Board Members
Anwari Din – Chair
A qualified Social Worker, Anwari also has postgraduate qualifications to Diploma & Masters level in a range of complementary therapies & counselling. During her career, in addition to many years as a Social Worker & Senior Social Worker, Anwari served as Race Equality Advisor to Strathclyde Regional Council, Training Officer for its Ethnic Minority Project & for 10 years until 2012 as CEO for the Youth Community Support Agency. Anwari has served on the Board of 4 Scottish charities, serving as Chair of 2 of these & has extensive experience of voluntary community work particularly with BME communities. Anwari joined the YCSA Board in Feb, 2017 to contribute her wide-ranging experience & commitment in the role of YCSA Board member, becoming Chair in Dec, 2017.
Shehla S. Ihsan – Vice Chair
Educated to both Masters and Doctorate level, Shehla is a qualified & practicing prescribing pharmacist. She is also the CEO of an international trading company. Shehla is currently the Chair & Founder of a BME community health charity (SCIO) & has served
on the Boards of a number of other charities as well as having undertaken extensive community development work within the BME community for around 16 years. She previously chaired the Culturally Competent Planning Group of the GGCNHS Glasgow Diabetes Project & is also a current member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. A long term resident of Pollokshields, Shehla joined the YCSA Board in Feb, 2017 to bring her knowledge & experience of voluntary sector management to YCSA. Having served as an interim Treasurer for a period from Dec, 2017, Shehla served as Secretary of the Board from March 2018 until May 2019 & was appointed Vice Chair in June 2019.
Prasaad Borkar
Hailing originally from India, Prasaad sees himself as an adopted Glaswegian who believes he should give back to the City by helping its people flourish.
Educated to Masters level, Prasaad holds qualification in Accounting and Finance, and previously taught Management Accounting at the Central College of Commerce, (now City of Glasgow College). He currently works within the real estate industry as a Financial Controller & Asset Manager, working on different business aspects including business management, financial management, and project management.
Prasaad has been involved in a range of voluntary work including establishing an organisation providing socio cultural events based around the love of the Marathi language, and supporting the Townhead Village Hall with financial management during its construction phase. Prasaad is a Trustee of REACH Community Health Project. He joined the YCSA Board in November 2020.
Fatawu Yahaya – Treasurer
With a post graduate degree in Business Administration, and considerable experience working in the private sector both in UK & in Ghana, Fatawu has also worked as a teacher & is a former Chair of the Ghana Welfare Association in the West of Scotland. He has experience in marketing, fundraising, PR & the media. The newest member of the YCSA Board, Fatawu was elected at the AGM in May, 2019, & was subsequently appointed as Treasurer.
Staff
Fariha Operations Manager
Fariha Thomas holds qualifications at postgrad level including in Urban Policy, Social Work & Social Work Management. She has worked in the fields of community development & equalities in Scotland, in both statutory & voluntary sectors for 30+ years. She has worked in a range of minority ethnic community groups; involved in providing anti-racism & cultural awareness training to various organisations and undertaken research on minority ethnic issues. Fariha has extensive experience in the voluntary sector having served on numerous Boards & managed several organisations & having served as a member of the YCSA Board (12-17′) – was also a Glasgow City Councillor (12-17′).
Joe (Dip Youth & Community Work) Development Worker
Joe graduated in 1990, following years of community involvement addressing homelessness & addiction in his home town, setting up accommodation & counselling projects. Has worked across communities supporting young people with complex experiences of addiction & trauma related issues. Has supported various communities, youth organisations & national agencies (Princes Trust/Columba 1400) developing practice & engagements of hard to reach young people emphasising inclusion & employability. Has delivered training across a spectrum of youth & community development issues and he is currently working towards qualifications in applied psychology & counselling.
Shameem Counsellor & Wellbeing Co-ordinator
Shameem started her career in the civil service. During a career break whilst raising a family she was often occupied with either volunteering for charitable causes or learning new skills. One of her ambitions included sourcing organic fabrics, designing & creating bespoke, intricate pieces of clothing & scarves, which she displayed & sold in exhibitions. To keep active, she has accomplished a number of 10K walks & raised money for causes she holds dear to her heart. Her friends see her as a good listener & thatís the reason she is doing the job she loves best!Her motto is ìeveryone can help someone.î Shameem is married with 2 children.
Javed Development Worker
Javed has been involved in media from an early age & his journey has taken him from mobile discos with school friend ís to hospital radio to Q96.3, BBC Scotland to Community Radio. A founding director of Awaz FM, Glasgow ís full time Asian Station – he ís also involved in Paisley FM & Cumbernauld FM. A Council Member of Community Media Association representing media in local communities & currently lecturing at New College Lanarkshire within Creative Industries. 20+ years experience in the 3rd sector, he ís currently employed as a Development Worker for the Young YCSA Future Possibilities Project delivering Homework Study Club, Media, Arts & Sports Clubs.
