Tara Guyler | British Army
I began my career as a Troop Leader in the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) in 2017 as one of the first women to commission into a combat arm.
After completing my Phase Two training to become a qualified Tank Commander, I deployed with my troop and led them on multiple Battlegroup (BG) overseas exercises throughout 2018 and 2019. In June 2020, I took over as Dreadnaught Squadron Second-in-Command, tasked with preparing the Squadron to deploy on operations in Estonia as part of the enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) BG. After assisting in the planning and execution of Mission Ready Training (MRT) in Germany with the RTR BG, I deployed with the Squadron to Estonia in September 2021 on Operation CABRIT 9 to take over as the eFP BG, where I am still deployed today.
Preet Chandi | British Army
At age 19, I joined the Army Reserves as a private soldier where I eventually commissioned in 2012.
I went to university to study Physiotherapy and my appetite for greater and greater challenges started to grow, starting with my first half marathon at 20 years old.
After completing my first marathon, I decided to try an ultra-marathon. Dusk till Dawn (50 miles in the Peak District) left me feeling very achy and sick but I had already caught the bug. The scale of my adventures started to grow and my definition of what is normal changed.
Aged 27, I decided to join the Regular Army and I have not looked back since. I have completed large scale exercises/deployments in Nepal, Kenya and a 6 month UN peacekeeping tour to South Sudan. Whilst in South Sudan (in addition to my duties as task-force Physiotherapist), I organised a 30 hour endurance event to raise money for charity. I completed the full 30 hours and UK soldiers would join me for anything between 1 and 12 hours. I believe the more we do the more we realise we are capable of and I continued to push my boundaries.
“Nothing is impossible” I’ve always had this idea that I can achieve something great, something that allows me to be a role model. I want my 10 year old niece to grow up without boundaries, knowing the possibilities of what you can achieve in life are endless. I decided I wanted to do an expedition in Antarctica not only to push my own boundaries but also to inspire others to push their boundaries too. I didn’t know anything about Antarctica or the Polar world 3 years ago but anything ambitious can feel out of reach at the beginning. I wanted to show people that everybody starts somewhere and I became the first woman of colour to complete a solo expedition in Antarctica on 3 Jan 2022.
My primary role is as a physiotherapist, to rehabilitate soldiers and officers in the Army. I recently completing my MSc in Sports and Exercise Medicine, part time, at Queen Mary’s University. I have always been interested in pushing the human body to its limits and this allowed me to look at this from a research perspective too.
Molly Dawson | UK Youth
Molly Dawson is a young leader in the non-profit sector with a talent for rocking the boat (as nicely as she can).
Molly is a researcher at charity UK Youth, where she keeps new information about the youth sector at her colleagues’ fingertips, amplifies the voices of young people and asks a lot of big questions. Outside of her day job she is Co-Director of Muslim Women Connect, a non-profit that advocates for and supports Muslim women to overcome personal and structural barriers to career success and fulfilment.
In November 2021 she joined the Finance Innovation Lab’s Trustee in Training programme where she is shadowing existing trustees and learning in-depth about charity governance, operations and systems change.
Molly is driven by the values of justice, courage and community. Her current focus is being braver - through rock climbing, public speaking and even occasionally engaging in small talk.
Hannah John | Black Cultural Archives
I have a passion for innovation, knowledge and community. From studying law as an undergraduate with a passion for justice, whilst cultivating leadership and interpersonal skills in hospitality, I was able to combine the two in the charity sector.
Having volunteered and worked as a youth worker, mentor, with refugees, at a hospice and more, my purpose is to use my gifts as acts of service. I have built a portfolio in project management, strategy and change management. With a masters in business administration and project management qualifications, but an interest in human behaviour I work collaboratively, respecting the experience of team members and stakeholders, learning from colleagues and rallying teams around common purpose. I build relationships and make hard but fair decisions. As a leader I believe in the phrase nothing about us without us and acknowledging the past to create a better present, whilst building foundations for a greater future.
My generalist skillset allows me to adapt to various industries and take the role of translator, bringing communities, staff levels, stakeholders and generations on to common ground.
Chloe Jones | Autism Together
I have very proudly worked for the charity Autism Together for the past 11 years; although I have been connected to the charity all my life.
My mother has worked here as a house manager for a residential setting since i was around 6 months old. I grew up often visiting the residential homes, attending events and having the people we support visit our home and the farm my dad worked at. My mother is a huge role model in my life and the reason why i often say 'it was in my blood that i was going to work for Autism Together'.
