Sadiya Ahmed- Project Director

Sadiya Ahmed has a BA Hons in Marketing and IT as well as a PGCE in Secondary Education from Brunel University. She has gained much insight to the heritage sector from consulting heritage practitioners and other sector professional during the project development phase of the Everyday Muslim project. As well as two years of heritage training through the MLA, Museum of London and Creating Capacity that specialise in heritage training and has worked closely with a museum development officer for guidance and advice. She has also undertaken training in project management, exhibition design, volunteer management and law as well as many other heritage related workshops to ensure a good understanding of the sector.

Dr Michelle Johansen – Project contact at Bishopsgate Institute

Michelle is Schools & Community Learning Officer at the project partner organisation Bishopsgate Institute. Bishopsgate Institute possesses world-renowned archive collections on the history of protest, free-thought and radicalism, as well as an extensive collection of 2-D materials relating to the history of London. Michelle uses pamphlets, photographs and ephemera from across these collections to develop and deliver engaging learning programmes for people of all ages and abilities. As an educator and historian with a particular interest in ‘history from below’, Michelle recognises the important work Khizra Foundation is carrying out in documenting the day to day lives and experiences of Muslim men and women in Britain since the 1950s.

Stefan Dickers

Stefan Dickers is the Library and Archives Manager at Bishopsgate Institute. He qualified as an archivist in 2001 and began at Bishopsgate Institute in 2005. Previous to this, Stefan worked in the archives of the London School of Economics and Senate House Library.

Fatimah Amer

Fatimah Amer is a researcher at the Centre for Studies of Arab and Muslim Issues. She holds an undergraduate and Masters degree in History from SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London). Her interest in the Everyday Muslim Project stems from her passion for history in general and particular fascination with the project’s focus on the oral history of diaspora Muslim communities from South East Asia.

Irfan Ahmed

Irfan is the Creative Director and founder of One Agency, a boutique London based design and branding consultancy. Additionally, he is Creative Director at Alchemiya. Having worked with several charities and NGO’s such as Muslim Aid, MADE in Europe, Human Care Syria and The National Zakat Foundation, Irfan is creating all the visual aspects of the exhibition, from promotional and exhibition collateral.

Saba Syed

Saba is the Operations Manager on the British Newspaper Archives (BNA) project with the British Library. She managed the scanning element of this complex project to digitise the Library’s local newspaper collection, working to the Library’s strict guidelines for handling archive material and to robust documented processes. Saba is a graduate with a BA in Humanities and has a print and production background in mainstream media with over nine years’ experience of working with the public sector. Saba is also the festival coordinator of the London Asian Film Festival.

Yahya Nurgat

Yahya grew up in Walthamstow and has always been interested in history and the experience of Muslims in Britain. His grandparents came here from India in the 60’s – his father was raised in Dewsbury in West Yorkshire and mother in Hackney in London. Yahya graduated in history from Queen Mary University and is currently studying for his masters. For his PhD in Mamluk Social and Cultural History. He is really excited about the Everyday Muslim project and the chance to help highlight the experiences that his grandparents and those of their generation would have had.

Haneen Hammou

Haneen is currently a history student at Royal Holloway. I think Oral history is especially liberating to histories that have been untold, and this is why I have taken up my role here.

Emmy Tither

Emmy Tither grew up in Peru and the United States and has lived in London since 2009. Having previously worked as a bicycle courier and a cycling instructor, she is now studying for her undergraduate degree in the Social Sciences with Anthropology at Birkbeck College, University of London. She has volunteered for the Bishopsgate Institute’s Bishopsgate Voices oral history project, and is excited to now be volunteering for Everyday Muslim. She is looking forward to continuing to learn more about the lived everyday experience and past of the East End and its residents. In her spare time, Emmy enjoys cooking, knitting, and sewing.