Despite the challenging circumstances marking the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Climate Reframe was launched in March 2020 to platform and raise awareness of the Climate Reframe network.
Co-creators Aisha Younis and Suzanne Dhaliwal began this project and in 2021, in response to the need for more BIPOC voices in climate change media. In 2021, Farhana Yamin joined the team as Climate Reframe Director. Thanks to Farhana’s dedication and hard work, the Climate Reframe network has grown and expanded its community, provided impactful opportunities for reframers and influenced positive conversations.
Today, the project is expanding its team and is currently coordinated by Aisha Younis, Community Lead. The project is supported by Suzanne Dhaliwal for guidance on Communications Strategies and Events and Communications Manger, Katherine Buckland.
The Reframe Steering Committee consists of Syed Ahmed and Simeran Bachra, who have provided their effortless support and guidance to Farhana, Aisha and Suzanne.
We are delighted to announce that the committee will be expanded in April 2024 to include four new members: Hirra Khan Adeogun, Imad Amed, Sara Telahoun, and Yassmin Begum.
We would like to express our gratitude to the Doc Society team and all the Reframe list members who have inspired and supported us in shaping this initiative.
The 2023 Reframe Steering Committee is:
Simeran Bachra
Simeran is an Associate Director at Anthesis, with extensive experience in the sustainability sector working with public and private sector organisations on climate action planning, GHG accounting and stakeholder engagement. Simeran is a collaborative leader with experience supporting organisations as they look to embed ESG into their business operations.
Prior to Anthesis, Simeran was at CDP (previously the Carbon Disclosure Project) where she supported cities in climate disclosure to CDP and the Global Covenant of Mayors. Simeran was a member of the Bristol Committee on Climate Change and Manchester’s Zero Carbon Advisory Board.
Hirra Khan Adeogun
As co-director of climate action charity Possible, Hirra makes change happen by leading the campaigns team to deliver impactful work. She previously headed up the landmark Car Free Cities programme, helping to secure the rollout of London ULEZ’s expansion, supporting 1,000 people to reduce their car use via the “Going Car Free” campaign, and inspiring Lambeth Council to introduce ambitious kerbside parking space reduction. She is passionate about designing anti-oppressive and sustainable futures, and regularly shares her expertise in the media (including in The Guardian and gal-dem) and at events like the IPPR Labour Party Conference alongside Ed Miliband MP. Before joining Possible, she was a trustee of Wen (the Women’s Environmental Network), worked at Amnesty International UK, extensively explored British Muslim identities, and used evidence and insight around the experiences of underrepresented people to drive positive change.
Yasmin Begum
Yasmin Begum is a writer, programmer, creative practitioner, and campaigner based in her hometown of Cardiff, Wales, and her work explores Welshness, identity, and Welsh minority ethnic history. Yasmin is passionate about community organising, and the intersection of politics and art in Wales. She is currently working on a project funded by Arts Council Wales exploring the history of sugar in the Welsh cake, and she is an artist in residence for the National Commission of Infrastructure in Wales.
“Diolch yn fawr iawn to the Climate Reframed team: I am delighted to have been accepted as a member. I am thrilled to be part of the network, and very excited at the prospect of being on the committee. I look forward to supporting the work of Climate Reframed, especially with a Welsh focus and Welsh perspective”. Diolch yn fawr means “thank you very much” in Welsh, and I was keen to use this term, and to give thanks for the opportunity.
Imad Ahmed
Dr. Imad Ahmed is a Climate Advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change where he is overseeing the institute’s programme to roll out embedded Climate Finance Advisors in counterpart governments in Africa. He is an Honorary Research Fellow at UCL, a member of the Liberal International Climate Justice Committee and on the academic board of the Paddy Ashdown Forum, a member institution of the European Liberal Forum. As a transactions advisor to the Government of Rwanda, he structured several firsts and contributed significantly to Rwanda’s 2016 Law on Governing Public Private Partnerships. Dr. Imad has published thought pieces regarding women’s rights, the rule of law, identity, finance and macroeconomics, innovation, international development and climate change with major outlets including the Financial Times, The New York Times, The East African, Internationale Politik, Dawn (Pakistan), and GQ India. In 2021 he published a book on the nexus between climate change and hydropower in Zambia with Springer Nature.
Sara Telahoun
Sara is an experienced climate change consultant with a background in greenhouse gas emissions accounting for local authorities and cities. In her current role, Sara supports local authorities in the UK in developing their strategies to respond to the climate emergency, through running workshops, engaging key local stakeholders and developing climate action strategies. Sara is also a Trustee for climate action charity Possible, supporting the organisation achieve its vision of a zero carbon society, built by and for the people of the UK. She is also a mentor through the Catalyse Change programme, where she actively supports marginalised young women interested in sustainability to succeed in their career paths. Sara previously sat on Bristol City Council’s ‘One City’ Environmental Board, where she worked with key stakeholders to advise the council on methods to accelerate action towards the city’s goals including reaching zero emissions by 2030.
Suzanne Dhaliwal
Suzanne Dhaliwal is a Climate Justice Creative, Campaigner, Researcher, Lecturer in Environmental Justice and Trainer in Creative Strategies for Decolonisation.
She was a founding member of Climate Reframe after working as a consultant on Mothers of Invention podcast with the Doc Society.
Voted one of London’s most influential people in Environment 2018 by the Evening Standard. In 2009 she co-founded the UK Tar Sands Network, which challenged BP and Shell investments in the Canadian tar sands in solidarity with frontline Indigenous communities, spurring the internationalisation of the fossil fuel divestment movement.
Suzanne has worked as a media consultant to support the Indigenous Environmental Network in securing international media during the COP21 and COP23 climate negotiations and continues to work as a media consultant to centre frontline Indigenous voices in the climate movement. She completed a Research Fellowship at the University of Brighton, researching the role of media and representation in climate justice organising.
Katherine Buckland
Katherine Buckland is a climate justice communicator, with a background in student and grassroots organising. Her interest in how we communicate the climate crisis has led her to work in social media and digital communications roles for environmentally concerned groups and organisations. Among them; Letters To The Earth, the Climate Justice – Just Transition Donor Collaborative, and Time for Better.
Aisha Younis
Aisha has been actively working towards promoting positive social change at an institutional level and non-profit media sector for several years. She co-created Climate Reframe in 2020 and continues to coordinate the project. Aisha is currently a Policy Analyst working on policy development and implementing Online Safety Regulations. She is an Aziz Foundation scholar and holds an MA in Environment, Development and Policy from the University of Sussex.
