“When you invest in those the world has written off, they build not just jobs but futures.” – an interview with Abdul R. Shiil

Abdul R. Shiil knows first-hand what it means to turn adversity into opportunity. A former refugee and now Co-founder of Sahan Cares, he has built a values-led enterprise that places refugee women at the centre of delivering dignified care for older adults. Named UK Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2024 by the Growing Business Awards, Abdul is recognised globally for championing purpose-driven leadership and inclusive business models that balance deep impact with operational strength.

At SEWF25, Abdul will join the “Ageing well: How social enterprises contribute to inclusive societies” session to share how investing in those once excluded can transform both communities and industries. Ahead of the event, we spoke with him about scaling Sahan Cares, lessons in leadership from refugee mothers and why belonging is as critical to ageing well as longevity itself.

Sahan Cares grew out of your family’s lived experience as Somali refugees in West London. How did those early challenges, from adapting to a new culture to witnessing gaps in opportunities for refugees,  inspire your mother’s vision and eventually your own leadership of the social enterprise? 

Arriving in the UK, we quickly learned that survival and dignity are not the same thing. You can survive on welfare support, but dignity comes from building something of your own.

We settled in a diverse London community, grateful to be among others also finding their way. At 13, I walked into every shop on our road asking for work, not realising you had to be 16 in the UK to work. On my 16th birthday, I went back with my CV. That hunger to succeed, to stand on my own feet and to build something of myself shaped everything that came next.

My mother carried that same hunger but saw deeper. She had been training refugee mothers through a charity, watching women graduate with certificates, only to return to the same isolation and welfare queue. The system was perfecting skills for jobs that would never materialise. Meanwhile, the UK’s ageing population desperately needed care and here there were hundreds of women who understood loss, transition and vulnerability, exactly what elderly people navigating their own losses needed.
She saw more than a gap; she saw two groups society had written off who could restore each other’s dignity. That vision became Sahan Cares.

That same hunger I had at 13 is what shapes my leadership today. I lead with the belief that work is more than income, it is dignity. That is why we invest so deeply in our team, because when you create the right conditions, people build not just jobs but futures.

“Social enterprises don’t start with profit targets – they start with people.”

Sahan Cares delivers high-quality care in a country with an ageing population. What role do you see social enterprises playing in creating sustainable, dignified care models that meet the needs of older people while also providing opportunities for marginalised workers?

Social enterprises don’t start with profit targets – they start with people. That fundamental difference changes everything about how we approach care for ageing populations.

Think about nursing. Not everyone can be a nurse, it requires an innate caring competence that you can’t teach in a manual. Social enterprises understand this. We use business not as an end, but as a tool to solve real problems sustainably. When your motivation is impact rather than margins, you hire differently, train differently and most importantly, you care differently.

Dignified care means the elderly person is still the one making choices about their own life. It is refugee mothers who have rebuilt their own lives helping others maintain theirs, not doing things for them but with them. One of the most powerful examples was when a client being cared for by one of our team turned out to be the English teacher of her daughter at school when she was younger. The same person who once helped her child settle into school was now being cared for by her. That is dignity and community in practice.

The economics actually work better this way. When workers are motivated by purpose, not just paycheque, retention soars. The UK care sector averages 28% retention. Ours is 92%, because refugee mothers stay where they are valued. When someone finally says “yes” after the world has said “no”, you give that loyalty back.

Social enterprises fill the gap that neither charity nor traditional business can reach. Charities often cannot scale sustainably. Traditional companies maximise profits, often at the expense of care quality. We operate in that sweet spot, commercially viable but values-led. 

Globally, social enterprises can reshape ageing care by proving that empathy and sustainability are not just compatible, they are interdependent. You cannot deliver dignified care without caring workers and you cannot keep caring workers without dignifying their work.

“Social enterprises fill the gap that neither charity nor traditional business can reach. Charities often cannot scale sustainably. Traditional companies maximise profits, often at the expense of care quality. We operate in that sweet spot, commercially viable but values-led.” 

Today, all of Sahan Cares’ care workers are refugees, many of them single mothers. What unique values do refugees bring to the care sector and what impact have you seen this have on both your workforce and your clients?

Refugees bring something to care you cannot train: resilience and empathy born of lived experience. When you have fled your home, rebuilt your life and held a family together in the middle of upheaval, you carry a depth of compassion that changes how you care for others.

Most of our workforce are single mothers who were once excluded from the labour market. Today, they walk into clients’ homes with pride as professionals. That shift, from being excluded to being recognised, is powerful. They don’t see care as a job to get through, they see it as a responsibility to honour.
In London’s diverse communities, they also bring something else: speaking multiple languages, understanding different cultural approaches to ageing and knowing which foods bring comfort to someone far from home. They navigate nuances that others might miss entirely.

The impact on our clients has been incredible. Over the years, many have stopped referring to carers as “staff.” Instead, they call them their daughters. When someone has a hospital appointment, they will ring us and say: “Please tell my daughter not to come tomorrow, I won’t be home.” That is the level of connection they feel. It is family, not formality.

When clients start calling their carers daughters, you know it is no longer a service relationship. It is trust, dignity and belonging.

“Other social enterprises must understand: you cannot buy this kind of loyalty. You grow it through genuine, patient investment in people others have written off. The excluded group that everyone saw as a challenge have become our greatest strength.”

Your approach centres those who are often excluded – particularly refugee women – as leaders in the solution. What can other social enterprises learn from this approach to workforce development and empowerment?

Most businesses don’t have the patience to truly support people carrying trauma. We understood from the start that refugee women, often single mothers navigating foreign systems and dealing with anxiety from displacement, need time to settle. Not days or weeks, but real time.

