…reflecting a diverse range of experience and background who have selected the shortlist and winners of The Muslim News Awards for Excellence
Mars El Brogy is Head of Video Production for the Evening Standard and The Independent. Starting her media career at 16 doing a Saturday job at her local newspaper, she pursued a Journalism & Politics degree in Sheffield. Upon graduating, Mars worked in distinguished roles at the BBC, including leading the Comic Relief online team, which broke record figures. She is also a Media Trust mentor, patron of the National Student TV Association and an Interactive Advertising Bureau council member. A Muslim News Award recipient, Mars has been featured in The Observer’s Top 500 Ones to Watch and is of Spanish-Filipino origin.
Professor Mashood Baderin teaches law at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London (SOAS). He served as head of SOAS School of Law from 2009 to 2012; Director of its Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law from 2012 to 2015 and Chair of its Centre of African Studies from 2015 to 2018. He is also a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and was appointed as a UN expert on Sudan from 2012 to 2014. He won the Sankore University Award for Excellence in Education at The Muslim News Awards in 2018.
Oruj Defoite is a former BBC broadcaster and journalist who works in the House of Lords on equalities and diversity issues. She currently runs So Gold, a successful media consultancy that gives strategic advice on press engagement. One of her most influential documentaries includes a 2016 film for the BBC in which she explored why parts of Wales voted Leave despite receiving more than £4 billion in subsidies. Oruj, who was born in India, holds a post-graduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism from Cardiff University Journalism School and a BSc (Hons) Biochemistry from the University of Surrey. She is a board member of Spiral, a charity that helps disadvantaged young people develop their careers.
With a Palestinian mother and Kurdish-Iraqi father, Shatha Khalil has been immersed in Middle East politics and culture since her early days. She currently works as a Senior Editor for an online Middle East news website, where she promotes a greater understanding of Arab societies beyond the conflicts that have afflicted them. In her spare time, Shatha raises awareness of and volunteers for homeless charities in London, including being Team Lead at Children of Adam, an outdoor soup kitchen which runs every Sunday. She has previously volunteered in refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey and Greece and worked as an interpreter to help Syrian refugees apply for family unification in the UK.
Chair of the Westar Capital Group, Dr Tariq Abbasi MBE DL is an investment banker, real estate developer. He holds a PhD from the University of California, San Francisco, on artificial intelligence and its application in the financial industry. In 2016, Tariq, who is British-Pakistani, received a Royal Appointment from the Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London as a Member Advisory Committee at the Ministry of Defence and a Member of the Queen’s Honours and Awards Committee. In 2016, he was appointed as the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Greater London by Her Majesty Queen’s Lord Lieutenant. Tariq has also served his community with over 25 years of voluntary community work, and in 2014, received the Lifetime Achievement Award – A Civic Award from the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
