Mustafa is a consultant, activist and facilitator. Passionately committed to developing innovative approaches to addressing social challenges, Mustafa has been involved in community welfare work at grass roots level, as well as with think-tanks, policy makers and Government.

As Chairman of the Board of Trustees and a founding member of Muslim Youth Helpline, a national charity dealing with mental health issues among young British Muslims, Mustafa has pioneered a taboo-breaking model of peer-led activism that has seen young people tackling their own social problems head on. Over four years Mustafa spearheaded the rapid expansion of MYH which grew from a single three-hour shift per week, run form a sixth-former’s bedroom, into a nationally recognized charity, with five full-time staff and over 100 volunteers, and open 365 days per year.

While working as a Policy Officer in the Mayor’s Office at the Greater London Authority, Mustafa provided high-level policy briefings, drafted speeches and prepared legislative responses for the Mayor. He was involved in preparing the Mayor’s response to the Terrorism Bill 2005 put before the Joint Committee on Human Rights and Parliament, as well as a response to the Education and Inspections Bill 2005. The bulk of his work involved leading on the design and delivery of year-long research project assessing the impact of the Human Rights Act 2000 on London’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.

Mustafa has led projects for National Council of Voluntary Youth Services, where he was a trustee (a response to the Government Green Paper ‘Youth Matters’ 2005), the National Youth Agency (Providing Faith and Culturally Sensitive Support Services, 2007), as well as the Young Foundation. For the latter, he explored the state of religious practice and understanding among young British Muslims. The research paper recommended an innovative approach that would see emerging British Islamic scholars working with traditional community elders, as well as social practitioners and young people themselves to challenge contemporary interpretations of theology in order to respond more directly to the specific experiences and current challenges of the British Muslim context.

Mustafa is also an abstract painter and is making a short film about London at night.