Lucy Shearer

Lucy works as a Social Sustainability Manager at the UK Parliament, and is responsible for its Modern Slavery Programme. Here she works with a variety of stakeholders and political figures from across the House of Commons and Lords, to support Parliament in its sustainability journey. 

Prior to this, Lucy worked in the third sector as a human rights consultant for FTSE 100 companies, working with organisations to embolden their stance on corporate social responsibility. In 2020 she graduated from the London School of Economics with an MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies.

Lucy currently holds a position on the Development Committee of the Social Responsibility Alliance - a group of influential industry leaders focused on the eradication of human trafficking and modern slavery from supply chains around the world. 

Outside of work Lucy is passionate about social impact and community engagement. A dedicated volunteer at a local Refugee and Asylum Seeker Cafe, she also tutors English to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

Lucy is enthusiastic to represent University of York’s alumni as a way of giving back to the university community. While at university she benefited from the generosity of the alumni community through her York Futures Scholarship. This provided her with the resource and time to devote to grassroots activism and advocacy work. 

This included her role in setting up a student society, York STAR (Student Action for Refugees). Here she collaborated with the Office of Philanthropic Partnerships and Alumni to support the University in introducing Equal Access Scholarships for refugees - a now well-established scholarship programme at York. 

Lucy’s first-hand experience of the power of student action when reinforced by the support of the alumni community, has made her passionate about further strengthening the relationship between York’s alumni and students. In particular, she’s interested in exploring the possibility of alumni-student mentoring programmes as well as connecting the York community to volunteering initiatives.