Core Team

Major books in the field have been Education and Conflict: Complexity and Chaos (2004), Educating against Extremism (2008), and Unsafe Gods: Security, Secularism and Schooling (2014). Recent empirical research has included interviewing former extremists (far right and Islamist) about their family backgrounds for EU RAN (2018) and evaluating the Home Office funded Way Out Project: Supporting Muslims in Prison (2018), an action research project based on the lived experience of offenders. Recent reviews include the Review of Educational Initiatives in Counter-Extremism Internationally: What works? (2018),University of Gothenburgand this looked at 21 different types of initiatives in 23 countries and their evaluations. Another review is the Education and Radicalisation Prevention: Different ways governments can support schools and teachers in P/CVE (2019) for EU RAN This is a survey of 27 EU Member states of what their governments are doing in the area of counter-extremism.
She has acted as a senior consultant on areas of counter-extremism for a number of international agencies such as UNESCO, UNICEF, GIZ, OSCE and Club de Madrid, as well as the EU Radicalisation Awareness Network.
In 2014 she was given the Sir Brian Urquhart award for service to the UN and its goals by a UK citizen.

Zubeda is a current EU RAN expert. She is the author of Education and Radicalisation Prevention: Different ways governments can support schools and teachers in P/CVE with Professor Lynn Davies (2019), “Counter-terrorism as conflict transformation (Routledge, 2014) and Formers and Families -transitional journeys and out of violent extremism in the UK (European Commission, 2015). She is a Clore Social Fellow (2014/15), an alumni of the IVLP programme (Dept of State, USA) and was invited to the White House Countering Violent Extremism (President Obama) summit in Washington in February 2015 as a result of the specialist work of ConnectFutures in developing community and schools based programmes.
She graduated from the University of Manchester with a BA in Politics and Modern History and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies.

She has extensive experience in innovative programme design, critical enquiry and evaluation for policy, practitioner and community-based organisations. She has worked to counter extremism, exploitation and inequality since 2003, engaging formally in understanding and developing preventative approaches to extremisms since 2005. This includes bringing young people together with the police for problem-solving in the community, and engaging ‘hard to-reach’ youth for dialogue and skills-building across diverse communities.
She has been a key developer – designing, testing and evaluating - in the OSCE’s new Leaders Against Intolerance and Violent Extremism (LIVE) initiative, which is a long-term training and capacity building programme for young leaders in Western Europe, the Balkans and Central Asia to tackle extremism in their local contexts. Laura has also contributed to the development of an online course for UNITAR around countering violent extremism within a human rights framework.
She has developed training modules for the HMPPS funded Way Out Project: Supporting Muslims in Prison (2018), an action research project based on lived experience of offenders. In partnership with St Giles Trust, she has been a key developer of the Building Resilience to Violent Extremism (BRAVE) programme for schools and colleges, and is experienced in evaluating the impact of different forms of intervention such as films and testimonials as well as social media and dialogue.



With over 9 years working in the third sector supporting individuals he is passionate about making a difference and building skills within people. Alongside this, he has supported and led on projects aimed to build integration within communities and break down stigma around differences between people.



As a researcher, he has a number of years of experience in the fields of sociology, social policy and criminology, working on academic projects at both National and European levels, including EU-funded H2020 Projects, Home Office, National Independent Safeguarding Board Wales and Welsh Government. As an educator, he is currently an Associate Lecturer at the University of Liverpool.

Associates

Since then, Alex has gone on to manage several youth programmes which aim at young people from all backgrounds. He is an experienced public speaker, D.S.O and youth worker who specialises in Pupil Referral Unit intervention.

Kyle gained his Bachelors in Policing & Criminal Investigation from the University of Central Lancashire and has previously served as a Special Constable within Lancashire Constabulary with a focus on community policing and youth engagement
A confident public speaker with over 10 years experience in sales within the FMCG sector who utilises his experience to connect with young people as a programme facilitator

Alongside his frontline work, Sean has also conducted consultation pieces for various organisations on inclusivity, cultural competency and practice development for services working with vulnerable youth.


In his spare time, Si is a renowned musician and rapper with over 20 years worth of experience in the UK hip hop industry.



Advisory Board

In 2010, he joined The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn and completed his barrister training in London in 2012. Now at No5 Chambers, Hashi practices in public law; his main area of focus is Planning & Environmental law. He represents clients from across the country, including housebuilders and local authorities.
Hashi presents documentaries on BBC Radio 4, most recently on planning, politics and housing; 20 years since the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, and on access to the top professions. Hashi writes regularly in various newspaper publications, including The Times, The Guardian, Tortoise Magazine and Prospect Magazine.
Hashi’s book on social mobility in Britain, People Like Us, What it Takes to Make it in Modern Britain was released in January 2020, and was BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. He grew up in Brent arriving in the early 1990s as a young unaccompanied child refugee, raised exclusively on state benefits attending some of the worst performing schools in the borough.
Hashi’s second book, A Home of One’s Own, focusing on the housing crisis and what we need to do about it, is out in September 2022.


Her passion and motivation lies in social housing where she spent over 15 years in various roles, including as a rents officer, development officer and governance officer. In 2017, she became a governance and risk manager/ Deputy Company Secretary at Flagship Housing Group. She holds a degree in Law from the University of East Anglia, a Masters in Social Housing from the London School of Economics and is a Clore Social Fellow (Social Housing, 2014 Alumnus).
When she is not working, she enjoys gardening, reading and looking after her young son. Njoki is excited to join Connect Futures' inaugural board and looks forward to sharing her expertise to help grow the organisation.


Creating Change Together
Harnessing the experience and knowledge of an internationally respected team, ConnectFutures provides independent expertise to a wide range of clients.
Our unique approach combines academic excellence with extensive practitioner experience and is informed by our strong ethical framework and commitment to justice.
Our academic backgrounds include expertise in law, education, criminology, social anthropology, political science, and sociology, with practitioner experience in the fields of equalities, policing, security and peace-building.