Management Committee

Having been born and raised on the Ocean Estate in Tower Hamlets, Ahad spent the first 30 years of his life residing in the area. He has been involved with Ocean Youth Connexions, since its inception in 2002, initially as a service user and then as a trustee and management committee member. Ahad has held various previous governance positions, including as a Community Governor at Ben Jonson Primary School.

Professionally he has spent the past 19 years working in Local Government – within a range of areas including Youth Work, Regeneration, capacity building of the Voluntary and Community Sector, Strategy and Policy Development and Scrutiny. Ahad is currently a Senior Accountant at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Ahad is a Chartered Public Financial Accountant (CPFA) and also holds a BSc in Computing and Information System, an MA in Regeneration and a PG Dip in Public and Community Services.

Sirajul was born and bred on the Ocean Estate and attended both primary and secondary schools on the estate. Sirajul dedicates the Ocean Estate as the means of empowering him educationally and he has very fond memories which has led him to maintaining a longstanding commitment to helping the local community in any way possible. He has the privilege of being one of the very few volunteers who helped found Ocean Youth Connexions (OYC) and therefore is committed to seeing it grow. Sirajul currently sits as a board member of the Ocean Tenants and Leaseholders Association.

Currently, Sirajul works full-time as a primary school teacher in Tower Hamlets, and has done so for the past 14 years. During this time he has taught all Primary School year groups and has also completed a Level 3 Coaching in the Workplace qualification from the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM).  In addition, he has also completed the National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership (NPQML) and in doing so leads English as an Additional Language (EAL) across his school

Imran was born and raised on the Ocean Estate, where his journey into youth and community work first began. He started his career as a Volunteer Youth Worker with Ocean Youth Connexions, before progressing to a Case Worker role with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Over the past decade, Imran has built extensive experience working with hard-to-reach young people across universal, targeted, and statutory services, holding both practitioner and managerial positions within Local Government as well as the Voluntary and Community Sector.

In addition to his professional practice, Imran contributes to community safety and governance, serving as Chair of the Safer Neighbourhood Board in St Dunstan’s. Academically, he holds a BA in Youth & Community Work and Social Work, and is a qualified Social Worker.

Adnan was born in Tower Hamlets and spent the vast majority of his childhood and teenage years growing up on the Ocean estate, facing the challenges that one of the most deprived estates in the UK brings. Ocean Youth Connexions gave Adnan the opportunity to kick start his career in youth work where he was initially a volunteer then sessional worker before being a Youth worker in charge and leading on the delivery of various projects in different wards of Tower Hamlets. Adnan gained a Diploma in Youth Work, which was funded by Ocean Youth Connexions.

Adnan spent 13 years working in a mainstream school setting, where his role included mentoring both vulnerable young people and those at risk of exclusion. He also has experience of the Voluntary and Community Sector, particularly around supporting young Adult offenders, who had been released from prison, and assisting them to reintegrate into society through supporting them into education, employment and training – working closely with the Tower Hamlets probation team (Criminal Justice).

Adnan is currently employed by the Transport for London as a customer service advisor for its Special Requirement Team and is based at various London Underground stations.

Anwar was born and raised in Ocean Estate. He had a tough upbringing living on the Ocean Estate and was affiliated with local gangs. With the help of Ocean Youth Connexions Anwar managed to change his life around.

Anwar was a volunteer for Ocean Youth Connexions from 2005 to 2006 and has been part of OYC family since then. Anwar is currently working at Southwark Council as a CCTV operator. In his spare time, Anwar is part of a Charity organisation helping local and international communities.

Mohammed was born and bred on the Ocean Estate, Stepney. Growing up in the early 90’s on the Ocean Estate Mohammed had first-hand experience of the difficulties a young person faces in a deprived area with lack of provisions for young people to develop and succeed in life.  Mohammed and his peers were the first service users of Ocean Youth Connexions from 2002 and have been part of OYC family since. Using his experiences he is determined to help the local community and the youth of the Ocean Estate to have the best possible future and assist the Management committee of OYC reach their goals.

Currently Mohammed is working at Queen Mary University with young adults and is an active member of other charity organisations. Mohammed is a proactive member of the community who serves as a Health Therapist and continues to engage and participate in the betterment of the locality

Shahin has been involved with Ocean Youth Connexions since 2011. He is committed to use his experience to help develop and expand the organisation. He is passionate about youth empowerment and also sits on the board of another social enterprise that empowers young people through creative arts, media, training and writing.

Shahin holds a BSc in Computing and Information Systems as well as a PGDip in Law and Community Leadership. Professionally, Shahin has worked for a number of years in various fields, including Performance Management, Project Management, and Compliance. He currently works as a Legal Agreements Compliance Manager in the railway construction industry.

A Tower Hamlets native, Imdad’s connection to Ocean Youth Connexions began in 2011. Having experienced the benefits of OYC first-hand, he is a passionate advocate for the organization and its mission. Imdad is driven by a desire to coach and empower individuals to reach their full potential. He serves on the management committee, applying his professional expertise to help propel OYC to the next level.

He’s a firm believer that “having opportunities for young people and their families is critical to enabling and discovering people’s true potential. The OYC family facilitates such endeavours and helps to alleviate some of the socioeconomic difficulties that many face.”

In his professional life, Imdad works as an analyst in the online technology space, drawing on years of corporate experience from leading companies like eBay, TripAdvisor, and Zoopla. He holds a BSc in Computing and Information Systems and has extensive experience in project management and organizational development.