Trustees

Manal Ahmed

Trustee

CEO We Are the Tree

Manal Ahmed is CEO and found of the charity We Are the Tree. She is a Muslim woman with lived experience of displacement, discrimination, and Islamophobia in the UK, including the gendered impact of wearing the hijab. She brings a strong commitment to equality, shared human dignity, and interfaith understanding through dialogue and storytelling.

Manal has significant professional experience in equality and community cohesion, including serving as Head of Equalities and Community Cohesion at Brighton City Council (2000–2006), and later as a researcher at the Institute of Development Studies on Freedom of Faith and Belief. She offers skills in advocacy, community engagement, and collaborative leadership, and is motivated to support interfaith solidarity and social cohesion in a context of rising religious intolerance and division.