Meet the team
Dr Emily Matheson
CLINICAL & PROJECT SPECIALIST &
ASSOCIATE CONSULTANT
Australian born and living in New York City, Dr Matheson is passionate about helping people to feel at home in their bodies, so they can connect with the world around them. With a PhD in Clinical Psychology, she uses evidence-based techniques to understand and improve mental health and well-being among young people and adults.
Emily has a stellar track record for leading large-scale, international body image research and consultancy collaborations between industry and academia. She’s known for the development and evaluation of innovative well-being tools for digital landscapes and in-person communities.
Ms Aline Tinoco
ASSOCIATE CONSULTANT
A Mexico City native, Ms Aline Tinoco is a public health expert, academic and dietitian. She is passionate about promoting a holistic approach to girls’ and women’s health and well-being. Alongside consulting, she is a Research Associate at the Centre for Appearance Research, University of the West of England. Her ambition is to create platforms, policies and strategies for girls and women in Mexico and Latin America to help them express their concerns and realise their hopes for a more inclusive society.
With over a decade of experience working with underserved communities in Mexico and internationally on projects spanning body image, maternal health, menstruation and child labour, her past clients and collaborators include Oxfam, UNICEF, Dove, Nike, Save the Children and Action Against Hunger.
Professor Ayu Saraswati
ASSOCIATE CONSULTANT
Dr Saraswati is an immigrant woman of color, award-winning author, and Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.
Ayu is an advocate for the wellbeing of girls and women of Southeast Asia, and attributes her lived experience as a beauty pageant winner as the catalyst for pursuing a research career in body image, media representation, and women’s issues. She is an esteemed author, with numerous publications spanning academia and mainstream media on the sociocultural pressures faced by Southeast Asian women.
Dr Jessica Alleva
ASSOCIATE CONSULTANT
Canadian born, Dr Alleva lives in the Netherlands, where she is the leading body image researcher at Maastricht University. With a PhD in Psychology, she’s pioneered new ways of thinking about how we enhance our relationships with our bodies.
Dr Alleva’s work has impacted people across the globe, particularly underrepresented and underserved groups. This includes working with gender diverse individuals, those living with chronic illness, and pregnant and postpartum women. She’s an Associate Editor at the leading academic journal Body Image and a writer for Psychology Today.