“I genuinely care about how leadership makes people feel”

Sajda says she is deeply thankful for her parents and their attitude. 

“I took my driving test when I was 17, because my father wanted me to drive and have my own car,” she adds. “It sounds so normal, but actually for an Asian woman in the 80s and 90s, that was a quiet but powerful statement of trust and belief.

“That’s why I’m really passionate about empowering women, about living with our culture, values and faith in a way that is complementary to who we are without being constrained by limiting expectations imposed by others.”

A portfolio career

For Sajda, this has manifested as a portfolio career spanning more than two decades of senior strategic leadership across local and central government, healthcare, justice, education and the voluntary sector. She has led large-scale early intervention, crisis response and community transformation programmes, resulting in improved outcomes for communities. 

Alongside this, she has served in governance and regulatory roles, including as a non-executive director and a lay examiner at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and as a long-standing magistrate, contributing to justice and rehabilitation. She has also taught medical students in communication and patient safety, and mentored emerging leaders across the voluntary sector. She now operates at the executive level in the humanitarian sector within a global charity.