Aqeelah Malek joins the 3FF Team

Aqeelah joins the ParliaMentors Team as a Programmes Officer, and will be working with the team to deliver 3FF’s UN award-winning leadership programme in universities. Aqeelah joins the ParliaMentors team at a really exciting time – having just celebrated the programme’s tenth anniversary there are now 400 young leaders from diverse backgrounds that have graduated from ParliaMentors and continue to create change in their workplaces and communities. Aqeelah is herself part of this movement and we look forward to working with her to grow our alumni work even further.

Aqeelah on her new role:

Although I have big boots to fill since my predecessor Sean Turnbull left, I’m super excited to be joining 3FF as the new Programmes Officer for the ParliaMentors programme. As an alumna of the programme I feel as though I truly benefited from the leadership skills that the programme offers as well as the different aspects of personal development and political awareness it has given me.

With my academic background being in biological sciences I didn’t feel as though I was geared up to working on social issues affecting the community. However, it was something I was passionate about in wanting to make a real change where it mattered. The ParliaMentors staff provided me with the training and experience required to thrive and prosper on the programme whilst supporting me in discovering who I was and what mattered to me.

Since my time as a ParliaMentor I have had some amazing opportunities including working on global food security as part of the Sustainable Development Goals at the UN, observing and working with marginalised communities in Serbia as well as various interfaith projects. I also had the pleasure of working for New Horizons in British Islam, an organisation working on both intra- and inter-Muslim related issues.

I truly see my time as a ParliaMentor as a pinnacle in my personal development, and I am excited to be able to give back to the programme whilst working for 3FF. I hope I can provide young people with the same warmth and support I was provided with, and I hope I can fill those big boots!