Our leadership

Sabrina Qureshi | Chair

Sabrina is a passionate and effective advocate and organiser on issues of institutionalised and systematic oppression, including gendered violence. Ending Male Violence Against Women and Girls is a cause that is close to her heart as she understands from personal experience the devastating effects it can have on Women and Girls, loved ones and community. Sabrina has over the years worked as a counsellor, a refuge worker, an advocate and an organiser. Currently, Sabrina works as a freelancer running workshops and providing one to one support, counselling and consultancy to individuals, campaigns, groups and organisations as well as making short films. Sabrina is the Founding Co-ordinator of the Million Women Rise Movement, for which she was awarded the Emma Humphreys individual prize in 2008 and MWR won group award in 2015. Sabrina was recently awarded an honorary doctorate from the London Metropolitan University. Sabrina’s interests are shamanism, animation, gardening and womanist philosophies, activism and ancient arts and healing.

Donna Carty | Vice Chair

Donna’s background was in support work with homeless women before becoming an equality and inclusion trainer for Challenge Consultancy.

She has been a Trustee for WGN for over 12 years and for many of those years was Chair, she holds the position of vice-Chair.

Donna’s frontline experience working in support environments and her later management experience has been vital in her input with the Trustee board. Her current equality work with a wide range of organisations across the sectors, has ensured continued insight into the changing face of the workplace and current expectations.

Katy Taylor | Trustee

Katy is the Director of Bristol Women’s Voice, a charity fighting for women’s equality and inclusion in Bristol. She also provides independent consultancy in the women’s sector across England and Wales. When not at work, Katy likes being outside – walking, cycling, dancing, camping and sitting round fires.

Runa Begum | Trustee

Runa is a leadership development expert in the NHS, she supports leaders to step into their potential and develop better leadership skills to help build an improved healthcare system. Having worked in race and gender equality, tackling poverty and empowering communities; her interest in development spans across the spectrum of the individual right through to wider systemic disadvantage. She also runs her own private therapy practice weaving together expertise from the world of corporate leadership, contemporary therapy practices and ancient healing wisdoms to enable people to dive deeper and move through their perceived limitations. Runa joined WGN in 2019.

Vanessa Freeman | Trustee

Vanessa is a mother, a vocal teacher, singer, Foodhub Co-ordinator, a primary school governor, with the responsibility of monitoring school behaviour. She has also been a foster carer. Her time working for Lambeth Council summer holiday projects gave her the opportunity to be a support to children on a child protection plan, creating trust and giving them the confidence to feel safe. Vanessa has a vast social care experience, she has worked with young people, the elderly and people with learning difficulties. Being a foster carer for nine years and looking after predominantly children from a variety of backgrounds, she feels that her main tasks were to help them fulfil their goals, while in her care and to prepare them for the transition of becoming independent adults. Vanessa, also has a love for art, dance, drama and music and when possible tries to use these in the healing process. She is committed to seeing positive change for both the young and old in the community around her and the organisations she works with.

Dr Akima Thomas OBE | CEO Services & Co-Founder

Akima is a black feminist activist and comes from a background in nursing, social work and psychotherapy. Akima has pioneered working from a trauma informed approach and developed the Holistic Empowerment Recovery Model (HER), a strengths based non pathologising clinical model; integrating healing of mind body and spirit. Akima continues to research women’s healing journeys chronicling strategies of resistance, rebellion, and resilience to ensure survival and wrote a chapter in the book ‘Drop the Disorder! Challenging the culture of psychiatric diagnosis’, which challenges the culture of psychiatric diagnosis. Akima was awarded an OBE for services to Supporting Women and Girls, in 2019.

Gurpreet Virdee | CEO Development

Gurpreet is a black feminist activist with a strong commitment to anti-racism and fighting the injustices and inequalities faced by women and girls. Gurpreet has spent the last 25 years working within specialist black and minority led organisations supporting women and girls who have experienced violence and abuse. Gurpreet has led on delivering, developing and managing a range of pioneering services focused on young women, mental health and sexual health. Over the last decade, Gurpreet has played a pivotal role in strategically responding to the impact of austerity and the survival and sustainability of VAWG organisations in London through the development of partnerships and consortia, campaigning and lobbying. Gurpreet has been Director of Operations and Development at Women and Girls Network since 2010 and is trustee at the End Violence against Women and Girls Coalition and Race on the Agenda, and is also a School Governor. Gurpreet is now our CEO Development.

