Victoria is an entrepreneur, security analyst and ardent communicator. As an undergraduate, she studied Middle Eastern Studies and Social Anthropology at Cambridge University and later returned to academia with postgraduate studies in the War Studies department of King’s College London. She is particularly interested in exploring what drives people, especially women and children, towards extremist ideology and political violence.
Her research has led her to examine Northern Ireland, the Middle East and Pakistan. She recently briefed a cross-departmental team of Her Majesty’s Government on the connection between Islamist actors and organised crime in South Asia. Her study of extremism led her to realise how compelling radical ideology can be for young people. Rather than teach competing counter-narratives, Victoria founded Eloquentia Communication to help young people of all backgrounds appreciate how life can be enriched through listening to others, debating with them and understanding different perspectives.
Victoria is passionate about communication and feels the world would be a much happier and more equal place if people understood each other better. As such, she is a keen linguist, having learned ten languages and is still improving them. She has lived and worked abroad, from Spain to Syria, from the United States to Italy and loves immersing herself in different cultures and meeting people from diverse backgrounds. She enjoys living and working in heterogenous, pluralistic environments and is proud to be the only female millennial Non-Executive Director on the board of specialist construction materials firm, DB Group.
Her hopes for the future are that people might embrace their childlike curiosity, learn to better communicate with each other and appreciate a shared humanity with those they had previously feared or demonised.