Fiona Costello
- Young Greens National Executive Committee (Events Officer/International Spokesperson).
- Federation of Young European Greens Working Group coordinator.
- Co-founder of Aberystwyth Young Greens.
- Working for the Green European Foundation in Brussels; working on production and delivery of a range of publications.
- Formerly worked in the Strasbourg office of Jean Lambert MEP.
- BScEcon in International Relations from University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
I have always been active in politics, taking part in protests against neo-nazis marching in the streets of Germany from age 13, and finally found my political "home" in the Green Party when I joined the German Young Greens 11 years ago. Being politically active in my community is important to me because I believe that grassroots movements have always been the ground for real political change. For this reason, I have been active at the University of Cologne as a student representative and organiser of the (successful) campaign of the movement against tuition fees in Germany, and as a founding member of Aberystwyth Young Greens. I am now in the process of preparing a chapter of the Green Party of England and Wales in Brussels, where most European Green Parties are also represented.
However, I also want to bring the Green Party forward on a national level. In 2013, I was been elected onto the Young Greens National Executive Committee (re-elected in 2014), being responsible for the organisation of Young Greens events across England and Wales and acting as an official international representative of the Young Greens at a variety of European events. Through my involvement with the Federation of Young European Greens, I helped to implement the European-wide "Reclaim Your Future" campaign of the European Greens and promoted the European Primary Elections.
During my time on the National Executive Committee, I have helped the Young Greens grow from 1,700 to over 23,000 members. That also means that the Young Greens have grown from forming 10% of the party's membership to over 30%. I want to make sure that Young Greens are represented on the Executive Committee of the Green Party.
In addition to my experience as an activist, I also have professional experience of working in a political environment. In 2012/13, I worked in the Strasbourg office of Jean Lambert MEP where I was in direct contact with the everyday political business. I am currently working for the Green European Foundation, a political think tank that is sponsored by the Green Group in the European Parliament. Part of my job here is to ensure that our publications are distributed widely and reach out to new people - something that will be particularly useful if Jenny and I get elected as Publications Coordinators.
Jennifer Marklew
I came to the Green Party because of my strongly held belief that more equal societies are, in turn, healthier societies. This is a belief I have held for many years (as part of my undergraduate dissertation I undertook to add the gini co-efficient, which measures wealth distribution, to the human development index). Linking this back to the destruction of the world around us I realised it was only by changing our current measures of success that we could tackle these issues.
Instead of worrying about the GDP of our country- which pays no heed to how that money is distributed or to the happiness and health of the population- we should be looking at how happy citizens are. Rather than increasing our consumption and using this to measure our progress, let us think about how we can reduce consumption and still feel fulfilled and happy. There is another way, let's make sure we take it.
- General Election Candidate for Milton Keynes North in the 2015 election, gaining over 2000 votes
- Local election candidate in 2014 and 2015
- Part of Milton Keynes Green Parties Campaigns team, overseeing design, production and distribution of election materials
- Milton Keynes Green Party and Milton Keynes Young Greens Treasurer
- Member of Young Greens 30 under 30 training programme
- Qualified Domestic Energy Assessor and auditor
- BScEcon in International Relations from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
- Co-founder of the International Relations Society at Aberystwyth University
- Currently studying for a Masters in Philosophy with the Open University