Mustafa Faruqi, Chair
Head of Workplace Relations, Tesco
“I joined Muslim Aid so that I could support others who didn’t have the same chances in life that I was given. Any one of us could be affected by poverty or afflicted by natural disasters so I believe it’s incumbent upon those of us who are more fortunate, to help those who are in need. It’s a real privilege to be able to use my skills to be of service to Muslim Aid who provide relief for some of the most vulnerable people in the world.”
Mustafa is the Head of Workplace Relations for Tesco which is the largest private sector employer in the UK. Prior to this, he has worked for a number of prominent companies in both the private and public sector including British Airways, Heathrow Airport and Network Rail. His career in human resources has specialised in negotiating with trade unions, implementing workplace change, developing HR policies and managing employee casework including employment tribunals.
Mustafa graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in organisational psychology from City University, London where he also acts as a mentor for BAME students. He has previously served on the workplace advisory committee of the University of West London, providing HR advice to the board and vice chancellor of the university. He is also an employer panel member for the Central Arbitration Committee which is a tribunal of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy that resolves collective workplace disputes involving trade unions.
Faria Ali, Deputy Chair
Senior Associate at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
Faria Ali, is a corporate lawyer with considerable experience of working for leading international law firms such as Slaughter and May and Herbert Smith Freehills. In addition, she has worked extensively both nationally and internationally with organisations such as the United Nations and the British Red Cross, to promote human rights. This has been in parallel to the work she has done to promote access to the legal profession through Law Link, an organisation that she founded in 2017.
Shahar Zainuddin, Trustee
Corporate advisor in Risk Management, Sustainability & Restructuring
Shahar is a partner with Arabesque Holdings, UK based in London where he is the CEO of Arabesque Q3:17 and responsible for their business and operations in Malaysia for Arabesque Group. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant .
Shahar has also served as CEO of the largest development bank in Southeast Asia, and was also a Board member of an Islamic Commercial Bank. He was previously the Regional Head of Compliance and Financial security for Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank in the Middle East and Africa. He has also served with AAOIFI, and oversaw the development and implementation of Islamic accounting, auditing and Shari’a standards globally. His area of focus is sustainability, risk management, and Islamic finance. He is also a consultant to The World Bank.
Andleen Razzaq, Trustee
International Licensed MasterCoach and Certified Business Coach-Consultant, trainer and educator
Andleen is an international Licensed Master Coach and Certified Business Coach-Consultant, trainer and educator. She has lived and worked in the UK, Singapore and Malaysia and works with clients ranging from corporate executives to those who are change agents in the world.
She was also the lead trainer for the UNHCR-NAWEM (National Association of Women Entrepreneurs in Malaysia) Refugee Micro Entrepreneurship Development Programme based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Andleen currently runs a number of humanitarian projects to create sustainable long term solutions for refugees who have limited access to education and work opportunities, with a focus on supporting single mothers.
She is a former Senior Adviser to the UK Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government where she worked with diverse communities to develop inclusive cultures through policy work. She is also a Principal Lead Facilitator for two nationwide projects that seeks to train women to take on leadership positions within their communities and to specifically train Black, Indigenous and People of Colour wanting to work in political office.
Andleen is the founder of a number of charities, including The City Circle, a safe, independent and inclusive space for communities to self-critically discuss and debate issues that concern them and where she initiated its flagship project, The Saturday School. She is a former trustee to Al Manaar, the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre, it's mission was to serve, educate, empower and inspire people to play an active and positive role in building cohesive and sustainable communities at a spiritual, social, economic and cultural level. She is co- founder of Critical Xchange in Singapore, a platform that seeks to create a progressive, dynamic and globally integrated professional community for expatriates and Singaporeans to mutually develop and benefit both communities.
Andleen has engaged in global community development with a passion for education, gender equality and self growth for more than twenty years and remains active in a number of philanthropic ventures.
