About

Sarah is part of the leadership team at Wythenshawe Community Housing Group, a social landlord committed to place-based regeneration. As Assistant Director of Community Investment and Regeneration, Sarah leads community centre, youth, employment and enterprise teams investing £3.5million each year in South Manchester.

Sarah began her career in Corporate Banking, moving on to become Senior Community Investment Manager at the Co-op, where she developed and led award-winning investment programmes. Previous directorships have included Chair of The Co-operative Loan Fund and a Director of Industrial Common Ownership Finance.

In 2018, Sarah was seconded as Interim Chief Executive Officer for Young Manchester for six months to support the set-up of the charity.

Simone is the Chief Executive of 42nd Street, a respected and inspiring young people’s mental health charity based in Manchester. The charity promotes young person centred support and creativity to 1000’s of young people from across Greater Manchester each year who need some help with their emotional wellbeing and mental health. Having worked with children, young people, families and communities for over 20 years, she previously held roles at Save the Children and Keep Britain Tidy.

George is Director of Finance at The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). The RNCM is a leading international conservatoire located in the heart of Manchester, with a reputation for attracting talented students, teachers, conductors and composers from all over the world. George is also a trustee of Quarantine, an innovative theatre company working in Manchester. Prior to his current role, George was Director of Finance and Operations at contemporary arts venue HOME. George qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte LLP in 2008.

Roukagia is a 20 year-old Manchester-based law student and award-winning activist.

She is passionate about diversity and amplifying the voices of young people and women from ethnic minority backgrounds, to provide them with access routes into leadership positions in our society.

For many years, Roukagia has been pursuing her passion of social justice and change with youth and women’s NGOs in the city and nationwide. She has worked with various charities, organisations and individuals including Mayor Andy Burnham, former Speaker John Bercow and MEPs from the European Parliament. Her work includes representing, advocating and campaigning for young people’s and women’s voices to be heard in the UK’s decision making.

Angela is Head of Work & Skills at Manchester City Council and provides leadership and coordination for the work that Manchester City Council does to support business and connect local residents to the employment opportunities created by the City’s growth. Previously, Angela was Head of Regeneration and held a number of regeneration positions at both area and citywide.

Dan is a 19-year-old award-winning activist from Manchester and a student at LSE. He is the Chief Executive of YouthPolitics UK, a national, youth-led and non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering the next generation through democratic engagement.

Dan has been an ambassador of the #iWill Campaign since 2017. He is a strong believer in the power of young people and their ability to make social change.

Dan is also a member of the Bank of England Youth Forum. In 2019, he was one of 20 young leaders from across the world to be awarded the Princess Diana Legacy Award for his services to young people – the highest award a young person can receive for their humanitarian efforts.

Furqan Naeem is an award-winning campaigner, community organiser and philanthropist with a passion to bring communities together to strive for social justice. He was born and raised in Manchester and currently works as a Community Organiser for Citizens UK. He is also an Equalities Lead Board Member at Our Forum Manchester and a Trustee of Manchester Central Foodbank.

For over a decade Furqan has worked with the Princes Trusts’ Mosaic initiative, inspiring young people to achieve their goals. During the aftermath of the Manchester Arena Bombing in 2017, Furqan worked with young people of all faiths and none to build around common self-interests. Furqan was previously a trustee at Muslim Youth Helpline, a Young Ambassador for the Global Poverty Project and in 2013 was the recipient of the Malcolm X Young Persons award for excellence at the Muslim News Awards.

Furqan believes every young person in Manchester should have the opportunities to fulfil their ambitions no matter what their background or circumstance and wants to strive to make Manchester the best place to live and grow for any young person

Luthfur Rahman is the Executive Member for Schools, Culture and Leisure since 2016 and a Labour Councillor representing the Longsight Ward, one of the most diverse communities in the North West. Previously he served as the Assistant Executive Member for Culture and Leisure, Neighbourhoods, Environment, Finance and HR and was also Lead Member for Race.

Luthfur works very closely with the community supporting various voluntary organisations and charities; he is particularly passionate about empowering young people and women. To further these goals, he is a board member of the Young Foundations Uprising programme, Manchester International Festival, HOME, Young Manchester, OnnSide and the National Football Museum.

Luthfur was awarded the Community Champion of the Year at the LGIU Councillor Awards for 2011 and is an Entrepreneur and qualified Financial Advisor.

Bounty is currently studying for a Masters degree in International Tourism and Hospitality Management, and is interested in a career in Destination Marketing/Management and cultural events.

He feels he was very fortunate to be able to access youth activities in the city which opened his eyes to many opportunities around his community and wants to continue to grow these opportunities for other children and young people.

He wants to work to ensure that young people are not only empowered with experiences but also given opportunities to develop useful skills for the future.

Kate Vokes is currently Non Executive Director of Manchester based property business Bruntwood having previously worked in the business for 20 years in Marketing and HR. She is Chair of the Oglesby Charitable Trust, which has given around £23m to regional charities, many supporting young people. She is also Trustee of the Royal Exchange Theatre, The Shared Health Foundation which is helping to reduce the impact of poverty on health in Greater Manchester, Focused Care CIC and Chair of the Bruntwood Charity. She formerly held the role of Chair of Cityco and Chaired the board of the Manchester Youth Zone.