Farmida Bi CBE, Chair

Farmida Bi is a banking lawyer based in the London office of Norton Rose Fulbright, where she is European Head of Islamic Finance. She has specialised in capital markets and Islamic finance for over 20 years, and speaks frequently in academic and professional forums. She has recently spoken at Cambridge University, Harvard University, Cass Business School, the London School of Economics, University College Dublin and Nottingham University. Farmida is a graduate of Downing College, Cambridge and is qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales and a New York attorney.

Farmida has collected many accolades for her work. In 2019 and 2020 she was listed as one of the Financial News’ 100 Most Influential Women in European Finance, and one of HERoes’ Top 100 Role Models. She has twice been awarded ‘Best in Banking and Finance’ at IFLR’s European Women in Business Law Awards; named one of the five most powerful Muslim women in the UK at the inaugural Muslim Women Power List published by The Times; and named Commercial Lawyer of the Year by the Society of Asian Lawyers.

Jonathan Holt

Jonathan Holt is KPMG’s Head of Financial Services in the UK. He joined KPMG in 1994 and, after five years with the firm, Jon completed a two-year assignment in London with HM Treasury, being appointed as an one of three Investigators tasked with assessing the Sound and Prudent Management of an insurance company. From 2003 – 2005, Jon was the EA to KPMG’s Head of Risk and Regulation with specific responsibility for Professional Affairs in London and Brussels. In 2006, Jon was made a Partner in Financial Services where he led a wide range of assurance and advisory assignments for insurance, banking and asset management clients. From 2013-2017, Jon was the Office Senior Partner in Manchester, KPMG’s third largest office and was responsible for driving KPMG’s strategy in the North. Jon is now the UK Head of Financial Services with overall responsibility for a third of the Firm’s revenue. Jon continues to be a Global Lead and a signing Partner on a number of FTSE 100 clients. Jon has always taken an active role in promoting partnerships within the public and private sector communities and as well as being involved in a number of charities focused on social and political inclusion.

Harris Bokhari OBE

Harris founded Patchwork Foundation in 2012, recognising the vital need of a vehicle by which to promote the political and democratic engagement of under-represented communities. In 2018 he was awarded the Diversity Champion Award by the Cabinet Office as part of its inaugural National Democracy Week.

Harris is a Board member of Mosaic, HRH The Prince of Wales’s mentoring charitable initiative, and a Trustee of the Natural History Museum. He is also the co-founder of the Naz Legacy Foundation, which aims to enhance educational excellence and positive integration.Through this Foundation, Harris organised the first youth Interfaith Iftar at Lambeth Palace, which brought together the Archbishop of Canterbury, Chief Rabbi, Mayor of London and over 100 youth leaders from each of London’s boroughs – representing all faiths and none.

Dame Melanie Dawes DCB

Melanie Dawes took up her role as Chief Executive of Ofcom in February 2020. Prior to joining Ofcom, Melanie was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. She was also Gender Champion for the Civil Service and sat on the Civil Service Board and Senior Leadership Committee.

Melanie was Director General of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat (EDS) at the Cabinet Office from October 2011, responsible for overseeing the system of Cabinet decision-making. Between 2006 and 2011 she was at HMRC, including as one of the department’s Commissioners. Before joining HMRC, Melanie spent 15 years at the Treasury, including as Europe Director from 2002 to 2006. She started her career as an economist and has worked on public spending, tax and tax credit policy, macroeconomics, monetary policy and the euro.

Sir Simon Fraser GCMG

Simon Fraser is Deputy Chairman of Chatham House and serves as Adviser to the Europe Programme. He is also Managing Partner of Flint Global. He previously served as Permanent Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Head of the UK Diplomatic Servicefrom August 2010 to July 2015.

Prior to that he was Permanent Secretary at the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. He has also served as Director General for Europe in the FCO; Chief of Staff to European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson; Political Counsellor at the British embassy in Paris; and Head of Policy Planning in the FCO. He is currently Visiting Professor at King’s College London and Adjunct Professor at Sciences Po.

Poppy Mitchell-Rose

Poppy started her career in journalism, before working in Parliament, Downing Street and HM Treasury as a Special Advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, working alongside the Prime Minister, Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet. She delivered media strategies, campaigns, and global business relations, including international trade missions to promote the UK overseas.

At freuds she works with global investment clients as well as philanthropists, foundations and NGOs.

Sheikh Aliur Rahman

Sheikh Aliur Rahman is the Chief Executive of the London Tea Exchange. Prior to joining the London Tea Exchange he worked for a leading investment company in the City and has extensive senior management experience. He still acts as a senior advisor to a number of high profile clients on major developments across London and recent projects include delivering three of the tallest residential towers in Europe. Aliur currently holds various advisory roles at a local, regional and national level and remains active in urban regeneration programmes across Europe and Asia.

Makedah Simpson

Makedah was a graduate of Patchwork’s Masterclass programme in 2016 and currently works for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in the Smart Metering Implementation Programme on Consumer Protection. As an advocate for better mental health provisions in the UK, she is also a trustee for the mental health charity, SAIE. Prior to working in BEIS, she worked for the Health and Safety Executive and for the Confederation of British Industry.

Mustapha Ogun

Mustapha is a graduate of Patchwork’s 2019 Masterclass programme. He is passionate about social mobility and transforming the lived experiences of our future generation. Currently, Mustapha works in Deloitte’s UK Risk Advisory practice, specialising in Global Booking Model & Controls. He has supported several global banking organisations with initiatives relating to their legal entity strategy, reputation risk management, booking model and trading control frameworks.

Shwetal Shah

Shwetal is an International Technology Partnerships Manager at MediaCom Global, working on the Mars Inc Innovation program. Outside of her day-to-day role, she is a Trustee at Volunteer Centre Camden, Grants Committee Member at Youth Futures Foundation, a Nominations Committee Member at The Royal Institution and Board Member at Leeds Beckett University. Passionate about increasing diversity within STEAM industries, Shwetal launched and manages The Change-Makers Initiative giving £200 in funding to young people aged 11-19 to work on STEAM social action projects. Her outreach initiatives over several years have led to her being recognised in the Yahoo Finance 2020 Role Model, a 2019 UK Exceptional Talent Tech visa, the  Financial Times’ 2018 top 100 BME in Tech list, and a 2017 Dalai Lama Compassionate Leader.