Mehreen Mir | Director of Finance & Resources

Mehreen is a Fellow Chartered Management Accountant with an honour’s degree in Accountancy and is a Chartered member of the CIPD. She began her career as a financial analyst before transitioning into the non-profit sector, where she has predominantly worked with various educational charitable trusts. In her previous role, Mehreen successfully managed setting and managing budgets, ensuring value for money, and played a key role in developing and implementing policies, benefits, and pay awards to enhance team member wellbeing and recognize their contributions.

Mehreen is also deeply focused on driving efficiencies to support better ways of working and controlling costs, ensuring that resources are utilized effectively to maximize impact. She strongly believes in collaborative working to bring out the best outcomes for the organization and to support the development of her team.

In addition to her professional achievements, Mehreen is a qualified coach who volunteers her time to Coaching, focusing on supporting women and individuals from neurodiverse communities. She has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by women, particularly those from Black, Asian, and other ethnic minorities. Mehreen also established a formal partnership between CIMA and one of the largest Asian women’s universities, aimed at empowering young women to achieve good finance qualifications.

At WGN, Mehreen is dedicated to further developing the charities operations function to support its future goals. She is passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of girls and women, advocating for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and striving to achieve the best possible outcomes for the charity staff members by advocating on prioritizing their wellbeing through benefits, communication and support.

In her personal time, Mehreen enjoys going to the theatre, reading non fiction books, exploring new food, travelling, and being a mum.

Ifeoma Williams | Director of Services

For over two decades Ifeoma Williams has proudly worked in a sector dedicated to providing holistic support to victims of crime and to eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls. She has over 15 years management experience at leading London charities and is skilled in strategic development and operational delivery in the voluntary sector. Iffy has excellent project and program management skills with a successful track record of delivering on projects and managing multi-million pounds contracts across London. In addition, she considers herself as an innovative, proactive and supportive leader.

As a intersectional black feminist activist, her belief, ethos and values are based on equity, fairness and the acceptance of women in all their forms. She is passionate and committed to ensuring the black woman’s voice is heard and acknowledged. She has great admiration and respect for the work and activism of WGN and all they have achieved for the global majority women in the UK.

Michelle Springer-Benjamin | Head of Training

Michelle is a trained social worker, counsellor and life coach and worked for over 12 years with young people aged 13-25, at a young people’s advice, counselling and therapy centre as a counsellor, senior counsellor and clinical services manager. Michelle has also worked as a senior consultant for the NSPCC providing training and consultation to organisations in relation to safeguarding and child protection, delivering training and undertaking training needs analysis. Michelle is currently WGN’s Training Manager, having been involved in WGN’s training department for over 20 years. Michelle’s specialist area of work includes gender based violence and child sexual abuse. In her self-time Michelle writes children stories and tries to stay connected to spirit.

Tanya Twene | Head of Advice Services

Tanya completed a master’s in human rights law with special emphasis on violence against women and girls within conflict settings. During her studies she further developed her passion and commitment to building a world where there is no violence against women and girls.

Tanya has volunteered and worked in various women’s organisations, becoming a qualified IDVA and ISVA before moving towards management. Throughout this time she increased her passion and knowledge in supporting vulnerable women who have experienced sexual violence or domestic abuse.

As a British Ghanaian, Tanya is proud to call herself a black feminist and is especially dedicated to supporting and advancing black women and girls globally, particularly those that have no recourse to public funds.

Nicole Walsh | Head of RCC

Nicole has been working in the VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls) sector for a decade as a qualified ISVA, facilitator, and consultant. She began her career in education with a focus on neurodiversity and social and emotional needs, developing a passion for working with young people, which she has maintained for over 15 years. This passion led her to the Women and Girls Network, where she worked as a Young Women’s Advocate before becoming the Head of Young Women’s Services.

Nicole’s experience spans education, drug and alcohol services, and mental health services, both at local and national levels. She has a particular passion for developing Experts by Experience, groupwork, and prevention strategies. Nicole is also a consultant specializing in gender-based violence, anti-racist commissioning, and educational reform. She serves as a trustee for LetMeKnow, a youth relationship prevention organization.

Nicole is especially passionate and committed to addressing the Adultification of Black Girls and the long-lasting impact this has on Adult Women.