Young Citizens Ambassador
Rushanara Ali is a Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bethnal Green and Bow since 2010. She has served as Shadow Minister for Education and Young People and as Shadow Minister for International Development. Rushanara has served as a member of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee and the Communities and Local Government Select Committee. She currently serves as a member of the Treasury Select Committee.
She was previously Associate Director of the Young Foundation, where she co-founded UpRising, a national leadership development and employability charity which has helped thousands of young people develop their campaigning and leadership skills.
Rushanara has also served as a Commissioner on the London Child Poverty Commission; as a board member of Tower Hamlets College; as a Trustee of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation; as a member of the Tate Britain Council and as a member of the Home Office Working Group on Preventing Extremism established after the 7/7 London bombings. In April 2016 she was appointed as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Bangladesh.
Rushanara Ali says:
“The work of Young Citizens could hardly be more relevant and important. The need to help young people understand how society works, and how they can use their agency to make the changes they want to see is more vital than ever. Our democracy is strongest when its citizens are well-informed and actively involved in all aspects of society.”