About Us

Future Narratives Lab is a democratically owned and controlled non-profit that exists to build the independent cultural and political power of civil society.

With a base in East London, our team works across Europe and beyond, typically through partnerships with groups working on entrenched and complex social challenges, who commission us to help them move their issues up the agenda, and build power.

If you are interested in working with us on a project or collaboration, or joining our team, get in touch.

Our Team

Daniel Stanley

Executive Director

Daniel has a background in grassroots community organising, and a particular interest in how cultural identities and belief systems interact with political and civic power. He has worked with campaigners and civil society organisations across the world for over a decade including co-founding and leading digital mobilisation agency Small Axe, and sits on the board of democratic economy co-operative Stir to Action. His recent writing includes the essay 'AI as anti-politics', which explores how new technology is reshaping the terrain civil society organises on.

Dr Sarah Stein Lubrano

Strategy Director

Sarah is author of the recent book 'Don't Talk About Politics: How to Change 21st Century Minds' (Bloomsbury 2025), and has a DPhil in Political Theory from Oxford University, studying the relationship between emotion and politics in democracies. Previously she worked as the Head of Content at The School of Life, designing their curriculum and writing for their YouTube Channel. She has previously worked as filmmaker, prison tutor, student welfare officer, and obituary writer.

Kheya Bag

Head of Operations and Delivery

Kheya brings extensive management experience from leading institutions across progressive publishing. At Verso Books, she spearheaded the launch of Verso Libros, an international Spanish-language imprint. As Publishing Director at New Left Review, for more than a decade she led production, circulation, and business operations with editorial responsibilities across culture, ecology, politics, and theory. Her own writing on Indian politics has been translated into multiple languages. (Photo by Rita Platts)

Guillermo Ortego

Designer

Guillermo is a Spanish illustrator and designer based in London, where he's been inking comic books for the US market and providing regular illustrations for newspapers, books, magazines and independent films ever since he completed a History degree in 2009. Amongst his clients you can find Marvel and DC Comics, El Mundo, Politico, Editorial Planeta and the football team Real Madrid. Most recently, he's started working more closely with non-profit organisations trying to help advocate for the kind of world he'd like his daughter to grow up in.

Toby Tobias

Creative Director

Toby is a multidisciplinary artist with a particular interest in popular music, dialogue, and the public sphere. His projects include investigations into grass roots politics, partisan pop-songs, agonistic utopianism, and cooperative practices. He has shown recently at Pi Artworks in London, the Sound & Vision Festival at the Royal Academy of Music, Bastioni Association in Florence, the Coventry Biennial, and Beaconsfield Gallery, as well as performing at the Barbican Centre, on BBC Radio 4, BBC 1, and Channel 4.

Nancy Hawthorn

Narrative Strategist

Nancy is a researcher focused on the intersection between emotional wellbeing and socio-political dynamics, alongside broader cultural narrative change. She has a law degree from the London School of Economics, and is completing an MSc in Global Mental Health & Society at the University of Edinburgh. She works with Oxford University's Wellbeing Research Centre, researching co-production. Her previous roles include trainee lawyer, legal tech product manager and festival catering manager. She also runs SEIS-GO - a legal consultancy for early-stage startups based in Scotland.

Annika Shamachar

Research and Communications Associate

Annika is a strategic communications and social impact professional with a background in global social impact across PR agency, international organisation, and government settings. She brings previous experience in global health security communications for the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa and driving media strategy, thought leadership, and narrative work for impact-oriented organisations at Washington DC PR agency BerlinRosen. Annika holds an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, where her research focused on the role of corporate fossil fuel narratives in international climate governance.

Celine Henne

Associate

Céline is an academic philosopher interested in how the concepts we use shape our understanding of the world and how we act within it. Her current research explores how communities collectively articulate and challenge the ideas that structure public life. She has a PhD in philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge. Alongside her academic research and public-facing work, she is training in integrative psychotherapy, and previously worked as a freelance book reviewer for Le Monde.

Karim Bah

Associate

Karim Bah is a Sierra Leonean ex-journalist, communications specialist, movement strategist, filmmaker, community organiser, and international development practitioner with more than 20 years of experience. He has developed and led communications strategies for UN agencies including UNDP, WFP, and UNICEF, as well as leading NGOs such as ActionAid, Oxfam, Network Movement for Justice and Development, and ISODEC. He currently leads research on how African civil society organizations utilize strategic communications—storytelling, narrative strategy, and media outreach—to advance social and economic justice causes.