Sara Pantuliano, Trustee
CEO of the Overseas Development Institute
“I am proud to be joining Muslim Aid as Vice-Chair of the Board. Muslim Aid works in some of the world’s most brutal crises, partnering with local organisations to provide life-saving support and long-term opportunities to the world’s most vulnerable people. Muslim Aid has a well-established presence in countries affected by armed conflict and violence, such as Sudan, Somalia and Syria, which have long been a focus of my work. I very much look forward to working with Muslim Aid to further and evolve the agency’s efforts in the face of today’s changing humanitarian and development landscapes.”
Sara Pantuliano is a Managing Director at ODI, where she has led the humanitarian team for six years.
Sara is a member of the Global Future Council on the Humanitarian System of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Managing Editor of Disasters Journal, a Trustee of SOS Sahel and IRIN news, and has served on a range of advisory boards, including Oxford University’s Refugees Studies Centre and the UN Association of the UK.
She previously led a high-profile UN response in the Nuba Mountains, acted as an observer at the IGAD Sudan peace process and lectured at the University of Dar es Salaam. She has written extensively on Sudan, conflict and humanitarian affairs.
Mohammed Abdul Aziz
Director, Aziz Foundation
Mohammed Abdul Aziz completed his LLM at UCL and was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1996. He worked as a teacher, police officer, and a lawyer. Abdul Aziz has also served as a Council Member of Liberty and a Trustee of the Book Foundation and the East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre.
Abdul Aziz was the founding CEO of FAIR (2000-3) and the British Muslim Research Centre (2003-5). He has also served as a Commissioner at the Commission for Racial Equality (2003-7) and the Equal Opportunities Commission (2005-7) and on the Commission for Equality & Human Rights Taskforce and Steering Group (2003-6) and the TUC’s Commission on Vulnerable Employment (2006-8). He was elected Chair of the European Network of Racism (ENAR) for 2007-10 and Vice-Chair of the Equality and Diversity Forum for 2010-14. During this period, he was also a Director of FaithWise Ltd and a Consultant Senior Advisor to the UK Government on Race, Faith & Integration (2004-11). He has also sat on two national Honours Committees at the request of the Cabinet Office (2005-11).
Abdul Aziz was a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University (2010-12), Director of the Centre for Policy and Public Education at the Woolf Institute, Cambridge (2012-15) and an Associate Member of St Edmund's College, Cambridge (2013-15). Between 2013-16.
Aaqil Ahmed, Trustee
Media Executive and Professor
"Like many
Aaqil Ahmed is the former Head of Religion and Ethics at both the BBC and Channel 4. At the BBC his role included commissioning religion TV, running in house TV and radio production in Salford and Belfast as well as being the Head of Religion internally and externally.
At Channel 4, he was also the Head of Multicultural Programming. Winning numerous awards from BAFTA, Emmy to Royal Television Society, as well as nominations including Grierson and Oscar.
He has just set up Aaqil Ahmed Media Consultancy and currently has a number of projects in development with broadcasters in the UK and abroad. Alongside TV production, the consultancy is working in digital and social media with a number of private foundation as well as a digital media agency and is delivering bespoke cultural literacy, journalism and diversity workshops and training.
Aaqil is Professor of Media at the University of Bolton and a published writer and speaker on media, diversity, religion, demographic change, culture and ethics.
He was the Head of The Creative Diversity Network Commissioning Group, devising and pitching the pan TV industry Trainee commissioning editor scheme He has also created a number of bursaries and training schemes to address gaps in production teams and is currently working with a number of companies to advise on their diversity and inclusion needs.
Aaqil is a co-founder of Mosaic, a Princes Trust mentoring organisation that mentors thousands of hard to reach children, pairing them with successful business role models.
He is also a member (designate) of the Higher Education Funding Council of Wales, a Trustee of The Rugby League Foundation for London and an advisory panel member of the University of Westminster.
We are a faith-based British international charity that provides help to people who are victims of natural disasters or conflict or suffering from poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, injustice, deprivation or lack of skills and economic opportunities.
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Charity CIO No. 1176462
Serving humanity since 1985.
