Bradford Inspired: Inspiring Women

In 2021, during a time when the Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on communities in the region, BLF developed ‘Bradford Inspired’, to ensure those who have faced hardship during the pandemic were still able to access and enjoy festival events and activity.

As part of Bradford Inspired, BLF commissioned 10 short films for an ‘Inspiring Women’ series, focusing on the lives and achievements of 10 inspiring, contemporary women of South Asian Muslim heritage. These powerful interviews explore the lives, achievements and careers of female role-models from a range of backgrounds and industries, from politics to education to sport.

To date, the videos have received 5,332 views on YouTube, and they were also broadcast on the City Park big screen in 2021. You can watch our series of interviews below:

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi was Britain’s first Muslim cabinet minister. Baroness Sayeeda became the youngest person to be appointed to the House of Lords at just 36 and, when arriving for her first cabinet meeting, she made headlines as she stood on the steps of Downing Street in traditional Pakistani clothing. Since resigning her government position over the conflict in Gaza, she has continued to work with her Pakistani women’s charity, the Savera Foundation, has written a memoir about the British Muslim experience, and continues to serve in the House of Lords.

Dana Abdulkarim

Dana Abdulkarim was the first Muslim woman to represent England in any sport. Dana took her childhood passion for sport and turned it into a hugely successful run in the England Rounders team as an adult, followed by an unbeaten stint as coach of the England squad. Now working as a teacher, Dana believes that health is Islamic, and that sports can help us make sense of life and encourage us to keep learning.

Hifsa Haroon Iqbal, MBE

Hifsa Haroon-Iqbal MBE is a Deputy Lieutenant for Staffordshire, civil servant and campaigner. Hifsa was born in Pakistan and moved to the UK with her family in the 1960s. After school, she went on to work as a lab technician, working with patients with HIV, AIDS and cancer, which eventually led to the publication of peer studies and a role at a university. Hifsa has worked as a campaigner on everything from health to equality, and now works to promote counter-extremism in education. She also works with the Citizen Foundation charity in Pakistan, building schools for girls in some of the most deprived communities.

Nabeela Rasul

Nabeela Rasul is a senior civil servant who describes herself as an ‘accidental civil servant’ after applying for a role in the Home Office after being given an application form by her mum, but she’s never looked back. Throughout her career she’s worked on projects close to her heart, such as the Girl Summit, aimed at ending forced marriage and FGM, and the Great Britain campaign, securing high profile ambassadors for the country.

Bushra Nasir

Bushra Nasir CBE was one of the first female Muslim secondary school headteachers in the UK. Bushra moved to the UK from Pakistan as a child, and her parents were instrumental in instilling in her a passion for learning, which led to her illustrious career in education. Bushra has been awarded a CBE – an accolade she says she shares with the pupils and teachers she’s worked with – and won Headteacher of the Year in 2012.

Naz Shah MP

Naz Shah is the Member of Parliament for Bradford West. Naz’s life has seen her consistently defy the statistics to become the success story she is today. Raised in poverty by a single parent, she was sent to Pakistan for a few years at the age of 12 to save her from the exploitation her mother was facing. When her mum was jailed for the murder of her abuser, Naz set about campaigning tirelessly for her release, which led to her getting involved in politics. Learning management and translation skills through a mix of training and peer support, she eventually contested and won her seat in Parliament in 2015, and served as Labour Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion 2020-2021.

Dr Saleyha Ahsan

Dr Saleyha Ahsan is an A&E doctor, journalist and filmmaker. Saleyha’s path to a career in the NHS is an unusual one. Originally planning on becoming a journalist, she ended up joining the army after university and became the first British Muslim woman to graduate from Sandhurst. It was whilst serving in Bosnia and witnessing catastrophic and life-changing injuries occur that she decided to retrain as a doctor. She has continued to keep her passion for journalism alive – making films about Kashmir and the Covid crisis – all whilst working on the frontline of the NHS.

Akeela Ahmed, MBE

Akeela Ahmed is an equalities campaigner and entrepreneur. Akeela has spent her career working with the disenfranchised and voiceless, working with everyone from asylum seekers and refugees to the Muslim Youth Helpline. She also founded She Works We Hear, an organisation that tackles unhelpful stereotypes of Muslim women, and works with the government to advise on Islamophobia.

Onjali Rauf

Onjali Rauf is a best-selling author and women’s rights activist. After initially wanting to turn her love of English into a teaching career, Onjali ended up pursuing a career in human rights after studying women’s rights at Oxford University. She set up her own organisation, Making Herstory, which campaigns to stop the trafficking and exploitation of women and girls around the world. Through working with women and children in refugee camps, Onjali developed the story for her first children’s novel, the award-winning The Boy at the Back of the Class, and she continues to use her novels to highlight real life global issues.

Marwa Adawy

Marwa Adawy is a software and business developer who was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, and attended university in Egypt before finishing her studies in the UK. The first step on the career ladder was as an app developer, where she quickly picked up new coding skills, before taking a career break to raise a family. During this time, she set up Asian Designers, a fashion website aimed at making Asian clothing easier to find in the UK. She currently works as a Senior Technical Lead for the world’s first Islamic FinTech company Yielders, and has featured in the Women in FinTech Powerlist.