Bridget Obi
Financial Resilience Advocate
Bridget is involved because she loves to challenge inequality in the society. She brings knowledge, energy, creativity, and compassion to the project.
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Mireille
DA / NRPF Advisory Group Coordina
Mireille is involved with Baobab as she likes the environment, she wants to help Baobab to grow up positive. She brings skills and knowledge, listening and understanding women, finding out the best way to support.
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Beth
Development & Fundraising
​Beth is currently is the new Development Worker for Baobab Women's Project and she focuses on funding and administration. Beth brings organisation, focus, lots of spreadsheets and occasionally fresh baked bread! She is a great addition to the team.
Sheva
Development Worker
Sheva is the new Development Worker for Baobab Women's Project. The main focus of her role is to support and action the decisions of the Board of Directors on their strategic plans. Sheva is vivacious, creative and 100% committed to the work that Baobab do with migrant and asylum seeking women.
Teamwork
Community Advocate Administrator
Mireille, Bridget and Sarah take
Talhatou Diallo
Accounts Coordinator
Talha cares about others and creating a more equal world. She brings organisation, listening, form filling, french Language and accounts logic and experience to the project.
Sarah Taal
Advocacy and Policy
Sarah is involved because women connecting to Baobab give her energy to challenge social injustices, and knowledge about the world. She brings experience, loyalty, hard work and persistence.
Directors Group and Steering Group
Governance and Accountability
The Steering Group is currently developing as part of the Rosa Rise Project; and there are several women who have been involved in the organisation in different capacities who are shadowing the group and participating in meetings.
Bridget advocates with women who have been granted residence, helping them with financial transitions.
She assists women with benefits including council tax, housing benefit, child benefit and universal credit. She raises awareness of job, skill and volunteer opportunities, and well as provides advice on utilities and grants.
Instead of being a 'caseworker' doing all the work for women, she empowers beneficiaries to understand how to address the problems themselves, mentoring them to take control of the work they can. This will take longer but we hope this approach will allow women to become skilled as their own advocates making them financially resilient.
Mireille is involved with and leads the Women's Advisory Group. This is a 3 year long project led by Women’s Aid, in partnership with other charities. Mireille and these other charities will be working together until July 2024 to tackle issues faced by women who have No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) and experience or are at risk of experiencing domestic abuse.
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Her role in the partnership is to actively receive guidance and consultation from the women the partnership work with, and to ensure that our services are well-adapted to their needs and experiences. Also, address the structural issues that mean women are stuck in destitution and statelessness.
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In the future, Mireille will help these women act as Community Champions, educating and informing existing networks for women in refuge, ensuring that women's voices are heard, aiming to nurture equity in each of these women's contributions, pay attention to power imbalances around nationality, age, education, confidence, mental health, and status.
Beth is involved in the Rosa Rise Fund, the Development Sector at Baobab. It is important to her to constantly find ways to influence positive social change, so that problems faced by refugee and migrant women do not recur.
Supported by the Rise Fund run by the Rosa, the UK Fund for Women and Girls, Beth has started to improve our strategic and financial effectiveness. She will be developing governance, effective leadership and financial sustainability, while also getting involved with fundraising, building grassroots engagement and establishing better alliances with other women's organisations.
Beth's ultimate aim is to support women with lived experience in taking on directorial roles in Baobab, or become members of our steering group.
Sheva is also involved in the Rosa Rise Fund, the Development Sector at Baobab. It is important to her to constantly find ways to influence positive social change, so that problems faced by refugee and migrant women do not recur.
Supported by the Rise Fund run by the Rosa, the UK Fund for Women and Girls, Sheva started to improve our strategic and financial effectiveness.
She will be developing governance, effective leadership and financial sustainability, while also getting involved with fundraising, building grassroots engagement and establishing better alliances with other women's organisations.
Sheva's ultimate aim is to support women with lived experience in taking on directorial roles in Baobab, or become members of our steering group.
All incoming queries or calls are dealt with by Community Advocates. We take basic details and ask what help/assistance is required. Assessing the issue and either referring the matter internally or signposting it to another organisation. All queries and calls are taken on Wednesdays only, either on the phone or in person at our drop in (term Time only) between 10AM-1PM.
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Community advocates working with us include Bridget, Mireille, Amandas & Sarah, they and been on various trainings including ASAP courses, PAP DPG Law Training, Safeguarding Adults Level 2, Gender and Trauma Informed Approaches to Housing and Homelessness, Tactic Legal training and are using their skills and initiative to support others, while gaining more experience and knowledge. Hilary, retired GP supports women with health problems, seeing them for a discussion about what's needed, and communicating with their GP's.
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Orit, Hannan, Hanieh Aida & Muna are interpreters who support advocates. ​
Talhatou studied accounts in Senegal and has a degree qualification, she is currently studying further so she can be a registered accountant in the UK. She works with our accountant at Third Sector Accountancy.
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She has extensive knowledge of Quickbooks and other accountancy tools that we use.
She brings both her technical and personable skills to the role; and is able to manage both complex spreadsheets and the empathetic communication needed when dealing with emergency payments.
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Sarah is our Policy and Advocacy Worker; bringing together the direct support and advice that Baobab offers undocumented women, with raising voices for change.
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The Influencers Group also work with the Policy and Advocacy Project; taking the findings and evidence from the advocacy project, and raising the voices and experiences of women within the asylum and immigration system with people and in places where there is a chance to make a change.
Sarah is also a Baobab Director: She has a BA in International Relations, MA in Migration and Social Policy. Former Therapeutic Service, Housing and Women's Refugee and Migrant Project Worker. She is or has been involved in the governance of several destitution organisations including being a Trustee for ASAP.
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The other directors are:
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Beth Ash: Women's Short Stop Accomodation Coordinator, Coventry Migrant Women's House Trustee, Coventry Peace House Coop Member.
Beth is involved because she is excited by grass roots community projects, wants to learn more about casework & nurture social change. She brings logic, calm, focus, peace and reflection to the team, along with an enthusiasm for checklists and spreadsheets.
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Amrita Dhinsa: ​CAAT Activist​, qualified barrister & solicitor
Amrita is involved because she believes in Baobab's work and vision. As a director she can input into strategy and draw on her experience in regulation, law and policy.
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Sheva Martin: extensive experience with community projects, therapeutic work and creative expression. She brings passion, care and warmth alongside a deep commitment to supporting others to build their skills, confidence and reach their full potential.
Steering group members: Agnes Tanoh, Espoir Njei, Shalom Dula, Musurat Dar, Gimbi Cham and Loraine Mponela, are experts with lived experience and supprot campaigns and events we have to promote our work.
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Additional supporters and volunteers include: Malka Al- Haddad - Poetry writer and fundraiser. Jenipher Mumba & Josiane Youmssi - Administration and Office Support. Jenny Congrave - independent consultant working with feedback collection, strategic and fundraising plans.