Karina Martin

Karina has been involved in social venture leadership for over 25 years and is passionate about seeing lives changed through building sustainable enterprises. In 2005 she founded the refugee charity Upbeat Communities, which led to the launch of Welcome Boxes nationally, in 2015. She has incubated several social enterprises and innovative projects alongside people on the margins, and recently completed her Master's in Social Innovation from the University of Cambridge.

Since 2020 Karina has been Head of Business Development and Social Innovation at Reach Events. As well as a vision to provide outstanding service, the events and conferencing business on Pride Park reinvests all its profits into Reach, a Christian charity, which benefits young people, families, recovering addicts, the homeless and refugees. In 2022, Reach mobilised over 200 volunteers to serve more than 1000 people from these groups, and supported 10 grassroots charities in the East Midlands.