Kim Samuel – Founder and Chief Architect
Kim Samuel is a leading voice in the global movement for belonging. She is the Founder and Chief Architect of Belonging Forum, a global research, advocacy, and action organization that combats social isolation and builds belonging around the world. She is also a Research Fellow at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford, and an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford.
Through her work with Belonging Forum, Kim has led the Belonging Barometer, a first-of-its-kind, solutions-focused annual study on the state of belonging in the United Kingdom, which draws on survey data from 10,000 participants and explores diverse dimensions of connection related to people, place, power, and purpose. The Barometer will soon launch in additional geographies, including South Africa and Canada. Belonging Forum—formerly known as the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness—also convenes the Global Symposium on Belonging, bringing together the belonging movement’s leading thinkers and changemakers, as well as a leading fellowship program for diverse scholars and practitioners working to advance the cause of belonging.
In 2025, the organization also launched the world’s first Charter for Belonging, a set of principles and practices to guide governments, businesses, nonprofits, and other institutions in coordinated action for building belonging.
Kim is also the author of On Belonging: Finding Connection in an Age of Isolation (Abrams Press 2022), an exploration of the crisis of social isolation and humanity’s right to belong. She serves on the executive committee and board of Special Olympics International as well as the disability rights advisory committee and the London and Canada committees of Human Rights Watch. She is a frequent commentator in outlets including the Globe and Mail, Times of London, Scientific American, Time Magazine, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Boston Globe, USA Today, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Psychology Today.
Laura Price – Chief Executive Officer
Laura Price is a strategy and communications leader whose career has focused on helping organisations articulate what they stand for, build trust and translate ambition into meaningful action.
She has spent more than a decade advising charities, foundations, companies and public institutions on strategy, reputation, communications and growth, with a particular focus on purpose-led work and complex social issues.
As Chief Executive of the Belonging Forum, Laura works closely with founder Kim Samuel to help lead a growing global movement for belonging. She brings together research, partnerships, policy and storytelling to support the Forum’s mission to tackle loneliness and social disconnection, and to help rebuild belonging in communities, workplaces and public life.
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Sammi Bennett – Community, Learning, & Partnerships Manager
Ladia Omoruyi – Communications and Operations Manager
Ladia has over six years of experience in communications and social impact work, with a background spanning communications strategy, stakeholder engagement, and programming and operations across different sectors.
At the Belonging Forum, Ladia manages communications and operational coordination for key initiatives, supporting the planning and delivery of programs, events, and partnerships that explore belonging in action.
Ladia holds a Master’s degree from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Bachelor’s degree from Carleton University. Outside of work, she enjoys travelling, reading, and attending concerts.
Julia Pinchuk – Program and Research Manager
Julia first joined the Belonging Forum as a student at McGill, contributing to the organization in its earliest iteration. In her early years, she worked closely with Kim as a researcher on Kim’s first book, On Belonging. She later became increasingly involved in supporting a range of research and programming initiatives at the Forum, most notably the Samuel Fellows in Belonging Program. Seven years later, Julia now serves as a Research and Program Manager, focusing full-time on the Fellowship program and its alumni. Outside of work, she is a DJ with a strong passion for electronic music.
