For Marin MacLeod, Founding Executive Director of the Reach Alliance and a vital global partner for UCL, meaningful change begins by listening to the people who are too often overlooked.
Since 2020, Marin has played a key role in strengthening the partnership between UCL and the Reach Alliance, a global research and action network created at the University of Toronto, in partnership with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.
Her role brings together researchers, communities, practitioners and policy makers from around the world to improve access to essential services for people facing stark inequalities, and to scale up initiatives that tackle some of our most pressing climate, public health and economic challenges.
Reach is developing the leaders we need to solve urgent local challenges with communities who are being left behind – those under-served for geographic, administrative, or social reasons.
Growing up in rural Nova Scotia, Marin experienced first-hand how opportunity can transform lives. She received a Loran Scholarship to study for a degree in Health and Global Development before pursuing a master’s in Public Health at the University of Toronto. For ten years, she has lived and worked around the world, partnering with local communities on public health access, economic inclusion, and climate resilience.
These experiences shaped her belief that sustainable solutions come from working alongside communities, rather than imposing solutions upon them.
Under Marin’s leadership, the Reach Alliance has supported more than 100 interdisciplinary research teams across 40 countries, from widening energy access for nomadic herders in Mongolia to enabling cash transfers for Syrian refugees in Jordan.
Many have involved UCL students and researchers, including a student-led project in Nepal, mentored by Professor Sara Hillman (UCL Maternal & Fetal Medicine) and Dr Kate Roll (UCL Institute of Innovation and Public Purpose), which explored ways to improve healthcare access for women living with disabilities and amplify their voices in policy discussions.
Reach is reinventing teaching and learning for the 21st century. Our globally-minded students conduct research in collaboration with local communities, and with guidance from university faculty members, building capacity and skills among emerging leaders.
UCL was one of the first universities that joined Reach, a partnership Marin describes as formative to the Alliance’s work.
The collaboration with UCL sets an example in terms of what strong partnership entails. It comes down to the people, and UCL continues to put these incredible students, staff, faculty and alumni in front of us.
As UCL prepares to host the 2026 Reach Conference, and the University of Toronto also celebrates its bicentenary in 2027, she sees an opportunity to deepen those connections and inspire future generations to act.
