Unitas Communications was founded by Muddassar Ahmed and Shiraz Ahmad. They are skilled communications professionals with top level access to senior government, corporate and NGO leaders in the UK, the EU, USA and the Middle East, Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The Unitas team works in a range of sectors and leverages the insights, knowledge base and expertise of its associates in assisting clients in local, national and international settings.
The Board
Chairman: Stephen O’Brien CBE
Stephen O’Brien is Chairman of Tower Hamlets PCT, International Health Partners, Carl Jenner Productions/Unicorn Children’s Theatre Trust, NCH Leadership Board and Deputy Chairman of Woods River Cruises. He is also Trustee/Director of the Prince of Wales’s International Business Leaders’ Forum, Tomorrow’s People, Place2Be, Teach First and St Martin-in-the Fields Development Trust and Citizens Organising Foundation.
Previously Stephen was Chairman of Business in the Community (where he continues as Vice-President), the London Regional Council of the Prince’s Trust, London First, Charles Fulton Holdings - International Currency Brokers, Vice-Chairman of Think London and one of the convenors of the RSA Illegal Drugs Commission.
Chief Executive: Muddassar Ahmed
Muddassar is Chief Executive of Unitas Communications. He is Chairman of the Concordia Forum, the Hikmah Club and the European Cedar Media Group. He is also Trustee/Director of The Adab Trust, Utopia 33 Films and The Newham Public Affairs Committee.
Previously, Muddassar worked as a Freelance TV Producer and Presenter, having worked on BBC, Channel 4 and Islam Channel Productions. He was also a steering group member of Mosaic: the Muslim led network founded by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, The Interfaith Alliance in Newham and the founding General Secretary of MLM UK.
Chief Operating Officer: Shiraz Ahmad
International Liaison Director: Professor Joseph E Connolly
Professor Joseph E Connolly is distinguished Professor of Finance and Management at The Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausees in Paris. Prior to that he was the Willard Brown Distinguished Professor of Global and Islamic Finance at the American University In Cairo. He is an Advisor to the Islamic Finance Centre at the Swiss Banking Institute in Zurich and to the Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance In London. He is also a Trustee of Richmond University in London. He serves as the US Commissioner for the Bilateral UK-US Fulbright Commission.
An MBA graduate of Harvard University’s business school and, earlier, Cornell, Professor Connolly was for many years an Executive Director and Head at UBS for Private Banking Research and a Managing Director for Global Finance Research at Citibank where he first formatted plans for developing Islamic Finance product offerings in New York, Zurich and London. He has been instrumental is setting up Islamic banking subsidiaries, working with Shariah scholars to understand capital markets and treasury products, and developing a context for rating sukuk and other Islamic obligations. He has published prolific articles about finance.
Associates
Arif Zaman
Arif is a Principal Consultant in the Reputational Risk Practice at the Reputation Institute. He is an advisor to the Commonwealth Business Council on Corporate Governance and South Asia and on the Council of the British Association for South Asian Studies (BASAS). He is also a Visiting Tutor in Reputation and Board Effectiveness at Henley Business School and author of Reputational Risk (Financial Times Executive Briefing 2004). He is on the Board of the UK-based Strategic Planning Society and the Editorial Board of the US-based Journal of Business Strategy. He also serves on the Advisory Panel of the Dinar Standard. Arif was Global Market and Industry Analyst at British Airways (1996-2005) where he won several company and industry awards including for his contribution to BA’s Business Principles and Sustainability Policy.
In 2002-03, during his sabbatical from British Airways he was an Associate Fellow at Chatham House. His work focused on corporate responsibility in Asia and his report ‘Made in Japan: Converging Trends in Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Governance’ led to a UN roundtable he convened with the British Embassy and involved a range of leading corporates, investors and policymakers from the US, Europe and Japan in November 2003. In 2003-04 and in the wake of significant thawing in Pakistani-India relations, he led negotiations for the Commonwealth with SAARC which established the first collaborative programme between both organisations.
Arif is also an Associate Director and founder Steering group member of HRH The Prince of Wales Mosaic initiative, a member of the Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s Committee on CSR; a Vice Chair of the Muslim Council of Britain Business and Economics Committee; and a Steering Group member of the recently launched British Pakistani Foundation.
Meriel Barclay
Meriel was Director of Corporate Services for the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) from 1998 to 2007 and continues as Chair of Trustees of the NatCen Pension Scheme and Company Secretary. She has previously been Director of Finance & Administration for a number of London Solicitors firms including for Sonnenschein, from 1995 -1998, for Radcliffes & Co. from 1992 -1995 and Winward Fearon, from 1989 - 1992. From 1987 - 1989, Meriel was Director of Finance & Administration for Business in the Community Meriel became a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) in 1992.
Wan Saiful Wan Jan
Wan is Director General of the Malaysia Think Tank London and Head of Policy for the Conservative Muslim Forum. Previously, he was at the Conservative Party’s Research Department, and the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit, the think tank for the 53 Commonwealth countries. Wan’s work has brought him to various parts of the world, allowing him to build a network of contacts with politicians, thought-leaders and business people.
Konstantin Pavlidis
Konstantin is a businessman and Partner of Satways Ltd, he was previously Director of research and development of ETI industries Inc. More recently he has launched a successful property portfolio with key holdings in Indonesia, Australia, Morocco, Italy and the UK. He has a multi -disciplinary background having worked in various fields over the past 25 years. He received diplomas in Sports Injury Therapy, Shiatsu, Traditional Japanese Therapies, Yoga Teacher Training and Trulkor Tibetan Yoga In 1985, he received a BEd Science from the Institute of Education, Sydney University, where he majored in Biomechanical Analysis of Human Movement.
Omar Ali Grant
Originally Argentinean, Omar spent two years studying Sociology in Scotland before travelling to study traditional Islamic sciences in several countries like Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan and finally Iraq, where he studied in the renowned seminary of the Holy City of Najaf. Since joining Al-Khoei Foundation, he has worked as an advisor on Muslim and social cohesion affairs for various European and Middle Eastern governments. He has also participated in several consultations at St George’s House, of which he is an associate, and Wilton Park. He has lectured on Islamic related topics at conferences in Sweden, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, Kuwait and Jordan. He is also the author of several published papers and articles in prominent political, philosophical and religious journals.
Zareen Roohi Ahmed
Zareen Roohi Ahmed is Founder and CEO of Lightbox Ltd; a consultancy working with national government departments, local authorities, community organisations and international agencies.
She was previously Chief Executive of the British Muslim Forum - the first woman to head up a major UK Muslim organisation and initiated a range of projects designed to improve the position of Muslims in Britain.
Zareen is the only woman on the Executive Steering Committee of the MINAB; the Mosques & Imams National Advisory Body. She has contributed towards setting up a system of accreditation for Mosques and Imams in the UK.
Previous roles include National Operations Director of the Experience Corps, and various other senior executive roles.
Zareen is the Chair of Jobs, Education & Training, JET Derby and a Trustee of The Halimah Trust. She has also founded community arts organisation Silverleaf.
She holds a PhD in Islamic Studies, having studied the position of Muslim Women in British society.