The question we asked wasn’t “How quickly can you be productive?” It was “What can we do to make life easier for you?” That shift changes everything.

It means flexible hours, so you can raise your family. Our office becomes a community space where carers bring their children, socialise with other refugee mothers and build networks. We provide free therapy sessions because trauma doesn’t just disappear. We sit with each of our care team and ask: “What are your dreams?” Then we build plans together. We want to be a launching pad for their careers, not their ceiling.

We specifically focus on mothers because when you empower them, they empower everyone around them: their children, their communities. The effect multiplies.

This level of commitment isn’t charity. It is a strategy. When you back people in this way, what you get in return is extraordinary: a workforce built on purpose and compassion. They don’t just do their jobs; they identify what clients really need and become leaders themselves. They protect the company ethos as if it were their own. Why? Because for once, someone saw them not as risks, but as leaders.

Other social enterprises must understand: you cannot buy this kind of loyalty. You grow it through genuine, patient investment in people others have written off. The excluded group that everyone saw as a challenge have become our greatest strength.

“The pressure with tenders and growth targets is to scale quickly. But rushing would betray everything we have built. Our model works because we invest proper time in people.”

You’ve said Sahan Cares is ready to scale further – exploring new partnerships, tenders and growth strategies. What opportunities and challenges do you see in taking a community-rooted, values-driven social enterprise to the next level nationally or internationally? 

Over the next three years, we plan to create 30 new roles for refugees and expand into learning disabilities and mental health support. The connection is natural: people who have navigated displacement and trauma bring deep understanding to supporting others through mental health challenges.

We are also taking our model to other UK cities with significant refugee populations. Every city facing care shortages while refugees seek employment represents untapped potential.

The challenge isn’t operational. We know how to deliver excellent care. The challenge is cultural. Our ethos isn’t written in a handbook. It lives in how we operate daily: the patience when someone needs months to settle, the flexibility around school hours, the therapy sessions and asking each person about their dreams. Currently, we manage all of this directly. We know every carer, every client, every story.
How do you replicate that in Manchester or Birmingham when you are not there? How do you ensure new teams maintain that same patience, that same commitment to being a launching pad rather than just an employer?

Our approach is intentionally measured. We will expand to neighbouring cities first, close enough to stay connected to our roots, far enough to genuinely test if our culture can travel. We will develop leaders from within those refugee communities who understand both their local context and our values.
The pressure with tenders and growth targets is to scale quickly. But rushing would betray everything we have built. Our model works because we invest proper time in people. That principle doesn’t change just because we are growing.

“Ageing well isn’t just about living longer, it is about belonging. Too often, older adults feel invisible, defined only by the tasks people do for them. Social enterprises can change that, because we aren’t bound by rigid systems. We can build care models that put dignity and human connection at the centre.“

At SEWF25, you’ll be part of the “Ageing Well” session exploring how social enterprises can support inclusive societies for older adults. Based on your experience at Sahan Cares, what practical lessons or innovations would you highlight for other social enterprises working with ageing populations? 

Ageing well isn’t just about living longer, it is about belonging. Too often, older adults feel invisible, defined only by the tasks people do for them. Social enterprises can change that, because we aren’t bound by rigid systems. We can build care models that put dignity and human connection at the centre.
The biggest lesson has been that when you create the right conditions for carers, they go far beyond the job description. No handbook told our staff to do this. On their days off, if a client is in hospital, they go and visit. When it is a client’s birthday, they pool their own money, buy a cake and celebrate. We never asked them to. They chose to. That is what happens when people feel valued and supported: they give that same dignity back to the clients.

The results speak for themselves. With our model, hospital readmission dropped by 71 percent. Not through medical intervention, but through belonging.

Three practical lessons emerge. First, continuity creates family, not just care. Those long-term bonds turn “staff” into “daughters.” Second, dignity lives in everyday choices and being seen as a whole person. Third, if you want older adults to feel they belong, start by making carers feel they belong. The investment multiplies outward.

This isn’t unique to us. Any social enterprise that creates these conditions will see these results. Ageing well isn’t measured only in years. It is measured in the quality of relationships and social enterprises are uniquely placed to build them.

“(…) leadership isn’t about driving people harder. It is about creating conditions where drive naturally emerges.”

What’s something the refugee women at Sahan Cares have taught you about leadership that no business school ever could?

The refugee women at Sahan Cares taught me that leadership isn’t about driving people harder. It is about creating conditions where drive naturally emerges.

Their resilience is incredible, but what really changed my thinking was seeing what happens when you build a culture on empathy and nurturing, rather than pressure and metrics. We are in the people business and people are not robots. When you invest in their whole lives, their children’s education, their housing goals and their dreams, they show up for you almost every time.

Today, children of our care workers who once arrived as refugees are graduating from prestigious UK universities. Women who started on welfare are now putting down deposits on homes. That perseverance cannot be taught in business school. It comes from lived experience.

The lesson? Stop managing and start nurturing. Create environments where people can bring their full selves, their families and their futures. That is not soft leadership. That is understanding that changing someone’s social mobility changes everything about how they show up.

Real leadership is measured in generational change, not quarterly returns.

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Also read:

From funding to income:  How White Box Enterprises is supporting social enterprises to start and grow in Australia, while also generating revenue  This is why many autistic individuals are passionate about creating systems change – Sharon Zivkovic Working together for tomorrow: Highlights from People and Planet First Week 2024 Policy that rises to the challenge: SEWF Policy Forum 2025 SEWF Social Enterprise Day: Collective action for people and planet