About Us


ACE was developed by founders who share a passion for education, human rights and social development. 


Farzana S. Islam


Farzana is co-founder of and current Executive Director of Active Citizen Europe,  working on European Commission funded Horizon 2020 projects IMMERSE as well as NEWABC that focus on the social and educational integration of migrant and refugee children. 


She has a broad range of experience in the civil society, and non-profit sectors across four continents working to advocate for those in challenging circumstances and engaging multiple stakeholders in inclusive and participatory dialogue.  She is also a passionate educator, and has at various times taught courses and delivered guest speeches on cultural awareness and inclusion,  in international primary and secondary schools in Belgium and urban and semi-rural schools in the United States, and as Master's level course  tutor on Monitoring & Evaluation methodology at Southern Cross University, Australia.


Farzana holds an MSc in Development Management and is working part-time on a PhD in Creative Writing in the area of migrant voices, identity and cultural hybridity.  She is passionate about enhancing socio-educational inclusion through innovative and participatory projects that blend dialogue, creative expression and community engagement, and works to improve community engagement and develop children's agency.



Katherine Shea (Morrison)


Kate is co-founder of Active Citizen Europe, and works on the European Commission funded Horizon 2020 IMMERSE project and supports the work of ACE on other projects and initiatives that promote policies of inclusion and particularly the social and educational integration of migrant and refugee children.


She has direct experience working in the field of education in schools and in non-profits. Previously a Head of Secondary in a multi-cultural context at an International School in Belgium with students from over 40 countries, she is an experienced teacher of History and Global Perspectives. She currently teaches History and Global Perspectives at a diverse International Music School in Belgium.


Katherine has an MA in Human Rights focused on Children’s Rights and the Right to Education, an MA in Modern History, and a PGCE teaching qualification. She has multifarious non-profit experience including working with citizenship programmes implemented into, and supporting, the Citizenship curriculum in the National Curriculum of England and Wales. As both an educationalist and a human rights promoter, she works to improve integration and social cohesion through educational initiatives.





ACE Volunteers/Interns


Active Citizen Europe is committed to promoting the active engagement of young people in civil society. To that end, we encourage applications from young people to gain experience volunteering with us. More information available here



Camilla


March 2022 - Camilla is a master student in European Studies at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, previously involved with Unicef as an event manager, and she was also a journalist for CrossfireKM.   She is helping us with our current Horizon 2020 projects and project development.

Sofie


March 2022 - Sofie studies human rights law (Master of Law at Ghent University & European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation at the Global Campus of Human Rights).  She is helping us with our current Horizon 2020 projects and project development.

Marta


February - August 2021 - Marta holds an MSc in Global Crime, Justice and Security from the
University of Edinburgh. She is our Integration and Migration Researcher and assisting with Horizon 2020 projects.

Aleksi


June 2017, 3 students from ISF Waterloo International School including Aleksi spent time in the ACE offices, helping with forum development and administration and brainstorming.

Faez


January - May 2017 - Faez  (EB student at the European School, Brussels) has completed an internship with us. Faez's linguistic and computer skills have been an invaluable asset to ACE!


Leila


January - March 2021 - Leila  (EB student at the European School, Brussels) is interning with us. She is assisting with our current Horizon 2020 projects.

Esther


June 2017, 3 students from ISF Waterloo International School including Esther spent time in the ACE offices, helping with forum development and administration and brainstorming.

Safaa


January 2017 - Safaa (student of International Relations, German and Russian)  joined us for 3 days  from the University of St Andrews' work shadowing programme. Her research skills were very beneficial for finding useful data!

ACE Community Volunteers


Active Citizen Europe believes in community action and belonging.  We aim to engage with the wider community where relevant.

© 2022 Active Citizen Europe asbl/vzw