About Us
Who We Are
Originally set up as a Charitable Trust we decided to set up Promoting Women in Science (PWIS) as a registered charity in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. It was jointly founded by Imran Ahmed and Sadia Nujhat. You can view further details about the Charity on the England and Wales Charity Commission website here.
There are many good causes that we could have focused on. The power of education can create such a range of positive outcomes for individuals and their families we felt it was a good area to focus our investment in. Imran has been inspired by his mother’s history who came from a low income background and studied Medicine in Pakistan, at a time when few women were in higher education, in the 1950s and helped fund herself by sewing clothes for others and relying on the financial support of other family members. Her life was transformed through education. Sadia has been committed to advancing women in their careers and engaged in a number of mentoring schemes over the years.
Women continue to face a number of disadvantages in society and therefore we felt they are a good target group for our work. They are also under-represented in many STEM subjects, although no longer in Biomedical Sciences (UCAS data), although Medical students remain overrepresented by individuals from middle-class backgrounds (Medical Schools Council 2019). STEM subjects can provide a great base for a range of careers as we can personally testify to. There is also good evidence that a STEM degree can enhance earnings relative to non-STEM subjects (Institute for Fiscal Studies 2018).
Do get in touch if you would be interested in finding out more or you are considering collaborating with us. We are keen to hear from organisations that support young people, companies and educational institutions to exchange ideas and explore whether there is any mutual benefit that coil be explored.
Our Trustees
Carolyn Fraser
Carolyn has a Business Studies degree and a career spanning 33 years in both the public and private sectors. She has a wide range of volunteering experience and is particularly passionate about raising aspirations and educational equality.
Imran Ahmed – Chair
Imran is a former EY Partner who has worked in Consulting and Insurance. He studied Genetics at Newcastle University. He has volunteered extensively across a range of sectors.
Kimberley Neve
Kimberley works for a large health charity managing policy research and is a Registered Nutritionist (Public Health). Previously, Kimberley was a secondary teacher and Head of Department in England and internationally. She is passionate about working towards equitable health and education.
Dr Mark Dixon
Mark works as an anaesthetist in the NHS having found his path to Medicine later in life, completing an Access to Medicine course. Mark works back in his native North East and has set up a program to help mentor children from less privileged backgrounds into Medicine.
Paul Jones
Paul is a Chartered Accountant and studied Economics at Newcastle University. Paul has spent 25 years working for STEM businesses and has spent several years volunteering for a number of charities.
Sadia Nujhat
Sadia works in Change Management and graduated from Newcastle University. Sadia has volunteered in the UK and Overseas, with a focus on teaching and mentoring.
Dr Samira Ahmed
Samira has followed a STEM career pathway and is a Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist at the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle. She has experience of working overseas but is now settled in the North East for over two decades.
