Our Team


Melissa Lawrence, Chief Executive

Melissa joined the Taylor Bennett Foundation December 2018. She has worked in the not-for-profit sector for over twenty years and is a passionate advocate for equality. 

Prior to joining the Foundation, Melissa worked for a social mobility charity, working with businesses in the financial, professional and related services sector to help them develop their corporate social responsibility, diversity and talent pipeline initiatives.

She is an established leader with a creative entrepreneurial spirit with the ability to engage with a wide range of stakeholders. At the Foundation, Melissa's key focus is to shape the charity through awareness raising, leadership and strategic planning.

Melissa has been included in PRWeek's UK Power Book 2020 & 2021.

[email protected]

Gabrielle Thuesday, Programme Manager

Joining the Foundation in July 2019 as Programme Manager, Gabrielle(Assoc CIPD) is responsible for managing our flagship PR Training programme.

Gabrielle previously worked as a Student Support and Event Manager within an Aesthetic Training Academy. This role involved managing all operations of their non-accredited courses and providing all round support to students in achieving their course goals. A PR and Advertising graduate and now Associate member of the CIPD, Gabrielle's core interests lie in people development within BAME communities and communications. 

[email protected] 

Natasha Ferguson, Programme Manager

Natasha joined the Foundation February 2021 and is the Programme Manager for the Summer Stars internship programme and PR Mentoring programme. Natasha is also a TBF alumni!

Natasha previously worked as a Communications Consultant and Diversity & Inclusion Manager at a global consultancy where she provided corporate reputation and public relations services for some of the world's largest companies and brands. Through her commitment to building an inclusive work environment, Natasha pitched and developed the EU office's first diversity and inclusion strategy. Natasha was also a strategic contributor to the European Union's Anti-Racism Action Plan.

As an advocate for ethnic minority equality and equity, Natasha's commitment to social activism is to see the growth of racial representation increase at all levels within the communications industry.  

[email protected]

Konyikeh McLaren, Summer Intern 

Joining the Foundation as our Summer Intern, Konyikeh is responsible for supporting the TBF team with the smooth delivery of our programmes.

Konyikeh has experience in marketing over a variety of sectors, ranging from charity campaigns to music promotions. Konyikeh joins the team eager to learn more about the PR and Communications industry and is excited to take in the wealth of knowledge that will be at her disposal. Using her skills and previous knowledge, Konyikeh will help with the running of the Summer Stars and PR Training programme and overall awareness of TBF on social media and other platforms.

Konyikeh is committed to aiding the diversification across all levels in the  PR and Communications industry and looks forward to working with TBF to help achieve this. 

Published:

Updated:

Author:

Share this page