Debbie Solomon

I have worked in the non-governmental sector for over 20 years, initially with people who were making the transition from hospital to permanent accommodation, before working with young people who were homeless. I am currently the Deputy at Synergi where we focus on the intersection between racial justice and mental health, distress or trauma.

Before joining, Synergi, I was the Deputy Executive Director at Media Diversity Institute where we encourage the media towards nuanced reporting on race, religion, ethnic, class, disability, gender and sexual identity issues in media landscapes around the world. Prior to to MDI, I worked for ARTICLE 19, an International Freedom of Expression organisation, initially in finance before moving to compliance and programme management. Whilst there, I played a key role in management of large grants and programmes, reporting and compliance of projects and programmes (both A19 teams but also local partners) on freedom of expression, including those that advocated for women and/or LGBTQ+ rights.

The concept of intersectionality has been a major focus of my academic career, and my research thesis for my undergraduate degree in Social Science from Birkbeck University was an intersectional grounded theory analysis of self-censorship of Women Human Rights Defenders. Whilst undertaking my Masters in Gender and Research from the London School of Economic and Political Science, I participated in a research project on the media coverage of #MeToo. The thesis for my postgraduate degree was an analysis of the representation and absence of the Black and PoC Bisexual body in the Journal of Bisexuality.

I have volunteered for several local community organisations such as with the Feminist Library, LesFlick and Decolonizing the Archive (DTA). I currently volunteer with the Black Cultural Archives, Black Pride and the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

When I’m not volunteering you will find me either running or hiking, yoga. pilates, eating-out and baking!

As a recent board member, I am looking forward to working with METRO during this new phase and bringing my skills and experience in diversity, equity and inclusion.