Students' Unions are here to make students' lives better! Here at Leeds Beckett Students' Union (LBSU), that's exactly our mission - to improve the student experience for everyone studying at Leeds Beckett University. We're a non-profit organisation that's led by and for students. We provide a space for students to come together, support each other and fight for change! Every year the student body elects leaders to represent the student voice not only within LBSU, but also in leadership spaces at the University, in Leeds and beyond. These leaders, made up of full-time and part-time Student Officers, form the Student Executive Committee. Together our Student Executive Committee, Senior Management Team and Board of Trustees lead the organisation and guide our strategic direction. A big team of staff and students are working behind the scenes to deliver our missions and make sure we're giving you the best support we can!

How we work! 
Community organising is at the heart of what we do at LBSU. Each year our students vote for what campaigns they'd like us to focus on at our Student Assembly, and our leaders, staff and volunteers work together to deliver impactful campaigns to elevate your voice, bring the issues you voted for into the spotlight and make real change at Leeds Beckett. There's a whole team behind the scenes dedicated to supporting you and to delivering our goals! We work collaboratively to ensure that the student voice is heard at Beckett and beyond! If you're interested in getting involved with the Students' Union or with some of our campaigns, you can find out more here.

What we believe in! 
Community organising is our central theory of change.We believe that you have the power to shape the world and your community around you. Through community organising we want to equip you with the skills to come together to hold those in power to account and to drive meaningful change whether that’s on campus, across Leeds or beyond. By working together, we’ll empower our students to build positive relationships and to use their collective voice to fight for their community.
We follow the 5 steps to social change:
- Organise: Build a team by bringing together diverse people from different backgrounds and organisations.
- Listen: Unite people around the issues that matter by listening to each other and our communities to find out what is putting pressure on students.
- Plan: Identify solutions and decide which actions to take to tackle the root cause of the problems facing our students on campus and across Leeds.
- Act: Take action to hold those responsible to account.
- Negotiate: Work with decision makers and partners, like Leeds City Council and Leeds Beckett University, to identify solutions together and make sure change is effective and sustainable.
By following these steps and bringing our students together, we can create lasting change on campus and beyond that will positively impact our members. To find out more about the force behind community organising, head over to the Citizens UK’s webpage here. We’ve teamed up with them to help train student leaders and members of staff to empower our community to take back power and make meaningful change.
Meet our Leadership Team!
Board of Trustees
Peter Shilton-Godwin
Chair of the Board
Peter has enjoyed success as a Chief Executive Officer in students’ unions for the last 23 years and this, taken together with 10 years at NUS and a range of voluntary roles will ensure he brings a broad range of organisational experience to the role of Trustee. At UCLan Students’ Union he demonstrated great determination to keep focus on the core role and purpose of the Union to represent and serve a diverse membership. He remains as committed as he was when he was Union President to the opportunities democratic student leadership provides for students to shape their own futures. In real life he plays a lot of tennis; swims, bikes and scuba dives, has an active role in local politics and grows lots of great stuff on his huge allotment.
Katherine Everest
Lay Trustee
Katherine is Associate Director in Library and Student Services at Leeds Beckett University. Graduating from the University of York and with an MA from Sheffield, she has worked at Leeds Beckett for many years in various roles in the Library. As well as finance and strategic planning, her current role has responsibility for the front-facing side of the Libraries (there’s so much that also goes on behind the scenes!), making sure that everything runs smoothly and develops in partnership with students. She loves working with students and seeing them progress and fulfil their potential.
Stephen Dowson
Lay Trustee
Stephen, also known as Dows, has worked in the charitable sector and Students' Unions for over 15 years, and for the last five years, he has been working in both the private and third sector helping to train and develop hundred's of people in skills around leadership, facilitation, public speaking and campaigning with his business Stand & Be Counted.
Louise Lapish
Lay Trustee
Louise Lapish is a highly experienced Leadership and Management Trainer and Career Coach working across a broad range of sectors and clients globally. She creates inclusive programmes that enable people to perform at their best and feel empowered. She has also been a Trustee and Chair of the trustee sin the charity sector for many years and is excited to be joining LBSU at such an important time.
Frank Okyere
Student Trustee
Frank’s involvement in students’ activities covers a period of 24 years from his days in high school through university and beyond. He also has several years of experience in teaching and business consultancy. His wealth of professional experience and his forward-looking positive-thinking character make him inspire everyone he encounters to perform their best. He is delighted to serve on the Board and hopes to deliver his best to push forward the interests of students of Leeds Beckett University.
Paul is the Director of Treasury at Leeds Building Society after joining the Society in 1992 as a mortgage clerk and fulfilling a number of roles mainly in Treasury and Balance Sheet Management. Paul was appointed to Head of Treasury in 2000 and promoted to the Senior Management Team in 2009. In 2016, Paul was made Director of Treasury. His responsibilities include liquidity management, wholesale funding, capital management and balance sheet risk management.Paul has been a Trustee of the Society’s pension fund since 2008 and it’s Chair from 2018. Paul graduated with a BA Hons in Industrial Economics from Coventry University. He is an Associate Member of the Corporate Treasurers (AMCT) and has a Diploma in Retirement Provision (DRP).
Student Executive Committee

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Islam Elserougi
Full-time Undergraduate Officer
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Faisal Nihad Saleh Al-Sammarraie
Full-time Postgraduate Officer
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Tanish Mahesh Sukhwani
Part-time School Officer (Built Environment, Engineering & Computing)
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Nam Trang Linh Vu
Part-time School Officer (Business)
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Ethan Murphy
Part-time School Officer (Arts)
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Gerard Segovia
Part-time School Officer (Humanities & Social Sciences)
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Erin Allen-Batters
Part-time School Officer (Law)
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Senior Management Team

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Jacqui Short
Director of Resources & Operations
Jacqui Short is the Director of Resources & Operations at Leeds Beckett Students’ Union. She leads on key areas like Finance, HR, Governance and Digital, making sure everything behind the scenes runs smoothly so students and staff can thrive. Jacqui has a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Leeds and has spent much of her career in the education and non-profit sectors, where she’s developed a strong passion for supporting people and creating inclusive, empowering environments. Having lived in Leeds as a student, she’s proud to be part of a community that champions student voice and innovation. Outside of work, Jacqui loves being outdoors, skiing whenever she gets the chance, and spending time with her dog.

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Joanne Azam
Director of Business Development and Communications
I am the Director of Business Development and Communications, and I am also the Deputy Chief Executive and I have worked for Leeds Beckett Students’ Union for 17 years and part of my role as Director of Business Development and Communications is Managing the Head of Venues, Head of Business Development and Head of Marketing and Communications. Within my directorate, I oversee all income generation, our food and drinks offer, our gigs, our merchandise as well as all our marketing and comms. I am also a member of the Senior Management Team and I deputise for the CEO when he is on leave. I was a student at Leeds Beckett in 1997-2000 so it is lovely to now be working here and trying to make students lives better!

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Neil Mackenzie
Chief Executive
Neil is the Chief Exec of the SU, he leads the staff team and works with the elected officers and the Board of Trustees to set the SU strategy, manage our finances, and lead the SU staff team. Neil joined LBSU in 2022 and has previously worked in Students’ Unions across the region, starting his career as an elected officer at Leeds University Union. He has a BA (hons) in Politics & Parliamentary Studies and an MA in Activism & Social Change, both from the University of Leeds. He is committed to improving the lives of students and building social capital within and beyond our University. Outside of work you can find him running the streets, footpaths and canals of Wakefield and Leeds, and following Sunderland AFC.

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John Goodwin
Director of Organising & Influencing, Interim CEO
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