Raising Understanding, Opening Minds
Meet The Team
Our journey through the development of the company, has taken us through a number of youth projects and training activities. The founders of Chameleon WM CIC have worked together for over ten years. Our aim has always been to provide children and young people with a voice, and enable them to gain the skills and confidence to tackle issues that affect them. Give our young people the experiences that will enable them to find their passion, and help them develop and become productive members of society.
Jay Gardiner. Founder and Director
Tel: 07902 229600 E-mail: jay@chameleonwmcic.com
Jay runs Chameleon WM CIC.
Jay Gardiner is an experienced arts consultant with over twenty years expereince of working in the voluntary sector. For the last twelve years he has mentored and motivated young people in education, and through youth projects across the West Midlands. Jay has worked with schools and community organisations to develop projects and events. Helping them to develop a wide range of business and project development skills, such as fundraising and marketing. He has also provided mentoring unit training for teacher trainees at the Manchester Metropolitan University, where he is a part time associate lecturer. He sits on the Robbie Williams Give It Sum funding panel, and is an experiences fundraiser where he was providing training in this field to local community groups and PTFAs across Staffordshire.
Here is a few of projects and training activities he has developed and delivered;
· BME Awards Youth Project: Trained 30 young people in funding, developing and run an awards ceremony.
· Mentor for young people with behavioural problems in schools.
· Provides arts and cultural workshops to high schools in Stoke on Trent, Stafford, Birmingham, Coverntry.
· 6 years as an executive director of a London charity.
· Management team member and judge for the urban links talent competition. A one year music project working with 50 artists. This was run over a number of five events with training sessions throughout.
· Event and extended schools training with the Hayward High School's PTFA and TAs, they are now in year ten of running a community carnival/festival to around 1500 people.
· Milton Keynes international day of the disabled arts consultant to a special school and a high school.
· Jaguar and Land Rover staff diversity training, provided training through the arts on their dignity at work policy.
· Stoke on Trent Carnival committee and artistic director, here he developed and event for 7500 people.
· Burslem Festival committee, artistic director and event manager. This is a street festival in the town centre.
· Stafford Carnival committee, arts consultant and artistic director, this was workshops and a festival in the town centre.
· MENCAP & The Meadows Special Schools arts training for adults with disabilities
· For Heathfield Special School, and their local residents association he provided arts workshops and event management
· Provide cultural awareness training for Staffordshire County Councils Minority Ethnic Achievement Department
· You Can Do It project volunteer worker, with youth tackling under aged drinking and drug abuse in high schools across the region. Training the young people and then supported them in 3 high school where they achieved contracts to present to over 400 students in years 8 and 9.
· Kenilworth High School Coventry, Motivational training for a group of 30 students.The aim of the project was to enable the students to lead their own learning.
Navida Ahmed, Founder and Director
Tel: 07875 248 172 e-mail: navida.cwmcic@gmail.com
Navida runs Chameleon WM CIC.
Navida graduated in law and business at Staffordshire University and went to BPP Law school to complete her legal training as a solicitor. Navida worked with the following companies: Leeds City Council, Coca-Cola Enterprises and the Department for Work and Pensions. Navida changed direction and set up her clothing company Navida Ahmed Designs in 2012. Navida now works as a Director for Chameleon WM CIC. Navida has worked on the following projects and roles:
Staffordshire University – Senior Student Ambassador Liaison worker
Objective: HE Full Circle Project - an external project that was funded £5,000,000 over five years to promote higher education across Staffordshire
-
Managing people: Managed 22 student ambassadors across the county
-
Event management: To prepare and deliver a range of education workshops across the community. To attend networking events and presentations
-
Marketing: Booked workshops and events for the project by liaising and networking. Developed a range of marketing materials
-
Teaching: Developed and led a 6 week course: OCN level 1 Guidance, Preparation and Progression course across the county
-
Diversity: Developed workshops and materials for Black Minority Ethnic (‘BME’) community with the University
BPP Law School, Leeds Cultural and Diversity Event: Committee Leader
Objective: The first ever diversity event at BPP to promote community cohesion in the legal profession
-
Negotiated and raised £1,000
-
Motivated a team of 12 students and staff and helped to develop cultural Workshops
-
Worked under pressure: organised the event in 4 weeks
-
Wrote letters to professionals and negotiated prices with companies
-
The event attracted 100 people
-
Success featured in ‘Yorkshire Lawyer Magazine’ 2007
2005 – 2006: Governor for Birches Head High School
Racial Equality Council ‘Race into Success’ project
Objective: A steering group of 30 young people to organise an annual awards event (over 3 years) to highlight the achievements of Black and Minority Ethnic people in Stoke on Trent.
-
Negotiated with professionals and businesses on issues such as purchasing, quality and performance
-
Wrote clear bids to sponsors: raised £200,000
-
Worked under tight deadlines and pressure
-
Ability to work within a team: of various ages and backgrounds
-
Flexible working patterns in order to complete work
-
Event helped to bring a wide range of communities together: defusing racial tension
-
Event attracted over 1,000 people each year
-
2002: My profile published in the ‘Young People Now’ Magazine London
Special Achievements: Youth Upfront Award 2004
In recognition of extensive work in the community awarded the ‘Contribution to Community Harmony Individual Award’ held by the Stoke on Trent City Council.
