About Us
Social Change Lab conducts empirical research on disruptive protest and people-powered movements.
Through research reports, workshops, and trainings, we provide actionable insights to help movements and funders be more effective.
Contact
For any enquiries, free to reach out to our Interim Director, Sam Nadel via sam@socialchangelab.org.
We're not currently hiring, but if you're interested in volunteering with us, please check out our page about volunteering. Thanks for your interest, we really appreciate it!
Meet the team
Sam Nadel
Interim Director
Sam has dedicated many years to working with social movements and NGOs to drive meaningful change. He has held roles at Amnesty International and Oxfam, where he was both Head of Policy and Advocacy and Head of Government Relations. Currently, Sam is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Bath and an Associate Researcher at the University of Exeter. In these roles, he has led qualitative and mixed-methods research projects focused on social and environmental movements. Before working in the third sector, Sam spent over a decade as a professional drummer and musician, touring extensively worldwide.
Cathy Rogers
Research Consultant
Cathy spent many years producing science TV programmes before returning to academia to complete a PhD in Psychology. Now working in applied research, she writes policy reports (e.g., for World Bank, UNESCO), has just published a book on what teachers should know about the brain, and works with charities to evaluate and improve their effectiveness
Markus Ostarek
Director of Research
Markus is a researcher and data analyst dedicated to transparent and open science. His background is in cognitive neuroscience (of language) where he undertook a PhD in understanding how the brain makes sense of words. Markus recently left his role as a Lecturer in Psychology and Neuroscience to apply his skills from academia to the field of Effective Altruism and to have a positive impact on crucial issues, such as climate change and animal welfare.
James Özden
Founder & Advisor
James has spent several years building social movements and campaigning to tackle climate change and reduce animal suffering. From working on strategy for one of the most well-known social movement organisations in recent history, Extinction Rebellion, he's learned valuable lessons in designing effective movements. More recently, James completed the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program on how to launch highly impactful nonprofits.