Zarina Ahmad

Combining two important areas of interest, Equalities and Climate Change, Zarina has been working in the environmental sector, for over 10 years. Her aim has been to change the landscape of the environmental sector to ensure there is more engagement and a platform to amplify the voices from the Ethnic Minority sector. She has previously managed a Climate Challenge Funded project which led to working in partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful developing over 150 EM Climate Challenge Funded projects across Scotland. Zarina has worked hard to diversify the environmental sector and has built valuable relationships with mainstream eNGOs (FOES, FCS, SNH, SWT, SEPA, Stop Climate Chaos, Global Justice Now, SCCAN, LES, EST, GFN, Climate 2050, XR Scotland ) addressing equalities and diversity through training, collaborative projects, recruitment and staff, funding streams. Zarina developed and set up the Ethnic Minority Environmental Network, a platform for EM voices, a network for emerging climate leaders. Zarina is an experienced trainer delivering training on Climate Change (climate literacy, Climate Changemakers/Leadership, Climate Conversations, Shifting Normal, Energy Efficiency, Food security), Climate Justice, Eco Feminism, and Equalities, Diversity & Inclusion. Zarina is a qualified global Climate Reality Leader. In addition, Zarina sits on a number of boards including Friends of the Earth Scotland and has been included in the 100 Climate Reframe Leaders. Zarina is a regular on BBC Scotland Radio speaking on environmental issues and presents a monthly community radio show on Radio Awaz. In her free time Zarina does a lot of charity work, and has cofounded a charity Caring Scots working with the homeless and refugees both in Scotland and abroad. Zarina has also set up community initiatives to bring diverse communities together to show exemplar ways of being united - The One Big Picnic (annual event bringing communities together around food justice), The Climate Festival (highlighting community climate action in a fun and public arena) and the annual Peace & Unity Conference (space for diverse communities to have dialogue with political leaders).

Zarina was named as one of the top 30 influential women in environment by BBC’s Women’s Hour and is currently studying for a PhD on sustainability at University of Manchester. More recently Zarina was recognised by Edinburgh Science Institute as an inspirational woman who has made a significant impact in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and featured her along 8 other women in this year's festival by creating a mural of her and which is displayed in publicly in Edinburgh.