Astrea News
![UCL Astrea logo](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/astrea_logo.png)
UCL Astrea committee vacancies - expressions of interest invited
We are seeking volunteers to join the Astrea committee and have some vacancies for specialist roles. Could you help us run Astrea?
![Alice Chilver](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/alice_chilvers.jpg)
Spotlight on... Alice Chilver
Meet Alice Chilver, one of Astrea's original co-founders. We chat to Alice to mark the ten year anniversary of the Astrea network.
![UCL Astrea seeking new Budget Lead to join committee](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/ucl_astrea-71_0.jpg)
Could you be the new Budget Lead for the UCL Astrea network for women in professional services?
UCL Astrea is seeking a Budget Lead to join the Astrea committee, with the deadline for applications on Friday 15th December 2023.
![Weronika Benning, Hannah Biggs, and Rhiannon Williams](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/revisiting_our_inspirational_female_line_managers_-_introductions_and_inspirations_december_2023.jpg)
Revisiting our Inspirational Female Line Managers - Introductions and Inspirations
Last year, Astrea launched a campaign inviting members of the network to send us their stories celebrating truly supportive line managers. Astrea recently caught up with three of our Inspirational Female Line Managers to reflect on their nominations, share their personal experiences of leadership and their own inspirational female line managers, as well as diving into how they cope with managing change and supporting staff career development.
![Weronika Benning, Hannah Biggs, and Rhiannon Williams](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/revisiting_our_inspirational_female_line_managers_-_introductions_and_inspirations_december_2023.jpg)
Revisiting our Inspirational Female Line Managers - Leadership, Management and EDI
Welcome to the second article in the Astrea Policy Team’s ‘Revisiting our Inspirational Female Line Managers’ series!
![Colleagues chatting at the Happy to Chat bench at UCL East](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/ucleast-h2chat-3_0.jpg)
Meet Paola Lettieri: Happy to Chat project sponsor
Meet Professor Paola Lettieri, Pro-Provost for UCL East, and one of the sponsors of the Happy to Chat benches.
![Colleagues chatting at the Happy to Chat bench at the IOE](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/ioe-simonandnatasha.jpeg)
Meet Simon Buller: Happy to Chat project sponsor
Meet Simon Buller, Director of Operations at IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society, and one of the sponsors of the Happy to Chat benches.
![Colleagues chatting at the Happy to Chat bench at Bidborough House](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/ian_dancy_bbh_bench_photo.jpeg)
Meet Ian Dancy: Happy to Chat project sponsor
Ian Dancy, Executive Director of Operations, Campus Experience & Infrastructure, met with Pip Jackson, Astrea Co-chair and Head of Inclusive Environments for a chat on World Mental Health Day.
![Selfie of Aparna with the sea in the background.](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/aparna_murthy_800x667.png)
Spotlight on... Aparna Murthy
Meet Aparna, Programme Analyst in the Programme Management Office and Co-Chair of Astrea alongside Ferdouse Akhter and Pip Jackson.
![Photograph of Ferdouse recording a podcast with a microphone.](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/ferdouse_resized.jpg)
Spotlight on... Ferdouse Akhter
Meet Ferdouse, the Marketing and Community Manager at the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Co-Chair of Astrea alongside Aparna Murthy and Pip Jackson.
![Launch of the Happy to Chat bench in the UCL Main Quad](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/ucl_astrea-55.jpg)
Happy to Chat bench launch
The launch of our inaugural bench in the UCL Main Quad took place on Monday 11 September with Aimie Chapple, Vice-President (Operations).
Members of the Astrea community came together to celebrate the occasion and take part in a standing yoga session.
These eye-catching benches serve the whole UCL community, to combat loneliness by providing opportunities to connect with people
Stop by to try out the bench and post your photos on social media using #UCLHappytoChatBenches
![Liz Mooney standing behind one of the Astrea happy to chat benches](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/liz_mooney.png)
Spotlight on... Liz Mooney
Meet Liz, Senior Project Manager at Digital Campus Experience, and one of the Deputy Co-Chairs for UCL Astrea. Here, she chats to UCL News about her latest project leading the instalment of ‘Happy to Chat’ benches at UCL.
![Pip Jackson](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/pip_headshot_ucl_resized.jpg)
Spotlight on... Pip Jackson
Meet Pip, Head of Inclusive Environments within Campus Experience and Infrastructure and Co-Chair of Astrea.
![Loleta Fahad](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/loleta_fahad.jpg)
Spotlight on... Loleta Fahad
Meet Loleta, Head of Career Development based in Organisational Development and Co-Chair of Astrea.
![Graphic of various women in profile](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/fgjuunkwiaai6zg.png)
Astrea Celebrates Inspirational Female Line Managers
Find out more about our campaign, where we invited members of the network to send us their stories celebrating truly supportive line managers. You can also catch up on the recording of the round-table discussion and Q&A with some of the fantastic nominees.
![WHEN Sharing the Caring report](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/capture_0.jpg)
WHEN's Sharing the Caring report: a snapshot of gender equality in the home during lockdown
WHEN's Sharing the Caring survey garnered over 1,000 responses, taking a snapshot of gender equality in the home during lockdown. Here the Astrea committee shares the highlights and ideas for action.
![Athena Swan logo image](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/athena-swan.jpg)
Spotlight on Athena Swan
How the gender equality charter is supporting women in Professional Services at UCL By Ana Faro, EDI Project Manager at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Astrea Policy Lead
![Natalie Humphrey](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/natalie.jpg)
A day in the life of Natalie Humphrey
Take a look at a day in the life of different women working in Professional Services across UCL. This feature is on Natalie Humphrey, Head of Student Support and Wellbeing at UCL.
![WHEN Women's Higher Education Network](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/z5vi9kmpszkrobosbwtv_file.jpg)
Themes at the 2019 WHEN Conference: Labels and our own identity
In 2019 Astrea sponsored six women to attend the WHEN conference, and here's what they had to say about what stood out most for them on the day.
![GT](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/gt-profile_pic1.png)
A day in the life of Giselle Tesoro
Take a look at a day in the life of different women working in Professional Services across UCL. This feature is on Giselle Tesoro, Training Operations and Digital Learning Lead.
![nicola brewer](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/ddnb_800x500_0.jpg)
Astrea Interviews Dame Nicola Brewer
The Astrea team sat down with Dame Nicola Brewer, Vice Provost International to discuss her incredible career and especially her experiences of leadership.
![UCL main quad](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sites/astrea/files/ucl_main_quad.jpg)
Astrea responds to the UCL Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap 2018 report
Last month UCL published it gender and ethnicity pay gap report revealing a pronounced gap in earnings of UCL staff by gender and ethnicity. Read on for Astrea's response to the report.