Our Team
Praxis’ team members hold a variety of skills and fields of expertise: from immigration law to housing, community development and interpreting, and many with their own stories of migration.
Our work is enriched by the passion and dedication of a growing number of people wanting to see a world where we are not defined by our immigration status, and everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
Sally Daghlian OBE, Chief Executive
Sally was born in the UK of British Armenian descent. She began her career in social policy oriented research then worked in the field of informal adult education, community development and health.
Sally has over 25 years' experience of refugee and migration issues, including as Chief Executive of the Scottish Refugee Council and as Chair of the European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) - a pan-European alliance of refugee assisting organisations.
In 2008 she was awarded the OBE for services to Human Rights.
Maria Iglesias, Head of Operations & Business Development
Maria moved to London from Spain in 1995, and for over 20 years she has been working in the homelessness and migrant sector.
In 2016 she was appointed Head of Services at Praxis, where she is responsible for all operational services, with a focus on implementation and development. Maria previously worked at St Mungo’s for 17 years, where she managed the Complex Needs Team and several supported housing projects.
She holds a MSc in Clinical Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry and a MSc in Health Psychology.
Gjori Langeland, Head of Fundraising & Communications
Gjori moved to London from Norway in 1990. She joined Praxis in 2020 having worked to promote human rights for more than 20 years.
Gjori was previously Senior Fundraiser at Action for Global Health (AfGH), a membership network focused on influencing UK policy on global health; promoting universal health care and addressing health inequity.
Prior to working for AfGH Gjori spent more than 20 years working in voluntary sector organisations, mainly in London based organisations in the women’s sector focusing on domestic abuse and gender violence. She’s passionate about the crucial role played by social justice approaches and movements to be a power for positive change.
Ed Walker, Head of Finance & People
Ed joined Praxis in 2022 as a maternity cover for the Head of Finance and Resources. He stuck around, and in 2024 was appointed Head of Finance and People, leading on most of Praxis’ core functions.
Prior to Praxis Ed was Director of Finance and Resources at ClientEarth, the public interest environmental law group, during the decade in which it went from start-up to established global NGO. His time in the professional environmentalism sector imparted a growing realisation that supposedly privileged green issues are in fact social justice issues, which started him down a path which has so far led to migrant justice and Praxis.
Bethan Lant, Training, Development & Advocacy Manager
Bethan has worked at Praxis for over 18 years, beginning as an adviser.
She now manages a team of caseworkers providing advice on immigration and related issues, and she is the principal OISC supervisor at Praxis. Holding a strong expertise in immigration policies and services, she manages our training programme to professionals on migrant issues.
Bethan is also Chair of the London Churches Refugee Network.
Daniel Ashwell, Advice Services Manager
Daniel is from Wolverhampton and worked for 8 years providing immigration advice at the Refugee and Migrant Centre, where he worked closely with Paulette Wilson, one of the first cases to expose the injustices faced by the Windrush generation.
Daniel is committed to the principle of free, accessible and high-quality immigration advice which attracted him to work at Praxis, joining in September 2020. He believes that no human should be defined by their immigration status. He is delighted to be managing the Advice Team and supporting the work of our incredibly skilled and committed immigration advisers.
When not at work I enjoy eating food, drinking coffee, making music and watching Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Joe Roberts, STAR Coordinator and Immigration Advisor
Joe joined Praxis in 2020 as a caseworker within the STAR Partnership, which works to support migrants with NRPF who are at risk of homelessness. He is now the interim Project Coordinator, working alongside two other caseworkers on the team.
Before this he worked for the Refugee and Migrant Centre in Birmingham.
He previously lived and studied in Liverpool and is a Mathematics graduate, despite not actually being very good at maths.
Chloe Robinson, Street Legal Coordinator and Immigration Advisor
Chloe works on the Street Legal project, supervising three immigration advisors who provide immigration advice and representation to people who find themselves rough sleeping. She also represents a small number of people in their immigration cases.
Before joining Praxis in 2015 Chloe worked in solicitors firms and Law Centres with legal aid contracts.
Chloe is a keen knitter and runner and tries to make time for both of these activities outside of work.
Prity Subba, Hackney Project Coordinator (Advice)
Prity moved to the UK from Nepal in 1995. She is passionate about human rights and social justice issues and has a particular interest in the immigration system and its impact on migrant communities in the UK.
Prity has worked in the migrant sector for 8 years. She joined Praxis as an advice volunteer in 2013 and now manages the Hackney-based advice projects providing specialist immigration advice and destitution support to homeless migrants in London.
Habiba Begum, Interpreting Project Coordinator
Habiba has been working at Praxis for over 11 years. She comes from a Bengali background and was born and brought up in Tower Hamlets.
She was drawn to Praxis for its charitable work with the local migrant community. She started off as a bank cover for Reception whilst studying, and progressed into various other administrative roles. She joined the Interpreting project as a full-time Administrator in 2012 and is currently the Project Coordinator.
Teya Cooper, Volunteer Coordinator
Teya was born and bred in London, but her work with charities and teaching English brought her as far as Cambodia and Taiwan. Before joining Praxis she was working as a Volunteer Officer in Samos, Greece, with an warehouse and distribution NGO.
