Dev Sharma

Chair of the Youth Select Committee

Dev Sharma, an 18-year-old Member of Youth Parliament for Hampshire and food activist, joined the Youth Select Committee to address the increasing repercussions on children’s health in the cost of living crisis, driven by his campaigning to challenge the injustices of the food system. His activism includes delivering a Food Charter to Downing Street and advising multinational companies on food policy. Recognised with both the Diana Award and UK Parliament Award, Dev has been at the forefront of the opposition against junk food advertising online, with his open letter campaign alongside Bite Back 2030 and Jamie Oliver leading to a government ban on such adverts.

Curtis Yip

Vice Chair of the Youth Select Commitee

Curtis Yip, 18, currently serves as Deputy Member of Youth Parliament and a member of Rotherham Youth Cabinet. He has great experience on intersectional climate activism through his work with regional think tanks, academics and universities at the Regional Youth Climate Assembly. He campaigns largely on the democratisation of young people and is a great advocate of devolution, serving in both the South Yorkshire and National Youth Combined Authority. Coming from, and representing, a community with much inflicted deprivation, Curtis is determined to influence local and national policy to ensure that all young people have adequate provision and support during the cost of living crisis.

Amelie Giggle

Member of the Young Essex Assembly

Amelie is a year eleven student in Essex, hoping to make a difference alongside her GCSEs. Despite being fairly new to Youth Voice, she is an elected member of the Young Essex Assembly and very excited to continue her work in the Youth Select Committee. She is especially concerned with issues like mental health, wealth inequality and the welfare of BAME young people or LGBTQ+ young people. For these reasons she feels her work on the cost of living inquiry will prove essential for the way government acts in the future and hopes to make real change.

Anis Bouakline

Councillor in Sheffield Youth Cabinet

Anis Bouakline, 18, a dedicated Youth Councillor from Sheffield Youth Cabinet, passionate to study Politics & International Relations at university. Within the Youth Cabinet, Anis had collaborated with other young councillors to work on Mental Health issues faced by young people. But now, Anis is determined to take on the challenge of the cost of living crisis. This determination stems from his North African heritage and motivated by the influence the crisis has had on many communities. By joining the Youth Select Committee, Anis seeks to represent the voices of young people and confront the pressing issue of the cost of living crisis.

Eli Pickering

Member of Youth Parliament for Sir Fynwy

Eli Pickering, 17, is a Member of the Youth Parliament for Sir Fynwy, does peer research on the Mind our Future Gwent project and is active in their local climate action group (Usk Together for the Climate). They have been volunteering with their local youth council for the past couple of years working on projects like the ALN transformation project. Passionate about mental health, they want to make sure that young people’s access to mental health services does not suffer during this cost-of-living crisis and that young people are centred at the heart of solutions and decision-making.

Emily Staples

Youth campaigner

Aged 14, Emily Staples lives in Loughborough, Leicestershire. Although the Youth Select Committee is her first experience in a political setting, Emily is looking forward to contributing her ideas and making sure that young peoples voices are properly accounted for during the cost of living crisis. She is particularly concerned about free school meals, and believes they should be more nutritious and widely available for all students. In her free time, Emily enjoys many extracurricular activities including volunteering for girl guiding.

Isla Grant

Member of Scottish Youth Parliament for Aberdeenshire East

Isla, 16, is from Aberdeenshire in the North East of Scotland. She is a Member of Scottish Youth Parliament for Aberdeenshire East and has held this role since November 2021, and since then has campaigned on issues like the right to food, climate change, drug harm and educational attainment. She is excited to be taking up this opportunity on the committee as she sees it as an incredible opportunity to make practical change for young people in the UK, and looks forward to representing the views of Scottish young people as the committee goes forward.

Jazzminejada George

Chair of the London Youth Assembly

Jazzminejada George is a passionate youth politician committed to representing young people. As a digital health ambassador, she used her initiative which led to the establishment of a crisis line for mental health, which the mayor of London commissioned. An accomplished public speaker, speaking at university conferences and being on panels at city hall, she has been featured on BBC news with Vanessa Feltz. Jazzminejada has a holistic worldview, collaborating with politicians to drive impactful change through her dedicated youth advocacy. She looks forward to working with fellow committee members to help create positive meaningful change for all.

Jonathan Frisher

Cheshire East Youth Council

Jonathan, a 14-year-old, plays an active role in the Cheshire East Youth Council and is working with other young people at a local community centre to improve facilities. He's seen how the cost of living crisis impacts young people in his area and is campaigning to give young people a voice on this issue. As a member of the Jewish community, he understands issues faced by his peers and has fresh ideas to solve these. Jonathan is enthusiastic about improving the lives of all young people through his involvement in the Youth Select Committee.

Juri Sammour

Youth Ambassador with Young Manchester

Juri, 16, is a Youth ambassador with Young Manchester and an A-level student studying politics, history and business. She strives to empower youth voices and leave a positive impact through her charity work fundraising for global crises such as the Turkey Syria earthquake crisis earlier this year, of which she raised close to £1000 for those in need with her school. Additionally, as a previous member of Manchester Youth council, she has experience debating and promoting awareness on relevant issues such as the Climate Crisis. She wants to reassure the youth impacted by the cost of living crisis that they are seen and heard through her lived experience and hopes to bring about change.

Pranav Sharma

Member of Youth Parliament for Surrey

Pranav Sharma, 16, is currently a Member of Youth Parliament for Surrey and the TfL Youth Panel. Through his experiences at TfL, he has helped lead the organisation's Sustainability, Diversity and Equality inquiry, which made a huge impact on the lives of young Londoners using the service and the meaning of youth involvement in TfL. As a member of Youth Parliament, he is actively involved in creating a sustainable, inclusive and equitable environment for young people to grow and prosper. His drive for impact leads him to the committee and believes in its potential to shape a true, holistic approach, to the evolving impacts of the cost of living to be able to truly focus help to those needing it in this crucial moment.

Ryan Kearney

Member of Youth Parliament for West Tyrone

Ryan currently serves as a Member of Youth Parliament for West Tyrone in Northern Ireland. In this role he campaigns on important issues affecting young people in the north such as paramilitary exploitation of young people, free school meals, access to education and mental health. Ryan applied to the Youth Select Committee to help address the cost of living crisis and its impact on young people's health and wellbeing. He believes that it is important to advocate for issues young people care about and to help find solutions. As well as serving as an MYP, Ryan also holds a position in Pure Mental’s Youth Policy Collective and Action Mental Health’s Youth Panel. Ryan is currently a Year 12 pupil in the Christian Brothers Grammar School.

Committee Members