Core team
Lena Choudary-Salter
Founder and CEO
Lena founded The Mosaic Community Trust (MCT) in 2005 with a vision to tackle religious intolerance and prejudice. She is an international development professional with a successful international development career spanning 30+ years, which included senior positions with several major UK based NGOs as Head of international programme for Asia and Africa. Lena is a strong voice for the unrepresented BAME community in North Westminster, advocating for equality in health care provision. Lena has an MSc in Nutrition and Dietetics and an MPhil research degree in Social Development from Reading University, UK. Her expertise is in community-based research, rights based community empowerment, health systems strengthening and equality, diversity and inclusion.
Habiba Haque
Learning and Development Lead
Habiba is responsible for the creation, implementation, and management of training and development programs within Mosaic. She assess the training needs of employees, and delivers and facilitates capacity building training programs. Habiba is also responsible for the management of projects, including monitoring and evaluation.
Louise Hall
Community Engagement Coordinator
Louise regularly attends health forums, local community events and meetings, maintaining strong, positive partnerships through her engagements with varied stakeholders including community and voluntary sector and community services. Louise is passionate, organised and proactive communicator and has access to a number of social media platforms as well as being an active member of parent Governor at her local school.
Fahmida Yesmin
Community Projects Coordinator
Fahmida co-ordinates MCT’s community outreach work including project implementation and delivery. Drawing on her lived experience, she reaches out to disadvantaged women in the BAME community, supporting them to join our courses and to better integrate into British Society and the local Church Street community. Fahmida supports the monitoring of MCT’s community-based activities, provides support to our Community Advocates and administrative and logistical support to MCT’s training sessions.
Community Development Manager
Halima is responsible for planning, executing and managing initiatives aimed at fostering growth, and development within a community. She works closely with community members, stakeholders and various departments identifying community needs, developing strategies that enhance the communities overall well-being. Halima has a passion for making a positive social impact and offering tailored support to community members.
Specialist advisors
Professor Beate Kampmann
Professor Beate Kampmann joined the LSHTM from Imperial College London in May 2018 and is the Director of The Vaccine Centre @ LSHTM. She trained as a clinician-scientist in Paediatric Infectious Diseases in Germany, UK, France, USA and South Africa. Beate holds a Chair in Paediatric Infection & Immunity and was appointed as the Scientific Director (Theme Leader) for Vaccinology research at the MRC Unit The Gambia in July 2010. She directs a comprehensive childhood infection and immunity research program both in the UK and sub-saharan Africa. As one of the three theme leaders at the MRC Unit in The Gambia, she oversees all research activities in infant immunology, childhood tuberculosis and molecular diagnostics, which range from basic research into innate and acquired immune responses to infection and vaccination in pregnant women and infants and the conduct of clinical trials of novel vaccines, adjuvants and administration modalities. Over the last few years she has conducted a number of studies in both UK and West Africa investigating the scientific and implementation challenges of maternal immunization.
Dr. Helen Skirrow
Helen is a public health physician with a special interest in health protection and infant and maternal vaccine uptake.
Helen is a specialist registrar on the Public Health Medicine specialty training scheme in London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex and has completed training placements in local authority public health departments and Public Health England Health Protection Units. She is on the out of hours and daytime on call rota for Public Health England's South London Health Protection Unit. She has run the taster and shadowing program for those interested in applying to Public Health Medicine for Health Education England since 2015.
Helen trained at Imperial College School of Medicine and completed her foundation programme in the North West Thames Foundation School before doing her masters in Public Health.
Dee Jethwa
Dee Jethwa is the founder and director of Learning Consultancy UK, an organisation specialising in providing safeguarding services. Dee is a trained social worker with a Masters in Social Work. Dee is a safeguarding children and adults at risk specialist having worked in the safeguarding sector for over 30 years as a safeguarding practitioner, supervisor, project manager, regional advisor (Asia) trainer and consultant in a large number of statutory, and voluntary organisations, international NGOs, corporates and grant making foundations. Dee has extensive experience of safeguarding capacity building in both national and international contexts. Dee was the recipient of the Social Worker of the Year Award in 2009, and was one of 8 candidates short listed for the NSPCC/AoCCP Safeguarding Trainer of the Year Award in 2019.
