Aqila Choudhry
Aqila Choudhry
Executive Director
People in Action
Biography
Born in Pakistan – Jhelum Aqila has lived in Leeds from the age of 9 and lives in the Chapel Allerton Area with her teenage daughter and son.
Aqila has worked within the Voluntary Community and Faith Sector for 18 years. Her first post has been with the Chapeltown Citizens Advice Bureau where she managed volunteers from diverse backgrounds and trained on a range of topics including domestic violence towards women by known men.
Aqila’s role at the Citizens Advice Bureau involved in-depth knowledge and experience of dealing with wide range of inequalities facing the clients such as disability, employment and race discrimination.
Aqila also committed to volunteering for a number of groups and projects and became the Chair of Advocacy and Interpreting Service, Dosti (Asian Women’s Support Services), and Resourcing the Community. Aqila is the co vice Chair of Leeds Voice and represents the Voluntary Sector on the Boards of Leeds Imitative and the Cultural Paternership Board.
Aqila has been one of the founder members of a community Radio Project Asian Fever now operating on a 5 year full time licence delivering a comprehensive bi-lingual radio service to the Asian Community in Leeds.
In 2001 Aqila joined People in Action an established Charity of people with learning difficulties and disabilities. Aqila has developed the Charity to triple its turnover and increase its workforce whilst achieving the Investors in People Standard in 2003.
People in Action signed up as the first Voluntary Sector organisation in Leeds to work towards the Investors in Diversity Standard in 2006 to enable the consolidation of existing practices of Diversity at all levels of its work with people with learning difficulties and disabilities; their families and carers and professionals.
Aqila is the Ethnicity Lead for the Yorkshire Humber and the North East for Learning Disabilities and represents on the National Advisory Group of Valuing People. Aqila is also the Vice Chair of the Leeds Partnership Board’s Learning Disability Ethnicity Steering Group.
Aqila is committed to the Investors in Diverstiy Standard’s development and works closely with the team to promote it within her networks.