Our team

Green Action ELT is a small group of volunteers working in or with the English language teaching sector in the UK. We are committed to helping the industry become a force for positive, inclusive and impactful environmental action.

Our group arose out of UK ELT & The Environment, a working party of English UK members set up in spring 2019 to discuss our sector’s impact on the environment. Now our team of volunteers and our audience have extended beyond this initial project and we have an international reach.

Everything you see from Green Action ELT – our events, website, posts on social media and campaigns – are thanks to the hard work of our small team below. If you are interested in helping us organise events, raise awareness and encourage change, we’d love to hear from you! Find out more about volunteering and other ways to support our project.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to get in touch via social media or email:


Our volunteers

Chris Etchells

Chris is Green Action ELT’s founder (then ELT Footprint UK), a regular speaker and event host.

He is also co-director of English Country Schools.

Helen Kind

Helen is Green Action ELT’s Chair, communications lead and graphic designer.

She is also a freelance communications consultant and graphic designer.

Johanna Stirling

Jo is Green Action ELT’s event lead. She liaises with speakers and regularly hosts our online events.

She is also a training and professional coaching consultant.

A photo of Carol Samlal, smiling at the camera with a classroom in the background

Carol Samlal

Carol is a committee volunteer. She helps organise events, liaises with speakers and connects us with the ESOL community.

She is also an ESOL teacher, trainer and Natecla EoE Branch Chair.

A black and white photo of Chris Graham smiling

Chris Graham

Chris is a committee volunteer. He helps plan and host events, and shares his research insights from the sector.

He is also an ELT author, consultant and researcher.


Michael Glenn-Kerr

Michael is a committee volunteer. He helps us plan events and campaigns, and connects us to English UK Young Learners.

He is also the UK Manager at Alpadia Language Schools.


Our ambassadors and supporters

A very special thanks to everyone who supports our work in other ways, from speaking at our events or regularly promoting our events.

  • Dan Bryan (Languages United) for his technical IT and website support!
  • Eleanor Thomas (English UK) for promoting our events and activities to English UK member centres.