Chief Executive Officer

Razia has been with KRAN since July 2016. She has more than 25 years’ experience of working in senior management in the third sector in London and Kent. She has been on boards and forums for national and local government and is currently on the Refugee Action Insights Hub Advisory Group. Razia is of mixed heritage (Irish and Bengali) and holds a PhD in International Relations on Critical Social Moments. She has held several trustee roles for women's charities. She is currently a Non-Executive Director of a Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust and was previously a volunteer grants panel member for Children in Need.

razia@kran.org.uk

07709 246325

Senior Manager: Learning for Life

Nigel joined KRAN in February 2024. He worked for 24 years in primary education, starting as a class teacher and then becoming a head teacher at schools in Folkestone and Margate. He chairs a community group in Hawkinge which puts on events for local residents, and is a finance trustee for IncludesUs2 (a charity that supports families with children with additional needs).

nigel@kran.org.uk

Senior Manager: Advocacy and Support

Louise joined KRAN in November 2024. She taught in east London before joining Kent County Council in 1999. There she managed a wide range of services focusing on access to education and equality issues, with a
particular emphasis supporting those who are disadvantaged by their
situation and the systems they find themselves in. She has spent time working directly with - and managing provision for - Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking young people newly arrived in Kent. Louise is also Chair of Governors for a Kent special school and an assessor of inclusive practice in schools.

advocacy@kran.org.uk

Monitoring and Finance Officer

Suzi has been working for KRAN since 2017. She has a background in small business management and accounting. Suzi oversees the finances and budgets at KRAN and supports the monitoring of Learning for Life projects for reporting purposes.

suzi@kran.org.uk

Senior Operations Administrator

Louise joined KRAN in February 2024. She has a wide range of administrative experience and spent the last 15 years working in Quality Assurance in the education sector. She is looking forward to putting her experience to good use to help develop and co-ordinate KRAN’s administrative processes. As often the first point of contact, Louise looks forward to welcoming you to the Canterbury hub.

Evidence and Impact Coordinator

Henna joined KRAN in 2022 and has worked for various non-profit organisations in the UK (and beyond), with a focus on disaster relief, gender-based violence, racial equality and migrant support. She has a background in developing data collection systems and monitoring and evaluation practices. Based on her mother’s experience of settling in the UK as a young refugee, she wishes more places like KRAN existed.

Communications Coordinator

Sarah joined KRAN in March 2023. She worked for many years in local journalism (from Trainee Reporter to Acting Editor), before moving into PR. She was Press Officer and then Communications Manager at The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, for 16 years, and also looked after access (proudest moment: introducing Relaxed Performances). Sarah then held various temporary positions and volunteered with several charities before joining the comms team at Folkestone & Hythe District Council, and finally… KRAN!

media@kran.org.uk

Media Ambassador

Rishan was one of the first Youth Ambassadors at KRAN. Originally Eritrean, she has been a KRAN service user and then employee for more than four years. As a Media Ambassador, Rishan passionately advocates for young people, striving to raise awareness about their challenges and amplify their voices. She is committed to changing the negative narrative about refugees by believing in the power of lived experiences and empowering individuals to tell their own stories. Her dedication to youth empowerment and reshaping perceptions is fueled by her own experiences and a deep desire to make a positive impact in her community. Rishan recently completed her nursing degree and is now working as a nurse.

Media Ambassador

With a BA Hons in Film and a year in television and online broadcasting, Hur's journey has been strongly associated with the power of media to highlight social issues. She has traveled to Honduras and Greece on medical brigades, producing documentaries that highlight the challenges of refugees and underserved communities. Born and raised in Egypt, Hur is passionate about portraying the often overlooked realities of people's lives through visual storytelling. As a Media Ambassador, she is dedicated to using her skills and knowledge to raise awareness and advocate for individuals whose voices are frequently silenced.

