Our Story : Our Founder

Integr8 UK was founded in 2015 by Saif Ali, a former refugee from Iraq, right after receiving his leave to remain and inspired by his 18-year journey of seeking asylum

During those 18 years, Saif navigated various shades of adversity, injustice, poverty, discrimination, chronic illnesses and homelessness, and experienced a profound disintegration of his personal identity, aspirations and belonging. The arduous journey he had, the withering of his roots and the seemingly endless hovering of his potential fed his dream of a more compassionate world, his burning desire to belong and his deeper understanding of the importance of meaningful living.

This dream shifted his quest from seeking asylum to seeking purpose and belonging, which in return gave birth to founding Integr8 UK and other projects that help people from different backgrounds cultivate deeper relationships with their authentic self, community and place.

Saif Ali, is a visionary social entrepreneur and director, speaker and group facilitator at Integr8 UK. He studied at many leading institutes in social change and sustainable development like the Schumacher CollegeSchool of Social Entrepreneurs, Embercombeand Ministry of Entrepreneurship and qualified as a group facilitator and coach.

Saif dreams of a compassionate and inclusive world that is enriched by the unique gifts and diverse experiences that each one of us carry. His mission is to enable people from different ethnic backgrounds and races to cultivate a deeper sense of belonging to their authntic self, community and place.

As a public speaker, he spoke on many esteemed stages including TEDx. You can watch his 2017 TEDxTotnes talk From Seeking Asylum to Seeking Purpose‘, where he shared how his earlier life expereince in Iraq and asylum journey in Jordan and the UK gave birth to his current life mission.

As a creative, Saif is a passionate filmmaker, photographer and artist. You can find out more about him on www.withsaifali.com.