With professional experience including time with the City Bridge Trust and the Big Lottery Fund, Sufina Ahmad has been involved in strategy, policy and stakeholder roles for around ten years. Now in her position as chair of the Institute of Fundraising’s Expert Panel on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, she is applying that knowledge to help develop a strategic approach to making the sector more capable of recruiting, developing and retaining professionals from different backgrounds.

In your view, what is the current sate of the sector in regards to diversity and inclusivity?

I think generally the conversation on these topics in the charity sector has been fairly repetitive. Some of the debates we were having when I joined in 2009 are still being had now. From talking to people who have been involved in fundraising for a lot longer than I have, it seems that nothing has dramatically or significantly improved over the last 20 years. I think there have been some improvements but only small ones.