The Team
Islay Nicklin (she/her)
Founder, Editor in Chief, Transformative Educator, and Course Leader
Islay is a queer, neurodivergent educator and activist. She is a fully qualified teacher, an MSc in Transformative Learning and Teaching (University of Edinburgh), and a BA in Environmental Studies (University of California at Santa Barbara). She has experience teaching in both primary and secondary schools and a broad range of experience prior to teaching, including extensive volunteering and activist work in environmental sustainability and social justice (particularly, LGBTQIA+, BLM, and Women’s Empowerment). Islay also holds a range of qualifications in the Health and Wellness field, being a qualified yoga instructor, personal trainer, wellness coach, and nutrition and wellness consultant. With lifelong ADHD, Islay has a strong identity as a generalist, a conceptual thinker, and perpetual learner, committed to facilitating positive change. She created Eager Network with the goal of contributing to a better future by combining her multiple specialisations, making connections between them and amplifying more specialist voices.
Islay oversees all activities within Eager Network. She is primarily responsible for all educational content creation, including producing both free resources and all paid online courses and other paid services. She oversees creation of free resources by volunteer contributors. Islay is currently the only team member who provides consulting, mentoring, or leads trainings.
Francesca Scotti-Goetz (she/her)
Volunteer Contributor & Lead Blogger
Francesca Scotti-Goetz majored in Sociology and minored in Communications (McGill University of Montreal) with a particular interest in intersectional studies. Her background is in copywriting, project management, customer service, and the theatre arts. Now living in Amsterdam, she spends her weeks researching and writing for EAGER Network and her weekends biking along the canals with her Nikormat 35mm camera and a notebook, capturing what she can about life in our current world. An Italian American who moved to the Netherlands during a pandemic, she is curious and observant about how social, political and cultural society is shaped by these times. She is passionate about the intersection of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality with mental health and human connection. Her interest in bringing these passions to the sphere of education is sparked by a father who worked as a middle school teacher, a mother who works for the University of California, and the growth she has seen the education system go through over the span of their careers. She is working to be a part of keeping that growth on the right track.
Francesca is the first volunteer to come officially on board with Eager Network and we are so thrilled to have her! Francesca created our recurring Blog Segments: Words Matter, In the News, and Opinion Pieces. Francesca also contributes to our online Free Resources through producing graphic resources or contributing to research on comprehensive resources.
Sofia Christopherson (she/her)
Student Contributor & Mentee
Sofia Christopherson is a 16-year-old student in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. She is currently studying her Higher Scottish qualifications and is taking English, Maths, RMPS, Computing, Chemistry and Business. As part of her interest in Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies she writes blogs for Eager with support from her mentor, Islay Nicklin. Sofia is Swedish and Scottish and has many interests, such as hockey and tennis. As well as enjoying sports, she likes to crochet and knit. In school she is involved in Friends Support, a group that helps students with their mental health. She also takes part in Malala Group which discusses gender inequality within the school, and has been involved from the start with Diversity Group, which was created to tackle racial injustice in her school in response to the recent BLM movement resurgence. In the future, Sofia would like to study Maths and Computer Science at university.
Sofia is our first student contributor and the first to participate in our Eager Mentoring Programme! Check out her debut blog Which Side Are Men On? My Take on the ‘Not All Men’ Rebuttal which was inspired by her Malala Group at school!
Lucia Falsone (she/her)
Student Contributor & Mentee
Lucia is a seventeen-year-old student in her final year of secondary school studying Advanced Higher Geography, Spanish and Religion & Philosophy in Edinburgh, Scotland. Lucia is passionate about raising awareness of worldwide inequalities and encouraging everyday activism through participating in mental health discussion & current affairs groups at school as well as starting a mentoring initiative for younger students in an effort to start a conversation about topics such as intersectional feminism, BLM and sustainable living. In order to develop her understanding of social issues and share her reflections she contributes to the Eager Blog with the support of her mentor, Islay Nicklin. Lucia is Scottish-Sicilian with a love for music, dance, reading and creative writing. She hopes to travel and study International Relations and Psychology at university.
Other Helpers & Opportunities
Behind the scenes are a team of mentors, advisors, allies & collaborators, soul siblings, and early adopters who have supported Eager’s work through feedback, guidance, and support since day one. They have been a bedrock for our work.
Thank you to Victoria Barron who has shared some of her artwork with us for our LGBTQIA+ Terminology Guide. Support Victoria by checking out her store here.
Since February 2021, we have been welcoming volunteers. Volunteer contributors are credited for their work and have the opportunity to join the team as regular contributors. We are currently looking for volunteer teachers/tutors to help out with our new mentor programme, which is in trial.
Since April 2021 we have begun trialling a mentor programme for secondary school pupils who would like to get involved in social justice education work. Pupils work with volunteer teachers to develop their understanding of their chosen topic and the skills needed to develop their idea, with the goal of getting their work to publishing level and shared through Eager.Network and/or other spaces. These eager (pun intended!) young people are amazing and what we’re all about at Eager Network!