Trustees
Patron
Zerbanoo Gifford
Author, human rights campaigner and founder of the ASHA Foundation and Centre, Zerbanoo Gifford holds the International Woman of the Year Award 2006 for her humanitarian work, which spans over forty five years of grassroots and global activism. In 1989, Zerbanoo was presented with the Nehru Centenary Award for her work championing the rights of women, children and minorities. Pioneer for Asian Women in British politics, she was elected as a councillor in Harrow in 1982 and was the first Asian women to stand for parliament, she chaired the Commission ‘Looking into ethnic minority involvement in British Life’ and was a member of the advisory group on Race Relations to the former British Home Secretary. A former director of Anti-Slavery International, she was awarded the Freedom of the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, for her work combating modern slavery and racism. She is also authored seven books her latest ‘Confessions to a Serial Womaniser – Secrets of the worlds Inspirational women’ highlighted the lives of over 300 exceptional women from 60 countries for which she was awarded a ‘NESTA (National Endowment of Science Technology and Arts) Fellowship’. Zerbanoo’s biography ‘An Uncensored Life’ by Farida Master is published by Harper Collins.
Chair
Mark Gifford
Mark is the Director of the ASHA Centre, a British educational charity. ASHA works internationally for the empowerment of young people, sustainable development and peace and reconciliation. Mark is a qualified solicitor and Interfaith Minister. He holds a Masters with Distinction in Theology and has studied at the Universities of Oxford, Durham and London. Before joining ASHA, Mark was Assistant CEO of an international British based youth and interfaith charity. His passion is the religious cultures of the world, particularly the traditions of India, Iran and China, and has a special interest in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. Mark is married to Monica with whom he has two boys, Sammy and Jimi-Krishna.
Mark Gifford is a founder Trustee.
Vice Chair
Tandy Deane-Gray
Tandy was born in Bermuda and came to the UK firstly to boarding school and then returned to complete her Nursing and Midwifery qualifications. She became a permanent resident in the Church Street area in 1980. Tandy’s background is in health, teaching, and psychotherapy and has practiced as Midwife for 38 years, mainly in the UK. Tandy has also taught Midwifery for 30 years as a Senior Lecturer, Department of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Hertfordshire.
Tandy is a trained counsellor and psychotherapist and had a private practice for 17 years. She is also a certified Infant Massage Instructor and has run small private baby massage groups in the community. Tandy has a passion for travel and has visited Syria, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Iran as well as Indonesia, Thailand and China to name a few.
Joined the Board of Trustees in 2018.
Treasurer
Reza Reshad
Reza Reshad is a fully qualified chartered accountant and holds a MSc in Finance and Accounting from Brunel University. Reza has over 11 years of audit experience in Banking and Consultancy dealing with senior clients in the specialist areas of Banking and Insurance. He is a member of the ICAEW – The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and is currently the Engagement Lead (Senior Manager) – Operational Risk & Governance at Lloyd’s Banking Group. Engagement Lead for audits across Lloyds Banking Group, focusing on Operational Risk Governance i.e. the development and implementation of Operational Risk Appetite Metrics across the Bank. Reza has also held senior positions at Societe Generale, Barclays Bank PLC, Ernst & Young LLB. His interests include: Tennis, socialising, reading and Backgammon.
Reza Reshad joined the board in 2020.
Trustees
Abena Serwaa Boateng
Abena is a qualified Public Health Nurse experienced in providing a Health Promotion services to children, adults, families and communities in a defined population and locality. She holds a BSC in Adult Nursing from the University of West London and has been employed as a Community Public Health Nurse and Nursery Nurse by Central London Community Healthcare(CLCH) for more than 12 years. Abena has been involved in the delivery of numerous health campaigns and has extensive experience of working with families from diverse backgrounds.
Abena originally trained as a teacher in Ghana and continued to build on her professional qualifications by specialising in community public health. She holds a post graduate diploma in community public health.
Joined the Board of Trustees in 2017.
Dr Saima Rana
Dr Rana is CEO/Principal of GEMS World Academy – Dubai, Chief Education Ambassador for the Varkey Foundation and Founding Trustee of The Shahnaz Foundation. With a background in school improvement in inner-city schools, and a PhD in Education, Dr Rana has worked in areas with high deprivation indicators throughout her career, combining traditional school improvement techniques with a commitment to collaboration between the local community and businesses in order to accelerate regeneration and raise standards.
Joined the board in 2017.
Hinda Abbou
Born in Tunisia and raised between Tunis and Berlin Hinda Abbou has a BA in European studies (History/politics) from Queen Mary’s University London and a post- graduate degree from Kings College London. For the last 20 years’ Hinda worked in Global Health for International Organisations, the UN and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations.
Her expertise is in supporting development organisations in preparing and delivering on strategic investments and commitments as well as managing and implementing best governance practice on Board level (the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria). Her advocacy work focused on ensuring continuous political and financial commitments from governments and funders.
Joined the board in 2022.