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.
Zarina Ahmad – Secretary
Educated to masters level, Zarina currently works as Climate Change & Environment Officer for a major Scottish BME charity, a post she has held since 2012. Her past work experience includes a period working as Marketing Manager for a prestigious Food & Cook School company & as Property Manager where she built & managed a property letting & development business. Zarina has experience of being on the Board of 2 other Scottish Charities & is involved with a wide range of BME & environmental projects across Scotland. Zarina joined the YCSA Board in Dec, 2017 bringing her extensive networking skills & knowledge of the sector. Zarina was appointed as Secretary in May, 2019.
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.
Ms Mahrukh Adnan Shaukat – Board Member
Mahrukh holds a degree in International Development and the COSCA Certificate in Counselling Skills. The youngest member of the Board, Mahrukh currently works as a Development Officer in a Scottish BME Womenís Charity. Mahrukh sits on the Fundraising sub-group. Mahrukh was appointed to the Board in September 2019.
Staff
Fariha Thomas 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′).
Daniel McMahon Office & Volunteer Manager
Daniel is a footloose worker, used to serving behind tills, delivering workshops & feeding cats, all with an essay deadline looming at the end of the day. Daniel always wanted to find a job contributing in empowering young people & playing a part in the transformation of society. Daniel has spent several years studying psychology & social research as well as working various roles in customer service, support & animal welfare. YCSA allows Daniel to hone admin prowess, developed in community work & previous office roles, while blethering about social justice & the essence of existence. Outside of work, Daniel likes to read, write, make & find beauty in the streets.
Joe Donnelly (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 Raza 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 Sattar 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.
Eleftheria Galani Development Worker
Eleftheria has travelled from Greece all the way to Glasgow where she joined the YCSA team after spending time volunteering in welfare rights & advocacy. She has also worked in applied housing research.She has worked with a variety of people in both Greece & Scotland, focusing on how egalitarian participation can empower people to achieve the best for themselves & their community. Eleftheria has worked with refugees & the Roma community, developing their language skills, knowledge of civil rights & how to exercise them. She graduated with a degree in Social Work from the Technical Education Institute of Western Greece & focused on Social Work research as well as youth & adult education.
Amanda Brown Development Worker
Amanda has worked in various roles in the public and third sectors as well as in private arts tuition with a focus on digital media, music and theatre. She is incredibly passionate about utilising creative practice as a means of empowerment and education. Throughout her career as a learning facilitator, she has worked on projects that use common interests to break down barriers and encourage integration and cohesion in established and emerging communities. She has worn many different hats within her professional career but they all have the same themes: empowering young people’s personal development and providing fair access to activities and learning which will help people realise their full potential and follow their passions.
Zara Hussain Development Worker
Zara started as a young person who YCSA delivered sessions to, which later on progressed onto Zara becoming a volunteer in some of our many activities. Through her volunteer work at YCSA, Zara was offered the chance to join the YCSA ís Youth Panel where she was an active member for several years. Later on, she progressed onto doing several different sessional jobs with YCSA helping deliver sports related programmes. Through the experience and knowledge gained through being a volunteer and a sessional worker, Zara was given the opportunity to become a fully-fledged member of the YCSA Ctrl Alt Del Team as a development worker.
Zaitoon Salamat Development Worker
Zaitoon started her career as a receptionist at a Hotel at the age of 17 while she was still in college studying Business Administration. After graduating with a degree in Business Administration, she joined the Civil Service where she worked for the British Passport Office for 2 years and then had a career break to raise a family (she is still raising them, who knew). She returned back to work temporarily as a Young Person Support Worker for YCSA, before opening, running and closing an Indian restaurant. She then joined Amina MWRC as a volunteer for 4 years.She is now a Youth Development Worker who specialised in the summer programme and beyond, here at YCSA.
Andy Docherty Marketing & Communications Officer
Following 3 years of E-business in NZ, Andy took off around South East Asia, India and Cyprus before settling in rainy Glasgow. Fresh from months of travelling; and working in a mountaineering/outdoors 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; promoting multicultural events, reading and foreign cinema. When not working, he is usually chasing the sun or culture in some obscure European city.