Andy Digital Inclusion & Administration Officer
Following 3 years as E-business consultant in NZ, Andy took off around South East Asia, India and Cyprus before settling in sunny Glasgow. After working briefly in a mountaineering centre, Andy took up a role as a bank Fraud Adviser before changing direction into the 3rd sector here at YCSA. Having studied International Relations & Film at University, he is keen on getting hands on in local projects at grassroots level; making entrepreneurial and digital skills more accessible and promoting multicultural events. In his spare time he likes reading and foreign cinema, and time away chasing sun and culture in some obscure European city.
Ama Programme Lead
Ama has always been passionate about equality and empowering BME young people. She has over fifteen years’ experience of working in the voluntary sector, and has supported human rights organisations since an early age. After graduating with a degree in Human Biology with Sociology and Psychology, she worked for the BME women’s support charity Saheliya, where she ran their Climate Challenge Fund projects. She is also passionate about mental health awareness, outdoor and environmental education.
Chinyanta Development Worker
Chinyanta comes from an Engineering background and obtained her bachelors degree from the University of Edinburgh. During her time at University she was actively involved in many projects with young people and gained an Edinburgh Award for her work with first year students as a resident assistant. She developed a project for young BME people in Glasgow and Edinburgh to have better access to mental health services before joining YCSA on the Mending Our Planet Project. She is also an ambassador for an international charity in her home country of Zambia that supports young people to have better access to education and personally fundraises for their cause.
Elo Programme Lead
Elo began her career working for international charities, and then moved into more locally focussed youth work in London. She completed the Year Here social innovation fellowship in 2016 and went on to found the creative youth charity, Element. Through this she designed art programmes to support young people leaving care to build confidence, improve their communication skills and expand their networks. In her spare time Elo likes painting, playing music, and long walks in the countryside, followed by large meals.
Rachel Development Worker
Rachel has followed her career in community and youth development from Peru to the USA and now Scotland. Her experience includes classroom teaching, working alongside indigenous communities, organizing for immigrants’ rights and engaging with international charities. Underpinning all of her work is her passion for supporting young people to lead change within their communities. Rachel holds an MSc in Global Migration and Social Justice, speaks Spanish and Portuguese and is learning Arabic.
Tiffany Volunteer Co-ordinator
Tiffany Haraguchi is originally from Canada, who moved to Glasgow in the middle of the pandemic and still getting to know this beautiful city. After obtaining a liberal arts degree in the US, she spent years working as a teacher in Japan, while also volunteering as a tutor at a local free school on the weekends. Before moving to Glasgow, she was with a refugee resettlement agency in the US, supporting the community outreach department with initiatives that promoted community integration as well as helping asylum seekers achieve self-sufficiency. Tiffany’s passion towards youth empowerment led her to joining YCSA.
Paolo Art Therapist (Healthy Young Minds Project)
Paolo comes from Italy, he used to live in London and he recently found a new home in Glasgow. Paolo is fine with the pronoun “he”, but he is also very happy with “they”. He spent his childhood drawing, and he thinks he is pretty good at it still today. Paolo loves reading, writing and learning from both books and people. Before training as an art therapist, he used to teach and to organise community activities in his neighbourhood. Paolo has worked as an art therapist in community centres, hospitals, schools, people’s homes, and with adults and children of many different backgrounds. As an art therapist he encourages people to use their creativity to explore the relationship with themselves and others. Paolo has also a passion for trees, vegetables and food, and he loves walking around Pollokshields to look at the neighbours’ plants and flowers.
Sarah Youth Development Worker
Sarah is a graduate of the Glasgow School of Art’s Environmental Art Degree. During her studies she became passionate about making art with communities and young people. She was since worked as a support worker with mental health charities, as a teaching assistant and most recently with Child and Adolescent Mental Health services delivering gardening, cooking and arts groups with teens. Sarah has also volunteered with numerous creative and mental health charities such as Child Line and Project Ability. Sarah believes strongly in empowering young people to be the best versions of themselves through creative expression.
Thomas Administrative Officer
Thomas recently graduated from the University of Strathclyde’s Social Policy MSc and wrote his final dissertation piece on democratic policy and Pollokshields. He has a long professional background in administrative work with third sector organisations (as well as more recently working in the now-vital area of Digital Inclusion) which is in line with his belief in social equality, helping others and trying to channel working life in to something that positively affects the world in some way or another. Thomas is a big advocate for the strength of diverse communities, who share common experiences with both life and the love of their local area. In his spare time, Thomas enjoys football, cricket, growing vegetables, hill walks and live music.