The Hope in the Heart Team
To learn more please visit our International Connections page
Tam Martin Fowles Founding Director/CEO
Tam is our founder/CEO and lead trainer/facilitator.. She founded Hope in the Heart in 2012, the same year she developed the AccepTTranscend Model for Transformation, the basis for many of her creative personal development workshops and courses. Living in East London, Tam is a nana, mum, wife, writer, artist, poet, international group facilitator, innovator, trainer and consultant. She is committed to challenging and changing the paradigm surrounding psychological/mental health distress, and helping others to reconnect with what matters in their lives. A visiting lecturer at several universities, and a Master Facilitator of the UN-endorsed Virtues Project, she is passionate about social change. Her personal experience of mental health distress and neurodiversity positively informs her work and life. .
Sophie Coxon Director/Community Development Coordinator
Sophie is a long-standing director of HiTH, having been a vital part of the organisation for well over a decade, and instrumental in its development and growth.
A group faciliator, counsellor, and Master Facilitator of the Virtues Project, Sophie has worked with many other local organisations on collaborative projects and delivered regular workshops in Brixton and Battersea, plus bespoke sessions within established community groups. Sophie's personal experience of mental health issues and neurodiversity inspire her work in supporting and empowering others to overcome challenging circumstances.
Tomi Alijbery Director/Facilitator
Tomi is a Hope in the Heart facilitator and all-round support worker. A London-based refugee with a law degree, she has a passion for human rights and social change. Her own experience of finding relief and a voice through Hope in the Heart workshops has helped to give her a unique insight into how we can help refugees and others with lived experience to feel welcomed and heard.
Forough Piroozie Director/Facilitator
Forough is a creative facilitator on some of our workshops. As a former participant she has a thorough understanding of the workshop experience from both sides.
Forough is a talented artist and designer who, as well as having a BA in International Affairs and MBA in Business Administration, she has recently gained a diploma in Creative Practice in Art, Design and Communication at Lambeth College. Her father was an exiled Iranian diplomat and she grew up in Qatar, her mother's home country. As a women's rights activist with a significant social media following it became unsafe for Forough to stay in Qatar and she is now a refugee based in London.
Ami-Mai McKenna Director/Facilitator
Ami-Mai started her journey with HITH in 2020. After participating in our London workshops and taking part in exhibitions in Plymouth and London she became a committed volunteer and sessional worker. Based in South London, Ami-Mai is a qualified EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher and multi-disciplinary visual artist, currently studying Ceramic Design at Central St Martin’s. She brings these skills to HITH at many levels, along with the value of her lived experience and neurodivergent thinking. Empathy and insight gained through personal experience fuel her passion for creating safe and nourishing environments for project participants.