Our Team
Our team is made up of experienced professionals who bring together lived experience, specialist knowledge, and a shared commitment to supporting young people to thrive. We work collaboratively to deliver trauma-informed, inclusive mentoring that empowers young people, strengthens communication, and creates lasting change.
Learning Skills and Mentoring Officer and Inclusion Officer, with extensive experience across education, mentoring, and community development. She holds a BA (Hons) in Physical Education & Sport and a professional qualification in Learning Skills and Mentoring.
Samira brings over eight years’ experience as a sports coach and more than ten years working within education, including roles across primary and secondary settings. Her professional journey is underpinned by a deep commitment to inclusion, early intervention, and the holistic development of young people.
Drawing on her lived experience of growing up within the care system, Samira has dedicated her career to making meaningful and sustainable change within both education and social care. She has a proven ability to design and deliver bespoke mentoring programmes that are entirely focused on the individual needs of young people, while also supporting professionals to overcome barriers to communication and engagement.
Samira’s practice is rooted in trauma-informed approaches, using her own experiences as a source of strength to inform impactful, empathetic, and effective mentoring. Her resilience and insight enable her to create safe spaces for young people to reflect, develop confidence, and achieve personal breakthroughs.
With extensive experience across multiple educational roles, Samira is skilled in producing robust evidence and impact data, demonstrating positive and sustained progress for young people with complex backgrounds and challenging life experiences.
As the Founder of The Journey: Speak My Truth, Samira is committed to driving change not only within local London communities, but on a wider national and international scale—ensuring that young people’s voices are heard, valued, and empowered.
Samira Ayissi
Keira is a Registered Probation Officer with over 15 years of professional experience working within the criminal justice and community sectors. She holds an LLB (Hons) Law degree and a BA (Hons) in Community Justice, with a professional qualification in Probation.
Throughout her career, Keira has demonstrated exceptional expertise in supporting the development of young people and young adults, particularly those facing complex challenges or at risk of offending. Her professional strengths lie in intervention and prevention, where she has consistently delivered impactful, community-focused work that promotes positive change and long-term outcomes.
Keira’s practice is grounded in risk assessment and management, including maturity assessments, supporting young people involved in or at risk of the criminal justice system, and guiding individuals away from offending behaviour through structured, supportive interventions. Her work reflects a strong commitment to safeguarding, accountability, and empowerment.
With a clear passion for creating life-changing mentoring provision, Keira brings invaluable insight, professionalism, and leadership to The Journey: Speak My Truth. She is a powerful role model and a key contributor to our mission of supporting young people and young adults to develop confidence, resilience, and positive futures.
Keira- Jade Gayle: Probation Officer & Justice Mentor