HOME TO COCREATE HACKNEY & THE COMMUNITY CLOSET.
The CoHub Team
Community Shapers. Lived Experience. Real Leadership.
Every Hub Shaper started as a resident.
All of them have used the space or services at some point - they chose to stay, step up and give back.
This is what community infrastructure looks like in practice.
Zey
CLOSET SHOP MANAGER resident governor
Zey is the heartbeat of The Community Closet. A mum of three who first accessed the project during the pandemic, she has volunteered with us for six years and now leads the shop with boss-level energy. She keeps the volunteers organised, the rails flowing and the standards high.
A natural leader, a generous giver-backer - and an absolutely fantastic cook.
Sara
COHUB & CLOSET SHAPER
resident governor
Sara leads our Coffee Mornings, supports Rough St sessions and keeps our Food Pantry Fridays running smoothly. She also volunteers at her local church and brings that same warmth and kindness into the Hub. A big heart full of love and faith - a steady presence and always ready to help,
Community comes naturally to her.
Emily-May
specialist iag shaper resident governor
Emily-May is a mum, a carer and also our Specialist IAG Help Shaper (SEN, PIP, Disability). With years of professional, academic & most importantly, lived-experience under her belt - our clients are in always in safe hands with Em!
She also loves homing rescue animals - kind heart, gentle nature.
Tracey
COHUB & CLOSET SHAPER
hub admin
Tracey brings no-nonsense, get-it-done energy to everything she touches. A special guardian to her granddaughter, she supports both the CoHub and The Community Closet with reliability and heart. Another brilliant cook (we have a theme here!), she balances care with strength - and has excellent taste in Ska music.
If something needs doing, Tracey is already on it.
Leane
COHUB & CLOSET SHAPER
Leane helps out in the Closet shop, backing Zey up with stock rotation, serving customers & social media. She also helps out out our Crafty Tuesday Kids sessions every week.
Always approachable, humble, kind-natured and armed with a warm smile,
Leane is happy to help everyone.
Mahli
COHUB & CLOSET SHAPER
Mahli supports our Rough St sessions and helps out regularly in The CoHub and Community Closet. Consistent and community-minded, he shows up where he’s needed and gets stuck in. A huge lover of spicy food and lime pickle - which tells you everything you need to know about his energy!
Quietly powerful. Always dependable.
Board of Directors
Our Board blends sector expertise with front-line insight. .
Krista Brown
FOUNDER & DIRECTOR
Krista is the founder of the CoHub, CoCreate Hackney and The Community Closet.
An award-winning social justice advocate, writer and community development leader, Krista has spent decades building pathways into opportunity, challenging exclusion and designing practical solutions that work in real life.
Before founding the CoHub, she led a successful large-scale events HR and apprenticeship business recognised nationally for creating accessible employment routes and championing inclusive recruitment practices. Her work has consistently focused on widening participation, supporting second chances and translating lived experience into structural change.
Krista blends lived experience, academic thinking and frontline insight with strategic design - creating solutions that don’t just look good on paper, but actually work. Through The CoHub, she now connects immediate support, volunteer progression and resident-led co-production - building community infrastructure that reduces crisis today while shaping better systems for tomorrow.
Her work is rooted in one belief:
community power is not tokenism - it is structural.
Leah Borromeo
CHAIR & DIRECTOR
Leah is an award-nominated documentary filmmaker and journalist with extensive experience in storytelling, partnerships and social justice work.
With a global background and deep local commitment, Leah brings creative strategy, ethical leadership and big-picture thinking to the Board.
Natalie Francis
TREASURER & DIRECTOR
Natalie serves as Treasure and Director, bringing strong financial acumen and business expertise to the CoHub.
Her leadership ensures robust and transparent financial stewardship, enabling sustainable growth for both immediate support and long-term strategic work.
Francesca Essuman
DIRECTOR
Francesca is a senior healthcare professional based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. She applies her health-sector expertise, compassionate leadership and community insight to support CoHub strategy and impact work.
Fran also contributes directly within the CoHub, leading Food Pantry Fridays and supporting residents in person.
Resident Governance Board
Community voice. Real decision-making. The CoHub is guided not only by a Board of Directors, but by a Resident Governance Board - because community infrastructure should be shaped by the people it serves.
Our Resident Governance Board is made up of local residents, system & VCS partners.
Many residents began as service users and have progressed into volunteer, facilitator and leadership roles. This is not a token advisory group. It is a working decision-making body. The group reflects the diversity, reality and strength of the community and meets four times per year.
- Review impact and participation data
- Identify emerging community needs
- Shape and design the Hub timetable
- Vote on new programmes and priorities
- Provide structured feedback on delivery
What It Means
Programmes at the CoHub are not designed for residents. They are designed with residents - and often by them. From Coffee Mornings to Rough St sessions, from workshops to seasonal projects, the timetable reflects real need, not assumptions.
This model ensures: Relevance, Accountability, Participation, Shared ownership.
The Resident Governance Board ensures that lived experience is not an afterthought - it is a decision-making force.