We host an annual opinion writers’ programme now in its fifth year. Participants in this programme are partnered with a newspaper or magazine to publish their articles. The project should not be needed to make our expertise more visible, but we are yet to see any real and effective steps by media to do the work needed. Here are the articles published so far, for editors, journalists and others – the talented voices below (and beyond) should continue to be given equal access to platforms after the project’s time is complete. Read on and get in touch with these writers and other potential commentators on our expert list to get more women of colour on your pages and sharing their expertise:
2025 Writing Group:
Sophie Fong Clarke – Why mental health therapists need to learn to practice anti-racism
Jati Savitri Sekargati – Here’s what it’s like to wear a hijab in Scotland
Maryam Ishaq – We need to change how we talk about crisis in our universities.
Jasmin Aden – My struggles to fit in where about class not colour
Ella O’Fides –How I rebuilt my life through Scotland’s network of support
Esther Githinji- Gen Z revolutions are proof that we can forge a new path
Shalini Gupta – There are still appalling threads of racism and misogyny in the NHS
Maira Rana – NHS has been years in the making – its recovery depends on more than funding alone
Ibiyemi Omeihe – Do you want thriving universities in Scotland? We need immigration
Eloho Efemuai – Is entrepreneurship really made for someone like me?
Khudejha Asghar – Never mind Trump – where is the BBC’s apology to Palestinians
Ramatu Umar Bako – A Nigerian heart in a Scottish home: exploring what it means to belong
Marlene Ayumi – Diasporic Longing: How immigrant queer communities find home in Scotland
Natalie Olofsson – Left to rot? Why rising temperatures leave berry blooms to waste
Natalia Equihua – I came to Scotland from Mexico. Here’s what people should know about migrants
Daniela Onyewuenyi – Govt seems to ignore positive solutions to division and immigration.
Muminah Koleoso – I was miserable and negative – until I discovered how to get fit despite ‘gymtimidation’
Rachel Weiss – Employers have menopausal employees deserve employers to wake up to the legal and moral case.
2024 Writing Group:
Yalinu Poya: ‘Sciencey’ games and TV shows can set children on a vitally important path
Sigi Joseph – Finding a GP is going to become as hard as finding a dentist unless we act. Trust me, I should know
Ana Tagliati – Scotland says it welcomes migrants, but it’s a different story when we try to get a job
Gin Lalli – What I would do to tackle Scotland’s mental health crisis
Aileen Lees – Perth College cuts leaving students and staff in despair
Ellie Koepplinger – A generation sidelined is unlikely to stay politically engaged
Chigozie Joe Adigwe – Poor network coverage shouldn’t exist in Scotland
Jahzara Joyce – Use your vote this week because being “apolitical” is political.
Samar Jamal – How politicians are fuelling a racism crisis in Britain
Fatima Iftikhar –The human toll of Scotland’s climate dilemma
Jahzara Joyce- Use your vote this week because being ‘apolitical’ is political
Samar Jamal – How politicians are fuelling a racism crisis in Britain
İdil Akıncı-Pérez – Think migrants just live off the state? Here are 41,500 reasons why the opposite is true
Malini Chakrabarty – Scotland’s vibrant cultural tapestry is fraying at the seams
Ndaye Lisa Badji-Churchill – The public messaging around hate crime is centring the perpetrators
Azita Jabbari – Only corporations stand to gain anything from war
Lisa Simonis – How Edinburgh’s underground coffee scene has come to mean so much to me
Fiza Owais – Our arts are in crisis-and one key factor has not been discussed
2023 Writing Group:
Josephine Jay – Programmed to Serve
Tamzin McDonald – We need to talk more openly about transracial adoption
Chelsey Clay – Scotland’s disabled community cannot be left behind in just transition
Marlo De Lara – Covid pandemic took a lasting toll on marginalised groups who were already struggling
Anita Mackenzie – Bottling up trauma takes it toll on mental health
Khutso Dunbar- The hidden crisis of racial inequality within the cost of living crisis
Amanjit Uppal – Scotland’s juryless rape trial pilot: Improving the diversity of juries.
Ayesha Mehar – how music can enrich the lives of people with dementia
Anisha Yaseen – Anti-Racism in Scottish education
Chinweuju Nzewi – International students in a new Scotland
Naila Wood – Battling Discrimination, Institutional Racism and Inequality.
Rashné Limki – Dope Francis, Disaster Photography and Generative AI
Juliet Nwafor – Open conversations about periods at work would benefit everybody
Nava Rizvi – How Edinburgh can face up to its colonial history through art
Negar Ebrahimi- Urban furniture can create happy cities that are good for our mental health
2022 Writing Group:
Anita Bhadani – Immigration detention is an affront to human rights.
Uuganaa Ramsay – Mongol is my identity not an insult
Zainab Ashraf – Exam results day is difficult enough without poor mental health
Karla Perez Portilla – Immigration in Scotland: There is a simple answer to the question ‘why are you here?’
Astrid Offerson – Please can we make our current compassion permanent?
Amal Abdi – Antiwork: Why young people feel increasingly at odds with the workplace
Mehvish Ashraf: Breaking Scotland’s drug addiction cycle requires more than good intentions
Juliana De Penha –Migrant women are standing together in a hostile environment
Anisha Yaseen – Anti-Racism in Scottish education
Chinweuju Nzewi – International students in a new Scotland
Naila Wood – Battling Discrimination, Institutional Racism and Inequality.
Rashné Limki – Dope Francis, Disaster Photography and Generative AI
Zamard Zahid – I’m done with polite optimism when it comes to Scotland’s approach to racism
Nikki Kilburn – Women of colour are facing racism and discrimination in accessing mental health support
Edafe Onerhime – Covid shifted the workplace balance of power and opened real opportunities for best employers
Zayba Ghazali-Mohammed –
We’re not being paid the price for working tirelessly through pandemic
2021 Writing Group:
Janis Wong – Vaccine Passports; What are they?
Lauryn Mwale – Why I’m running out of empathy with life as a student during Covid
Uuganaa Ramsay – Why we need to end the historical misuse of the word ‘Mongol’
Rosario Blue – Can video games help to ease the Covid lockdown blues?
Ketsuda Phoutinane – Brutal Tory recovery recovery cycle must not put public health at risk
Nathalia Urban – How the extension of the franchise could reshape Scotland
Shasta Ali – Why our shared histories matter in the fight to eradicate racism
Nuzhat Uthmani: Anti-racist education in Scotland’s classrooms should not be feared
Cat Dunn – Diversity and support for the arts is vital in challenging times
Helen Minnis – People with psychosis need compassion, not drug-free treatment
Shruit Jain – Lockdown raising risk to BAME women’s safety and wellbeing
Kirndeep Kaur –Time to fight for the right to make peaceful protests
Chandrika Kaul – Why we must face up to our past without locking it away
Rosario Blue – Can video games help to ease the Covid lockdown blues?
Melissa Espinoza – Why public health approach to Covid should lead to a step change in how we tackle homelessness