Eva Echo (she/they) is an activist and TEDx speaker focusing on transgender rights and mental health. She took legal action against NHS England in the High Court to challenge unlawful waiting times for trans patients. Eva won the DIVA Award for Unsung Hero of the Year 2022 and was named 19th in the Pride Power List 2023. Eva won Trans In The City's Trans Community Champion award and went on to become a Director there. Eva’s also Director of Innovation at Birmingham Pride and sits on the Crown Prosecution Service’s hate crime panel. Eva’s work has featured in publications such as Refinery29, Boots Health & Beauty and Cosmopolitan. Her story was included in the Science Museum’s permanent “Who Am I?” gallery, which aims to promote diversity and education to all current and future generations.

Saba is a lived-experience trauma and discrimination speaker and works with many governing bodies to facilitate change including the Crown Prosecution Service scrutiny panels for London Hate Crime and Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG). Metropolitan Police Service LGBT+ Independent Advisory Group, Trans and Non-Binary Forum and co-Chair for their Learning and Development Community Reference Group. She is a trustee for Building Bridges for Peace who promote peace and conflict transformation, and Sutton Women’s Centre who offer women domestic abuse information and support. A Community Ambassador for The Vavengers working to end FGM and other forms of VAWG, and an Advisory Board Member for Action Breaks Silence an educational charity established to create a world free from VAWG. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Diana Award Mentor.

Hi I’m Grace, I won Queer of the Year in 2022 and have a passion for activism and helping support others. I’m so happy to be a judge this year again for the QSAs!

Paul Carruthers is Mr Gay Great Britain 2023.

Paul is a trans ally and activist both in his personal life and in his career. Paul worked for over 8 years in the NHS adolescent gender identity service before recently leaving to help develop the UKs first independent CQC regulated young persons holistic gender service called Gender Plus. As a nurse consultant Paul will oversee the hormone treatment of Gender Plus young people.

Paul is passionate about timely, holistic trans healthcare and uses his platform to help educate and advocate.

Olivia is part of the Supporter Development team at the NSPCC and they are also the Chair of the staff LGBTQ+ network group, PINCC (Pride in NSPCC Colleagues and Children.) They are a passionate advocate and ally. They are also one of the trainers from PINCC who deliver ally training across the organisation.

As an Inclusion Consultant and Communications Specialist, I saw the power of combining knowledge and insights with communication to create real change in and outside the workplace.

My inclusion journey began after being elected Education Officer at Reading University Students' Union. During this time, I identified the academic Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) attainment gap. I developed and hosted the first-ever conference to address the issue, bringing speakers from around the UK to speak on racism in the education sector.

Following this, I worked at award-winning PR and Inclusive Marketing agencies, providing my expertise on diversity and inclusion, delivering bespoke consultancy to clients, and leading several workshops on various topics such as bias and allyship.

Since launching Fresh and Fearless Consultancy, we have delivered hundreds of workshops, consulted global businesses and audited organisations on their approach to diversity, equity and inclusion.

David is a former deputy head teacher and the director of Queer Education Consultancy, which provides training and support to schools to develop LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum and learning environments.

Joanne Conway is the Global Head of Inclusion & Culture at DLA Piper. Previously Joanne was a DE&I Leader at EY and is a passionate advocate for equity and social justice. With her unique blend of personal experience and expertise, she drives transformative and meaningful change. Her commitment to giving back is evident in her volunteer work with young offenders and local sports clubs, promoting inclusion and equity. Joanne is a School Governor, a trustee, a guest lecturer, and international speaker. She is committed to contributing to academia and solving complex business problems through a doctorate on the topic of privilege and inclusion.

Deuvaunn is a young LGBTQ+ professional (and self-proclaimed 'governance and history geek') who is passionate about supporting young people engage with decision-makers and influencers to effect change in their communities. This has led him to work with youth councils and youth-focused organisations.

Taj is an unapologetic black, queer award-winning human rights activist, writer, and student. They hail from the small island of Bermuda, where they co-founded Bermuda’s first and only LGBTQ+ youth group, ‘The Village’, and co-founded Bermuda Pride. Taj is also a regular contributor to the island’s media outlets on issues related to youth, LGBTQ+ rights, and anti-racism and currently consults the Ministry of Education on matters related to EDI.

