Neil Jameson

Executive Director, London Citizens

Neil Jameson is Founding Executive Director of CITIZENS UK and Lead Organiser of London Citizens. He is the most experienced Community Organiser in the UK with 21 years experience building, funding and sustaining diverse broad based Citizens Organisations like LONDON CITIZENS. He has developed and taught the CITIZENS UK Community Organising curriculum to over 3,000 local leaders drawn from some of the country’s most disadvantaged areas. He has also established the first professional Guild of Community Organisers which has successfully attracted and supports over 25 full time Community Organisers who work with member communities in London, Milton Keynes and several others cities and towns across the country.

The Guardian has identified him as one of the top 100 most significant public servants in the country. Following a Politics Degree and some time teaching in Sudan, he qualified for Social Work and later practiced and managed both Community Workers and Community Development Workers in Wales, the North and the Midlands in a variety of settings. He has been a development Director for Save the Children and Regional Director for The Children’s Society before establishing CITIZENS UK as the vehicle to revive community organizing in the UK in 1989.

James Cathcart

CEO, British Youth Council

James Cathcart is the Chief Executive Officer of the British Youth Council. The British Youth Council aims to support young people in the UK to participate in decisions whicih affect their lives and on issues which they believe in. It does this through through the provision of platforms, skills development, campaigns, training, and volunteering - through both its membership organisations and individuals. It provides consultancy, training and skills development for young people and organisations interested in promoting youth empowerment and participation in the UK.

Educated at the University of Durham, James was previously a Consultant at Mentoring Potential, Special Advisor at Centrepoint and Head of target Groups/Mentoring at the Prince’s Trust. Between 1993-1998 he was the Practice Development Manager at the National Children’s Bureau.

Farooq Murad

Secretary General, Muslim Council of Britain

Mr Farooq Murad is currently the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain. Elected in 2010, he was previously the MCB’s Treasurer and a founding member of the MCB.

Born in 1961, Farooq came to the UK at the age of 15 from Pakistan. He obtained a BSc (Hons.) in Engineering and Management and now works as a management and training consultant heading his own consultancy, providing cross-cultural training and IT solutions to public service and voluntary organisations.

A resident of Leicester, Farooq has been actively involved with several of MCB's affiliates for a number of years. He is a trustee at Muslim Aid, a director of the Markfield Institute of Higher Education and a director of Muslim Deaf UK. He is also a board member of the University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan.

Farooq takes as his inspiration the saying of the Prophet, Muhammad, that the "humanity is the family of God."