About us
- Our team
- Reporting
- Diversity statement
Staff team
Emma Harrison
Chief Executive
She/HerTwitter: @emma_campaignerEmma joined Make Votes Matter in July 2024 and leads the organisation with a key focus on driving forward better governance, higher levels of engagement with the public and persuading politicians to support the principle of fair votes for all.
Emma brings a wealth of experience in campaigning, public affairs, and strategic communications, honed through a career in the voluntary sector. She was the founding Chief Executive of IMIX, a not-for-profit communications agency dedicated to transforming public attitudes on migration. Emma’s passion for using strategic communications to drive social change has been a defining feature of her work.Throughout her career, Emma has been deeply committed to engaging the public and building movements for change. She has held senior leadership roles in a range of charities, spanning international development, the disability sector, and the consumer rights movement. Her expertise extends across multi-channel communications, policy development, and advocacy, which began with her formative experience working at the European Parliament.
Outside of work Emma is an Arsenal season ticket holder, a mudlarker, wild swimmer and is owned by her two dogs.
Tim Ivorson
Co-founder, Finance Director & Company Secretary
He/HimTim has an engineering background with a 10-year career in the technology industry. He has been a campaigner for democracy since 2010, including as a committee member for an electoral reform group in Sussex. He has exceptional precision, which allows him to manage MVM’s finances, data and top-level administration, carry out research and support all the key areas of the campaign.
Tim worked in the technology industry for a decade, including eight years in scientific instrument manufacturing. In industry, he has assembled, repaired and tested products, programmed computers, maintained technical documentation and trained scientists in the use of vacuum technology. He was once responsible for sweeping up gold dust.
Tim has served on the committees of Make Votes Count In West Sussex and East Grinstead and District Athletic Club.
Cormac Manning
Fundraising Manager
He/HimCormac has been MVM’s Fundraising Manager since January 2020. His job is to make sure that the campaign has the financial resources needed to win Proportional Representation.
Before joining the staff team, Cormac set up a Make Votes Matter local group in Belfast. He previously worked on an electoral reform campaign in the state of Maine in the USA. He has also volunteered on a number of election and referendum campaigns.
Cormac has a master’s degree in law from Queen’s University Belfast, and previously studied law and Irish at University College Cork.
Away from work, Cormac enjoys a good board game and learning new things.
He believes that ending First Past the Post is a matter of fairness, and that we can be the generation that makes it happen.
Sally Yalden
Local Groups Lead
She/HerSally joined Make Votes Matter in June 2022 as a part-time member of the team. Sally has been an activist and campaigner for many years, but a ‘light-bulb moment’ led her to decide that pressing issues such as the climate emergency can only be tackled through electoral and constitutional reform.
Having set up a local MVM group with another activist, Sally now supports local MVM groups nationally.
Prior to Make Votes Matter, Sally has worked as a teacher, lecturer and more recently a business owner. She is also a parish and elected borough councillor and volunteers with many other groups. When Sally isn’t volunteering, she is a busy mum who can be often found dragging her son along to street stalls or marches! Sally hopes that his first vote in a few years will matter!
Alberto Smith
Director of Policy and Public Affairs
He/HimAlberto joined Make Votes Matter in March 2023 and works on expanding and consolidating MVM’s Alliance for PR. He meets with politicians and organisations from all political parties and none, to make the case for a Britain in which every voice is heard, and every vote matters.
Prior to his work with MVM, Alberto has worked as a researcher on economic development, a politics and economics tutor, a parliamentary assistant, and in the construction industry before studying at university. Alberto has a BA in Politics from Queen Mary University of London and an MA in International Political Economy from Kings College London. He has campaigned on environmental issues, workers rights, humanitarian issues and electoral reform for the last 10 years.
His passion for PR stems from a feeling that without an equal vote, we don’t have an equal say in how we’re governed, what our priorities should be, and what we collectively value in society.
When not working with MVM, he enjoys watching live sport, reading, and spending time with friends and family.
Molly Maguire
Volunteer and Campaign Coordinator
She/HerMolly joined Make Votes Matter in November 2024 and works supporting campaigns, managing volunteers and facilitating the Young Make Votes Matter group. Molly connects with activists from all perspectives, skill sets and backgrounds and helps bring them together to work on a range of projects in the campaign for proportional representation.
Molly has a background in working with communities to bring about change, from managing fundraising events for local food banks to youth empowerment projects in tackling the climate crisis. Molly is passionate about communities bringing about the change they would like to see in the world, and working with people to help them realise their potential to be a change maker.
Molly has a strong commitment to justice and equality, which drives her passion for equal votes. Prior to working for Make Votes Matter, Molly worked in project management at the Ministry of Justice on a number of policy issues. Molly has a BA in Politics and International Relations from the University of Sheffield.
