Jess Crombie

Senior Lecturer, University of Arts London

Jess Crombie is a researcher and scholar working as a Senior Lecturer at UAL and as a consultant for the development and humanitarian sector with organisations such as Amref, UNHCR, DEC, Red Cross, Save the Children, and UN WFP.

In both contexts, Jess utilises almost two decades as a senior leader in the charity sector, most recently as Global Director of Content at Save the Children, to explore the ethical complexities of charity storytelling and find practical and responsible ways to navigate the creation and presentation of stories. Her research focus is investigating the potential for power shifts by seeking out the opinions and ideas of the people who share their stories with INGOs around both process and portrayal. Jess commissioned and co-authored the ground-breaking research ‘The People in the Pictures’ and ‘Who Owns The Story’ and founded and now co-chairs the Bond-sponsored ‘People in the Pictures’ working group, set up to bring about sector-wide change towards more ethical practices in the creation and use of stories about and images of poverty.