Our Team
Behind everything we do is a passionate team committed to creating meaningful impact through STEM, education, skills development, and community engagement.
We bring together experience from education, industry, outreach, business development, and community partnership working to help inspire learners, support educators, and strengthen connections between education and the future workforce.
At Synergy STEM Partners, collaboration is at the heart of our approach. We believe in building positive relationships, working inclusively, and creating opportunities that empower individuals and communities to thrive.
Our team is driven by a shared vision:
to inspire future generations, support lifelong learning, and make STEM opportunities more accessible, engaging, and impactful for all.
Whether we are delivering STEM outreach programmes, developing partnerships, supporting employability initiatives, or working alongside schools and community organisations, we are united by a commitment to innovation, inclusion, and social impact.
Colette Affaya
Founder & Managing Director
Colette founded Synergy STEM with a clear ambition: to create stronger connections between education, industry and opportunity.
Her career spans education, employer engagement, programme management, early careers, employability, STEM outreach and partnership development.
Having worked directly within education as well as industry, including within the Early Careers and Education environment at Airbus, Colette has first-hand experience of the challenges facing both education providers and employers when trying to develop meaningful talent pipelines.
She has developed and managed partnerships with schools, colleges, employers and wider stakeholders and has led programmes designed to improve career awareness, employer engagement, skills development and progression.
As Founder and Managing Director, Colette leads Synergy's strategic development, partnerships, commissioned programmes, business development and workforce initiatives.
Areas of expertise:
Education & Employer Partnerships | Programme & Project Management | Workforce Development | STEM Engagement | Early Careers | Employability | Stakeholder Engagement | Recruitment | Public-Sector Programmes
Otman Affaya
Director | STEM Education & Technical Lead
Otman brings specialist experience in STEM education, particularly across science and mathematics.
As a qualified teacher, he provides Synergy with valuable educational and technical expertise, helping ensure that our STEM programmes are academically credible, engaging and accessible.
Otman contributes to curriculum development, STEM programme design, teaching and learning, skills development and technical recruitment activity.
His perspective as an educator also helps ensure that employer-led activities are translated into experiences that are appropriate and meaningful for learners.
Areas of expertise:
Science | Mathematics | STEM Education | Teaching & Learning | Curriculum Development | Learner Engagement | STEM Careers