Anisa Morridadi

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Anisa Morridadi
AwardsBritish Empire Medal[1][2] (returned [3])

Anisa Morridadi BEM (née Haghdadi; born April 1990) is a British social entrepreneur and social rights activist. Since the start of 2013, she has worked as founder and CEO of 'youth engagement' agency Beatfreeks.[4][5]

Early life and education[edit]

Morridadi was born and raised in the Northfield district of in Birmingham, England,[6] attending King Edwards VI Five Ways School [citation needed], before graduating from Aston University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Management.[2][7]

Career[edit]

In 2005, aged 15, Morridadi set up her first social enterprise Strictly Street, a dance class at a YMCA Centre.[1][8] In 2013, she co-founded Class Careers with Christos Orthodoxou, a company which connected school leavers directly to employers through live webinars.[9]

She has since co-founded Fifteen Minute Trainer Ltd,[10] Identity Dance Project[11] Canis Major,[12][13] and Beatfreeks[14] - an award-winning social enterprise engaging young people in arts, training and leadership opportunities.[2]

As part of Beatfreeks, Morridadi set up Free Radical in June 2017 with lead producer and poet Amerah Saleh, to focus on "arts activism and storytelling".[15][16][17]


Between June 2016 and May 2020, she was also a Director for GirlDreamer, a Birmingham-based female empowerment organisation.[18][19]

In 2018, Morridadi backed the West Midlands Combined Authority's failed bid for Channel 4 to relocate from London to the region.[20][21] She was one of 82 high-profile creatives, led by regional mayor Andy Street, to put their names to an open letter urging Channel 4 to invest in the West Midlands. In October 2018, it was announced the bid had been won by the city of Leeds.[22]

Awards[edit]

In 2012, after being awarded the Birmingham Young Professional of The Year's 'Aspiring Talent Award',[23] Haghdadi was invited to sit on the Birmingham Future Commission.[11]

In 2013, she was awarded a British Empire Medal for services to education and young people.[24]

In 2022 Beatfreeks went through restructuring, removing the arts programmes to focus on FMCGs [25]

In 2015, Morridadi was awarded Sky Academy Arts Scholarship for Creative Producing out of 1000+ applications [26] to set up Doink which collects and communicates data in creative ways to help people make better decisions.[27]

In 2016, Morridadi was recognised as one of 50 New Radicals "who are actively changing their communities for the better" by NESTA and The Observer and was celebrated on the front page of The Observer New Review on Sunday 10 July 2016.[28][29] In the same year, Anisa and Beatfreeks produced a Data Rave to engage young people in the run up the United Kingdom's EU membership referendum.[30]

In July 2016, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Aston University.[31] In the same month, she delivered a TEDx talk in Birmingham about her work, where she spoke about "rejecting the Western idea of success".[32][33][34]

In May 2018, she was included in BirminghamLive's 30 Under 30 initiative, "showcasing the 30 most inspiring individuals across the city".[16]

In June 2020, Morridadi returned a British Empire Medal in protest of the history of the British Empire and its ongoing legacy in the British Honours system, saying "If this is power, you can have it back".[35][36]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Aston University graduate honoured by Queen... aged 23". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 2nd Aug 13
  2. ^ a b c "Aston graduate awarded British Empire Medal in Queen’s Birthday Honours" Archived 2013-08-26 at the Wayback Machine. Aston University. Retrieved 2nd Aug 13
  3. ^ "If this is ‘power’… you can have it back.". Medium. Retrieved 17th June 2020
  4. ^ "Anisa Haghdadi | Arts Council England". www.artscouncil.org.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Anisa Haghdadi". Forbes. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  6. ^ Loizou, Kiki. "There's a world of start ups outside London". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Aston 50th Anniversary: Anisa Haghdadi Q&A". Aston University. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  8. ^ Forster, Katie (10 July 2016). "Beatfreeks: 'So many brands are saying: 'Our institution is dying"'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  9. ^ Waddington, Jenny (19 November 2013). "New venture proves itself a real class act". coventrytelegraph. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Anisa's Profile" Archived May 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Birmingham Future Commission. Retrieved 2nd Aug 13
  11. ^ a b "Aston graduate awarded British Empire Medal in Queen’s Birthday Honours". Aston Business School
  12. ^ "CANIS MAJOR CLOTHING LTD - Officers (free information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Are you ready for the Canis Major Revolution?". Librascope. Retrieved 2nd Aug 13
  14. ^ "Anisa Mary HAGHDADI - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Free Radical announced as new National Portfolio Organisation". Beatfreeks. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  16. ^ a b Bains, Sanjeeta (17 May 2018). "Anisa Haghdadi on why you don't need to leave Brum to be successful". birminghammail. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  17. ^ Staff Reporter (12 April 2018). "5 things you need to know about Birmingham 2022 poet Amerah Saleh". I Am Birmingham. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  18. ^ "GIRLDREAMER LTD - Officers (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Duke and Duchess of Sussex meet young leaders before bowing out as royals". www.expressandstar.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  20. ^ "Birmingham continues bid to become new home to Channel 4 #WMGeneration". Birmingham Updates. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  21. ^ "Channel 4 kicks off bids for new headquarters". The Guardian. 15 April 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  22. ^ "Leeds Wins Bid for Channel 4 National HQ". Screen Yorkshire. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  23. ^ "Birmingham Young Professional crowned". Insider Midlands. Retrieved 2nd Aug 13
  24. ^ Williams, Rob (14 June 2013). "The Queen's Birthday Honours list — in full". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  25. ^ https://beatfreeks.com/the-next-chapter/
  26. ^ "Sky Academy - News". www.skyacademy.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015.
  27. ^ "Who we are — Doink". 31 January 2017. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  28. ^ Mulgan, Geoff (10 July 2016). "2016 New Radicals: the story behind this year's winners". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  29. ^ "New Radicals 2016". nesta. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  30. ^ "Tackling the EU Referendum Through a 'Data Rave'". Beatfreeks. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  31. ^ "Aston University celebrates graduates' success". Aston University. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  32. ^ "HuffPost is now a part of Verizon Media". consent.yahoo.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  33. ^ "TEDx Brum: a city inspired to 'Do it Yourself'". Redbrick. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  34. ^ "TEDxBrum | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  35. ^ Haynes, Jane (18 June 2020). "Birmingham campaigner hands back her British Empire Medal in protest". birminghammail. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  36. ^ "Birmingham activist returns British Empire Medal". ITV News. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
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