I first starting working here in the Admin department, which gave me a real feel for the whole organisation and i was able to work across services. From here i moved to the Children and Family service due to my passion in childcare (10 years service award for Girlguiding and running a Brownie unit). Here i developed a number of services and found a real fascination to working with teenagers and young people; i developed a Befriending Service for 14 - 18 year olds with autism and acted as their mentor to help them develop their own independence skills and personal care. I also provided support to parents and carers of young people with autism, developing a newsletter that was sent out to over 2,000 people weekly, themed coffee mornings and workshops and also attended local paediatric appointments to be there for families during reviews and at diagnosis appointments.
I then moved on to the Fundraising department where i have worked for the last 4 years and feel it is a role i was destined to be in. I am very proud of this charity and the services it provides and feel i am a great advocate to share its message. I will often publicly speak at various events and conferences and present to schools and businesses where needed to share autism awareness and encourage people to fundraise on behalf of autistic people.
Apart from work i like to be heavily involved in my local community; having recently joined my daughters school Parent Teacher Association to utilise my skills in fundraising and events. I was also a member of GirlGuiding for over 10 years and ran a Brownie unit for young girls, something which i hope to get back involved with soon.
Just last year i lost my best friend and my sister (who was also a Support Worker at Autism Together). She died very suddenly from a heart infection and from that day i took in my 2.5 year old niece, who with my partner have now formally adopted. My sister is my biggest inspiration and i vow to live my life in the way she did and would have; being kind and empathic to others, helping wherever i can with whatever i can, finding the positives in everything, living life to the full and taking many pictures along the way!
Sheekeba Nasimi | Afghanistan and Central Asian Association
Sheekeba Nasimi's family fled Afghanistan in 1999 out of fear of prosecution at the hands of the Taliban.
They arrived in the UK in the back of a refridgerated container. One year after her family arrived, Sheekeba was born in Guys Hospital. Sheekeba's family chose Britain because it 'offers equal opportunities'. In 2001 Sheekeba's family established the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA), a charity dedicated to improving the lives of Afghans and all refugees in London. Sheekeba, 21, is now studying at the University of Law. Sheekeba is also helping her father at the charity. She leads the legal clinic, in partnership with local firms, to provide advice and support on housing, employment, litigations and immigration cases. She coordinates legal advice services at the ACAA and works with colleagues, volunteers and external partners to ensure the legal advice clinic runs effectively and efficiently. Furthermore, she is working in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Job Centre in Hounslow to support refugees, BAME individuals and women get into employment and start their own businesses.
As the crisis in Afghanistan unfolded last year, Sheekeba played a fundamental role in helping the ACAA support hundreds of Afghans in the UK to evacuate their families. She was in contact with the Ministry of Defence and Foreign and Common Wealth office daily to support the evacuation of British Nationals stuck in Afghanistan. This was a very difficult time for Sheekeba whilst her family were also stuck in Afghanistan. She woke early everyday to assist the hundreds of Afghans lined up outside of the ACAA office every morning.
Sheekeba has one year remaining of her degree at the University of Law. She plans to continue supporting and assisting refugees settling in the UK.
Jenna Rainey | The Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Began my career journey whilst undertaking my BA (Hons) Creative Writing and Publishing, where I undertook voluntary and paid roles in publishing houses, aiding with creative workshops at Arts Council funded events and helped the marketing team at Bath Festivals.
During this time I was also elected in as Media and Events Officer for Bath Spa Students Union, giving me my first taste for charity management, budgeting and creative varied communications and events to reach a diverse range of audiences. I also had the chance to line-manage three sub-managers and a range of volunteers during this time.
After graduation I found a calling to work more closely with young people in an advisory setting and spent the next three years as Graduate Employability Advisor, helping to facilitate 1:1, group and distance support for students and alumni. I simultaneously held down another part-time role as a Widening Participation Ambassador, helping to facilitate classroom workshops across primary, secondary and college pupils, encouraging students to aspire to their greatest potential despite barriers of under-representation. Both these role were immensely rewarding, but I had never lost my love for writing and so I began a further Masters’ degree and another part-time role at a wedding magazine to keep my skills in check.
By the time I was unfortunately made redundant I had already shown my resilience, successfully continuing with my fledging freelance writing career and gaining my first book commission. It was in this time of flux that I decided to make a move into the charity and not-for-profit sector and I haven’t looked back since. I began my first role with The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in the South West Regional Office the week we went into national lockdown, having gained my own Gold Award from the charity less than a year prior. I’d already begun volunteering and a paid position seemed logical and somehow right - it turned out to be a perfect fit and I have continued to flourish during my time with the organisation ever since. I have now managed to combine my passion for communication with my pursuit of benefitting young people’s futures and I wouldn’t have it any other way, proud to be helping to guide the next generation through a wave of challenges during difficult times for us all.