As volunteer coordinator she recruits and coordinates the volunteers at Praxis, and she manages a number of volunteer-led projects.
She holds a BA in history specialising in Indian history - specifically gender and terrorism in Bengal in the 1930s.
Laura Stahnke, Stories and Media Coordinator
Laura is Italian of Danish heritage, and a Londoner since 2015.
Laura manages Praxis’ media work and ensures that the voices and stories of the people we exist to support are heard.
In a previous life she was a journalist and she worked for NGOs and trade unions in the UK as well as internationally - with a focus on communication, campaigning and research.
She holds an MSc in Migration and Development, and since 2016 she co-directs London Migration Film Festival.
Ella Abraham, Campaigns Coordinator
Ella coordinates Praxis’ campaign to end No Recourse to Public Funds, working with the No Recourse to Public Funds action group, which is formed of campaigners with lived experience of this cruel policy.
Prior to this, Ella worked at anti poverty charity Z2K for four years, working on public campaigns and policy, she also acted as Campaigns Co-Chair of the Disability Benefits Consortium, concentrating on coalition campaigning and leading on engagement with disabled people-led organisations. She's also campaigned for Doctors of the World UK, the Helen Bamber Foundation and UN Women.
Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz, Policy and Public Affairs Manager
Josephine joined Praxis in November 2021 after working for Oxfam for more than 10 years in a range of campaigns, research, policy and advocacy roles. She spent the last 8 years in Istanbul, Turkey, working with refugee-led organisations and networks.
She leads Praxis’ policy influencing and advocacy, working for a more humane and compassionate immigration system in the UK. She was drawn to Praxis by our strong track record, the partnerships we’ve forged, and the way in which we put people with lived experience at the heart of our work.
She is a mum of two small kids, so her main hobby is now binge-watching stuff on Netflix when she really should be sleeping.
Siobhan Sollis, Trusts and Fundraising Manager
Siobhan has been working in the charity sector in London for over 18 years. Her previous experience includes supporting small charities to fulfil their potential by providing advice on project development, grant fundraising and governance matters as well as facilitating forums and running training courses.
At Praxis Siobhan manages relationships with its Trusts and Foundation partners and seeks and develops new funding opportunities.
She holds and MSc in Voluntary and Community Sector studies.
Our Board
Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard - Chair
Debbie is Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice, chairs the Mayor’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory group, as well as London’s Strategic Migration Panel and is co-chair of the Diversity in the Public Realm Commission. She is also a member of the TUC Anti-Racism Taskforce and the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Systemic Inequalities and Social Cohesion.
Connie Cullen- Vice Chair
Connie is a homelessness expert and senior manager at Shelter. After a few years spent working in publishing, Connie followed her heart into work in the third sector, working with people at risk of homelessness. She has a lifelong interest in social justice, in particular work with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, previously volunteering for Cambridge Refugee Support Group and Student Action for Refugees, and later HCCT, a day centre supporting people who are homeless and/or experiencing mental health issues. She now works for Shelter on Community Services across England, working with communities to fight the housing emergency and change local systems.
Harriet Clark - Treasurer is the Head of Financial Accounting and Taxation at Save the Children International. She holds over eight years of charity experience in managing complex control environments and financial systems, ensuring regulatory compliance, optimising financial processes and driving financial stability for organisations. She holds the ACA qualification and is therefore committed to fostering a culture of financial excellence, driving transparency and facilitating effective decision-making through sound financial management.
Raphael Perret Head of International Finance at Save the Children International, Raphael has substantive experience in senior finance roles across global organisations in the private and not-for-profit sectors. Raphael has been a Trustee of Praxis since 2016 and Treasurer since 2017.
Oluwakemi Ogunlana is an accountant. In addition, she brings vital insight as a refugee in the UK and supports the Service User Forum.
Jumana Rahman is a partner and Head of UK Commercial Litigation at Cohen & Gresser (UK) LLP.
Dylan Matthews is a corporate solicitor, formerly with Allen and Overy.
Ruby Giblin is a partner at law firm Winckworth Sherwood LLP (formerly at a magic circle firm) specialising in the security aspects of funding to Registered Providers, Charities and Trusts for over 30 years, with all round Real Estate Finance experience.
Satbir Singh is currently the Managing Director of openDemocracy, an international non-profit media organisation that investigates abuses of power and social injustices around the world. Prior to this he was the Executive Director of JCWI for nearly five years, a role which he began upon returning to the UK after more than a decade abroad working with UN and Commonwealth agencies and international NGOs on campaigns and programmes related to democratic peace building, government accountability and rights. Outside of work, Satbir is a regular guest on the Oh God, What Now podcast and he writes on issues of rights and justice for a range of national and international publications.
Ruth Stuart is the Head of Strategy Development at the CIPD, the professional body for experts in people at work. She is responsible for developing and evolving the CIPD’s long-term strategy and is passionate about putting people at the heart of organisations. Prior to joining the CIPD Ruth held a number of organisation development and human resources roles within Tesco plc. She holds a first degree in politics and modern history, an MA in Human Resource Management and is a Chartered member of the CIPD. Ruth also volunteers as a council member for Leaders Plus – a social enterprise enabling individuals to progress in their careers whilst enjoying their young families.