Sharla founded Team Up (formerly known as YELP Students) in 2008 as a student society. She was then appointed as Team Up’s CEO, when the organisation became a registered charity in 2012. Sharla is now one of our trustees and continues to work closely with us.

For Sharla, the academic support of another student in her teenage years inspired a love of education, and a belief that tuition delivered by university students could help low-income young people reach their full potential.

Sharla is a Fellow at the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE), and received the EY Unlocking Potential Award in 2013, for her leadership in the field of social innovation. She has a BSc in Biochemistry from King’s College London, as well as a PGCE and MSc in Educational Research Methodology from Oxford University.

Sharla is also an inspirational speaker, and has delivered talks on social action, and addressing educational inequality for TEDx, NUS and the Royal Society of the Arts.