Rebecca Patel | Tech She Can
I attended a state primary and secondary school in Coventry, England.
I was the first person in my family to attend university and I graduated from the University of Birmingham with a Bsc in Geography. I went on to earn my Post Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of Warwick. I then taught primary school children for 8 years and secondary school students for just over 2 years. During my primary school teaching experience, I taught in a variety of year groups and held various leadership responsibilities. In my secondary school teaching experience, I focused on supporting and teaching children with English as an additional language and learning difficulties.
During the last year of my secondary school placement, I began working for The Tech She Can Charter as an Education Consultant. My role and responsibilities for Tech She Can include creating and delivering their Tech We Can educational resources. The resources aim to show children, particularly girls, the breadth of technology roles, the diversity of people who work in these roles and how technology careers relate to the children’s passions and interests.
In 2019 I left teaching, registered my own business and became a full time education consultant. I continued working for Tech She Can but also completed roles with Natwest and Capita. These roles included providing support and guidance delivering the computing curriculum in schools and helping to design resources to inspire students into entrepreneurship.
In 2020 I continued to work for Tech She Can whilst also joining the Learning and Development team at PwC as a Lead Author. For PwC my roles have focused around designing leadership programmes and learning experiences for their employees.
When Tech She Can became a charity in 2021, I became their Head of Early Education and I currently hold this role alongside my Lead Author role for PwC Learning and Development.
Rebecca Dacres | Get Further
I have over 7 years experience working in education management and have continued to develop a strong passion for exploring the value and impact of education programmes within society.
I began my career as an Assistant Director at an award-winning maths and English tuition centre where I ran a centre which had a student membership of over 250 students. My role was to ensure that all young people thrived, not only in academia but also in confidence, resilience and perseverance! Shortly after, I progressed into the position of Centre Director at another maths and English tuition centre where I drastically grew their student membership allowing ample students the opportunity to bridge crucial gaps in their education and obtain gateway qualifications.
Following this, I became a Programme Manager for an international education charity where I led a team of Programme Coordinators and developed and implemented unique programmes to engage young people in learning about social issues within society and equipped them with the tools to strive to become valued members of society.
To date, I am a Programme Manager for an education charity who specialises in providing catch-up tuition to students who did not obtain a grade 4 (c) at GCSE level. As a strong, experienced leader within my organisation, I play a pivotal part in ensuring the delivery and management of our education programmes are at an excellent standard.
Queen Ekuerhare | Flashy Wings Ministry
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.
― Mother Teresa
“If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one”
― Mother Teresa
These two quotes by Mother Teresa have extremely inspired me.
My name is Queen Ekuerhare. I was born in Nigeria in the small town of Lokoja. I went to school in Nigeria, where I graduated with a degree in political science.
In 2004, I relocated to England. I lived in Southwark Estate, a place that was mostly dominated by ethnic minorities. The harsh realities I experienced while living in the estate led to the birth of my passion project, Flashy Wings Ministry.
I had witnessed so much suffering due to language barriers, cultural background differences, extreme religious views, domestic violence, etc. It was a circular cycle of disfunction and destruction. Young teenagers in the estate were involved drugs, gangs, school exclusion, and teenage pregnancy. A lot was happening around me. I wanted to do something about it. I wanted to use my talents and caring personality to help my community.
Thus, in 2010, I decided to launch Flashy Wings Ministry, a charity where women can come together to empower, educate, network, inspire, support, and motivate each other.
I struggled for about two years to cultivate a Flashy Wings following within my community. I went around Southwark Estate to encourage women to be part of this project, but no one seems interested. I set up a women’s network forum to brainstorm and share ideas, but not one woman attended the forum. I was left with an empty hall and empty chairs.
Somehow, I continued believing in my vision. I put all my creativity and passion into my work, and I kept pressing on. I was determined to see changes in my community, no matter what it took.
Three years on, things started changing. A few women started coming to our meetings, and the rest is history!
Today, Flashy Wings has over 300 members in Southwark and 20,000 members worldwide. We have supported many women through running activities like workshops, campaigns, clubs, and conferences. We also offer resources such as counselling, recreational therapy, and e-learning. And our success is evident.
We have a track record of relentlessly pursuing need-targeted solutions and providing high-impact projects.
Looking at everything we have achieved at Flashy Wings; I can say am truly grateful and honoured to be recognised for my work and my mentorship of women. It has been a remarkable journey. I don’t need a lot to impact lives; a little spark can lead to flames.