Zaira is a software engineer with a wealth of experience in youth training and grassroots community initiatives. She is the Founder of Coderoots Gambia and was Co-Director of May Project Gardens CIC for 5 years, taking it from an unfunded volunteer led group to an award-winning social enterprise developing deeply embedded community initiatives across London.

Since 2012, she has led a number of youth initiatives, including an employability programme in renewable technology. Her connection to supporting the economic development of Africa was born in her dissertation on Eric Williams and Walter Rodney, and cemented when she ran a Business and Enterprise training course for microbusinesses in Gambia and realised how much could be unlocked by facilitating access to credible resources.

Danny found martial arts in 2009, after having spent his teens and twenties pursuing a career as an actor while eschewing any form of exercise. He spent 3 years being completely obsessed with Muay Thai, and even travelled to Thailand to train and compete. At the beginning of 2012, he stumbled into a Jiu Jitsu gym, and never looked back. 

Being small of stature, and having avoided exercise for most of his life up to that point, Danny was drawn to BJJ for two primary reasons. Not only was he able to train and spar with much bigger people, he also managed to survive the experience unscathed. Training BJJ has helped him to deal with insecurities surrounding physical confrontation, and opened his eyes to the positive impact BJJ can have on others.

Ultimately, Danny thinks that Jiu Jitsu should be fun. He makes the learning experience enjoyable through games designed to help make the complicated subject of Jiu Jitsu easier to understand. Knowing that BJJ puts people in uncomfortable situations, his classes prioritise safety and consent – the kids are encouraged to speak up, and “no” is always respected.

Having witnessed BJJ change the lives of countless people, including himself, Danny loves that teaching gives him the opportunity to help others and find what it is that Jiu Jitsu can offer them.

Danny runs Jiu-Jitsu Social in Westbourne Park and teaches kids classes at Studio NW2 in Cricklewood in London.