‍Currently living and studying in the UK, they continue to be an active champion for sustainability, intersectionality, decolonization, and anti-racism at the university level, at the national level, and internationally. Taj currently serves in many liberation focused positions within King’s College London. They also serve as the LGBTQ+ Representative for the National Union of Students Liberation team and as a member of the Student Minds Student Advisory Committee. Internationally, Taj serves as the only black executive board member of the International LGBTQI Youth & Student Organization (IGLYO), which is the world’s largest network of LGBTQ+ youth and student organizations.

am an EDI professional working in the Further Education sector with a background in Higher Education and Local Government. My key areas of interest are equity and inclusion for gender and sexuality.

My role sees me influencing and advising on best practice for strategy and operations and acting as a disruptive and critical friend for reviewing activities and processes.

I am a keen advocate for the slogan 'nothing about us without us' and work to ensure all voices are given the platform to inform decision making for the betterment of what we do.

Alan is a technical architect at Salesforce and a passionate advocate for promoting inclusion and intersectional diversity. Outside of the workplace, Alan devotes significant time to volunteering with Just Like Us. He plays a crucial role in transforming fundraising, donation processes, and the management of charity programs, significantly enhancing the charity's capacity to deploy young ambassadors more effectively. This enables impactful school talks that champion LGBT+ equality across the UK. Honoured as the Corporate Volunteer of the Year at the Just Like Us Awards in 2023, Alan further strengthens ties with charities like SafePlace International as the Philanthropy Lead for Outforce UK. Contributing to the development of a mentor program for LGBT+ refugees, Alan reaffirms his commitment to building a world free from discrimination. Additionally, Alan organises trips for GLUG, a non-profit scuba diving club providing a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for LGBT+ members and friends.

Mel is passionate about LGBT+ inclusion in schools, children’s voice and helping young people feel good about themselves. As Education Lead at Pop’n’Olly and co-author of the book, What Does LGBT+ Mean? Mel is working to give primary teachers everything they need to make their schools inclusive and welcoming.

Based in Dorset, Mel also works with LGBT+ charity, Space Youth Project, providing opportunities for young LGBT+ people to participate in Staff Training and share their stories.

Mel’s personal journey and her growing awareness of her own queer identity has been shaped by growing up in the 70s and 80s and has made her passionate about positive representation of LGBT+ people in schools. If you can see it, it’s much easier to be it.

Mel is honoured and proud to be a QSA judge. “The work of young people around the country motivates and inspires me. I wish you all the very best of luck.”

Jack is the current National Director of an LGBTQ+ education charity and was previously a runner-up for the LGBTQ+ Undergraduate of the Year and a finalist at the Queer Student Awards himself.

DescrDan resides in the beautiful countryside county of Suffolk and is a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ Community as well as being very passionate about diversity and inclusion.

Growing up in the era of Section 28, Dan is so pleased and proud that today's LGBTQIA+ youth have the support and guidance to help them be their true, authentic selves and is honoured to be part of the judging panel for this years Queer Student Awards 2024.

Dan is currently in the process of publishing his first LGBTQIA+ inclusive novel, which he hopes will help inspire future generations of LGBTQIA+ youth in discovering their true, authentic identities and that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it!iption goes here

Harriet Lunney (she/her) serves as the UK Head of DE&I at JLL. With over 13 years of invaluable expertise in recruitment, employer branding, employee engagement, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, Harriet is dedicated to fostering inclusive work environments. Both professionally and personally Harriet strives for equality – her goal is to ensure everyone feels seen, heard, and most importantly feels safe at work. A steadfast ally to the LGBTQ+ community, Harriet works to be a voice for those who feel silenced or not heard, and will continue her work to empower others in her current role and beyond.

Katie Neeves has been a professional photographer for 38 years, but she came out publicly in 2018 as being transgender after living for 48 years as a man. Katie formed Cool2BTrans to support and inspire other trans people and to educate everyone else about trans people, using humour to break down barriers. Katie appears regularly in the media, being on both ITV's and the BBC's lists of experts and being a BBC presenter. She has won many awards for her work as a trans ambassador, including the British Diversity Awards Hero of the Year 2023 award and she was listed on the Global Diversity List 2023 as a Diversity Champion. Katie's talks have been described as “engaging, hilarious and exciting”, ”inspirational storytelling at its best!" and “the most exciting training in years".

Lewis Oakley is one of the leading bisexual writers and commentators in the UK, twice recognised by the Pride Power List for his impact in the space. When he isn’t bringing national attention to bisexuality by arguing with Piers Morgan or debating with Jeremy Vine he can be heard co-hosting one of the UK’s top-rated LGBT+ podcasts, ‘Bisexual Brunch’ which has amassed a huge international following. He also authors the world's only bisexuality-focused advice column ‘Ask a Bi Dad’, and earlier this year hosted his own show on Virgin Radio Pride.

