Personal Statement
Leona gained her PhD in June 2019 from University of Liverpool Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology. Her thesis is a sociological qualitative, multi-phase inquiry into how practitioners imagine and operationalise the safeguarding 'risk-work' for identifying and working with ‘childhood radicalisation’ (PREVENT).

She has extensive experience as a professional and academic researcher in the field of equalities and social justice in public and charity sectors in the UK and operating internationally.

Awarded a Derby Research Fellowship for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Theme of 'Slavery & Unfree Labour' in January 2020, Leona undertook a leave of absence as the Vulnerable Populations Lead at the Finance Against Slavery & Trafficking initiative at United Nations University Centre for Policy Research (2021-2024). Her expertise is the development of innovative and inclusive interdisciplinary approaches to addressing, mitigating and repairing harm in the design and delivery of research and knowledge production, addressing issues of coloniality, power and marginalisation. She won the 2024 Alan Beeston Early Career Researcher of the Year Award.

Research Overview
Leona has worked as researcher on a number of successful interdisciplinary international projects related to her interests as a researcher within the University of Liverpool and also global lead for research into populations vulnerable to 'Modern Slavery' at United Nations University Centre for Policy Research (New York).

Leona successfully tendered to devise international safeguarding consultation and guidance for UK Collaborative on Development Research [UK Collaborative on Development Research] ( https://www.ukcdr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/170420-UKCDR-Guidance-for-Safeguarding-in-International-Development-Research.pdf) and was Research Director responsible for research consultation hubs in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

As co-founder of the Barriers to Black Academia initiative to address the severe under-representation of Black academics, especially in studies of slavery, as a form of reparative justice Barriers to Black Academia, Leona has worked with Centre for Studying International Slavery (UoL partnership with National Museums Liverpool) to create an international Barriers to Black Academia symposium (2021) Symposium and a knowledge partnership with Church of England Racial Justice Unit to develop resources for their truth-telling work on the church and slavery (2023-25) knowledge partnership

Leona is currently Co-Investigator on AHRC Music Futures interdisciplinary project in the Liverpool City Region [Music Futures] (https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/institute-of-popular-music/projects/music-futures/), led by Professor Richard Koeck.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Anticolonial methodologies; harm and repair in research; 'safeguarding'; 'modern slavery'; race/racialisation; children/young people; 'risk', 'risk prevention' and 'risk-work'