess relevant experience in (i) the organisation and delivery of lectures and (ii) seminars both at undergraduate and postgraduate (MSc, MBA and MPA) and executive training level as well as (iii) designing courses and modules for the curriculum development of PG programmes with blended teaching, and (iv) assessing students’ assignments making use of current technology to improve marking reliability and consistency as well as (v) supervision of UG and MSc dissertations as well as PhDs. I also have experience at designing PG level programmes (MSc award) that complies with QAA. In the past I worked for other universities on EQUIS and AACSB accredited programmes.
I make wide use of cutting-edge technology in my teaching. My most recent teaching endeavours saw me introducing two teaching innovations in our university: The first one is the use of team-based learning and coaching to teach entrepreneurship-related subjects (e.g., analytics for business, entrepreneurial marketing, innovation and design thinking, enterprise development) in a hands-on practice-based classroom environment. The second, I commissioned a 360 degrees platform to enable students to have a simile-physical experience with gamification elements to be used in online teaching.
In terms of students’ experience, students’ coaching allows for a very personal learning experience which students take at their heart. The module evaluations for those modules I teach on and I direct are generally excellent, consistently scoring an overall 4.8 out of 5 (where 5 is the maximum) and with very positive and enthusiastic qualitative comments added via open questions. Amongst the modules I have taught more recently at PG level are: Analytics for Small Businesses, Innovation through Design Thinking, Enterprise Development, and the Entrepreneurial Project (which focuses on the creation of a start-up action plan). At UG level in the past I taught a module titled Creating A New Business, on the BA Entrepreneurship.
Modules. I am currently the module leader for 7ENTP003W Analytics for Business, 7ENPT002W Innovation through Design Thinking, 7ENTP005W Enterprise Development on the MSc Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Enterprise Development and the module leader for L6 module Creating Entrepreneurial Leadership (UG). I have taught a variety of modules in the past such as, UG level modules (Principles of Marketing, Market Research, Marketing Planning and Strategy, Global Markets, Entrepreneurship (creating new business) and PG (Design Thinking, Enterprise Development, Distribution and Price Management, Entrepreneurial Marketing / MSc Dissertations, Research Methods, International Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Organisations Behaviour).
Research
My research interests:
Sustainability in Food Systems
Innovation in Sustainable Food Systems
Social Innovation and Food
The Slow Food Movement
Institutional Dynamics in Food Systems
Publications
For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.