Spotlight on...Nadia Jackson

What is your role and what does it involve? 

I am the Finance and Due Diligence Manager for the GRRIPP project and also the Co-Director of the Centre for Gender and Disaster at the UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction.  

My responsibilities at GRRIPP include engaging with overseas stakeholders with large and complex budgets, providing them with financial projections and advising them on the efficient use of their financial resources according to the funder’s regulations and guidelines. I feel very proud of working in GRRIPP because it is seen as a flagship gender project of UKRI and because of the very innovative ways of working, such as a feminist, decentralising and decolonising management approach. 

How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role? 

I started in the School of Pharmacy in 2009 and then we merged with UCL in 2012, so it is close to 15 years now.  

I had the privilege to hold a few positions during this time and be part of both central and departmental teams. 

In my previous role, I managed a portfolio of research and capacity-building projects for UCL for the NIHR School for Primary Care Research (a partnership between nine leading academic centres for primary care research in England). 

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of? 

I would like to highlight two achievements which have brought me lots of enjoyment and fulfilment, the first one was being part of the first cohort of Wellbeing Champions and Mental Health First Aiders and setting up well-being initiatives in my previous department at UCL.  

I created and chaired a well-being committee which introduced monthly newsletters, organised classes such as watercolour, crafts, yoga and meditation, workshops on mental health, and social events such as picnics and foraging in the park. I am very proud of this work because I could see the difference it made in staff morale and how it brought all of us together to discuss the benefits of looking after our well-being. 

In 2022, together with Dr Louisa Acciari, I designed and delivered training in project management to 20 women members of the Institute Women of the Amazon (IMA) in Brazil, with the aim to increase their financial autonomy and empower them to lead their own projects. This involved experimenting with innovative pedagogical techniques for an audience with low levels of IT proficiency, as well as the production of original course material. Furthermore, this enabled an unprecedented collaboration between research and PS staff at UCL.  

As a result, 5 of the organisations associated with IMA won a total of 9 small grants. Those are indigenous, black, quilombola and informal women workers’ groups, most of whom had never accessed funding before. One of our trainees said: “My gratitude to all the people responsible for this event, this training will certainly change the lives of many people from the projects that will be articulated and executed by this group of women, we will change the Amazon with and from the perspective of the women.”  

And I felt very privileged that this work has contributed to me winning the 2023 BEAMS Professional Services Awards in the category ‘Communicating and engaging effectively with the world’. 

See the trainees’ feedback videos:

Impact of Training in Project Management

Feedback on GRRIPP Project Management course in Brasilia May 2022

Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of your to-do list 

We are now designing the second part of the training to deepen the knowledge and to ‘train the trainer’, where IMA will be leading a capacity-building programme for the midwives, indigenous and black women.  

We are also planning to translate and format the material to be available more widely and as an online tool as a legacy of the GRRIPP project. 

What is your favourite album, film and novel? 

It is hard to choose one specific album; I love Sertanejo (Brazil country music), ABBA and Queen. 

For films, I would say recently About Time and The Shawshank Redemption. 

Wuthering Heights is my favourite novel, and I also enjoy all books by Agatha Christie. 

Who would be your dream dinner guests? 

I would love to have both sets of my grandparents for dinner, especially my grandmother Lucia who had such a big influence on me growing up – she was fun, strong and had a burst of infectious laughter – I miss her a lot.   

And separately I would love to dine with Alan Sugar and Michael McIntyre. 

What advice would you give your younger self? 

'It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters and also everything that happens in your life can be a blessing or a lesson – in both cases it will be positive. 

What would it surprise people to know about you? 

I love to try new things, and my interests are quite varied, so the list of my unfinished business and sometimes not very useful skill sets includes shorthand, kickboxing, hairdressing, singing, floristry, sushi, photography and finally a stint as a tap dancer! 

What is your favourite place? 

Where the sun meets the sea. I love the feeling of the sun on my skin, watching the sunset, the sway of the palm trees, listening to the waves and walking on sandy beaches. This is my definition of paradise!