Senior Fundraiser

Teachers:
Kate, Kathy, Emily

Teaching Assistants:
Bushra, Miranda

Teacher:

Liz

Teaching Assistants:
Sandra, Andy

Complex Caseworker

Paul has been with KRAN since February 2019. He has had a varied career: after graduating, he lived and worked in the Middle East as a teacher and a writer. He has been published extensively on the issue of Palestine/Israel. Paul then worked in the criminal justice system, and - for more years than he cares to remember - was the Learning and Skills Manager in a high-security prison.

Caseworker (Housing and Legal)

​Red-Anna joined KRAN in January 2024. She predominantly provides advocacy on all issues relating to housing, including homelessness. Red was introduced to KRAN in 2022 when she started volunteering through its mentoring programme. She hopes to obtain OISC qualifications in the near future, enabling her to give legal advice on immigration and asylum matters. 

Early Intervention Caseworker

Originally from the Channel Islands, Sarah first became involved with KRAN in 2015 when she was running an external project. Working in multiple sectors, she has gained varied and effective partnerships with agencies and has built up extensive experience in providing support for refugee and asylum-seeking children. She firmly believes early support can help to prevent a larger crisis. Sarah works with young people across all our hubs as part of the Advocacy and Support Team.

Activities and Wellbeing Coordinator

Osama has been a KRAN service user and employee, becoming one of its first Youth Ambassadors (2020). In 2023, he was made a Youth Influencer and then moved to his current role. Osama will be leading on all KRAN activities (including sport, drama and art) and is keen to make them as accessible as possible for all our young people. Osama, who is originally from Syria, is passionate about supporting young refugees and asylum seekers and to help them grow and flourish. He is studying a degree in computer science.

Mentoring Project Coordinator

Gareth has been in his current role at KRAN since 2017. He has been working in social care for more than 15 years, largely focused on housing, homelessness, mental health and young people. His main focus in KRAN is promoting agency, support and independence for young people. At university, he studied sociology and social policy as an undergrad and his postgrad was in social work.

New Project Developer

Lou has been with KRAN since December 2020. They have 10 years’ experience in the charity sector, working for projects that support victims of gender violence and trafficking, that alleviate social isolation and upskill people living in areas of deprivation. They also volunteered in the refugee sector for many years before they started at KRAN. They have a PhD in Human Geography and are working towards a book about home and mobility.

Youth Engagement Coordinator

Originally from Afghanistan and having run refugee support programmes in her home country as well as the UK, Fawzia brings a wealth of knowledge, empathy and expertise to KRAN. She has lived in Kenya, Ethiopia and Albania. With personal experience of being a refugee in the UK, she knows what our young people must deal with once they arrive here.

Youth Ambassador

Grmalem is from Eritrea and has been in the UK since September 2014. Before becoming a KRAN Ambassador, he was a Trainee. He says he wants to help newly-arrived refugees as much as possible because he was in their shoes once and remembers how much help he needed. This could be with KRAN's English lessons or lessons about England! Grmalem adds that he wants to be the mouth of people who can't express their feelings in a new place.

Youth Ambassador

Shahab, who is from Afghanistan, believes KRAN does a lot of good with young people. He says he loves working with the young people and enjoys helping them. Shahab went to Birmingham Metropolitan College before moving to Canterbury in 2021.  He is studying computer science.

Youth Ambassador

Luwam believes her role involves advocating for young asylum seekers and refugees to get their voices heard and to also help them to participate in daily activities to enable them to reach their full potential. Luwam also works with Catch22 as a sessional worker, which involves preparing and delivering presentations to young people and professionals across the UK. She is studying for an occupational therapy degree. 

Youth Ambassador

Obaida, who is from Syria, has been with KRAN for almost five years. He first got involved as a service user and then became a trainee, helping young people understand more about life in the UK and teaching them basic IT skills. This installed a passion to work with young people and help them achieve the best version of themselves. Obaida is also a Youth Ambassador at Youth Futures Foundation, representing the young people from diverse backgrounds. He studies computer science.