Shahnaz AliOBE is a British woman best known for her leadership role in equality, inclusion and human rights in the National Health Service and local government in England. She is also known for her activism, as a young woman, in the anti-racist struggles in Bradford in the 1980s. She was appointed an OBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours list, December 2012 in recognition of her contributions to Equality and Diversity.
Family and educational background
Shahnaz Ali was born in Pakistan and came to England with her family, at the age of 3, in summer of 1965. She grew up in Bradford and attended Leeds Metropolitan University, earning an MA in Policy Studies in 1996.
Political activism
As a teenager growing up in Bradford, Shahnaz Ali was part of a South Asian community that was increasingly subject to hostility and racist attacks from part of the white, indigenous population. She became involved in the United Black Youth League of Bradford and took an active part in its struggles for justice and the right to live without victimisation. See also 1981 England riots. This included resisting the regular bouts of 'Paki-bashing' undertaken in the city by racists, because the police did little to protect the communities under attack. In July 1981, 12 young men from the League were arrested and charged with making explosive substances and a conspiracy to make explosive substances. If found guilty, they would have faced life imprisonment. Shahnaz Ali was detained and interviewed along with the 12 young Asian men, but never charged. The 12 were found not guilty by a verdict of 11–1 in 1982 after a trial lasting 31 days. Ali was interviewed by the BBC for a documentary it made to mark the 30th anniversary of the Bradford 12 event. She also describes her own involvement in these events in a Podcast interview with Christine Burns.
Work history
From December 2007, Ali was Director of Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights at NHS North West, the strategic health authority for the region. During that time, she has gained national recognition for her strategic leadership on equalities work. Her work has included publishing a five-year strategy, Narrowing the Gaps, for transformative change of equality outcomes at regional level. The strategy was in turn based on original in-depth research and analysis, published in October 2008 as "A Landscape of the Region" Based on that research her programme also involved:
Developing the UK’s first performance measurement and improvement framework for equality outcomes in the NHS
Pioneering a sustainable approach to long-term equality stakeholder engagement for consultation and involvement in strategic programmes
Creating the UK’s largest and most successful online library and portal for Equality and Diversity evidence and background knowledge
Championing and leading development of the first competency framework for E&D executive leadership in the public sector
Establishing a regional Equality and Diversity Leadership Forum, comprising NHS Trust chairs, chief executives and directors of partnership to lead and champion transformative regional strategy
Embedding equality governance into all major assurance processes at regional level, including the review of commissioning strategic plans, operating plans, reconfiguration plans, World Class Commissioning assurance and the Transforming Community Services project.
Ali and her team developed a philosophy for transformation over the period 2008–12 which they published in a recent peer reviewed journal paper. The paper was followed by the publication of a textbook, 'Making Equality Work' co-authored with Christine Burns and Loren Grant, in September 2013.
Selected publications
Narrowing the Gaps
A Landscape of the Region
Ali, S., Burns, C. and Grant, L., 'Equality and diversity in the health service: An evidence-led culture change'.
'We know diversity work saves cash, but does George Osborne?' Shahnaz Ali. The Guardian, 4 June 2010
'A partnership of equals'. Shahnaz Ali. The Guardian, 18 March 2009.
Craig, G., Adamson, S., Ali, N., Ali, S., Atkins, L., Dadze-Arthur, A., Elliott, C., McNamee, S., Murtuja, B. Sure Start and Black and Minority Ethnic Populations. National Evaluation Report. Research Report 020. London: Department for Education and Skills.
