Our Founder
About Aisha
Aisha is a born and bred Bristolian. She studied law at the University of the West of England before transitioning to education in 2010. In September 2016, Aisha became an Assistant Principal at an inner-city secondary school in Bristol. She is also an educational activist specialising in race and anti-racist practice.
After transitioning to education, she has completed the national qualification for senior leaders (NPQSL), Roehampton University Level 6 Certificate of professional development in PSHE, Foundation for Educational Leadership, Leading with moral purpose and the CLF Diversity Leadership Programme.
In 2018 Aisha presented a BBC documentary about the lack of black teachers in Bristol and collaborated with city partners to launch the ‘One Bristol Curriculum’. This aimed to create a more equitable representation of black history, achievement, and culture in Bristol as well as Britain and globally.
During a mentoring meeting a young offender said to Aisha;
“If you were my teacher, maybe I wouldn’t be in prison today.”
Then a law graduate, Aisha realised she had an important role to play in inspiring young minds and decided to retrain as an educator and dedicate her life to improving the lives of children in her community.
The Birth of
Representation Matters
As a previous Assistant Principal in an inner city school in Bristol, in 2018, she was one of only 26 out of 1346 black secondary school teachers in the city.
She says: “The impact of this is far-reaching and is about more than the person standing at the front of the classroom. It affects the attainment of the students and the adults that young people become once they leave school.” Aisha challenges us to imagine a world where all races are represented in all aspects of life. Where children grow with a sense of value, connection and understanding of difference.
In 2019, Aisha delivered her TEDx Bristol talk, ‘Why representation really matters‘. In a world where many people do not see themselves recognised in all aspects of life, Aisha wanted to reignite the debate and challenged education and industry to look at their practice.
“Until society represents everyone, the question will always be, where do I belong? …Representation matters.”
Aisha now leads Representation Matters Ltd, an international training consultancy, supporting a variety of different sectors
Awards Aisha has won
Bristol Mum Awards 2023 - Winner for Inspirational Mum of the Year
Beats By Dre UK Recognition BHM 2022
Rise Award Winner 2022 – Entrepreneur of the year
Baton Award Winner 2021 – Paulette Wilson Campaigner of the year
Nourish Your Community 2021 - Winner
Nominated for a National Diversity award 2021 - Positive Role Model of the Year
BHM 2020 (Bristol)
Bristol Diversity Award Positive Role Model for Race and Ethnicity 2020
Thank You Award 2017 - Winner
Black Maternity Matters
for the NHS
Black Maternity Matters is a ground-breaking collaboration, supporting midwives to reduce the inequitable maternity outcomes faced by Black mothers* and their babies. It will support maternity systems to offer safer, equitable care for all.
Aisha Thomas explains what it means to be involved in this groundbreaking project:
“Statistics show that as a Black woman you are four times more likely to die in childbirth than a White woman. Therefore, we have to confront the uncomfortable truths and challenge the inequalities in the structures that are impacting on Black children and their mothers before they are born.
We are delighted to partner on this project to ensure that through this pilot midwives are able to enhance their knowledge, tackle their bias and prejudice, and become more equipped so that we can ensure that all children are able to enter into the world safely, irrespective of the colour of their skin.”