Jobeda Begum Ali (; 7 January 1975 – 8 April 2020) was an English businesswoman,

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

, documentary filmmaker and chief executive of Three Sisters Care.

Early life

Ali and her sisters grew up in

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and includes much of ...

, London, England. Her parents are from

Meherpur District Meherpur District () is a northwestern district of Khulna Division in southwestern Bangladesh. It is bordered by West Bengal, India in the west, and by the Bangladeshi districts of Kushtia and Chuadanga to the east. Pre-independence Meherpur was ...

Khulna Division Khulna Division () is the second largest of the eight divisions of Bangladesh. It has an area of and a population of 17,416,645 at the 2022 Bangladesh census (preliminary returns). Its headquarters and largest city is Khulna city in Khulna Dist ...

, Bangladesh. Ali gained three grade As in

A-levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

Tower Hamlets College New City College (NCC) is a large college of further education with campuses in east London and Essex. The college was formed in 2016 with the amalgamation of separate colleges, beginning with the merger between Tower Hamlets College and Hackney ...

. In 1996, Ali graduated with a 2:1

BA Hons A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate education, undergraduate program in the liberal arts education, liberal arts, or, in some ca ...

in Indian and African history from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. In 2000, she completed an MA in history, and in 2004, she completed an MA in world trade and development: regulation and responsibility at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Filmmaking career

Ali was an independent documentary filmmaker. In 2003, she made a documentary in Bangladesh ''Matchmaker'' for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. In 2004, she made two films about development ''Regime-Makers'' for

Current TV Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a small ...

. She made two series about Muslim women across the world, one commissioned by

Institute for Strategic Dialogue The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) is a political advocacy organization founded in 2006 by Sasha Havlicek and George Weidenfeld, Baron Weidenfeld, George Weidenfeld and headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Activities ISD's core ...

and the other by Eris Foundation. Ali was the founder of the Cineforum format, a film festival/conference which showcases films from around the world. One of the most impactful Cineforums was called Muslim Women: Visibility and Leadership. In 2009, The Road to Ecotopia Cineform culminated in the film, ''The Road to Ecotopia'' and bought together 150 sustainability experts to design a template for a positive future society. Jobeda Ali

Business career

In November 2007, Ali founded Fair Knowledge, a media company. After four years, over time Ali and the other two partners disagreed on the direction of the company. After the other two partners left, Ali dissolved the company in December 2012. In January 2012, she co-founded Three Sisters Care, a care company providing care at home to elderly and disabled people, with three share-holding directors; herself and her two sisters; healthcare worker and community activist Rahena Begum, and child minder Jaida Begum. The homecare agency works across London and the suburbs, mainly with older people, but also with young adults with disabilities. In 2014, it won the Social Enterprise of the Year Award at the Precious Awards in recognition of its social business practices. In January 2016 Ali pulled together a consortium from around the UK and won a government contract to build robots for the care sector in a high profile and controversial project called CHIRON. Alongside Three Sisters Care, the other consortium partners are Shadow Robot Company, Bristol Robotics Lab at the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

, Designability, Telemetra Associates and SH&BA. Ali appeared in various media and events clarifying the role of robots in the care of old people.

Media contributions

In March 2009, Ali contributed to a discussion feminism on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

hosted by

Bettany Hughes Bettany Mary Hughes (born May 1967) is an English historian, author, and broadcaster, specialising in classical history. Her published books cover classical antiquity and myth, and the history of Istanbul. She is active in efforts to encourag ...

. She is on ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' Social Enterprise Advisory Panel. and in May 2010, she contributed to a discussion on how women can and should be playing a bigger role in social enterprise. In March 2015, spoke about a new ethical model of providing care on BBC Radio 4. In October 2012, she played a key role in organising and speaking at

KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...

's first ever

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

event in India. Jobeda Ali Ali was a regular contributor to ''The Guardian Social Care Blog'' and wrote about ethical employment and living wage in the care sector.

Other work

Ali worked for the government, NGO and media sectors, and private sectors in education, mentoring and diversity. Jobeda Ali She was manager of the Group to Encourage Ethnic Minority Applicants (GEEMA) at the University of Cambridge. She was a programme manager for further and higher education in the government, she was a board member of the

Learning and Skills Council The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in England. It closed on 31 Ma ...

, manager of business diversity at the

London Development Agency The London Development Agency (LDA) was from July 2000 until 2012 the regional development agency for the Greater London, London region in England. A functional body of the Greater London Authority, its purpose was to drive sustainable economic ...

, a board member of Healthwatch Tower Hamlets. and a board member of Global Urban Development. She was a fellow of

School for Social Entrepreneurs A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of fo ...

and has written entrepreneurship curriculum for universities. She also ran London Science and Geek Chic Socials, an events organisation focused on science events for single people in London.

Awards and nominations

In 2007, Ali was one of 20 women from across the world to be selected as a "Rising Talent" by the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society. In August 2010, she won the Social Business Leader award at Ogunte Women's Social Leadership Awards. In 2015, she was shortlisted for Social Enterprise of the Year Award at the Forward Ladies Women in Business Awards.

Personal life

Ali was a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and referred to herself as

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

References

External links

* * * * * *
Woman’s Social Leadership Award Winner
''i-genius'' *A, Deepa

''OnIslam''. 8 June 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Jobeda 1975 births Living people English Muslims English people of Bangladeshi descent 20th-century English businesswomen 20th-century English businesspeople English documentary filmmakers English women film directors English film producers English cinematographers English women non-fiction writers English women journalists English non-fiction writers Muslim writers British Asian writers 21st-century English writers 21st-century English women writers British social entrepreneurs English feminists The Guardian journalists Film directors from London Writers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Alumni of Tower Hamlets College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Cambridge British women documentary filmmakers 21st-century English businesswomen 21st-century English businesspeople