Meet the Team
The people behind NVW are travellers, volunteers and educators who have spent their careers believing in what a meaningful gap year can do.
Every member of the NVW team has a personal connection to international volunteering, whether through their own gap year, years working in youth development, or decades spent building programmes that change young people’s lives. We are spread across six countries, we know our placements personally, and we are genuinely invested in every volunteer who comes to us. This is not a call centre. It is a small, dedicated team that cares deeply about getting this right.
James Langdon
Founder, Director & UK Programme Manager
James founded NVW in 2021, but his career in international volunteering spans decades, including senior roles at Project Trust, VSO, The Prince’s Trust and Lattitude Global Volunteering, where he served as CEO. He knows every UK placement personally and guides volunteers from application through to arrival. His own gap year in Indonesia in 1986 started everything, and he has spent the years since helping as many young people as possible find a version of that experience for themselves.
“What makes this work so rewarding is watching someone arrive nervous and uncertain, and leave a year later knowing exactly what they are capable of. That transformation never gets old.”
Beata Skokowska
Programme Manager, Canada & Poland
Beata has worked in international volunteering for 17 years and has built connections with people and communities all over the world. She is a black belt in Aikido and has trekked 48 kilometres through the Tatra mountains in two days, so she knows a thing or two about pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. Whether supporting a volunteer in Canada or Poland, her warmth and tenacity make her exactly the kind of person you want in your corner.
“The volunteers who get the most out of their placements are the ones who throw themselves in completely. My job is to make sure they feel confident enough to do exactly that.”
Josh Goldblatt
Programme Manager, Spain
Originally from London, Josh has lived and worked in Spain for over 30 years, giving him an intimate knowledge of the country, the culture and the education system. He has a genuine passion for helping young people live their dreams and openly admits he wishes he had taken a gap year himself. He knows every one of our Spanish placements personally and is always available to support volunteers throughout their time there.
“Spain has a rhythm to it that gets into your bones. Volunteers who go there don’t just visit Spain, they live it, and that is a completely different thing.”
Verity Brookes-Baker
Programme Manager, Australia & New Zealand
Verity has spent 14 years working in youth development and has completed her own gap years across Europe, Australia and Asia, so she knows exactly what volunteers are going through at every stage. She prepares volunteers thoroughly, works closely with host organisations, and brings a personal understanding of the highs and the wobbles that only comes from having been there herself.
“Australia and New Zealand are two of the most extraordinary places in the world to spend a year. My job is helping volunteers make the most of every single day of it, not just the placement itself but everything around it.”
Mili Muro
Programme Manager, Argentina
Mili trained as an English teacher in Buenos Aires and spent years working in international education, including running the Exchange Programme at Northlands School. She has been placing volunteers in Argentinian schools for over five years and understands both sides of the experience deeply, having worked closely with the schools that host volunteers and the young people who arrive full of excitement and the occasional bout of nerves.
“Argentina gets into your blood. The energy, the passion, the food, the music, the sheer aliveness of the place. Volunteers who go there often describe it as the most vivid year of their lives, and I completely believe them.”
Kweku Buadee
Programme Manager, Ghana
Kweku is based in Cape Coast and has travelled to every major region of Ghana, giving him an intimate knowledge of the communities and placements he works with. His own experience as a volunteer in 2013 sparked a passion for young people’s development that he now channels into supporting every volunteer who comes to Ghana. Having lived the experience himself, he brings an empathy and insight to his role that is genuinely rare.
“Ghana redefines what you think a meaningful experience looks like. Volunteers go there thinking they are giving something, and come back knowing they received far more.”
Matty Tilbrook
Recruitment Manager
Matty works behind the scenes at NVW, keeping the operations, systems and communications that hold everything together running smoothly. His own gap year in Kenya, working with local entrepreneurs and living with a host family, changed the way he saw the world. Since then he has volunteered across India, Europe and South America at animal sanctuaries, farms and community projects, and that lived experience keeps him closely connected to what NVW is really about.
“I know first-hand what it feels like to arrive somewhere new not knowing what to expect, and to leave months later feeling like a completely different person. That is what we are offering every volunteer who comes to NVW.”