Reflections on Women in Community Leadership Organising for Change
It all began on International Women’s Day in 2022.
At the time, Birmingham Citizens had just become the first Citizens UK Chapter co-chaired by two female leaders. What started as a simple idea of bringing together some of the incredible women in our Chapter for a conversation, quickly became the spark for something far more powerful.
We gathered in a small room at the Aspire and Succeed Community Centre in Lozells. The plan was for a low-key round-table discussion in honour of International Women’s Day (IWD). But as each woman began to share not just the challenges she faced as a leader, but the deeper, personal truths beneath them, something shifted. The space became one of honesty, solidarity, and unexpected connection. What began as a casual meet up became the birth of a movement.
In the months that followed, Mashkura Begum and Elsa Zenatti-Daniels developed a Women in Community Leadership training programme delivering a series of workshops in member organisations, which culminated in another IWD event at Aston University. The following year, we were joined by Julie Etchingham, Chancellor of Birmingham Newman University, one of our member institutions. She offered support to one of our leaders who had been facing online, and in-person trolling and was struggling to speak publicly. That same leader has since gone on to speak on national television.
This is the power of what we have built. Women supporting women, helping each other step into spaces they once feared or never imagined entering.
Our momentum continued. At one of our major pre-election Assemblies held at the iconic University of Birmingham’s Great Hall, four powerful women co-chaired proceedings (Mashkura Begum, Angela Jeffery, Kerry Rickerby and Caprice Bound) The event was attended by 619 people and secured commitments on Housing, Work & Safety from all of the main candidates, who were putting themselves forward for the positions of West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and West Midlands Mayor.
Since then, the women in our network have continued to excel individually and collectively, below is just a summary of what the female leaders in our Chapter are achieving:
Asha Rage, Founder of Dream Chasers Youth Club, won a Pride of Britain Award 2025 for her work supporting young people in Small Heath through affordable football coaching. She was later invited to No. 10 Downing Street to celebrate her achievements.
Ela McSorley, Principal at Ark Victoria Academy and her team faced in-person harassment yet handled the situation with professionalism and fierce protection of their pupils. Ela is now working with Tom Wagner of Birmingham City Football Club to ensure community needs are represented in the Sports Quarter development.
Elizabeth Kardynal, Founder of the European Welfare Association, went to No. 10 to advocate for English Language Education, successfully convincing MPs of the vital link between English language access, employment, and contribution to society.
Dr Angela Jeffery led the campaign that resulted in Aston University becoming the first university in Birmingham to receive Real Living Wage accreditation.
Last month Angela, organised a Women in Entrepreneurship event with Pam Sheemar (NatWest’s Regional Accelerator Director) which was co-chaired by Brenda Wangari and Elizabeth Kardynal. 30 women attended from community-rooted businesses and listened to inspiring stories from female entrepreneurs and gained access to tools and spaces that will help them thrive.
Our work action team continued this work, organising a Living Wage week event in 2025 where new leaders Clare Sharp and Shaid Parveen co-chaired the event.
Brenda Wangari is an exemplar of a woman developing into leadership. she has lived experience of being homeless, but overcame that and went from being a student at Aston University to a paid intern at Citizens UK and is now a KTP associate leading on capturing impact for Aston Villa Foundation’s community projects.
Malieka Selassie, Director of Community Engagement at the Blesst Centre was recently honoured with the prestigious Lords Knights Bravery Award by the West Midlands Police Chief Constable in recognition of her extraordinary courage and selflessness in saving the life of a young woman who was attempting to jump over a dual carriageway, pulling her back to safety at great personal risk. Malieka’s commitment to fostering resilience, hope, and solidarity has made her a respected leader and role model, whose work continues to inspire and strengthen the communities she serves.
Meena Bibi won the Public Services Award at the Community Inspiration Awards (Sep 2025) for her work on the housing campaign, highlighting the struggles of families stuck in inappropriate temporary accommodation. She also co-chaired a national negotiation with a government minister.
Saathi House (a member institution and women’s charity) under the visionary leadership of Mashkura Begum, whose drive and determination have transformed the organisation has flourished in recent years. Mashkura’s leadership not only strengthened the charity’s impact but was instrumental in securing the prestigious King’s Award for Voluntary Service. Building on this success, she went on to found the pioneering Step Up to Democracy programme, which Saathi House now proudly delivers, empowering women to step confidently into civic and democratic life. Supported by leaders Tiffany Joseph, Meena Bibi and Dr Angela Jeffery, alongside trustees Elsa Zenatti-Daniels and newly appointed trustee Shaid Parveen, Saathi House continues to grow as a beacon of community leadership and women’s empowerment.
Liz Coleman has played a key role in the Birmingham Chapter as Co-Chair 2018-22 and the resettlement of refugees in Smethwick. She convened a group of community members who have been supporting a refugee family from Sudan to build a new life in Birmingham. Liz went even further, working to recruit new groups to support newly arrived Afghan refugee families.
As a veteran Citizens UK leader, Benita Wishart from Birmingham Progressive Synagogue, has supported the development of so many people stepping up to speak at Assemblies to share their stories to decision making power. She also recently led on bringing people together to support Handsworth after negative comments were made in the press by an MP.
Vic Rivett, Headteacher at St Clare’s Catholic Primary School, has led the way with engaging with catholic leaders of listening deeply, discerning boldly and acting collectively for the common good.
Reverend Caz Hague, a Minister on Birmingham Methodist Circuit has played an impactful role in the Housing Action team, who recently met with the cabinet member for Housing and Homelessness at Birmingham City Council.
We are also nurturing the next generation: Lela and Mona, two young leaders, spoke at our Youth Assembly about safety concerns in Newtown Shopping Centre. Soon after, Lela was promoted to Head Girl at Aston Manor Academy.
Across our Chapter, every one of our campaigns is co-chaired by women from the Housing campaign led by Meena Bibi to our Women in Leadership campaign chaired by Brenda Wangari and Elizabeth Kardynal, to our Business Leadership Group co-chaired by Gurdeep Chima, Safety is co-chaired by Asha Rage. We are not only nurturing women leaders they are actively paving the way and shaping the direction of our entire Chapter.
What began as an informal gathering has evolved into a vibrant, powerful Women in Leadership group one that nurtures leaders, amplifies their voices, and creates opportunities for them to shine. And shine they do. Their achievements speak not only to the impact of their individual work, but to the strength of a community of women who show up for each other.
Dr Angela Jeffery and Mashkura Begum
Co-Chairs Birmingham Citizens
