ACH is a continuously growing provider in refugee integration services, marking themselves as social innovation leaders in refugee and migrant integration. The organisation was founded in 2008 by Fuad Mahamed, the company’s CEO.
Fuad came to the UK as a refugee from Somalia with no knowledge of English and went on to obtain a first-class degree in Engineering from Bath University followed by an MSc in Management from Lancaster Business School.
Setting up ACH in 2008 to support the resettlement of refugees like himself, he has built the organisation into one of the leading providers of integration support for excluded and marginalised people. It now spans across 4 cities, employs over 80 people and works with over 2500 individuals a year. Throughout the years, the organisation has grown by adapting to the needs of their customers, and by fostering a very diverse, vibrant workforce.
Through his guidance and vision, the organisation has successfully built partnerships that created employment opportunities for refugee and BAME communities, such as the FirstBus and Starbucks partnerships. This has benefited not only our clients but also the employers whose workplaces have become more inclusive and diverse.
Fuad has since graduated from executive Programmes at the Cranfield School of Management, Aston Business School, SAID Business School of Oxford University, was a 2016 Clore Social Fellow for Refugee and Migrant communities and is currently a 2018 Churchill Fellow.
He is the main narrator of ACH’s vision and spirit. Sparked by his personal journey and together with his colleagues at ACH, Fuad has argued for a new approach to refugee assistance based on development rather than just humanitarianism. Fuad’s activity is actively directed in creating job opportunities for the refugee community and mainly helping people to start their employment into medium paid jobs.
Fuad and ACH are trying to achieve systemic change, where BAME and other marginalized communities get meaningful employment and skills, where diversity becomes normalized, and where institutions include inclusive policies.
Over the years, Fuad has contributed to events in Brussels, Stockholm, Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton and Wolverhampton speaking on the topic of refugee integration.
