Amal is one of the Glasgow Girls, a group of seven teenagers from Glasgow who launched a campaign to end the dawn raids and protect the rights of people seeking asylum in the UK.

That experience started her on a path of volunteering and studying, moving from Anniesland College to the University of Glasgow to study community development, then a placement with the Red Cross, a Masters in Human Rights and International Politics, and a job with the Mental Health Foundation, where she’s been since graduating uni.

In her work with the Mental Health Foundation, Amal works on a project that focuses on a community development approach to mental health in asylum seekers and refugee communities, work that saw her seconded to Yale to work on a citizenship and the arts project in their mental health centre.

Because of her ongoing activism in support of refugees and asylum seekers, Amal has also been closely involved with the European refugee crisis of the last 18 months. Since returning from a trip with other campaigners to Lesvos in 2015, she has been speaking to the Scottish Parliament, the European External Relations Committee, the University of Glasgow, and Westminister, giving evidence in the hopes that she can make a difference. She’s also written articles and given interviews.