Our core organising team includes our amazing volunteer activists, doing everything from event planning and admin, to technology support and research. Please do get in touch and let us know what you have to offer if you would like to be involved!
Who we are and how we’re funded
If you dream of a country where each of us has a vote that counts equally, Make Votes Matter is at your side, campaigning determinedly to make that a reality, in years, not decades. Our movement has a single-issue focus on winning Proportional Representation for general elections, which we believe to be the most important single change to unlock a better politics and society. We campaign together respectfully, collaboratively, and democratically, and we work across the political spectrum with everyone who shares these values. We come from every part of the UK, and are comprised of a small staff team, a voluntary Board of Directors, dozens of key volunteers and local groups, hundreds of committed activists and tens of thousands of supporters. We are immensely grateful to every single person working to help win PR – thank you! Our legal form is a non-profit company limited by guarantee, listed here at Companies House. We are registered with the Electoral Commission as a non-party campaigner. The bedrock of our funding comes from hundreds of PR supporters who make a regular donation to Make Votes Matter every month, alongside generous one-off donations and regular crowdfunders. We also receive funding from grants, and would like to acknowledge in particular our current grant funders: the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, the Midcounties Co-operative Campaigns Fund, and Funding for Social Change Ltd.
Make Votes Matter diversity statement
Introduction
Make Votes Matter is committed to achieving equality, diversity and inclusion, and to embedding it into everything we do. It is fundamental to who we are and is reflected throughout our values. Proportional Representation ensures fair representation - with seats matching votes - to the broad and diverse communities that make up the United Kingdom. Equality, diversity and inclusion are critical to our success as an organisation.Equality
Equality involves creating a fairer society in which no individuals or groups are treated less favourably than others. We believe that all individuals and groups should have equal opportunities to thrive and reach their full potential so long as harm is not caused to others. We will not tolerate the promotion of discrimination in our spaces.Diversity
Diversity is about recognising the value of difference. It means considering, appreciating and respecting all the unique characteristics that make people who they are. This includes (but is not limited to) national origins, language, race, disability, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and family structure. We have a zero tolerance approach to discrimination, victimisation or harassment on the basis of a person’s identity, appearance, or beliefs. Diversity also encompasses diversity of thought and life experiences.Inclusion
Inclusion is about creating and maintaining a culture where people feel welcomed and valued for who they are as an individual or group. Being inclusive means ensuring that everyone is given fair access to a platform to make meaningful contributions to discussions and decision making.MVM’s approach
The work we have done so far:
Alliance building is one of our key themes. Allies include a broad range of individuals and organisations dedicated to promoting political inclusion – many are excluded from having a political voice by FPTP. Please see the full list of individuals and organisations in our Alliance by clicking here. If you would like to join or would like to suggest a potential member for us to approach, please let us know.
In 2023, MVM continues to build links with Operation Black Vote (OBV) as part of its work to increase political representation of black and minority ethnic communities.
We will shortly be running a project to increase better representation on our board of directors.
We are working towards having better diversity on panels for events organised by MVM and to encourage other organisations, allies and partners in the democracy sector to do the same.
In 2022, MVM organised a webinar: ‘Democracy Loves Diversity’. The event included a cross-party panel of speakers from across the electoral reform movement. The recording is available from here: Democracy Loves Diversity – Make Votes Matter webinar: 24th May 2022 – YouTube.
In order to learn, make contacts and build relationships, in 2022 MVM had delegate representation at ‘We Move’ in Leeds. This was a Migrants Rights and Race Equality Summit run by The Runnymede Trust.
In 2022, team members attended a meeting with ‘Crawley Campaign Against Racism’ to discuss the problem with target/marginal seats and how PR systems include representatives from different backgrounds and with different perspectives.
In 2019, MVM stood with the Black Lives Matter movement . We organised an event in London aimed specifically at engaging Black and Minority Ethnic communities on electoral reform. Make Votes Matter – Black Votes MatterResearch
Equality, diversity and inclusion is a key theme in many of our research projects. We have supported research into the effect of electoral systems on minority representation in Parliament and policy implications. Examples of work we have supported includes Shaan Sangha’s blog for Race on the Agenda, our blog on LGBT+ rights and electoral systems, and our co-founder Owen Winter’s research into ethnic minority representation in Parliament.Learning
Diversity and inclusion is woven in all the work we do and is embedded in the strategy. At MVM quarterly team gatherings, a session on diversity is included as part of the agenda. Recent topics have included staff training on Unconscious Bias and discussing research papers on diversity. The team’s Diversity Task Force meets on a monthly basis and reports back at the weekly team meeting. The aim is to agree action to increase/support diversity that month.Vision and Priorities
MVM’s strategy document outlines the objectives of the organisation along with corresponding actions to increase the diversity of the movement and activist base. We can always do better. If you have criticisms, ideas or if you can support our work on diversity, please get in touch.
