Meet Our Team of Inspiring Women

Originally published on www.respeo.com 8th March 2025

Written by Ore-Ofe Ogunleye

Around the globe, many people today will be out marching on the streets with one goal in mind: eradicating gender inequality whether in the workplace, at home or in third spaces. This fight was first amplified here in the UK by both the Suffragists and the Suffragette movement over 100 years ago.

Women like Milicient Fawcett and Emmeline Pankhurst, although different in their approaches, were united in their beliefs that women deserved the right to vote. The decision to eventually give women the vote was largely down to the way women acted and ‘stepped’ up during World War One. As a large number of men, and therefore the working population, were recruited for the war, the Women they left behind showed they could do the work just as well as men.

Since then, there have seen many legislations that have sought to reduce discrimination against women. The Equal Pay Act, 1970 and The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, 1975 are two examples of legislations that specifically targeted work place discrimination.

Now ushered in many new changes including opening up the space for women in the workplace. However, the fight is not over. Many women still report facing gender inequality at work.

While we acknowledge we are not there yet, we can nevertheless celebrate what has been achieved. This is why we want to celebrate the inspiring women on the ResPeo team and the contributions that they make.

Here is a brief introduction of them:

1. Maria Kordowicz, Director of ResPeo

Maria founded ResPeo in 2018 to deliver academically rigorous, yet accessible and friendly, research, evaluation, and facilitation services. She is a Chartered Psychologist and has a PhD in Health Services Research from King’s College London. She is also a visiting academic at a number of Higher Education institutions.

2. Juliet Brookes

Juliet is a senior researcher at ResPeo as well as a holder of an MSc in Social Research, an MA in Librarianship and a PG certificate in Public Sector Management. From 2016 to 2022, she was also Director of Strategy for KYRA Research school doing evaluation work of DfE funded Strategic School Improvement Fund projects amongst many other things.

3. Martine Nurek

Martine is also a senior researcher at ResPeo. She has conducted research using mixed methods techniques for many academic institutions including Imperial College London, King’s College London and University College London. At ResPeo, she has conducted many qualitative and quantitative research.

4. Ruby Carter

Ruby is a researcher at ResPeo with a background in Visual Arts and Anthropology. She is interested in using creative methods and outputs as a means of creating more accessible, reciprocal and engaging research.

5. Anjali Babu

Anjali is a project assistant and is a User Researcher by background. She earned her Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction from the University of Nottingham, specialising in UX Research and user-led product and service design. At ResPeo she supports qualitative and quantitative research projects, assisting with surveys, interviews, focus groups, and workshops.

6. Ore-ofe Ogunleye

Ore-ofe is a project assistant with previous experiences in education and editing. She has a Marketing MSc degree from the University of Nottingham. She supports with qualitative research as well as with ResPeo’s Marketing and Communications strategy.

We also took this opportunity to ask our team of inspiring women what women inspired them.

Maria said: ‘Mine is Angelina Jolie for her deep humanitarian work, being an adoptive parent, surviving the most drawn out of divorces, her style, and for her creative outlet in Atelier Jolie. I too would love more creativity in my life. She is also a rock kid at heart like me.

I also closely followed and was inspired by Jacinda Ardern’s compassionate and progressive former NZ premiership.

Then in terms of those women who have passed, there are too many to mention. To choose one, Hannah Arendt was a great political and philosophical influence on me through her study of totalitarianism.’

Juliet: ‘The woman who inspires me is Kirsty Wark, journalist and broadcaster, for being a trailblazer for the many female journalists who follow in her footsteps. Also, for her support of art and culture.’

Ore: ‘A woman that inspires me is Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Despite her struggles with her mental health, she continues to create phenomenal works of art. She is proof that we are not defined by our inner struggles!’

Martine: ‘I know there are women who have achieved remarkable things for mankind. But lately, I find myself inspired by “ordinary” women. Friends who are sick, friends whose children are sick. Friends who have been abandoned and mistreated at home and at work. And yet, they keep going. Not bitter, not jaded, just steady. They show up, they try hard, they smile. This quiet strength inspires me.’