Here’s where you can find our staff and trustees.

Staff

Ali Harris

Ali joined Equally Ours as Chief Executive in 2015. She started her career in asylum rights, and has over 25 years’ of leadership experience, championing people’s equality and human rights for organisations including Oxfam, Stonewall and Citizens Advice, as well as through grassroots community organising. She’s led work to tackle hate crime against Black and racially minoritised people, LGBT+ people, and disabled people for over 20 years. She pioneered new ways to support survivors of violence against women and girls.

Ali developed innovative disability rights programmes in the war-torn Balkans. She’s a former co-chair of the Powerhouse, an organisation of women with learning disabilities in East London, and management committee member of the Detention Advice Service.

You can follow her at @alifharris.

Mandy Mahil

Mandy is our Chief Operations Officer (COO), dedicated to fostering social justice across various causes. She joins Equally Ours from her previous role as COO at a Black-led social enterprise focused on bridging the inequality gap faced by Global Majority women in business. Mandy previously led the strategic direction for the UK’s only employability charity solely for women with convictions.

She has also worked for a nationally recognised hate crime reporting service. Professionally certified in Charity Law and Governance, Mandy has served on the board for three prominent national criminal justice charities and is currently the Chair of Clinks.

Ellora Kowalczyk

Ellora is the Programme Officer of the secretariat of the Funders for Race Equality Alliance. She assists with the running of the alumni network phase of the project, including curating a monthly newsletter and developing a catalogue of organisations within the EDP. Ellora’s previous experience involves creating and presenting a set of guidelines on teaching and assessing race and racism within higher education at a decolonising workshop.  

Kathryn Quinton

Kathryn is our Communications Director, leading our respected strategic communications programme to shift public opinion on social issues to influence policy. The programme comprises audience insight, frame and message development, content and campaign creation, and sector capacity-building.

Jen Damaris

Jen is our Member and Community Engagement Officer. She provides administrative support to the policy team, and produces our monthly newsletters and member updates. She also leads on the planning and coordination of the London Hate Crime Stakeholder Reference Group meetings, liaising with statutory partners and the steering group to support them in their aims to reduce hate crime in London.

Prior to joining Equally Ours, Jen worked in HR and Operations for a social enterprise that is working to bring gender and racial equity through inclusive leadership programmes.

Tracey Agyeman

Tracey is Director of the secretariat of the Funders for Race Equality Alliance. Her work includes providing expertise and leadership across the network of over 30 funders, including Lloyds Banks Foundation, Comic Relief and Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation.

With the Alliance, she has developed the racial justice audit, Taking Stock analysis report and their longer-term strategy, which will soon be available. Prior to joining Equally Ours, Tracey worked at the European Women’s Lobby and UNESCO.

Trustees

Sonali Naik KC (Chair)

Sonali is a human rights barrister practising in asylum, immigration and public law. She was called to the Bar in 1991 and appointed as Queen’s Counsel in 2018. She was elected as a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2021.  She regularly advises on and acts in public law policy challenges and test cases. She acted in the ‘Rwanda’ litigation. She is currently instructed to act in the COVID-19 inquiry for a group of 4 core participants. She was one of the winners of a Highly Commended Award at the Lawyer Awards 2022 for a pro bono initiative to assist Afghan judges secure UK visas.  In 2023, Sonali was listed in The Lawyer magazine’s Hot 100 list, which recognises excellence in the legal profession.

She was formerly Chair of the Joint Council of the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), formerly Chair of Liberty,  a former trustee of Freedom from Torture, and is a Patron of Clean Break Theatre Company and a trustee of the Immigrants’ Aid Trust.

Julie Bishop (Vice-chair)

Julie is the Director of the Law Centres Network, working to defend the legal rights of people who can’t afford a lawyer. She’s also worked in IT, and taught philosophy at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Colin Davidson

Colin is a specialist discrimination and employment lawyer with Cole Khan solicitors, a law firm standing for equality, diversity and civil rights. Colin has a particular interest in fighting disability discrimination and securing adjustments in the workplace. He is also a Trustee of the Discrimination Law Association, of which he was previously chair.

Ibrahim Ali (Treasurer)

Ibrahim is our Treasurer, he is a Chartered Accountant and is currently the Finance Director at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, having previously worked in various roles for a listed management consulting company and prior to that in audit.

Kudsia Batool

Kudsia has a wealth of experience in leadership and negotiation, with a great record of winning for working people. Her mission, and that of the TUC, remains making sure all people can work with dignity, respect and a fair share of the wealth they create. But in today’s fast-changing digital world, our methods must keep up. Kudsia leads the development of TUC strategy so that the trade union is a modern movement, fit for the challenges and the opportunities of the 21st Century.

Stephen Walcott

Stephen is a Senior Researcher at the Runnymede Trust, the UK’s racial equality think tank. He works on a number of racial justice issues – including health, policing and economic inequality – and has previously held research and policy roles at two other think tanks.

Natalie Cresswell

Natalie is the equality and human rights policy manager at Age UK, the charity for older people. She has a background in anthropology and holds a Masters in International Politics. She has previously held policy and research roles focusing on health policy, gender equality, and human rights in the UK and internationally.

Sarah Mann

Sarah is the CEO of Friends Families & Travellers, working to end racism and discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and to protect the right to pursue a nomadic way of life. She has a background in nature conservation and in family support work. She is also a director of Moving for Change, working to make roadside families lives better, and trustee of Pelican Parcels baby bank.

Andrew Copson

Andrew is Chief Executive of Humanists UK, an education, human rights, and equality charity established in 1896. Prior to that he cut his teeth working for Humanists UK as their Director of Public Affairs on the Equality Act 2006 and since then he has been a trustee of a number of human rights and equalities organisations and a consultant for numerous government departments on human rights and equalities.

Zarin Hainsworth OBE

Zarin has been active in civil society since her early teenage years and been involved in the
establishment and development of numerous civil society initiatives that have continued to flourish since their inception. Zarin was awarded the OBE for her work on women and equalities which includes work for widows, Maasai widows, young women and women and equalities generally. She is the Chair of Widows Rights International and the UK Civil Society Women’s Alliance, and the past Chair and Director of the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations UK. In addition to working at the international and national levels, Zarin is also active locally with women’s, environment and community groups.