His debut book, Bisexuality: The Basics is to be released in May this year.

Emma is a young campaigner and communications professional with a passion for creating change in mental health spaces. Emma founded and runs a grassroots Scottish Charity, Project Sonrisa that takes an intersectional approach to breaking the stigma surrounding mental health. Through this charity, they have produced an award-winning documentary that explores a diverse range of experiences with mental health. As well as being involved in mental health spaces, Emma also sits on the board of Endometriosis UK and the Scottish Youth Parliament and has been involved with various youth participation organisations over the years. Emma was the 2023 QSA Influencer of the Year award winner and runner up in 2 other categories, ‘Role Model: LGBT+ Youth’ and ‘Queer of the Year’.

CP is a Head of Fundraising in the Charities Sector by day and a Trustee of Portsmouth Pride. In 2021 he founded Queer.All.Year, the intersectional queer activism campaign which organises sober social events for the queer community and works with artists and designers to produce thousands of ‘sticker slaps’ covering hateful graffiti. With a background in the education sector, CP has worked with the awards since their first year and joined the judging team in 2022.

Bazil is the Co-Chair of Nomura’s Pride Network and sits as the secretariat to InterBank, the LGBTQIA+ financial services forum. Passionate about intersectionality, Bazil is a previous winner of the Rising Star Award 2023 at the QSA. In his day job, he is the project manager for the Climate Risk & ESG programme at Nomura. In his spare time, Bazil enjoys travelling, cycling, and writing poetry.

Krita is a passionate advocate and member of the LGBTQ+ community in the finance industry. She has organised and run workshops and panels to showcase the experience of being LGBTQ+ in the workplace, with the pure goal that you should be comfortable to bring your true authentic self into the workplace. Krita served as Director of Diversity in the ICAEW Chartered Accountant Student Society for London, which included working closely with the iCAEW Diversity team on making the professional body more inclusive. Krita earned the status of highly commended in the Rising Star category last year, and this has only fuelled her passion even further.

Jaron Soh (he/him) is co-founder and CEO of Voda, the LGBTQIA+ mental health app developed by leading LGBTQIA+ psychotherapists. They're on a mission to make LGBTQIA+ mental wellbeing support more accessible, affordable and inclusive.

Rylee is a PhD candidate and associate lecturer at the University of Chichester. Rylee's PhD is focused on LGBTQ+ identity abuse with the aim to improve service provision and societal attitudes towards this form of abuse. They have recently published research on lesbian internalised homophobia and self-harming. Rylee also co-led a mental health needs assessment for LGBTQ+ children and young people, funded by West Sussex County Council. Their research and cross-institutional activism as their university's LGBTQ+ officer has led them to be awarded LGBTQ+ undergraduate of the year and named as one of Attitude's 101 future trailblazers. Rylee is also a singer-songwriter. Their debut EP, 'The Beautiful Fall' encapsulates sapphic love and the queer experience.

Naomi is a passionate advocate for queer liberation, the power of community, decolonisation, and systemic change. Naomi has been active in community organising and activism for over twenty years, working with various organisations and establishing a feminist network in Coventry, before founding women's history blog, Sheroes of History.

More recently, since relocating back to Dorset, Naomi has supported local efforts to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion, volunteering with Space Youth Project, joining the planning group for Chesil Youth Pride and offering talks on LGBTQ+ history for cultural venues and schools. This year she’s also bringing together her love of poetry and social justice with live poetry events.

They’ve worked in education for 16+ years, currently working for educational charity, Teach First. Here she takes a lead on equity, diversity, and inclusion in the role of Employee Experience Manager and is also Chair of the LGBTQ+ Affinity Group (employee network).

Vinay is a pioneering queer and Gender non-conforming artist dedicated to challenging and redefining gender norms through the vibrant and expressive medium of Bollywood dance. They are the founder of Bollyqueer, an innovative dance class that not only teaches the art of Bollywood dance but also serves as a vibrant celebration of Queer and South Asian identities. Their work was notably featured in the BBC Three documentary "Bend it Like Bollywood," which spotlighted their contributions to creating intersectional spaces for QTIPOC+.

Through their performances and teaching, Vinay not only entertains but educates, using their platform to advocate for acceptance, equality, and inclusion.