Introducing: Karen Blanco Pereira

Growing up in Venezuela, my family was in a position that was comfortable compared with many other families around us, in a country experiencing extreme corruption and one of the most severe episodes of hyperinflation in modern history. For us, comfort meant knowing we could survive – that we wouldn’t go hungry, that we could afford the basics, have a roof over our heads and not have to choose between them.

Although the electricity would cut out once a week and sometimes there would be no running water, I did not feel the pressure of money in the same way I would later experience it in the UK. As the cost of living here began to rise, I started to understand financial pressure from a different perspective – and how deeply it can affect people’s everyday lives. That shift in perspective is part of what makes this work personal to me.

I have spent time supporting people directly as they navigate debt, complex benefits systems and legal processes, whilst also dealing with mental health problems or the aftermath of trauma at the same time.

What I saw – time and time again – was that financial and legal institutions rarely pause for a crisis. Paperwork, deadlines and complex systems leave little to no room for someone to wait until their situation is more stable to deal with them. For someone already experiencing poor mental health, that pressure can make an already difficult situation feel impossible to navigate. The people least equipped to navigate that pressure are often the ones hit hardest by it.

There is a huge gap between how the system is designed and the people who actually have to navigate it, and that’s what drew me to Money and Mental Health.

My academic and professional background has taught me to look at these problems from different perspectives. My BA in Politics and International Relations, followed by my MSc in Human Rights and Diplomacy, encouraged me to think about how policies and institutions shape people’s lives, and how meaningful change should be informed by the experiences of the people most affected. 

I have tried to keep that principle at the heart of my career. Throughout my career, I have worked on policy and communications, translating complex ideas into campaigns that can reach and influence people. I have seen first-hand how financial circumstances can interact with people’s wellbeing, and how the gap between policy and lived experience plays out in people’s everyday lives.

And I have cultivated the skills in research, communications, organisation and advocacy needed to turn those experiences into meaningful action – work that may happen behind the scenes, but is essential to effective campaigning and policy change.

During my first couple of weeks, I have already been struck by the range of experiences, perspectives and skills across the team. I’m looking forward to learning from those around me, contributing wherever I can and developing new skills that I will be able to carry with me throughout my career.

I’m excited to contribute to the charity’s campaigning and communications efforts over the coming months, and to learn from a diverse team that is committed to challenging systems that do not always work for the people who need them most – and to making sure lived experience remains at the heart of that work.