Annemarie Townley. Founder & Company Secretary
Marie currently manages the IT and website of Chameleon WM CIC.
Marie is an experienced account manager in the sales IT industry, she is currently business development executive, who is part of a team setting up a new company. she is skilled in website design and has a wide range of marketing skills. She has over ten years of sales experience and a number of business contacts from within the IT industry.
She has a McAfee technical accreditation as well as a sales professional accreditation,
Marie was a leader volunteer on the You Can Do It project, working with the young people and leaflet and website design. She also work with them on street marketing, and on the day of their music concert support the event manager.
As a volunteer for a local charity she sits on the events sub committee, and has planed, organised and run a number of fundraising events and training activities.
Jeanette Wyatt. Management Committee
Jenaette has worked for 11 years in the voluntary sector as a finance officer.
Jeanette has experience of the following:
-
payroll
-
petty cash
-
cash reconciliation
-
company returns
-
annual account and reports
Jeanette has also worked on project development for a local charity and is an experienced fund raiser. Jeanette and Steve raised over £300,000 over a three year period for a local charity. this funding was used to sustain and develop the charity.
She has also run a youth project with Jay, this project was a dance group who travelled the city performing at local events and festivals.
Prior to this she was a school secretary who was responsible for all the finances and administration. she was also on call to support other local school in her area.
For the last thirty eight year Jeanette has run a successful business along side her husband. here she mainly deals with the finance and staffing issues.
Pete Roch, Management Committee
Pete has been working in the music industry since leaving university in 2010 with a degree in Music Technology. After setting up midlands based record label Assorted Records his passion for live music and arts started to take off, being involved in numerous music gigs, venues, festivals and productions and working in various roles from stage management and sound engineering.
Godfrey Fletcher.
Born in Wolverhampton he began his career in 1990 as a DJ/Presenter, playing anywhere he could in the UK, In 1992, he started working for some of the biggest mainstream music labels Sony, Universal, Def Jam, Motown, Bad Boy Records, Arista Records etc doing management, A&R, promotions, and after a number of years doing this his obvious passion for music moved to an different level.
In 1997 he was approached by the Stoke on Trent City Council Youth Service to run a six month dj workshops. In 1998 he was offered a position for Young People’s Development Officer at U.A.A.C.O. (Union of African and African Caribbean organisations) which he would be managing new music projects funded by LNF & Art Council.
Between 1998 - 2008 working at U.A.A.C.O. he organised events like Right for Children to Play in the Park and Youth Parliament, He also wrote & managed an artist development music talent programme called Urban Links based around the music industry. Assisted with the running of Saturday School for African and Afro-Caribbean Youth. Also ran series of more music/dj workshops for the Racial Equality Council.
He also became a board member of Unity (Social Enterprise), Chairman/Editor of BME Youth Magazine, active member organising the Stoke-on-Trent Carnival and Love music hate racism campaigns.
In 2005 he was awarded The Staffordshire Positive Images Excellence "Pioneer" Award for outstanding contribution to community based work. In 2006 He moved back Wolverhampton where he became a mentor for EBP Learning to Succeed Project and did some volunteering work assisting in various music/life skill projects for Artezine Academy in Dudley.
In 2008 the constant deluge of unsigned artists looking for help, hence the birth and launch of Neo2soul promotions. He is currently CEO & President which is dedicated to increasing exposure and awareness of undiscovered talent which offers marketing and promotional outlets via social networks, press releases, radio, event management, artist development and much more.
Ongoing Work
Runs an daily blog, securing localised venues for artists living abroad in order to increase their exposure, a contributor to several media magazines, and the setting up of radio interviews for the clients he is representing. Hired to provide the live performances for W.A.I.T.S. (Women Acting In Today’s Society) fundraising events.
In 2013 He is Director of UK creative youth project Neo2soul 4 Youth C.I.C. (Community Interest Company) which will explore young people's creativity through informal educational activities which combine enjoyment, challenge and learning.
Moses Ogundeji.
Is a 28 years old young man who grew up in the lovely south of London. He is an ambitious, passionate hardworking and competitive individual who revels in a challenge. He came to Staffordshire University to study Film Productions.
After leaving University, he went to work as a Volunteer at Unity School as a teaching assistant, where he assisted the teaching staff in delivering lessons on media production. Moving on from there, he worked at Unity Care Home as a Casual Career.
In his spare time, Moses loves to participate in numerous amounts of activities. As the co-Founder of a local media company called MNRC multimedia, Moses participates in writing and producing short films and also creating promotional videos and music videos for a wide range of people and local companies. For example, Keele University and Diva Wedding Fayres.
Moses also enjoys spending his time playing American Football for The Staffordshire Surge which he has done for 8 years.