Meet our new coordinators for human rights and solidarity, membership and equality

We have selected our new coordinators for human rights and solidarity, membership and equality. They will serve for one year until July 2018. If you want to know more about who they are, feel free to check their biographies below.

Patrick Dempsey, Equality Coordinator

Patrick Dempsey is a student of Politics, International Relations and History at University College Dublin. He has been involved in the student and equality movement for several years; initially campaigning on tackling homophobic and transphobic bullying in Ireland, he was eventually elected to the Executive Board of IGLYO, an associate organisation of ESU. He has campaigned with the Union of Students’ in Ireland and advised them on equality issues for three years. He also worked as a youth worker, educator and as staff in the Irish parliament

Simona Gamonte, Human Rights and Solidarity Coordinator

Simona has worked during 2014-2016 as a Program Coordinator for Human Rights Initiative at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary and for 1 year as a Research Fellow within the same unit during 2013-2014. Her main responsibilities have been to organise, supervise, and coordinate the awareness raising projects and campaigns implemented by the Research Fellows on topics such as: minority rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, people with disabilities rights. Furthermore, she has been volunteering as the Humanitarian Aid Coordinator in 2015-2016 within CEU’s Refugee Task Force Team and a member of the Open Learning Initiative program at CEU. She has been mentoring 4 undergraduate students of Roma origin who are beneficiaries of scholarships offered by Roma Education Fund Romania. Additionally, she was awarded the Human Rights Activism award at the Roma Gala Women (Romania) in 2015.

Simona has an Erasmus Mundus MA degree in Gender and Women studies and one MA in Politics, Gender and Minorities. Additionally, she has a BA in Political Science.

Rob Henthorn, Membership Coordinator

Rob has been the Vice President (Education) at NUS Scotland, and part of NUS-UK’s National Executive Council for the years 2015-17. Before this he was the full-time Education Officer for his students’ union at the University of Aberdeen (2013-15), and a free education activist while studying for his MA in History and Philosophy. He has a special interest in building new unions for work-based learners, and the rest of the time enjoys cooking, singing and making beer.