Nura Ali is from Somailalnd and grew up in Birmingham. She graduated with a degree from Matthew Boulton College in Birmingham in Fashion and Textiles. Nura is the voice of the East African women within the West Midlands and a distinguished member of the community. As an active citizen, she has been part of multiple Boards of organisations, including the Birmingham East Police IAG, the Neighbourhood Board and the Preventing Violence and Extremism Board. She has also extensive experience in the public and voluntary sector, working among others for Birmingham and Coventry City Council and fundraising for charities.
Influential, effective, hard-working and with excellent work ethic, she combines all the elements of a Leader. Innovator and entrepreneur, she took the step to establish Allies Network ltd in 2008, finally incorporating it in 2014, with the vision to run a platform to assist and resolve the issues of a community that she knows so well.
1 Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in?
I was raised in the UK, but I was born is Somaliland. I feel at home in both places.
2 What are your proudest achievements?
One of my proudest achievements is leading on Birmingham City Council (the largest local authority in Europe) recognizing The Republic of Somaliland as an independent country. Also, the Birmingham Museum acquiring the first Somali cultural architect of the West Midlands from my family.
3 What inspires you?
People and communities that meet, and service users.
4 What has been biggest obstacle in your career?
Balancing difficult personalities. Yes, when you run an organisation you come across many different volunteers and stakeholders and some of those can have difficult personalities to manage so i found that very difficult at some points of my career
5 Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?
I don’t have one role model, there are many inspiring individuals who support me, and my parents were always supportive towards my career.
6 What is the best aspect about your current role?
Serving many different communities in their developments, supporting and empowering women to end many forms of abuse due to cultural practices.
7 And the worst?
There is no worst aspect, it’s a great honour and privilege to serve humanity.
8 What are your long - term goals?
To help build a better world and a better Britain.
9 If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?
There is not one aspect to change, there are many aspects to change. And a few aspects I would like to change would be the quality of education, health care and entrepreneurship.
10 If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?
My grandparents. Because they worked in many different sectors which today the young people like me have forgotten the skills, so it would be great to understand those skills better.
