Rukhsana Yaqoob
Rukhsana has been a secondary school teacher for many years and has taught in four east London schools.
She is the President of the Muslim Teachers' Association, is a tutor on the Investing in Diversity programme at the Institute of Education, has been a school governor for many years, has been on Teacher's TV and the Islam Channel, has been a mentor for the Black Professionals Network, and was the Managing director for the Kiran Project which runs a refuge for battered and abused women and their children.
Rukhsana now works for the National Strategies and as a Narrowing the Gap Regional Adviser. She has been working on the Minority Ethnic Achievement Programme (MEAP) which aims to raise the attainment of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Turkish and Somali pupils in the UK.
Rukhsana says 'Education is the key for the future and I believe that all children deserve the best start in life as this is an entitlement for all to succeed.'