Who We Are

We are a diverse team – in terms of expertise, ethnicity and location. 

On expertise, we cover a broad gamut from management, to capacity building, communication, security and research. As a team we have decades of experience in these areas.

Our staff largely come from ethnic minorities similar to the communities we serve. We believe this gives us a big advantage: unique insights and understanding, as well avenues for engagement with those communities and institutions. 

Our head office is in Dublin, but our team are spread across Europe: in the UK, France, Switzerland and elsewhere. We are flexible and mobile, easily able to work on the ground with our target communities and institutions, as well as other partners.

WHAT WE DO

We are dedicated to ensuring faith-based communities can practise their religion in freedom AND can contribute positively to the societies in which they live.

We do this through:

  • provision of technical assistance
  • strategic guidance
  • training
  • development of resources
  • conduct of research
  • promotion of engagement
  • awareness-raising.

HOW WE WORK

While the focus of our work is at local level – with communities and faith-based institutions – we carry this out as part of a much wider national and global vision. 

Partnership is integral to our approach. We engage with partners at all levels: local, national, regional and international. Our partners include:

  • faith-based communities and institutions
  • local authorities
  • law enforcement
  • civil society groups
  • social media companies
  • national governments
  • multilateral bodies 
  • international organisations. 

We are keen to work with and learn from others AND to share our experience and disseminate our resources and best practices as widely as possible. We also see partnerships as the key to building ownership and ensuring sustainability of positive impacts.

WHERE WE WORK

We work across the world. Europe is a major hub of our activities: we are operating in major European countries including France, Germany and Italy. However, we also have projects in North America, Africa, the Middle East and Australia. 

We believe our approach, practices and resources can be widely applied – albeit tailored to each context – and we are keen to disseminate our work. 

What we do

GLOBAL TEAM. WORLD CLASS RESULTS

Shaukat Warraich

Co-Director

Shaukat is a social entrepreneur with years of leadership experience in both the commercial and charity sectors. He has worked intensively with faith-based institutions in the UK, Europe and across the globe. Shaukat is also an accomplished public speaker and author. His role within EFI entails setting strategic direction, fostering institutional relationships and taking the lead in carrying out interventions.

Kaashif Awan

Co-Director

Kaashif is a graduate in history and politics, and has an impressive track record of project development and implementation across the globe. His leadership role within EFI covers strategic direction, and day-to-day management and oversight of its various projects.  

Paul Smith

Senior Project Officer

Paul has over 30 years’ experience in security and police, having worked across the UK and Europe. His role within EFI focuses on project and stakeholder management, in particular implementation of EFI’s keynote ‘Security by Design’ (SBD) concept in relation to places of worship.

Dr. Sahrish Khan

Communications & Senior Researcher

Sahrish is a Sociocultural Anthropologist and Research professional, having over 9 years of international experience across the EMEA. Her research expertise includes race relations, diversity, inclusion, gender, religion and agency.

Nicoleta Mirza

Communications & Policy Researcher

Nicoleta Mirza is a LLM graduate in Law and Politics of International Security. Her research interests include politics, conflict, conflict resolution, and security. In EFI, Nicoleta carries out research on relevant issues, in particular hate incidents against places of worship in Europe, and supports EFI’s communications work, notably on social media platforms.

Dr. Iffat Idris

Senior Policy Lead

Iffat has a background in international development, specialising in conflict analysis, violent extremism, modern slavery and governance, and has written extensively on these issues. She also has significant on-ground experience, working on development programmes in South Asia. Iffat supports EFI in research to inform interventions and activities, and in communications to disseminate outputs and promote stakeholder engagement.    

Saif Kayani

Computer Scientist

Saif is a computer science graduate with interests in artificial intelligence, data science, mixed reality, cybersecurity and all things technology. Saif manages all EFI’s IT work, in particular the EFI website as well as software development.

Dalia Gawish

Project Administrator

Dalia has over 15 years’ experience in public and private sector project administration. Her key areas of expertise are in training and compliance. Dalia plays a lead role in EFI events, both in the planning and logistics of organising these, and in delivery/implementation of these.

Hassen Rasool

Creative Strategist

Hassen has over 15 years’ experience in digital curation and communications strategies. Hassen is behind the design of all EFI’s products/branding, e.g. event banners, published reports and resources, graphics for online events.

What we do

“We have worked with EFI for a number of years, our partnership has evolved, their work is one of a kind and are a force for positive change in this field across the world.”

OUR PARTNERS AND ASSOCIATES